Battle Mage Secrets : Sneak while its Hot

Super Sneak ruleset is quite a tricky part as you could maximize the capability of any monster unit at your selection. You just make sure to combine it with a proper combination which you will select as your roster monsters for the battle. Just make sure that when you are looking forward to an offensive type of strategy, just make sure that those damages combined by your monsters with the help of Sneak attack that is freely given by the ruleset are that you could deal good damage to any monster positioned at the back to not able to retaliate back.

Eliminating counterpart monsters can be very effective but still, you take into consideration that players who are really keen on this strategy will also keep in mind their back monsters. They too make sure that they will able to sustain damage or keep them protected, equipping them with a very strong positive buff with either the help of their selected Summoner or a friendly monster. You will need to carefully strategize anything that would fully fit into the strategy and select those monsters that are good with both offense and defense if possible. But if you aren't able to do both then make sure that you are into the right decision to choose what would be your best action.

Anyway, this is a game wherein you will not just think about your own lineup of monsters but you also need to look forward to your possible opponent's lineup whether he will go to an offensive or defensive stance. If you have the best luck then that would be a good addition also but still luck just does not come if you don't do any handwork into it. So just make sure to learn all your monster's active and passive skills while familiarizing all possible strategies that you could put into the battlefield to your advantage.

Below is my Battle Report for this weekly challenge.

RULESET

Name	Description	Image
Active	Fire, Water, Earth, Death
Mana Cap	29
What doesn't kill you	All the monsters have enraged ability
Super Sneak	All melee units gain the Sneak ability.

There are two rules for this battle one is Enraged and the other is Super Streak. The first one Enraged is really a powerful add-on but tricky part since all melee units do have boosts in it during battle. The way it boosts up the speed and attack by 1.5x makes a big difference since the first initiator of any attack could direct to a better outcome than attacking at a slow paced.

But still, even with the Enraged being activated, the player needs to be very careful because there is the possibility that the opponent is totally thinking about equipping some anti-melee so that you could be disabled or something that will lead to your disadvantage. So everything should be fully strategized as there are many possible techniques or strategies that must be considered always.

We could have units that have Inspire skill which can be really deadly if you just weigh the possible effect in it during battle engagement. Another thing Demoralize skill could be a big disadvantage for all melee attack units, so it is always better if you mix up your monster into different attack types so that you will not be totally disabled if ever a melee rebuffing is active in your battle.

Now Super Sneak is a very awesome ruleset if you ask me since the battle would be a little crazy when monsters are jumping attacks at the back portion. This kind of attacking could easily eliminate mostly units are the back since they are much weaker in terms of defense but surely their offensive stance could be much greater. Everything should be placed in a very organized way so that you will not be shocked if your units are being eliminated one by one.

MATCHUP

In this battle, we are both using Water since we probably think that a Water monster type could handle the advantage on the battlefield. Now we can see that my Summoner is only at Level 3 and my opponent is at Level 5, which we all know that the level of monster can be used to my opponent's advantage. But everything is on the wheel and the battle is round and possibly requires luck sometimes. So even if the opponent has the advantage in terms of level, defeating them is still possible if you just believe in yourself and your monster units that they will able to overcome it, even if at a disadvantage.

Kelya Frendul is one of the most preferred Summoner for most players since it has boosts up of speed as well as a freebee armor which is a total package if you ask me. That is why there is no questioning why me and my opponent chose this Summoner to lead our corresponding monster units inside the battlefield. Speed is one of the advantages as I can see mostly within the game but not all the time. So as I player, I should take responsibility on when to choose effectively Kelya as my Summoner or any other Summoner. But for this battle Kelya is the star of the game, so now we shall see who is much stronger and tactician of the two identical summoners.

LINEUP : MINE

Summoner	Active Skill	Image
Kelya Frendul	+1 Speed, +1 Armor

Monster	Active Skill in Battle	Image
Baakjira	Void, Slow
Demented Shark	Inspire
Pelacor Bandit	Sneak, Flying
Deeplurker	Opportunity
Cruel Sethropod
Creeping Ooze	Slow

As per my lineup, we can see that I put Baakjira in front just to make sure that my teammates at the back are properly protected with the use of its Void and its high health capability. Plus, it also helps slow the enemy monster's attack speed to take advantage of possibly engaging first. Now for the second position is my Demented Shark wherein can hugely improve all my melee-attacking monsters. As you can see, I am focusing on a melee attack-type monster for this battle, which is why Inspire is a great addition to the possible damage that I would inflict on enemy monsters.

The third position is my assassin-type monster with flying a Pelacor Bandit. This can be a pretty deadly monster in my team, sneaking into the battlefield and possibly taking the chance of eliminating them one by one. In my team, he has a pretty decent speed that could help to attack first and slay the first target as much as possible. In fourth position is also a silent killer Deeplurker who is always fighting the lowest health and then engages it for the kill. As you can see a pretty high damage for this monster which can offer a fatal blow that might cause also an overkill.

Fifth position would be my Cruel Sethropod which has a very high armor that could help defend against attacks during the late game if ever. It has also quite an average attack speed which I think is pretty decent and still workable. And lastly, my Creeping Ooze which would be another backup of slowing down enemy attack speed, just in case they are too high to catch up with.

Now all these monsters are well-protected with my Summoner Kelya Frendul and all of them will have a boosted +1 Speed and +1 Armor. We see that the strategy is focusing on increasing speed. Let's just see if things worked out for this strategy or not.

LINEUP : OPPONENT

Summoner	Active Skill in Battle	Image
Kelya Frendul	+1 Speed, +1 Armor

Monster	Active Skill in Battle	Image
Baakjira	Void, Slow
Deeplurker	Opportunity
Merdaali Guardian	Tank Heal, Repair
Pelacor Bandit	Sneak, Flying
Torent Fiend
Dumacke Orc	Shield, Retaliate

Looking into the lineup of my opponent, I think it is pretty solid and that he is focusing on melee-attacking monsters as well. I see he is also looking for an instant kill with its Pelacor Bandit and Deeplurker. What I see as a pretty addition to its defensive stance is the Merdaali Guardian which gives a healing benefit to the first-position monster, but the downside for this is that we are both using Baakjira in front which will result in no damage at all in the early stage of rounds. And that it will be a waste of ability for this monster unit since most of the attacks are coming from the back lane. But its armor-repairing ability can be effective in battle since I see that he is looking into protecting Dumacke Orc which has a really awesome shield. Repairing it every time would be totally insane as I can see it.

He is putting Torrent Fiend into his roster because it is totally free. Its attack might be not that high but still, we can consider this one as a free attack. Sometimes those free monsters could result in a game changer, but who knows we shall see. And lastly, his Dumacke Orc which has good defense armor. Considering that most players are using melee attacking monsters, I see this one is very invincible because its health is well-protected even if its only 1. And at the same time, a Shield ability is really a headache. That is why I see this monster as a threat to my current lineup since I don't have any magic attack monster that could help eliminate it instantly.

BATTLE ROUNDS

At first glance, you will immediately see the difference in the level of my lineup and my opponent's lineup. We can see that his Summoner as well as its monster units are much stronger in terms of Level. With that, he has the advantage of activating higher abilities based on his monster level.

At the start of the battle, both of our Summoners immediately give +1 Speed and +1 Armor to our monster units. My Creeping Ooze immediately activates its Slow ability and then casts it toward the enemy monster while my Demented Shark also gives melee boosts to all my melee attacking monsters.

Our Pelacor Bandit took the first charge but I was not able to inflict good damage on my opponent since Dumacke Orc has very firm armor while on my side my Creeping Ooze immediately vanished its free armor because of the fast attack by enemy Pelacor Bandit.

A combo of my Deeplurker and Demented Shark attacking again Dumacke Orc but still no success in eliminating it, but the positive side is that there is no more armor left for that enemy monster. But suddenly, Merdaali Guardian immediately comes to its aid and applies a bonus +2 armor which helps his Dumacke Orc to stay longer on the battlefield.

On the other hand, my Creeping Ooze was eliminated since it could not withstand any more attacks which resulted in all debuffs cast being eliminated but thankfully, my slow debuff is still in effect because my Baakjira is still well and standing.

At the end of Round 1, my Cruel Sethropod has been ganged up which resulted in elimination of its armor which I think can be at its disadvantage in the second round.

In round 2, my Pelacor took a good strike to Dumacke Orc which resulted in elimination of that monster. With no more high armor, I sense that there is still a chance of winning this battle. But suddenly his Deeplurker gives a fatal blow to my Cruel Sethropod which I am now more at my disadvantage in terms of damage dealing.

There is also an immediate strike of my Deeplurker and Pelacor Bandit to his freebie monster. I think he did a good job here, making it a diversion so that my high-damage melee monster will attack it instead of that useful unit. I see that Deeplurker and Pelacor Bandit now striking my Deeplurker which is health bar now at 3, but due to an enrage attack boosted to 8, which I think is a pretty solid attack if successful hit.

But the problem is that another armor protection is given by Merdaani Guardian to its Pelacor Bandit which now is a well-protected monster. My Deeplurker attempted to attack it at the end of round 3 but missed, and only my Demented Shark was able to eliminate its shield.

At around 4, my Deeplurker was inflicted with Poison which resulted in its elimination on the battlefield. Now it's up to my Pelacor Bandit and Demented Shark if they will able to pull it off. And without delay his Deeplurker gave me a headache because of its Opportunity skill and Poison combo my Pelacor Bandit suffered heavy damage which is now its health at 1.

I was able to avoid attacks from Pelacor Bandit but his Deeplurker is a headache, killing my Pelacor Bandit in round 5.

In round 6, I have only one damage dealing left and there is too little left on its survival because my opponent still has two attacking monsters at its disposal. The only thing that I am relying on right now is that I will be able to evade it and deal good damage to enemy monsters but the problem is that he has a armor repairing monster which gives him the advantage in this battle.

In round 7, my last attacking monster falls to its feet and only my Baakjira is left standing and waiting for its death sentence. I lost this battle but my team was able to hold it until round 9, which I think is a good strong lineup even if I have a disadvantage in terms of level.

MY ANALYSIS

Comparing our set of monsters, my opponent has the upper hand in terms of abilities activation and strong monster because he has a more powerful Summoner compared to mine. I may have supplied an additional melee attack but it didn't sustain a lot because he has armor reparing monster which gives him overall protection throughout our battle.

In the long run, he emerge victorious because he was able to cripple my melee attackers by delaying through the use of its Merdaali Guardian. Now, I know that this monster is a must-have in this kind of battle. Another great learning process for me and I shall add it to my learnings. Thank you.

FULL BATTLE

Full Battle can be seen here: https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_c0e673e9a8d47d058033ab0bbbe78021

CREDITS

• Images are taken from Splinterlands / Steemmonsters
• Some of this images are being edited in Photoshop
• Thank you Splinterlands for letting us use images for our post and other promotions for the game.