Click here or on the picture to view the battle!

Normally when I am playing a Little League ruleset, my goto Splinter is the Fire Splinter. The Cerebus and many other really useful and hard-hitting cards are all within the 4 mana limit, and the inability to play Lord Arianthus (mana 5) means that there is less danger in hitting the tank at the front of the enemy line (and also means that I don't have to decide be the Cerebus and the passive-agressive Lord).

However, on this particular battle.... I was hoping to complete my Daily Quest (and then Fire Splinter wasn't available anyway...) with the Life Splinter. Generally, that means I will just hammer away at the featured splinter until I get my 5 wins! Stubborn... and strategically unsound!

This particular match also had the Weak Magic ruleset... which would mean that magic attacks would hit the armour first. This made the Life Splinter a much better choice in comparison to the Magic and Death Splinters that were also allowed.

I do like the occasional Little League battle... it allows me to play some of the cards that I rarely use.. due to them being heavily overshadowed by the more popular higher mana cards. This ruleset really does let the little guys have their moment of glory... however fleeting!

My team

With the Life Splinter, the ability to regenerate health with the Divine Healer and repair armour with the Armoursmith are really critical to the staying power of your team. You can take hits, and then patch up... meaning that unless you get hammered hard in the first round and lose your tank, you are able to outlast your opponent, taking them down by attrition. So, that means that the Divine Healer and Armour Smith are there in the middle of my ranks, they are the critical parts to the success of the team, and also the most squishy! Of course, the Armoursmith goes first... healing is more important than armour (plus the Armoursmith has melee vs the magic of the Divine Healer).

At the front is the Crystal Werewolf... I need him for the the Thorns that will return damage back to melee attackers. More critically, I need him for the magic reduction. The Life splinter has decent armour and armour repair, but all of that is moot if you are hammered by magic which bypasses that pesky metal!

Meanwhile, in the second position, I have the long reach of the Silvershield Warrior. I actually wasn't too sure what to put here... I was toying with the idea of having a magic user. However, in the end, I have been taken down so many times by reflected magic that I decided to go with a safer melee character, plus the Weak Magic ruleset would mean that the benefits of a Magic attack would be heavily curtailed. The Reach skill helps him contribute immediately to the fight to help bring down the enemy tank... and the high-ish armour will help him survive if he hits the front line.

Bringing up the rear is my often played archer combination. The Silvershield Archers and the Peacebringer. Both have different roles to play in my setup... the Silvershield Archers are for targeting the squishiest in the middle of the enemy ranks, to reduce their support capacity (or ranged/magic if it comes to that)... the double attack is quite useful, as it allows maximum spreading of internal carnage (very few internal supports have a damage reduction)... meanwhile, the Peacebringer is for smashing at the front door!

So, my line up is one that is focused on outlasting the enemy with armour and health repair whilst concentrating fire on the front tank position. I hope to bring down the front before my two buffer characters (Crystal Werewolf and the Silvershield Warriors) get brought down themselves. Note that I have opted to not attempt a rear attack....

The Reveal

Oh boy.. the Magic Splinter... but thankfully, with very few magic casters (not that it mattered with the Weak Magic ruleset!)... so I'm pretty safe on that front. On the other hand, there is that Naga Windmaster, that will hamper my archers... well, that will hamper only the Peacebringer as the Silvershield Archers can't go below one attack.

There are a couple of Opportunity monsters (Feasting Seaweed and Parasitic Growth), but my bonus armour from my Summoner should help limit their effectiveness... or at least give me an extra round of survival! Meanwhile, they have placed their healer (Crustacean King) quite forward in the battle order... that is going to go badly for them... I hope!

The Spineback Turtle is where my game will be decided. I need to bring it down fast... if it goes, I'm pretty sure that the game is mine!

The Resolution

Watch the Battle

The Summoners play out their buffs... his +1 Magic is cancelled by my Crystal Werewolf... and I get a nice +1 Armour to all my monsters. So, I have nullified his Summoner and still held onto my buff... good start.

At the end of the first round, it is clear that I am going to take down his Spineback Turtle before he takes down my Crystal Werewolf. In fact, the first shot from the Peacebringer in the second round drops the Turtle down... after than, it is a slaughter! I do end up losing my Crystal Werewolf near the end of the second round... but by this time, it really doesn't matter... the enemy team has been cut down to the last three... and there is no point watching the third round, there is no way that that I can lose.

However, it does stretch to the fourth round as a dazed Silvershield Warrior is unable to finish of the second last monster... so, it is a very short fourth round with the Peacebringer applying the coup de grace.

Analysis

On my particular team... I was vulnerable to a rear attack. My heavy hitter was the Peacebringer... If he went down, then my attack capability would be severely diminished. Perhaps I should have considered moving the Silvershield Archers to the rear... but they have less survivability. In the end, it was a gamble that paid off...

If my front line tank (Crystal Werewolf) was subjected to a heavy battering in the first round, then I would also have been in quite a bit of trouble... My line-up relied heavily on the survivablity of the tank... thankfully, my opponent was a little unfocused with his attack plan.. with the Opportunity monsters not really contributing much besides spreading out the Melee attack damage over my team. This allowed for me to repair and heal easily... and ensured the survival of my Crystal Werewolf.

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