Monster Focus

For this week's Social Media Challenge, I'm excited to once again share one of my favorite Soulbound Rewards Cards that is hailing from the Neutral Splinter: the DUMACKE ORC. Despite often being disregarded for its low Health stats and typically only utilized during the Equalizer ruleset, this Monster definitely deserves a closer look! Join me as I dive into its range of abilities and uncover its true potential in battles. Prepare to be amazed by the strategic value this Monster can add to your lineup! 😜

Ability Focus

Shield - Reduced damage from Melee and Ranged attacks

Retaliate - When hit with a Melee attack,
Monsters with Retaliate have a chance of attacking their attacker

Thorns - When hit with a Melee attack, does damage back to the attacker

The Battle

While fulfilling my responsibilities in the Splinterlands scholarship account I have with Balthazar, bltzr-wizard-729, I was able engage in a battle that showcased the effectiveness of using the DUMACKE ORC even though the battle does not have the Equalizer ruleset. To get right into the action, the battle link can be found here. Otherwise, do read on as I go into more detail regarding the lineup and fight.

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Let us begin by reviewing the rulesets that govern this battle. Firstly, there is the Holy Protection ruleset, which bestows the Divine Shield ability upon all Monsters. Following that, we have the Melee Mayhem ruleset which enable Melee attacking Monsters to strike from any position in the lineup. Lastly, there is the Fog Of War ruleset that disable the Sneak, Snipe, and Opportunity abilities during the battle. The battle imposes a mana restriction of 18 and prohibits the utilization of Earth, Death, and Dragon Splinters.

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Summoner, General Sloan

Considering the rulesets dictating this battle, I opted for the Life Splinter due to a specific strategy I intend to employ, particularly given the Holy Protection and Melee Mayhem rulesets. While the +1 Range buff from choosing General Sloan as my Summoner proved rather useless in this battle as I didn't deploy any Range units, it does contribute to some cost savings in mana as compared to selecting the Grandmaster Rathe as my Summoner! 😅

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First Position, Dumacke Orc

The blog post was tailored specifically to showcase the DUMACKE ORC!. This Monster stands out as an outstanding frontline tank, particularly with the Melee Mayhem ruleset in play, as it boasts a versatile array of abilities adept at repelling Melee Monster assaults. Its trio of highly effective abilities - Shield, Retaliate, and Thorns - serve as formidable defenses and countermeasures against Melee attacks. However, it does possess one notable vulnerability: its 1 Health stat, which makes it susceptible to Magic attacks 😖

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Second Position, Chaos Agent

Locking in its spot within my lineup primarily for its economical cost of just 1 mana, Chaos Agent holds a key position in the second slot. This positioning allows it to serve as a potential tank, ready to step up should the DUMACKE ORC be taken down. Its Dodge ability substantially boosts its chances of evading incoming enemy strikes. Moreover, its Backfire capability introduces another layer to its usefulness by dealing 2 Melee damage to opponents who miss their attacks! 😆

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Third Position, Jared Scar

Opting for the Life Splinter in this battle was predominantly motivated by the presence of Jared Scar. With its True Strike ability, Jared Scar ensures its strikes consistently find their target, ensuring a reliable and precise offense. Furthermore, the Piercing ability allows Jared Scar to penetrate the opponent's armor, inflicting damage that circumvents their defensive measures. Moreover, the Bloodlust ability enhances Jared Scar's strength, progressively increasing its power with each opponent it vanquishes 😤

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Last Position, Soul Fiend

Including a monster with zero mana cost in your lineup is consistently advantageous. Moreover, Soul Fiend features the Swiftness ability, granting a +1 Speed buff to the entire team. I positioned it in the last slot out of concern that the opponent might deploy the Diemonshark, which possesses the Retaliate and Trample abilities. Such a scenario could spell disaster for my lineup if these abilities are triggered while Soul Fiend is positioned in the middle of my lineup, with another monster lined up to be Trample on 😕

The Analysis

With the Holy Protection and Melee Mayhem rulesets in effect, only one strategy came to mind for this battle: swiftly neutralizing the enemies' Divine Shield ability. Anticipating a lineup predominantly comprising low-mana Melee Monsters due to the aforementioned rulesets, I devised my plan accordingly! 🤓

The success of my strategy heavily relies on accurately predicting my opponent's lineup. Otherwise, all efforts would be in vain, especially considering my tanker, the DUMACKE ORC, vulnerability to Magic attacks. Thus, as the battle commenced, I fervently hoped to see no Magic Monsters among my opponent's team! 🙏

True to my prediction (thankfully), there were no Magic Monsters present on the battlefield. With that, my strategy began to unfold smoothly during the battle! The tactic relied on swiftly neutralizing the enemies' Divine Shield by leveraging the Thorns damage they incurred while attacking my DUMACKE ORC as you could see in the below GIF.

Also, I was thankful that after disabling the Divine Shield of the enemy, the DUMACKE ORC! went ahead and trigger its Retaliate ability which inflicted immediate damage on the enemy! 👊

As the DUMACKE ORC remained entrenched in defense against the onslaught of enemy attacks, my team's Jared Scar stealthily moved in, systematically eliminating vulnerable targets one by one. This strategy enabled Jared Scar to further enhance its strength through its Bloodlust ability! 😉

Do you guys have any go-to strategy as well? Do share them with me in the below comments 😎

If you made it this far, I sincerely appreciate your time and value your encouragement. Please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions so that we can discuss about other strategies. Thinking about giving Splinterlands a try but haven't signed up yet? Feel free to use my referral link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=ak08, and be sure to reach out to me if you have any questions!

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Are you interested in reading some of my future writings? Don't forget to follow me! In the meantime, here are some of my most recent blogs if you'd like to view them:

RISE OF THE TOWERING TITAN WHERE OPPORTUNITIES ARE NO LONGER EQUAL!	AN EVEN MANA BATTLE WITH A SLIGHTLY EVEN LINEUP!
A TALE OF STRATEGY, LUCK AND FORCEFIELD!	RIDING ON THE BLOODLUST THROUGH EXPLOSIVE TACTICS! (Latest Blog)

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All banners, dividers card and battle images used in this article are open source and obtained from the Splinterlands team or made by flauwy. Do check out his link for other amazing designs!