Battle Mage Secrets Weekly Challenge! Fog of War!

[Source]

Hi everyone! It's time for the weekly Battle Mage Secrets challenge and the challenge this week is the Fog of War Ruleset.

About the Ruleset

Fog of War

The Fog of War ruleset states that "Monsters lose the Sneak, Snipe and Opportunity abilities". This means that melee monsters that have those abilities are almost useless in the battle except till position 1. All attacks will land in position 1 unless your monsters have the Scattershot ability, which is not affected by this ruleset.

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Battle Ruleset(s)

Details of my battle with this ruleset is as follows.

Fog of War: Monsters lose the Sneak, Snipe and Opportunity abilities
Shades of Grey: Only Neutral units may be used
Mana Cap: 44
Available Splinters: Fire, Earth, Life, Death and Dragon
Format: Modern

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Cards & Line Up

The Summoner vs

Summoner: Obsidian - It increases the Magic attack of my entire deck by 1.

The Line Up

Position 1	Position 2	Position 3	Position 4	Position 5	Position 6

vs

Position 1	Position 2	Position 3	Position 4	Position 5	Position 6

[Card image source]

Position	Name	Description
1	Venari Marksrat	It has the Martyr ability, and is here as a sacrifice to boost the stats of Legionnair Alvar.
2	Legionnair Alvar	It has the Void Armor ability and is the main tank here with its generous amount of shield that can take damage from all attacks.
3	Ulundin Overseer	It has the Flank ability (not really making use of it here), and has a good amount of health and shield to tank, but no attack. It'll get 1 Magic attack from Moxian Rebel.
4	Moxian Rebel	It has the Weapons Training ability and is placed here to provide. Ulundin Overseer and Grimbardun Smith with 1 Magic attack.
5	Grimbardun Smith	It has the Immunity ability, and has a decent amount of health to tank, but no attack. It'll get 1 Magic attack from Moxian Rebel.
6	Magi of Chaos	It has no abilities, but has 3 Magic attack with the boost from Obsidian. It's my highest damage dealer in this deck.

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Strategy

The ruleset here meant that (1) attacks will land mainly in the first position, (2) only neutrals monsters can be used.

As attacks for this battle will mostly land in position 1 and only neutral monsters ca be used, I opted for the Earth Splinter with a mainly magic based neutral deck. I opted not to rely on ranged monsters cannot be used once they get to the first position. I placed Moxian Rebel between Ulundun Overseer and Grimbardun Smith so that all my monsters are able to do 2 magic damage, with the boost from Obsidian, and pray that the opponent doesn't use Thaddius Brood. Ulundun Overseer and Grimbardun Smith also have a good amount of health which is to my advantage.

The opponent opted to use General Sloan as his summoner, and made use of ranged monsters to his advantage. That gave a nice boost to all his ranged monsters, especial Gargoya Devil. Fortunately for me, the health of his deck was on the lower side, and I managed to outlast the damage with the high health and armor that I put in the front positions.

All in all, it was quite satisfying winning an opponent with a summoner level that is twice mine!

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Thoughts on the Fog of War Ruleset

The Fog of War ruleset makes non-tank melee monsters practically useless. For such a ruleset, I prefer to rely on a almost full deck Magic monsters, as they can still attack in the first position. It is made more challenging here when paired with the Shades of Grey ruleset as my deck is now only limited to neutral monsters.

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Battle

Watch the battle here