Battle Mage Secrets Weekly Challenge! Fab Four

[Source]

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

About the Ruleset

Fab Four

The Fab Four ruleset states that "Up to four Units can be used". This means that instead of the usual limit of up to 6 units, we are now restricted to using up to 4 units.

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Battle Ruleset(s)

Details of my battle with this ruleset is as follows.

Close Range: Ranged attacks may be used in the first position in battle
Keep Your Distance: Monsters with Melee attack may not be used in battles
Fab Four: Up to four Units can be used
Mana Cap: 31
Available Splinters: Water, Earth and Life
Format: Modern Tournament

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Cards & Line Up

The Summoner vs

Summoner: Kelya Frendul - This increases the Speed and Shield of my deck by 1.

The Line Up

Position 1	Position 2	Position 3	Position 4

vs

Position 1	Position 2	Position 3	Position 4

[Card image source]

Position	Name	Description
1	Venari Marksrat	It has the Martyr ability and is here to boost the stats of Djinn Oshannus when it's taken out.
2	Djinn Oshannus	My main tank as it has the Void and Phase ability, and with the stats boost from Venari Marksrat, great for dodging most attacks.
3	Nerissa Tridawn	My main damage dealer, with 3 Magic attack.
4	Anasth Soothsayer	It has the Tank Heal and Cleanse ability, which is useful here to heal and also remove any debuffs casted on the tank.

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Strategy

The ruleset here meant that (1) Ranged monsters can be used in the first position, (2) No melee monsters may be used in the battle and (3) only a maximum of four units can be deployed.

As this battle does not allow for melee monsters, I opted for the Water Splinter with a magic based deck. While ranged monsters can be used in first position, they usually have lower health and have a high tendency to miss. I used Nerissa Tridawn in position 3, as it has a decent attack and fairly high health. I then used Anasth Soothsayer in position 4 to heal the tank and remove any debuffs the opponent may cast on it.

The opponent opted to use General Sloan as his summoner, which made a strong case for using ranged monsters. Zyriel with its Weapons Training ability, and with Pelacor Conjurer next to it, was a force to be reckoned with. I would also have been greatly disadvantaged had I gone head to head with him with ranged monsters, as the opponent had Runemancer Atuat with the Headwinds ability, and that would have left me with less attack power than him.

Fortunately for me, the first two monsters in the opponents deck did not have very high health and I was able to take them out fairly fast. The shield from Kelya Frendul also saved me from taking high damage initially. These 2 factors helped greatly in allowing me to win this battle.

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Thoughts on the Fab Four Ruleset

The Fab Four ruleset reduces that number of cards that you can use to four. This makes the battle more challenging than it usually is. There is no good fixed strategy to this. The best option is to anticipate what strategy the opponent might use, coupled with the other rulesets in the battle, and then try to come up with a strategy to counter the opponent.

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Battle

Watch the battle here