Up Close & Personal

Keeping our distance from the threats or prey distinguishes man from all other species. We figured out that we can neither match other beasts in a fistfight nor hunt down anything worth the effort just in time to avoid getting endangered ourselves (and rather endanger the others, one by one). In light of this, I find Up Close & Personal modification in Splinterlands rather dull. Yep, I don’t fancy it. And if you mix it with the Armor Up mod and a high enough mana cap, you can make some popcorn since the battle would take a while.

The mana cap of 42 allows drafting the best summoner of your choice, three impactful cards, plus a bit of cannon fodder. That is precisely what I did. Chanseus the Great is a guy with a befitting name – healing a back-line monster and armor repairing are buffs that can keep your army alive for ages. The resurrecting ability is a bit of a lottery, though. If you use low-mana cap cannon fodder like I did, there’s a huge chance you’ll waste it on reviving a useless monster. However, if Chanseus happens to bring back your tank, it would most likely change the course of the battle to your side.

Chain Golem is a versatile tank suitable for most battles. For eight mana points, you get reasonable stats combined with Void and Shield abilities. If your pack can do a bit of healing or shield repairing, this Golem can fight forever. Except on Shabbat, as I’ve learned from The Golem of Prague legend.

When the battle gets Close & Personal, you can always expect it to be a bit of a game of thorns. As I expected, my opponent drafted two monsters with Thorn ability. I couldn’t face such enemies without Corsair Bosun and his Reflection Shield. He is generally a top second-row monster if you have enough mana to pay for it.

It’s always handy to have some magic strikers who can break through Shields. Drafting Kralus is a bit of cheating, but I desperately needed this self-healing flying monster to protect my rear.

Cave Slug is so sluggish that I don’t usually play it. However, I still had some mana left and decided to go with this slow Opportunist. It was not exactly wise, but the Cave Slug wasn’t there to make the difference.

A free monster at the last position, designed only to block some Sneakers. This is how I usually use Soul Fiend. I wasted a summoner's resurrection on it, but it didn't matter much.

The Battle

While I divised a balanced strategy, my opponent played it safe with an entirely defensive set. His summoner and Disintegrator debuffed my monsters to the very bone, skimming two attack points in total. Both the first and last monsters were Thorny ones. Arkemis the Bear granted two extra armor points, so the intention was obvious – to let my monsters bleed out slowly. They did not hesitate to spend most of the mana cap on the two monsters mentioned above and Djinn Chwala, which were not to actively participate in the battle, at least not from its beginning. Then he had just two minor damage dealers with Sneak and Opportunity.

I focused my three keen monsters on my opponent’s tank. The only one who received some Thorn damage was the Golem, but my summoner managed to repair its armor now and then and kept it alive if you can say that about such a creature. It took a while with the debuffs, but I eventually chewed through the first two monsters, losing my rear-row cannon fodder only. However, it was clear that I’d emerge victorious from this one.

I believe my opponent’s strategy was generally fitting for the ruleset. However, relying solely on defense doesn’t always pay off, and this was clearly the case.

See the full battle here

Posted using Splintertalk