I nearly always have challenges with Zaku, but this morning I played a near perfect lineup for ruleset, which was an Equalizer and Reverse Speed round, with 22 Mana available. 22 isn't low, but it isn't high either, making it iffy as to whether someone will play a low-mana summoner or a high that has more buffs. I went low, they went high.
Mylor vs Zaku
The Challenge:
The Line Up
As you can see, at this point, it looks like I am going to be overpowered heavily once Zaku applies the powerup to the Ranged weapons and health, plus adds in blast with every hit. Plus, there is Beetle Queen with tank heal. But, the devil's in the details.
While we both have added shields and shield repair, one of the core details is that my Queen Mycelia has rust. The other details to note are Blight and Bilkja at the back both have weaken and while Zaku can be a challenge at speed, as a lot of the Ranged cards are fast, this is a reverse speed ruleset, not just an equalizer.
But the real hero?
Or should I say Heroine, is Epona. In this case, it is her Strengthen and Shield Repair that are vital.
Abilities and Buffs Applied
As you can see, once all the buffs and abilities are applied, things are looking quite a bit different between the two opposing forces. Spirit Druid Grog with headwinds (my highest mana card in play) has canceled out the powerup to the ranged weapons, Weaken has dropped them two HP and strengthen on both Epona and Failed Summoner have increased mine two, meaning that after the Zaku add-on, there are 3 HP points difference. Not only this, having the Flaming Monkey in there for shield repair is great, but it also has Swiftness, upping the speed of all the cards by one.
But did I need them?
Even though I have thorns on Mylor and the Queen with Amplify, it is only going to benefit against two cards, but Failed summoner is a nice additional counter against the magi of the Beetle Queen. I assume it is in second position as it has a shield. Now, the shields aren't going to matter much for me anyway, as I am playing an all-magic lineup and low and behold, this lineup has no defense against magic at all. Essentially, the only hope is that the "blast" damage will be enough.
Spoiler alert.
It won't be enough.
My first monster to succumb was my Failed Summoner in the tank position - but it was already round three. Essentially, with the magic power I have, plus the reflect and occasional thorns, by that stage, this was all that was left.
This might have felt like a small victory as after all, there are only ranged monsters left, meaning that the first in line is useless other than as cannon fodder anyway.
Except... Spirit Druid Grog also has resurrect! So the win of killing at least one monster was at least for the moment, a short-lived victory.
With one HP and a shiny new shield, he was good to go for another two hits.
Final result?
After 6 rounds of slaughter, Zaku had to limp away from this one, licking his wounds.
As said, I don't have a lot of luck against Zaku normally, but under these particular conditions, this is my own little "master class" lesson that even with all that firepower, slow-moving earth can not only win the day, but stay almost completely untouched with some of them, scavenging and filling themselves up on the carcasses of the fallen, to be stronger than when they started.
And, if you want to have a look at the battle with a little more animation than my "had to be there" telling of it, here is the link.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_de214a7e4eb293820f1d17a2afcf9c07&ref=tarazkp
And for reference purposes, currently I am the highest I have ever been ranked in Champion 3, with 3,957 points.
That's a lot of battles... and I have watched them all.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
Beautifully done. Epona and SDG getting the love they deserve.
Epona I have barely used before, but I upped it to max with repair and it makes a huge difference. It has been interesting with the release of the new cards to see how gameplay has changed.
For the record this is what I played the entire last season. This is slightly more than I like to play (which is about 250 games). You will likely play > 3X of that. Just one comment, don't get burn-out. This is bot level battling :)
Actually, I just checked the top 200. You are currently battling about 200 more games compared to the next highest battled bot in Champions. This is serious stuff and not something to be proud of :) Please take care of your health.
I play Splinterlands like I post ;D
I have learned a lot of the last few seasons, but I am trialing and renting so many cards, it is hard to keep track - -and expensive!
I will cut it back eventually - perhaps stake everything to LAND :P
In which case, look out top 10!
I kinda feel like I should do my quest... :D
Good choice, sometimes I tend to apply to many boosts and not enough firepower, but this time was too good.
When I started I tried to maximize firepower, but was terrible with the abilities, especially the negative buffs of death. I am getting better, but it is hard to get it right, especially across splinters.
That s the beauty of the game. As grandpa use to say, if it was easy, everyone would do it.
By the way, I see you have reached 83 reputation.
Congrats!
Cheers - Yeah, I was reminded by someone about it, as I didn't even notice. It moves very slowly for me now.
Do you know what the highest reputation on HIVE is?
You are still doing pretty well. I see your rank looks pretty good at the time. Been so long since I've played and sold all my cards. Looks like things are the same yet very different. Especially the card designs. Good luck with the rest of the season and enjoy the upcoming weekend.. TGIF!
No one is making it into Champ 1 these days, it is just too hard and the incentive isn't there. It is a struggle to get into Champion at all and I have never made it into the coveted C2, where I won't drop to the bottom of diamond :D
At the moment, I am enjoying playing, though I know a few who are "played out" but are still investing. They say it is too stressful to play - but I find it relaxing.
I battled a lot this last week but never managed a win. I went back to readings. Do you research on all cards and plan ahead of the battle? Do you suggest I need to know which cards to choose for the summoner I select? I am a bit lost on how to win battles.
It looks like all your cards are level 1 cards. you might need to combine some or buy/rent and start building some splinters to play with and learn. but yes., you have to think about the ruleset of the round in relation to the summoner and the cards you choose, plus what you think they might play.
I will delegate a few cards for you to trial for a bit.
You now have some extra cards to play with. Have fun!!
Thank you. I will check them out. With all the lost battles, i am beginning to think I am dumb.
Let me know how you go :)
Wooow
This is Epic 😋
:)
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