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Ahoy fellow Splinterlands player. Last week I didn't join the Battle Mage Secrets as I kept postponing to make a post and didn't really have a good battle with the featured ruleset that I really wanted to share. I did think about still writing a post last week just to keep at it, but then I was a bit too busy on the deadline day. I should've tried to write it earlier in the week or in the weekend.

Today I am joining again though! Still at the deadline day too, which is something I need to work on to make the post earlier, but at least I am entering!

This week the featured Ruleset is the Armored Up ruleset. With this Ruleset all Monsters gain +2 Armor at the start of the game, even if they didn't have Armor to begin with.

That ruleset has the following icon.

With this ruleset all Monsters can be protected from some Melee and Ranged attacks. It's also beneficial for Monsters that have Void Armor as they can take even more Magic damage.

This time I'm once again sharing a brawl battle for the weekly challenge. I've had another battle yesterday with the Armored Up ruleset, but my opponent surrendered that one :( So yeah I'll share one from this most recent brawl. I play in the Gold Foil Fray which you will be able to see in this lineup. Some of the cards are owned, some are rented to compliment the ones that I own.

In this battle that I'm sharing I had to play against jose900417 from the guild Death Squad Cuba.

Here is a photo of our lineups at the start of the battle.

Battle Rules

This battle has a Mana Cap of 58 with Earth, Life and Death available. The battle has 3 rulesets.

• Close Range: Ranged attacks may be used in the first position in battles.
• Healed Out: All healing abilities are removed from Monsters and Summoners.
• Armored Up: All Monsters have 2 Armor in addition to their normal Armor stat.

Here is a link to the battle if you want to check it out: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sm_A3vit2IhzHQ6m8W8K4Vd&ref=athunderstruck

Battle Lineup

I'm using Obsidian in this battle to boost Magic damage of all my Monsters because I decided to bring 3 Monsters with Magic attack.

With some additional Armor for all Monsters, it is often a solid idea to bring Magic attack monsters, so I decided to use the Unicorn Mustang as my frontline tank as it has Void which will help it take less damage from Magic attacks. Then I have the Prismatic Energy up next in case my opponent brings Magic attackers and my Unicorn Mustang dies then the Prismatic Energy Magic Reflect can help take out my opponents backline a bit.

Then I have Centauri Magi up next as another high health unit and Magic attack. My last Magic Attack unit is Sporcer for some extra Magic attack damage and also for the Rust ability that will be more important for the final 2 Monsters in my lineup.

Of course it's not necessary to bring Magic attackers with this ruleset, as you can also have a strong Melee/Ranged attack team. They just need like 1 extra attack against each Monster to break the Armor. It's also possible for Monsters with Void Armor that would benefit from the Armored Up ruleset and those take even longer to kill if you have only Magic attackers.

Speaking of that, I brought Katrelba Gobson and Sand Worm to finish of my backline. They both have the Sneak ability to attack my opponents backline, with Katrelba Gobson having Double Strike to attack twice. That's where the Sporcer comes into play, with its Rust ability I'm reducing the opponents Armor by 2 so taking away the Armor from the ruleset. This makes my opponents backline more vulnerable to my Sneak Monsters.

Battle Analysis

My opponent is using Lyanna Natura, providing +1 health to all Monsters on their team. Not a single Magic attack monster in their lineup so my Unicorn Mustang's Void ability isn't going to be useful. It's still a high health unit so that's good at least.

My Sporcerer is reducing the Armor from Armored Up, so my opponents backline is vulnerable and their Fungus Flinger has 4 health so that looks great for my Katrelba Gobson to get Bloodlust. Buuuut this is where that +1 health from Lyanna is actually proving to really be annoying for my strategy. As it causes the Fungus Flinger health to go to 5 so now it requires both of Katrelba's attacks and the Sand Worm to take it down. That 5 damage from Sand Worm against the 1 health left was a waste. It also causes trouble because that leaves their Katrelba with full health and even with +1 to all stats because of the Martyr. Great strategy from my opponent.

Meanwhile my Magic Attackers with their combined 9 Damage take out the Mycelic Infantry on my opponents lineup though. This allows my Unicorn Mustang to deal big damage against the Venari Knifer while taking some damage back from the Thorns.

My opponents Katrelba Gobson continues to attack my backline and getting Bloodlust to become stronger. Of course still against a different monster she has to hit the Armour first. My Sporcerer ends up losing its Armour but none of its health.

The combination of my Magic Attackers and Unicorn Mustang take out the rest of my opponents Monsters and that puts their Katrelba in the first position before it has a chance to take out my Sporcerer.

Here is a screenshot of my Sporcerer still alive with just its Armor broken and where Katrelba Gobson is now in the front about to die. You can see the extra stats it has too thanks to the Martyr and the ones it got from Bloodlust by killing my Sandworm and my Katrelba Gobson.

Even if she did take out my Sporcerer I would've still won because of my Prismatic Energy and Centauri Magi with their high health, Magic attack and the 2 Armor from Armored Up that would protect them.

Did My Strategy Work?

Well half and half. Like the frontline Unicorn Mustang wasn't useful with its Void ability, but was still a solid pick with the 3 Attack and the high health. My backline strategy with Katrelba Gobson, Sand Worm and then the Sporcerer reducing the Armor didn't work completely. Because of my opponents Lyanna Natura Summoner play with the +1 health that prevented my Katrelba Gobson from getting an early kill.

The other half of my strategy that did work really well was bringing those 3 Magic Attack Monsters with their combined attack of 9 Magic Damage per turn that just blasted through my opponents' frontline defenses.

Conclusion

When I was making my lineup I was kinda debating between going Obsidian or Mylor for the Thorns in case my opponent decided to not really bring many Magic Attackers. It seems that could've worked given the amount of Melee Attackers in their lineup, but would've probably still required the Sporcerer to take away that Armor.

In the end I decided to go with Obsidian and this lineup that I've shown in the post. Which was a great choice.

My opponent had a great idea too with their lineup. Their Katrelba Gobson started to get really strong which was nice to see.

That's it for my Battle Mage Secrets challenge this week. Thank you for reading!

If you haven't signed up for Splinterlands yet and want to check it out, you can do so with my referral link at: https://splinterlands.com?ref=athunderstruck