Battle Mage Secrets - Why Don't Players Use This Epic Card?

The theme for the current "Battle Mage Secret" challenge is Silenced Summoners ruleset this time! This means summoners do not give any buffs/debuffs or grant/use abilities. It's not always easy to get the specific ruleset, but if you play hard enough, you definitely can find one! This time I was lucky enough to have one - woohoo!

So here's the interesting battle that I encountered.

Anyway, I thought it would be still be interesting to introduce some useful cards and show how their strengths can be maximised especially with a particular ruleset. In this post, the featured card is a card which players hardly use, Axemaster!

Axemaster's Double Strike ability is what makes him crazily strong. How many 7 mana cards can deal 4 damage per turn? In case you wonder about accuracy, at 4 speed (or 5 if used with Kelya Frendul), it's unlikely he will miss. Also, it's not easy to hit him if he's placed in the backline due to the high speed too!

As usual, here's the lore for Axemaster for your reading interest:

The mysterious clan who call themselves Axemasters are perhaps the most peculiar group of people in the whole of ΛZMΛRÉ. They live under the moist ground in cave dwellings in the eastern thickets of the great Jungle, somewhere between the Palace of Eld and the treacherous tree known as Sligbough Oak. For many generations, they have protected the treasures of Eld from intruders, raiders, and even pirates who are unfamiliar with the legends of the curse. Some scholars claim that the Axemasters consider themselves the stewards and true owners of the treasures of Eld, but if you could get close enough to an Axemaster, they would tell you that they are merely protecting the people who would be foolish enough to touch the cursed treasure.

Genetically, Axemasters are a hybrid race called Meru that was created by merging Human and Mer (with a touch of Chaos magic) into amphibious creatures. Mer stories say that these demon offspring were ousted from Poseidar long ago, that they were not welcome anywhere under the water. As a result, they found the surface and made a home for their clan on the shores. In the years since, the clan has continued to migrate further and further from the water, where their Mer enemies are plentiful.

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Battle Type & Team Lineup

Position	Card/Level	Mana
Summoner	Kelya Frendul	4

Kelya Frendul is the ever reliable summoner for my Water lineups. The extra Armor and Speed is always a great boost to any kind of lineups. Even though these abilities were silenced, I still needed a Level 2 Summoner to enable me to use cards at higher levels.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
1	Sea Monster	8

Sea Monster is 90% my default tank for Water lineups, except for a few rulesets where its healing abilities are deactivated. High melee damage, high HP, self-healing, it is almost unbeatable in the lower leagues.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
2	Tide Biter	3

Tide Biter is the mana efficient Reach card, and it hides behind Sea Monster and deal 2 Melee damage per turn, which is impressive for a 3 mana card.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
3	Torrent Fiend	0

We don't have a luxury of mana quota here so Torrent Fiend comes in as a filler card to buy more time for backline to deal damage.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
4	Deeplurker	6

Deeplurker continues to be one of the strongest common cards in the Chaos Legion edition and its Opportunity ability always have the ability to turn battles around.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
5	Riverboat Captain	6

Riverboat Captain is one of the newer Soulbound Reward cards, and he is becoming one of my default cards in mid mana battles. At 6 mana, it potentially deals a total of 3 damage with Blast ability. That's much better than Nerissa Tridawn.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
6	Axemaster	7

Axemaster has been in my Water lineups for more than one year and I don't understand why players don't use this amazing card. With double strike, the damage output is scary.

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• Pre Battle: Lots of high level cards in my opponent's level up but nothing fancy to be honest. Interesting choice of tank from my opponent as well. I am always confident of my Water lineups so let's see how this battle turns out.
  

• Round 1: Axemaster took out the tank easily and Deeplurker snuffed out the sneaky Scavo Hireling from my opponent's backline. That's a crucial card!
  

• Round 2: Axemaster chopped away the tank once again, before he succumbed to the Sneak attacks, but my opponent's high level cards just crumbled.
  

• Round 3: And we were done!
  

If you are interested to watch the battle, you can find it here.

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Post Battle

Did my strategy work? While my opponent had higher levelled cards, but experienced players would know it's not always about the level of the cards. It's the strategy, the choice of cards, and the synergies between the cards. This was a simple fight given and there was nothing fancy in my lineup as well. I think it's really being comfortable and familiar with my card collection and having a little experience helps a long way.

What's the Battle Mage Secret? Water lineups might just be the best element to play in lower leagues. ;)

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So that's all I have! What are your takeaways from this battle? Feel free to comment below, as I am always keen to learn and improve!

As always, thanks for reading and have a pleasant day ahead!

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