Battle Mage Secrets Weekly challenge... and a giveaway!

Halfway in this season, and I'm already at the same rating I finished last season; will the next 7 days be enough to try and reach Diamond? Have no idea, competition seems fierce... but I'll be battling like crazy until my soon-to-be vacations!

This week's prompt for the Battle Mage weekly challenge is one of my favourites:

Melee Mayhem it is! Melee attackers can attack from everywhere, so this ruleset allows for a lot of cool combinations and a ton of damage! You can try and suprise and go magic mode to take out melee attackers with heavy armour, you can use squishy melee but with high damage far from tank positions, there are so variations possible! I do like to focus a lot on melee damage here, especially if I'm playing in wild league, where there are even more possibilities (yes Exploding Dwarf, missing you!); but modern league is decent enough to have fun. Here's my example:

Two more rulesets in this battle:

• Rise of the commons: only common and rare monsters can be used
• Up close & personal: only melee attackers can be used

Pairing the melee mayhem with the melee only attackers is even more fun: you don't have to worry that much on the magic attacks - although cards like Quora can be used here too - so more focus on armor, piercing, retaliate, and thorns.

My strategy and lineup:

• Conqueror Jacek as the summoner: piercing helps a ton in this ruleset, since the repair ability efectivelly acts as a heal; the +2 speed are also great
• Dumacke Orc as tank: an often overlooke card given the low hp, but awesome in this ruleset - shield, thorns and retaliate make it an excellent choice!
• Gobalano soldier: honestly, just here as a filler; I chose all other cards first! The ambush ability is great, but very low attack given it's only at level 2
• Ferox Defender: one of the best reward cards for this ruleset: shield, repair, and the shatter ability, removing the opponent's armor entirely when it strikes!
• Exploding Rats: high damage and blast and very fast; squishy, but boosted by ferox defender's armour
• Tenyii Striker: another damage dealer, very high damage and speed
• Arkemir the Bear: more armor, high hp so great to absorb sneak damage, and the halving ability!

My opponent also went for a fire team, but choosing Tarsa instead; also a great choice, given the extra melee and health. Arkemis as the tank, followed by radiated brute (great damage when enraged), dumacke orc, and xenith monk. Consing the lineup, gargoya lyon and disintegrator, decreasing my melee attack and with the retaliate ability in case of sneak attacks.

How did the battle went?

No casualities on the first round, but my tank provided tons of damage through thorns and retaliate, while tenyii striker was able to hit disintegrator and still provide damage through backfire, after the unsucessful attemp at retaliate.

More backfire in round two, leaving disintegrator only at 1 hp, while my tank was still holding on.

At the end of round two, arkemis finishes my tank but also dies thanks to thorns; gobalano takes tank place but is easily taken care of.

At beginning of round 3 though, exploding rats start to be decisive: quick attack and dumacke ork is down, and xenith monk takes blast damage, leaving gargoya lyon and disintegrator (with 1 hp) on my opponent's team; tenyii striker gets easily rid of disintegrator.

And as round 4 starts, another strike from rats leaves only a lonely gargoya lyon on the battlefield, and victory was certain! You can see the entire battle here!

How do yo like this ruleset? Do you usually go melee wild? Or you prefer a surprise strategy? Let me know!

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By the way, if you haven't joined a guild yet and you're a dedicated player, our guild Roaring Twenties is at level 10! If you're thinking about joining in, you can check the info on the guild page, or reach us on discord here to discuss membership!

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So, and who won this week's card?

Congratulations @ebastion! The Uloth Dhampir is going your way!

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For this next giveaway, the card that will be switching hands is...

The Time Meddler!

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Rules:

No upvote, follow or resteem required. Just comment! Or even better, tag a fellow player! Winner will be randomly chosen at post payout; good luck everyone!

Still haven't joined Splinterlands? In what planet do you live in? Click the banner below and join the fun! (It has my referral link; you can go directly to the website if you don't want to use it; either way... join in! 😎 )