SHARE YOUR BATTLE Weekly Challenge! -- Ant Miners

One of the first non-starter cards I ever received from a chest was Ant Miners.

I was not impressed.

First of all, it seemed like wimpy filler when what I needed was a Legendary monster, a destroyer of worlds. Second, the name was confusing to me as my limited imagination could only see one ant. One ant = one miner right? Well, ants do all their best gangster business in swarms so as I grew to love this card, I imagined an army of ants all coming to rally to the bitter end. I had some fun matches where the Ant Miners would stroll in at the last minute and wear down a beleagured opponent. When I saw that Share your Battle challenge, I was pretty excited, remembering those fun come-from behind victories.

Times have changed, even in the few short months I have been playing. I am a Bronze player. I am a little ashamed to admit it, but I do not have the bankroll to rent monster cards and the power cards I do have are gold versions of pretty abundatnt reward cards. With no Level 2 Summoners to call my own, the gold beauties are really only good for renting out to more ambitious or powerful players.

In my limited experience, it seems to me that players are much better than they used to be and even though I think I have improved, it seems like luck plays a bigger and bigger factor. Rarely do I play someone and think "I wonder if this person just started playing." Everybody is good and plays really good versions of their chosen splinter, and usually seems to choose the right splinter.

So I had some reservations about whether I would be able to complete this challenge at all. But nostalgic and fond for the early days of my time in Splinterlands (you know, way back in July!), I decided to give Ant Miners the stage!

Battle #1 - 29 Mana

Result: Lost brutally to a Light Splinter brigade with great tank, healer, and plenty of Sneaks
Analysis: Maybe I overdid it with range attackers and left poor Anty too exposed
Link to the Humiliating Defeat: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_7dfb6abb56a5f2847c6fbb47cc28d662&ref=pregosauce

Battle #2 - 26 Mana

Result: Lost brutally to a Water Splinter magician circus
Analysis: Maybe my positioning was off? Again, I could not help but play Pyromancer and a few other range attackers, so when my slow (though speed boosted) tank died it was game over
Link to Even More Humiliating Defeat: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_ba75a1238e2e925cb4aa7ebc8c636d0d&ref=pregosauce

So far the theme might be that Ant Miners is NOT HELPFUL. Or it could be that I am TERRIBLE! I would not normally play Fire splinter in these higher Mana matches (open to feedback!) so maybe I am forcing things too much to expect better outcomes?

Luckily, I got a low Mana battle so there will be no excuses for either me or Anty!!!

Battle #3 - 14 Mana

Yay! A Battle Condition - all monsters get Opportunity ability... I mean, if there ever was a set-up designed for Ol' Anty, this is the one, right? We have low Mana and Anty actually gets to attack, AND the low Mana means that there will be (probably) lots of deaths early on because of the low HP monsters played. I am feeling GOOOOOOOOOODDDDDDD....

*Result: About what you would expect.

*Analysis: It was a classic Fire vs Death low Mana battle. I had opted for attack power over speed. Death played a good hand, Haunted Spirit, Undead Badger, and they had a Creeping Ooze, too. Unexpectedly, they played Maggots, which already had the Opportunity ability. I played the core of my low Mana Fire splinter wimpy-player lineup: Cerberus, Serpentine Spy, Kobold Miner. For the sake of this Challenge, I tried to protect the Ant Miner whereas I might have normally had Ol' Anty dangling in the end position. The greatest moment in Ant Miners battle dreams came true when Anty was able to get a shot in without being the last ant standing.

*Link to the Ant Minters FTW! https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_6214dcaabc701372170dbc0581999116&ref=pregosauce

Ant Miners gets a KILL!

I am really thankful for this Battle Challenge! It has renewed my love for an unsung hero of low Mana battles... Ant Miners.

Based on my experiences, I will be looking for Ant Miners in low Mana battles, particularly those in which it can be protected from attack by a card on the end position, and in which special battle conditions allow it to attack.