Introduction
Hi everyone! Welcome to another episode of Splinterlands Brawl Report brought to you by The Jedo! This post will explain how I approach some of my battles in Tier 4 Brawls while representing TeamPH. Keep in mind, this is a Wild Gold Fray where cards are limited to Advanced Level caps. I will feature one or two matches and will walk you through my thought process in deciding which Summoners and Monsters to select in different combinations of Rulesets and Mana Caps. To be fair, the games that will be featured may not always be the ones I win! Depending on the results and how unbelievable the games are, I might even add more games to the spotlight.
Now, I am not an expert player by any means and I will have some misplays from time to time. Any comments or suggestions that could help me improve my decision making and rules analyses are welcome and will be very much appreciated! Whether you're a seasoned veteran or a new player in the game, I would like to hear from you! We can all be better together! Let's get into it!
Preface
The following Brawl results are from the most recent Brawl Cycle. My results from the previous Brawl can be found HERE for reference. For this Brawl Cycle, I waited until I had about an hour left to submit my matches. Having not played in a couple of days, I knew I needed to get in some practice rounds before I enter the battlefield. I also recently wrote about Training Mode (link to post HERE) and decided I should take my own advice and warm up before the big game.
I wanted to emulate the training as if I am battling a real human Brawler. I set the Difficulty to Hard, Allowed All Cards I have available to play with, and limited Summoner Levels to Advanced, therefore mimicking the Wild Gold Fray arena.
Before entering the Training Grounds, I already knew that even though I wanted these games to be Brawl-like, Gladiator cards would not be available. What I wasn't prepared for was the updated interface when looking for a match.
Woah, this is neat! I like this, except it threw me off a little bit because this is something I haven't seen before. Sometimes, being unfamiliar with something makes you a bit uncomfortable. In this case, this is what I experienced. With this new visual, it sort of felt...... strange for some reason. I felt excited, but at the same time, also daunted. Weird.
As you can see below, I played 5 games and won 2, lost 2, and drew 1. Not the best start but at least I loosened up a bit.
Anyway.. Back to our regular programming! I hope you enjoy this article and please don't hesitate to reach out and let me know your thoughts!
Featured Battle 1
My opening battle was a 26 Mana Cap match with Fire as the only inactive Splinter. Rules of the match included Holy Protection (all units have Divine Shield), Keep Your Distance (no melee units allowed), and Ferocity (all units have Fury). I knew I did not want to use a unit with Taunt due to the double damage caused by the Fury ability so I wanted to lean on Lily Shieldpaw, a Dragon Summoner that gives all my units Camouflage, so that I can direct all non-Scattershot attacks to my monster in the first position (without forcing Taunt).
I kept looking for Lily and thought maybe it's just the new UI's visuals messing up my groove, hence not being able to find the preferred summoner. I realized later on that the opposing guild, being the host of this Brawl match, had banished Lily Shieldpaw as a summoner, rendering the Red Panda unavailable for me to utilize.
I pivoted to using Alric, boosting my magical units, including those who will receive Weapons Training. Due to the low mana available for this match, I had a feeling I won't face Chaos Dragon, a 14-mana monster that has Scattershot and could cause significant damage to my backline with Blasted magic damage from the enemy side. I was comfortable using low mana support monsters. Even if my opponent had Scattershot or a non-melee Sneak, I assumed the Divine Shield would provide my units survivability.
I placed the ever-popular, no attack, Dodge Tank, Almo Cambio, up in front! Behind him is Daarg Deadblast, granting Almo decent magical attack and bonus speed from Swiftness. Daarg could also Triage my backline in the event some of my units needed sustainability. Baakjira is also part of the offensive team. Typically a frontline tank, Baakjira was strategically placed behind Daarg, giving the no-attack whale magic attack, as well. The whale also has Slow which reduces the speed of the enemy team, effectively enhancing Almo's ability to evade attacks. Completing my backline was Albatross, a 1-mana healer, Igor Darkspear, a ranged unit with Stun, and Elanor Bravefoot, a zero-mana unit that can be used not only as a filler or as a protection from Sneak , but also as a mini-damager that can slowly chip away enemy armor and shield. Her attacks can also be used to remove opposing Divine Shields making them vulnerable to my attacks.
Lots of misses in this match! Almo's speed made his Phase ability more effective, dodging almost all the magic attacks hurled toward him! The few attacks that hit, Albatross healed up ensuring Almo survives the whole game. Winner!
Battle 1 link HERE
Featured Battle 2
The second battle I'd like to feature was also the second match of my brawl. It was another low mana match with Life and Dragon as the inactive Splinters. Mana Cap was 15 and the rules were Stampede (Trample can trigger multiple times), Shades of Gray (only Neutral monsters can be used), and Blood and Sunder (all units gain Corrosive Ward).
Considering the low mana cap, the limitation that only Neutral units can aid you in battle, and the Stampede ruleset, only one thing came to my mind. Venka the Vile.
I chose a 3-mana summoner in Mylor Crowling, giving all my units Thorns, and further allowing me to utilize more mana to other units. I thought this was great because in case my opponent also has Venka, Venka (my opponent's) will hurt herself while trying to create chaos to my lineup. I didn't even bother to play Dr. Blight because I believed my Venka would deal enough damage to win the game for me. I expected low mana units, and low mana units usually mean lower health. My Venka will feast by trampling over these units, I thought to myself. There was one problem, though, and I found out midway through the match.
As I expected, my opponent summoned low mana monsters, similar to my lineup. Halfling Refugee, Furious Chicken, and Creeping Ooze were the similarities. The opposing team had Uraeus, Dr. Blight, and Xenith Archer. I had Spirit Hoarder, Venka, and Elanor.
Uraeus quickly eliminated my Elanor as soon as the match started. The snake got hurt by Thorns, and I knew the more melee attacks the enemy did, the more damage they will receive from Thorns. My Venka got her chance to attack the enemy Refugee but couldn't kill him. Enemy Refugee healed himself before attacking his mirror image and eventually pricked himself from Thorns. My Refugee then attacked, killing the enemy Halfling, and my Spirit Hoarder quickly shot the opposing Chicken, finishing it off immediately. I was patiently waiting for Venka to attack again and Trample. Uraeus had another chance to attack my backline and connected, killing my Ooze. Uraeus eventually died from Thorns.
Xenith Archer shot my Refugee for the second time this game. My unit survived and then the moment I was waiting for arrived. Venka attacked and did double damage to the Ooze due to Oppress! "Now Trample!", I quietly cheered. To my shock, Venka did not do so. This ability only gets unlocked when Venka is at maxed level! I do own a maxed Venka and I play her a lot in Ranked Battles but this was a Gold Brawl Fray where my Summoners are capped to Advanced levels, and therefore limiting Venka to Level 3, max! How could I forget??
As the match went on, I still had hopes of winning. It was until Dr. Blight poisoned Venka. Venka would have had another chance to attack, killing Blight and forcing Xenith Archer to the 1st position where the Archer couldn't attack and would give me the win. Unfortunately, Venka died from Poison and I ended up losing the match.
What do you think about my play here? Do you think there was any other way I could have won this match?
Battle 2 link HERE
Featured Battle 3
The last battle I'd like to highlight for this Brawl Report is a 41 Mana Match with Counterspell as the only ruleset. Earth and Dragon were the inactive Splinters. With this ruleset, I knew using magic is not an option and I instantly thought about Yodin and Blast. I didn't even bother to look for other options.
I quickly set my mind on selecting fast ranged units with high damage. Rush Townsend was my first choice with his Ambush ability, hastily dealing damage (with Blast) during the Ambush round before. I also picked Countess Sinash, not only for her speed and damage, but also the Speed boost she provides allied units with.
Completing my team were Xenith Monk as an affordable healing tank, Lava Launcher, another heavy damage, ranged unit, and Orella Abadon and Kobold Miner, two low mana Sneak monsters that, even though they don't get Yodin's +1 Ranged Damage buff, would still receive the Blast ability, dealing Splash Damage to units adjacent to the ones they hit.
As soon as I saw my opponent's lineup, I knew I was in trouble. Ilthain was chosen as the enemy summoner, giving all opposing units Return Fire. The Return Fire ability also returns the ranged damage dealt by Blast! I knew this was going to hurt!
Beginning the Ambush Round, Rush attacked first, hitting both the opposing tank and the unit in 2nd position. This meant 2 Return Fires were hurled back towards Rush. During Round 1, Rush attacked the same units and eventually got hit with 2 more Return Fires! His already low health quickly dwindled down to just 1. The same thing happened with Countess Sinash getting return hits, not twice, but thrice, killing herself in the process! Both my Sneak attackers swung and missed their targets due to the enemy Ajax Lightfoot's superior speed and dodge! Man, this was embarrassing! I did lose this match but gained a really important lesson: always review your options before making a decision.
Any thoughts on this match? My opponent completely countered my play!
Battle 3 link HERE
Summary
The Brawl ended with me taking home 5 wins but suffering 3 losses. Lots of lessons to be learned! I wish I had a better win percentage but overall, not a bad showing. TeamPH took 3rd place this time around. Decent result but we always strive to be Number 1. Congratulations to the top performing guilds! We'll try harder next time!
Final Thoughts
As always, Brawls are so much fun! I understand that I have still so much to learn. Some of my wins might have been because of luck. Some might be actual good plays that other players can learn from. Either way, I hope you guys enjoyed this article and if you have questions, comments, or feedback for me, please let me know! Let's all learn and grow together and set each other up for success! Vonak! Together We Thrive, Kapamilya!
The "Lessons learned" is the most important part - you have some really powerful cards there, which I hate to play against :-D But nothing is indestructible. Good job on your progress, keep it up!
Thanks, brother!
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