TRIAGE vs SNEAK - Featuring the ANGELIC MANDARIN

In Splinterlands, sometimes it feels like there are just too many cards, that it is impossible to have an understanding of all of them - their strengths, weaknesses or sneaky abilities that you can use to frustrate an opponent - and then when you find such a way to frustrate, it just seems so obvious.

Here's the strategy I'll be exploring:

1. Opponent uses sneak
2. You put a high health monster at the end of your team
3. You heal that monster with TRIAGE and your opponent is wasting their attacks

In this post today I want to give some thought to the ANGELIC MANDARIN, and consider how he can be used to really make an opponent's SNEAK attack look silly. Before we get a look at the battle, let's check out the card himself:

You can see just how impressive this card is - but let's start with it's mana cost. At 3 mana cost, this card is an absolute beast given it's cheapness. The card I play is Level 5, which gives him 2 arrow attack and 3 speed - not bad when you combine him with his 6 health. But where this card really shines is the TRIAGE ability, which will heal a back-line monster who has sustained the most damage in each round. This card really should be played at least Level 4 to get TRIAGE, but the +1 attack difference between a Level 4 and a Level 5 is also worthwhile.

For a gold card, you can see above that you need 7 of these cards to Level up to a Level 5. At about $3.75 USD a card, that means a Level 5 will set you back around $26 total. That's not too bad given the potential of the card in a lot of line-ups. But particularly, I want to use this card to ruin an opponent's SNEAK attack. I often vs SNEAK teams, which means this strategy would work a lot!

In truth though, I don't own this card YET, instead, I rent it for about 6 DEC per day. That's an absolute bargain, and, from a value point of view, it makes sense for me not to purchase (despite wanting one!)

Reviewing my starting line up:
Summoner:
Alric - I love this card and play him a lot. My Alric will give each of my monsters +1 MAGIC, so it's a no brainer I'll be looking to play a deep magic attack.
Tank:
Legionnaire Alvar - This card is great! To kill him, you need to take all his armour, then health. It's basically a strategy for longevity out the front.
Off-tank:
Djinn Oshannus - This card is great, as he'll be hitting with +# magic and a lot of speed. I like him near the front of my line-up as his speed and phase ability means he often dodges attacks.
Support:
River Hellondale - a great card, whose inspire ability will raise up Legionnaire Alvar's melee attack, this card's value is in its RESURRECT ability - as when Legionnaire Alvar dies, she will bring him back - and you need to take his armour first; it's a really good way to block that tank spot.
Backline Offense:
Phantom of the Abyss - basically, the power house of the team, he'll be hitting with +4 magic attack nad seeking to destroy my opponent.
Backline Support:
Angelic Mandarin slots in next, he will do fine with his +2 attack, especially vs my opponent whose summoner will demand I take armour before health - but he's there for his TRIAGE ability.
Last Line:
Prismatic Energy - he's here for his attack which is +3, but also, because of his 10 health and speed. I'm hoping he'll dodge an attack or two, but if he can't, at least with such high health, it'll take a bit to drop him.

Looking at my opponent's line up, straight away I take note of his SILVERSHIELD ASSASSIN. This guy is a super sneaky SNEAK attack as his DOUBLE STRIKE ability means he hits twice each round. As a result - this battle will certain be on. Will my PRISMATIC ENERGY and ANGELIC MANDARIN's TRIAGE be able to keep him alive, or will the SILVERSHIELD ASSASSIN break my backline?

Start of Round 2:

In Round 1, my opponent's SILVERSHIELD ASSASSIN hit my PRISMATIC ENERGY twice! This meant he took 4 of my Prismatic's 10 health. However, following those hits, my ANGELIC MANDARIN came in very handy, by healing my PRISMATIC by +3 health. In total then, my Prismatic Energy had a net loss of only 1 health total.

At the Start of Round 3, the narrative from Round 1 continued. My opponent's SILVERSHIELD ASSASSIN again landed 2 hits for +4 damage, but the +3 heal from my ANGELIC MANDARIN meant that my PRISMATIC again only lost a total of 1 health. You'll notice otherwise that at the front line, both the legendary tanks are trading blows and this one is looking incredibly close!

End of Round 3:
Again, the script was followed - two more hits landed by SILVERSHIELD ASSASSIN, but the ANGELIC MANDARIN continues to heal the PRISMATIC ENERGY. To this point, the ASSASSIN has been a complete waste of a card in this battle, and at the front, as my opponent has split his attack, I've been able to take significant advantage. Had my PRISMATIC ENERGY fallen (as it should have by now) the outcome of this battle might have been completely different!

End of Round 4:

This was an interesting round - again, the SILVERSHIELD ASSASSIN lands two hits, and again, a heal occurs. But - my ANGELIC MANDARIN dies this round. The opponent's PORTAL SPINNER landed another hit on him with his random attack. This wasn't a problem, however, as I continued to work through my opponent's front line and my opponent's SILVERSHIELD ASSASSIN was promoted to the tank. This meant my PRISMATIC SHIELD would have no more immediate attacks against it. The ANGELIC MANDARIN kept this card alive - healing for +12 over 4 rounds, meaning that the +16 damage taken barely impacted me.

And then, by the time we move into Round 6, it's all over. My team has largely kept it's shape, and I was able to make quick work of my opponent's final couple of cards in his line-up.

Want to re-live the battle and watch the video? Great, push play!

VIDEO

Evaluation:
TRIAGE is an absolutely game-changing skill, and it has the ability to turn a battle. Sure, the ANGELIC MANDARIN may not be one of those high attack game-changers in an obvious way - but in a less obvious way, he's amazing.

Let me say this again.

My opponent's SILVERSHIELD ASSASSIN did 16 damage to my PRISMATIC ENERGY.
My ANGELIC MANDARIN healed my PRISMATIC ENERGY FOR +12 health.

So who won? Well, my PRISMATIC ENERGY didn't die, and this meant that all those attacks that hit him (all 8 of them) turned out to be a waste of time. In effect, what I did was make it a 6 man team on my side, taking on essentially only 5 on the opposing team.

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