Serpent of Eld weekly battle challenge!

I love that I end up looking closer at the art for these cards when I write up a battle challenge. The boat in the Serpent of Eld's picture could be a closer view of the same boat on the shoulder of Wave Brood.

Take a look at this week's battle and think about who might get the victory.

Here's a link to watch it play out

https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_51030485fcb84896e7a923619000536d&ref=jingo-submo

Here's the ruleset

Let's talk about my lineup

Summoner: Possibilus the Wise

Possibilus gives my melee attackers reach and trample. Possibilus also increases the health of my whole team.
It's interesting with the odd ones out ruleset I like to use the water splinter or the fire splinter most often but many of the water monsters that I like to pair with Possibilus have an even cost.

Tank: Serpent of Eld

You may have noticed in a recent post that I finally bought my own copy of this card (I've also repurchased most of the cards that I burned to buy it with). Having a fast monster with dodge like this is one of those things. It seems like when my opponent has this card or something similar on the battlefield my attacks miss over and over again. When I play with this card it seems like my opponent has no problem hitting it with things like Crypt Beetle and Soul Strangler. One reason for using this as a tank is that my opponent should miss with some of their attacks. This card also checks boxes for what I want in the equalizer ruleset. It has a high attack/health ratio.

1st position: Torhilo the Frozen

Torhilo has void and hits hard when it's able to connect.

2nd position: Nerissa Tridawn

Nerissa hits hard with a big dependable magic attack.

3rd position: River Hellondale

The resurrect ability is so powerful and still seriously underrated. River will pair even better with my Possibilus teams when I'm able to get up to level 2.

4th position: Axemaster

Axemaster is one of the best monsters for the equalizer ruleset, or pretty much any ruleset thanks to double strike.

5th position (rear tank): Venari Wavesmith

The protect ability is still so strong. I like to put Wavesmith in this last position to soak up any sneak attacks. It's hilarious when my opponent finishes off my wavesmith first only to have the protect ability refreshed for my whole team thanks to the resurrect ability on River Hellondale. I generally put the Wavesmith a little further forward to be protected from sneak attacks if I don't have River in the lineup.

Did we win?

Yes. This one was closer than I would have liked thanks in large part to my opponent connecting with Serpent of Eld so frequently.

Do I like Serpent of Eld?

Yes. I have been using this monster a lot more frequently since Possibilus was printed and it's nice that it's become a little more affordable.

What will I try differently next time?

I'm not sure that I would change much. I was happy to have so many great choices to fill up a mana cap this high while everything with an even mana cost was taken away. I thought it was interesting that my opponent used so many 3 mana monsters. The ones they used made sense in terms of a high attack/health ratio but I generally like to get about as close as I can to the mana cap. Like with most things, you sometimes get what you pay for.

Thanks for reading and thanks for all the upvotes, reblogs, comments and follows. I'll see you in the game.