Splinterlands Social Media Challenge - Astral Entity vs. Cryptic

I fought an interesting battle in Modern ranked. It was Astral Entity vs. Cryptic. Legendary summoner vs. legendary summoner. Chaos Legion vs. Rebellion. Death vs. death (with a splash of water). Which side will be victorious?

This game had the following rule sets: Up Close & Personal, Super Sneak, and Explosive Weaponry. I picked Astral Entity and placed Dumacke Orc in front. I followed it up with Harklaw and Drybone Raider. I finished the team with Venator Kinjo and Cursed Windeku. I opted to not use the Fiend because I would very likely be facing Thorns, given the rule sets, and I didn't want to use the Astral Entity's Resurrect on a Fiend. They went with Cryptic and placed Ever-Hungry Skull in front, with Tide Biter in the second slot. They had Mantaroth and Cursed Windeku next and finished the team with Venator Kinjo and Dumacke Orc. Despite the limits from the rule sets and splinter available, our teams only share 3 of the same units. However, the strategy is very similar. We both have a Thorns monster in the front and the back. They have 2 Reflection Shield units next to them. I only have one but Harklaw serves a similar role with Shield. They have a big hitter in the middle with Mantaroth and I also have one with Drybone Raider.

They gave Poison and Expose to Mantaroth and Cursed Windeku. In round 1, the big impact of the match was my Drybone Raider taking out their Orc. The Shatter is amazing against it and just 2 successful hits took it out. Mantaroth Poisoed my Windeku, which was what killed it after being left at 2 HP at the end of the round. In the next one, their Venator killed the Resurrected Windeku, and their Windeky Poisoned my Raider. The Raider got its revenge by killing the Windeku but was left at 1 HP after the Poison. In round 3, Tide Biter killed it right away and Mantaroth Exposed my Harklaw out of its Immunity. In round 4, the Orc's miss on the Skull kept it alive and Mantaroth at 1 HP Exposed Harklaw again, taking out the Shield, this time. In round 5, Mantaroth attacked before Harklaw on a speed tie, and hit the Poison! My monster got revenge but it was at 2 HP already, so it died to the Poison. The game looked hopeless for me. However, Tide Biter attacked my Orc, which Retaliated, taking it out and also taking care of the Skull's armor with the Blast. The Skull killed the Orc but it also died to Thorns.

It was Kinjo vs. Kinjo. Mine has Dodge but theirs has 1 speed advantage and Blind. I have a disadvantage because theirs attacks first and the chance of missing is the same for both (Dodge = 25% miss, Blind = 15% miss, and 1 speed difference = 10% miss). When both were at 1 HP, theirs missed and mine didn't. What an insanely close game! It's very difficult to say which one was the favorite, at the start of the game. Both players had lucky and unlucky moments and in the end, my Venator was the one who survived!

What do you all think about this game? Would you have done anything different? Let me know in the comments! Thank you for reading!!