Not Too Close For Comfort

https://images.ecency.com/p/3RTd4iuWD6NUeJEn5AVrJUoyatFqBqfcCJi1N7UixR4g2KPKN7w8NpZL7qrJ4ETeGdj5C8fSCmkKo5DkEpBJmRTjBy5ArXMNYwsAguN8wCzo8nz6wdiBkmpZJ1CXXEn44A3TWvC87Y8VwXUC2FQieD1rXXJXm3NbFQPZYvfHDVYvuL.webp?format=webp&mode=fit

Range units can be kind of hit and miss in Splinterlands. On the one hand, they tend to do a lot of damage even for low mana units. But like melee attacks, they get stopped by armor. More importantly, though, they become ineffective when in the front position. Especially in Going the Distance ruleset, you tend to see how units get limited by this.

Cards with Close Range Ability

There are 12 cards with the close-range ability. 11 units and 1 summoner now. Most tend to cost a lot of mana but there are now a couple for only 3 mana. It's definitely worth buying some to have in your arsenal. Not terribly expensive and they'll definitely help you win some battles.

Dual Attacks

The other kind of card worth considering are the dual attack cards which have a range attack as well as a melee or magic attack component. But these tend to cost more and here are some to consider. I'd recommend the War Chaang and the Anachron Bolter at least to your arsenal but I've seen the Runemancer Florre do a lot of damage in battle before.

A Battle Example

Here's a battle with only range units and as you can see, I've padded the front with either dual attacks or Close Range. So, i'm really counting on the three units up front to absorb the damage and let the backline do the damage.

As you can see, once my opponent's front two units got taken out, he was a sitting duck in terms of having one unit that does not attack.

Eventually, as you can see, his units were killed off one by one as my tank that could attack from the front did the damage while his weren't able to. You can see the entire battle here: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_ec6b12f317d20caeb42a6757258de0f4&ref=charcoalbuffet

So, i hope you see the benefit of close-range and dual-attack units and decide to pick some up on the market.