Maximizing Attack with "Target Practice" - A Splinterlands' Battle Mage Secret Challenge Entry

“He who is well prepared and lies in wait for an enemy who is not well prepared will be victorious.” is a quote credited to Sun Tzu, bothering the tactics of waiting to observe the enemy's most vulnerable spot when he attempts to attack, and striking just there to earn victory. Sun Tzu was a Chinese military general, strategist, philosopher, and author of The Art of War, which is an influential work of military strategy that has affected both Western and East Asian philosophy and military thinking.

The war strategy communicated by Sun Tzu above demands that the warrior who intends to win a battle know himself as much as he knows the enemy. Failure to know these two would lead to a defect and possible failure. If the warrior knows himself but not the enemy, for every victory gained he will also suffer defeat. On the other hand, if the warrior knows neither the enemy nor himself, he will succumb in every battle.

Knowing self here refers to knowing one's strength and most effective weapon as well as weaknesses that could become the hardest hit for the enemy. Knowing the enemy here means knowing the enemy's strength and most potent weapon to prepare for a counter and seeking to know the weak link in the enemy's camp such as those without attack weapons.

The above war strategy explains clearly the Target Practice Splinterlands battle ruleset which provides that all ranged and magic units gain the Snipe ability. Monster units with Snipe ability target enemy monsters with Ranged, Magic, or no attack that are not in the first position. This battle ruleset demands that the player places ranged and magic units on the second line so they be equipped with Snipe ability to attack ranged, magic, or no attack units in the enemy team.

My Battle Experience with Target Practice Ruleset

I drew this battle with the Target practice ruleset. The 38 manna cap made it possible to select six monster units for the fight with great abilities, however, I was careful to have two ranged attack monsters and one magic attack monster in the second line of the battle to activate the ruleset. the enemy team also had two ranged attacks and one magic attack monster unit.

Battle link

My lineup for the battle comprised, Corsair Bosun (10), Zyriel (7), Pelacor Arbalest (6), Time Mage (4), Parasitic Growth (4), Trusthspeaker (3). Out of these monster units, key monsters were Corsair Bosun, Zyriel, Pelacor Arbalest, Time Mage, and Trusthspeaker. Corsair Bosun with reflection Shield made it immune to blast, magic reflect, thorns or return fire. Zyriel had the Weapons training and life leach which were to give my team an advantage. Pelacor Arbalest has the double attack ability with its improved 3-range attack. Time Mage with the slow ability reduced the speed of all enemy monster units by 1. The non-attacking TruthSpeaker has the protect ability that gives all friendly monsters +2 armor against range and melee attacks. The battle was led by General Sloan summoner adding +1 ranged attack to all friendly monsters. Below are screenshots of the battle outlook each round.

Battle link

At the end of the first round, Zyriel was down in my team while Pelacor Arbalest made two brilliant strikes that destroyed two of the enemy monsters.

Battle link

Battle link

Against expectations, the battle lasted for just 4 rounds and it was an easy defeat for my life monster units with four monster units still standing. We won! The success of the battle can be linked to knowing the right monsters to use and where to place them to maximize the battle ruleset to my team's advantage. I had a strong defense as well as attack for the battle.

I would love to try out that strategy again. However, next time I draw the ruleset, I will choose another set of splinters to see how effective they can be.

What was your experience with "Target Practice" Splinterlands ruleset.

If you found the article interesting or helpful, please hit the upvote button, share for visibility to other hive friends to see. More importantly, drop a comment beneath. Thank you!

Let's Connect

Hive: https://leofinance.io/profile/uyobong

Twitter: https://twitter.com/Uyobong3

Discord: uyobong#5966