It's time again for another Battle Mage Secrets post. Every week, Splinterlands has a Battle Mage Secrets Challenge, and each week the challenge varies. What you need to do is create a post about your battle, following the ruleset for that week's challenge.

For this week's challenge, the ruleset is Noxious Fumes or poisoned. The Noxious Fumes ruleset is quite difficult and one of my least favorite because in this ruleset, all units are poisoned from the start of the battle, and each round the poison reduces the health of your units and your opponent's units.

The only way to survive this ruleset and win the battle is to have units with the Immunity ability. Units with the Immunity ability are immune to negative status effects, so they are not affected by the poison ruleset.

Here are the cards with Immunity Ability Click Here to view Source and to learn more about Immunity Ability

Image Source: Splintercards.com

Another effective counter to the poison ruleset is to have units with the Cleanse ability. Units with the cleanse ability can remove all negative effects from their friendly units.

Here are the cards with Cleanse Ability Click Here to view Source and to learn more about Cleanse Ability

Image Source: Splintercards.com

It is also beneficial to have units with Healing abilities because they can heal each round, restoring the health lost to the poison.

Here are the cards with Healing Ability Click Here to view Source and to learn more about Healing Ability

Image Source: Splintercards.com

Some players, when faced with a poison ruleset, use units with the martyr ability and position them between the units they want to strengthen.

Here are the cards with Cleanse Martyr Click Here to view Source and to learn more about Martyr Ability

Image Source: Splintercards.com

My Battle

Battle Link - Click Here

Battle Share

https://x.com/lodensthoughts/status/1812510703846367579

Battle Rules

	Rulesets: Noxious Fumes - All units are poisoned at the start of the battle, and each round the poisoned units lose health.
	Corrosive Fog - All units lose armor each round, and their maximum armor is also reduced, so even if you have repair abilities, you can't repair much of your units' armor.
	Even Stevens - Only units with an even number of Mana cost can be used in the battle.

Mana Cap: 59

Elements Allowed: All except Death.

My Battle Strategy

Since this is a Battle Mage Secrets post, you should have a strategy for the battle. So what was my strategy?

I chose Kelya Frendul as my summoner because I planned to use water element cards, and with Kelya, you get a speed advantage, which is beneficial in the battle. Due to the Even Stevens ruleset, I thought of my even-numbered mana cards, and Baakjira immediately came to mind. I planned to use this card because this is often my tank due to its healing ability and strengthen ability, which are great for the Noxious Fumes ruleset.

I also needed a unit with the Cleanse ability, and I have two units with that ability, Sea Stalker and River Nymph. I usually pair Baakjira with a unit that has the Weapons Training ability, but unfortunately, there is no even-numbered water unit with weapons training.

The idea was for my units to survive until all opponents are poisoned. The only problem would be if the opponent has a unit with cleanse or immunity ability that can attack, because even if Baakjira survives, it will lose if it cannot attack.

My Team

Summoner: Kelya Frendul Level 8 Buffs: Speed +1, Armor +1. This summoner is great because it increases the speed and armor of my units. If my units are faster, they attack first, which is an advantage for quickly finishing the battle.

Tank: Baakjira Level 4 Attack: None Abilities: Void, Slow, Strengthen, Heal. Baakjira is an excellent tank for this ruleset. With the summoner's +1 speed and Baakjira's Slow ability, my units have a high chance of attacking first. He also has a healing ability, so he can regenerate health each round despite the poison. The Void ability is useful against magic attacks, and the Strengthen ability adds health to friendly units, which is advantageous in the Noxious Fumes ruleset.

2nd Position: River Nymph Level 8 Attack: Magic Abilities: Cleanse, Swiftness, Amplify. I used River Nymph for her Cleanse ability to cleanse Baakjira so he doesn't get poisoned. The Swiftness ability also adds +1 speed to my units.

3rd Position: Sea Stalker Level 8 Attack: Range Abilities: Snipe, Camouflage, Cleanse, Amplify. I don't usually place Sea Stalker this early, but I had a specific backline setup in mind. With her Snipe ability, she can target enemy healers and support units, especially if they are magic or range attackers. Sea Stalker also has Cleanse, providing a backup if River Nymph is eliminated early by a faster enemy unit with the Opportunity ability, like Deep Lurker.

4th Position: Djiin Oshanus Level 4 Attack: Magic Abilities: Void, Phase, Forcefield. I placed Djiin Oshanus in the middle to protect against sneak attacks on my backline. He's fast, increasing the chance of enemy attacks missing, and his Forcefield reduces high damage attacks to just one point. The Phase ability adds a chance to dodge magic attacks as well.

5th Position: Deep Lurker Level 10 Attack: Melee Abilities: Opportunity, Poison, Demoralize. Deep Lurker is normally favored for its poison ability, but in this battle, its main purpose was to target small health units like healers and buffers using its Opportunity ability. Its strong melee attack ensures quick elimination of these units.

6th Position: Captain Fellblade Level 2 Attack: Magic and Melee Ability: Sneak. I used Captain Fellblade in the last position due to his natural speed and dual attack. With over 5 health, he can survive the battle for a while despite the poison.

Battle Rounds Summary

Round 1

At the start of the battle, the rulesets activated, and both teams' buffs took effect. The opponent's WaveBrood, with Taunt ability, drew the focus of my units' attacks. Despite its Void ability reducing the damage from my magic attackers, my units severely damaged WaveBrood, setting it up for defeat.

Round 2

At the start of Round 2, the poison reduced health again, but Baakjira was cleansed and unaffected. WaveBrood was defeated by poison, and the opponent's Supply Runner, which provided speed, was also eliminated, giving my units a speed advantage. Baakjira almost died but healed just in time.

Round 3

At the start of Round 3, the poison continued to reduce health. The opponent's Diemon Shark and Deep Lurker were near defeat, while my units also had low health. However, my units' speed advantage allowed them to attack first, except for the opponent's Djinn Oshanus, which still had 7 health and could potentially attack.

Round 4

At the start of Round 4, my River Nymph was defeated, which was expected due to her low health. The opponent's Djinn Oshanus, with only 2 health left, was quickly defeated by two attacks, ending the battle.

Battle Results

Status: Victory, Team Casualty: 1, Rounds: 4

Battle Analysis

Positioning Baakjira as the tank was very effective. He defended the team well, taking all the attacks each round and almost losing at 3 health, but his healing ability saved him. The cleanse ability played a crucial role in the battle because if Baakjira had not been cleansed, he would have been defeated by the poison's significant damage each round. Speed also played a significant part in my team's victory. If the opponent's units were faster, my team would have been eliminated first.

Thank you for reading my lengthy Battle Mage Secrets post. See you again next week for another Battle Mage Secrets challenge!

If you also want to enjoy playing Splinterlands, you can click my banner with the referral link. You can try the game in free-to-play mode first, but if you want to earn while playing, you need to buy a Spellbook which costs only $10. I’m sure you’ll enjoy this game because I’ve been playing it for over 2 years and I still haven’t gotten tired of it.