It's a new day for another blog about the Splinterlands social media challenge. I will highlight my strategy sneak attack with melee and blast ability combo. It's been one of the common line-ups to use if I want to try to dominate the opponent's backline with a water element combo for a chance to initiate attack first. Water element has Deeplurker and Pelacor Bandit which made this strategy possible, without this unit the strategy won't be utilized but rather another way of using strategy depending on the rule set given and the opponent's common use history battle. I'll be using the BLTZR-WIZARD-728 account from Balthazar for this experiment.

INTO THE BATTLE: https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_b94e98fbdfdb8fde7237a58b644461dc

Set-up Plan Strategy

The rule set given is EPLOSSIVE WEAPONRY which all units will gain the ability of Blasts, HOLY PROTECTION also all units receive an ability of Divine Sheild, and 23 mana-cap with water and dragon elements are the only active elements which other elements are not useable in this battle. My plan would utilize the dragon element combo with the water element. I will try to use Vruz for martyrs' ability and the rest would be using sneak strategy in water element units where most of the units are high in speed. I expect that the opponent will use the dragon element with Quix the Devious summoner which then why I avoid using range units, I didn't want to use magic since this 23 mana cap doesn't have decent damage in a low mana cap. Melee battle is what I would prioratize in this battle.

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My Lineup

Summoner - Quix the Devious

Reducing the opponent both range and speed by 1 is an ideal choice because of the low mana cap and this summoner only cost 4 mana with useful debuffs.

First Position - Torrent Fiend

It will act as a tank and a bait in the first position, It only costs 0 mana. I put this in first position because I want to protect my Noa the Just for at least in the first round with the rule set given it is good standing.

Second Position - Noa the Just

Support and tank type of my team, support because of useful abilities. Rust is an ability to reduce the opponent's armor by 2, It could be a tank-type unit because of its dodge ability that has a chance to miss both range and melee incoming attacks, and Backfire is an ability to take miss incoming attacks which then backfire to the opponent attacker target receiving 2 melee damage. With a decent 6-speed, it can enhance my defenses against a chance of missed incoming attacks.

Third Position - Deeplurker

This is a good position for Deeplurker because this is my main damage, I want this unit to protect most of the opponent's attacks both backline and frontline attackers. It has 5 melee damage, 4 speed, and 7 health with Opportunity ability it can attack the opponent's lowest health and Apply a chance of Poison target in each round ending the reduced health by 2. This is a good combo for Opportunity and Explosive Weaponry.

Fourth Position - Uraeus

Another melee damage with the ability to attack the enemy backline and a chance to apply poison to the target. This is a good position since I expect the opponent will also use Deeplurker to target this unit after my Vruz is executed because of health differences.

Fifth Position - Pelacor Bandit

This is my Secong's main melee damage. It has decent stats: 6 speed, 4 melee damage, and 5 health. It has the useful abilities Sneak to attack the backline and Flying, which increases the chance of missing incoming range and melee attacks from the opponent.

Last Position - Vruz

I put this in the last position to act as Martyr a sacrificial bait to trigger this ability and boost my Pelacor Bandit all stats by 1. This unit is designed to easily executed in battle which also has chance to attack first since it has 7 speed stat before it will be defeated.

Analyzing the battle

The opponent seems to have Akane summoner a dragon element combination with a water element. The opponent lineup is Void Dragon, Tide Biter, Venka the Vile, Pelacor Bandit, Torrent Fiend, and Elanor Bravefoot respectively. Akane Summoner alone is overpowered since it will give Ambush ability to the main damage dealer which is Pelacor Bandit and Venka the Vile. While my lineup is a mix of offensive damage, defense, and utility creates a balanced strategy, though it's vulnerable to melee-heavy teams that bypass armor with Piercing ability and dodge mechanics.

As the progresses it seems that the opponent didn't give Pelacor Bandit an Ambush ability which I'm confused about. Maybe the opponent didn't want to defeat early my Vruz. But that made me easily defeat the opponent's backline in first attack round and the difference in speed makes the upper hand to initiate the attack first with the help of the Explosive Weaponry rule set it makes it easier to defeat most of the backline enemy position. If the opponent gives chance to attack Pelacor Bandit it might be has chance to defeat me. The opponent's failure to grant Pelacor Bandit the Ambush ability was a critical misstep, allowing my team to swiftly eliminate their backline, starting with Vruz's sacrificial attack triggering Martyr. The speed advantage of my lineup enabled me to attack first and pressure their weaker units, while the poison effects and explosive damage quickly diminished their defenses. Had the opponent's Pelacor Bandit leveraged its Ambush ability, the outcome could have been different, but my strategic setup prevailed. My victory shows the importance of maximizing the abilities and anticipating the opponent's playstyle for a winning strategy.

A Big Thanks! for supporting me, being here, and coming this far. I'm hoping this can assist you with some of your battles. I suggest using speed to increase your chances of winning battles since it increases your ability to dodge incoming attacks and launch first attacks.

You can share thoughts and ideas about what could be possible to use in this rule set.

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Credits:
Edited the Design photo Splinterlands Modern League using PicsArt
Screenshot In-game splinterlands