Day 2 Battle Log - 1st Place Wild Diamond GF Tournament
Thanks for coming to this special Day 2 battle log from the most recent Wild Diamond Gold Foil tournament on July 22, 2024. This is the highest-paying SPSDAO event of the Splinterlands seasonal cycle, paying 4590 SPS to 1st - 4th places. Look at all those Shield of Glory battlemages in the top spots!
Of course, this event brings out the best players on the best accounts in the game. I took down 1st place with a 14-5 record, tied with another player, Taug! I decided to share the link and lineup from each Day 2 battle, along with a short section on the strategy I used. All hail the #ageofthebattlemage!
BATTLE 1 of 9 vs. @azipoon
I paid very careful attention to only play HIGH speed and HIGH health monsters in this opportunity battle, with Naga Assassin my first legal target. Don't sleep on the much-maligned Chaos Legion common reward card, Gargoya Lion. With void and enrage, this neutral flyer remains a playable option in even-only battles.
BATTLE 2 of 9 vs. @angstgegner
We took opposite approaches in this high mana battle. My life opponent ran five of seven A/B/U cards with two big sneak attackers. But they wasted two triage effects with only one heal up front for their taunting Shieldbearer.
I focused all of my firepower on the tank, with two beefy melee monsters up front and a potent magic attack in the backline centered on Aves. They made quick work of that sad Shieldbearer. My Iziar did its thing, soaking up damage and buffing up my team. Ultimately, I used my triage ability and they didn't, quickly overpowering their Warrior of Peace!
BATTLE 3 of 9 vs. @kjira.modern
Another even-only battle with only two elements available. Because of the narrow card pool, I decided to go all in with weapon trainers and load up TWO monsters with a dual attack. Grim Smith was great in 2nd with melee and magic to hold the line after Croire.
Then Lurking Puffer was deadly with two chances at poison with magic and range attack. Remarkably, the Cube with its 1 speed had pretty good aim on their slow team from its spot all the way in the back!
BATTLE 4 of 9 vs. @shadowwolf888
My longtime guildmate nearly got the trample going against me in Round 3, but Baakjira's big booty was big enough to soak up all the damage. Despite the magic reflect rule, Shadow was ready with Mandarin and Wave Brood. However, with snipe in play, my Baakjira turned out to be the better backline target than his Brood!
I was worried that my attackers wouldn't get through Wave Brood quickly enough to race those dangerous tramplers of his, but the speedy dual attack on Kelp and the powerful forces of my two legendary weapon trainers took Brood down. Then the healing abilities of Baakjira up front and Guardian in the back held the line to allow my range attack to prevail.
BATTLE 5 of 9 vs. @samwiseg
My first loss of Day 2 and I deserved this beating because I was overcommitted to countering Yodin from my opponent. I gave tons of extra health in an equalizer battle by putting Wave Brood in the back and never got much use from my double triage.
We both used a Cryptic + Venka strategy, but their Dumacke Orc tank with Soothsayer's cleanse shut down any suppress shenanigans I planned for. Their lineup tore through my Wave Brood in short order, while their Venka trampled over my feeble attack.
BATTLE 6 of 9 vs. @ank2020
I love jamming Waka in low-mana scattershot battles like Ank did, but here I opted for a high-health, all-magic, Obsidian team instead. Anything can happen in these random encounters, so I went for the raw power of magic using Moxian Rebel to fire up Failed Summoner and Lurking Puffer.
Khmer Princess is especially valuable in these scattershot battles, healing the tank and a backline monster for only 2 mana. The new Blackmoor Nymph also showed up to provide immunity insurance against any poisonous sneak attackers while bringing a big butt and 2 magic attack for just 3 mana.
BATTLE 7 of 9 vs. @mellofello
When I saw the lineups, I thought I was doomed. Of course, they ran Mylor in the melee-only battle, while I was trying to get fancy with trample and completely missed the plot.
With Akane's tactics, I had four attackers with ambush, but most of my guys would also take thorns damage. I had no clue how my team held up to the shield of Infantry and the heal of Pixie and Pelacor. And after all that, there was the scavenging Vulture to deal with.
But somehow my troops prevailed, despite all the self-inflicted thorns damage. The trample on Desert Dragon paid off and the reflection shield on Torch Vizier just barely got me over the line against his last two flyers. Luck was with me on this one!
BATTLE 8 of 9 vs. @taug
I had to win one of my last two battles to guarantee a share of 1st place and I did not like my chances against this powerful old account that I knew had access to Yodin. Worse still, I did not have access to life or water for a return fire counter strategy.
Instead, I opted for Lobb Lowland to get access to the low-mana gladiator Bertrol Gobson. Gladiators tend to overperform in these Born Again battles where bloodlust can get out of hand. Queen Mycelia also proved invaluable for the armor she gave to my team and the armor she took away from my opponent. This was especially evident when my monsters resurrected with armor and theirs did not.
None of this surprise victory would have been possible without the blind ability of Fungus Flinger. We'll never know how many of Taug's misses came from blind or small speed differences, but the way their range attackers kept missing Bertrol, my big finish was clearly meant to be!
BATTLE 9 of 9 vs. @azipoon
With the last battle, I had a chance to take sole possession of 1st place. Although we had fairly similar Possibilus lineups, Azipoon brought a superior strategy by selecting Supply Runner for swiftness.
By giving his team the extra speed boost, all his attacks landed a step ahead of mine, which made all the difference. His frontline
made quick work of my tank and his opportunity monsters trampled through the heart of my team. This one was never close.
But despite dropping the final battle, I managed a stellar 7-2 mark on Day 2 against some of the strongest accounts in the Splinterverse. My overall record of 14-5 put me in first place on tiebreakers and earned me 4590 SPS for the top prize!
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Proud member of the original KoG alliance guild, Tier 5 Brawlers,
and a top-ranked guild: @shield-of-glory
Proud member of YGG Brawlers (Niðavellir), a Tier 4 Brawler guild within the Yield Guild Games Splinterlands alliance: @yggspl-official
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the always affable YGG 420 Fam, on Hive as @the420syndicate.
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Image Credit: @Splinterlands
