Prelude
Hi all, hope all is well for you and it is time for another Battle Mage Secrets. Last week, the ruleset that we discussed favours the usage of range attackers, giving them the ability to shoot close range. This week, we are back with ruleset that makes Magic attackers go gaga.

Ruleset Spotlight

Counterspell

Description:

• All units receive the magic reflect ability at the start of the battle. Enemy units that attack with magic receive damage back.

• Damage returned is equal to the damage of the attacker divided by 2, rounded up.

• Magic units with the reflection shield ability do not take damage from reflected magic attacks.

• The amplify ability increases damage.

What thrives with this ruleset?
While it is said that fielding magic attackers is bad, one special thing that I want to call out will be magic attackers with Void will still be a good option to field in such a ruleset because Void will help to absorb the reflected damage. However, not many cards fall into this category, so far Oshannus can be represent such a card with Void that is viable to field for this ruleset.

Ok back to the rest of what works for the ruleset. With expected less magic attackers, armour become something very important because it is effective against melee and range attackers. As such, cards with Protect ability will do really well in such a ruleset. Another ability that do well for such a ruleset is actually Shield which reduces the damage taken by melee and range attackers.

After considering all the defence aspect of things, one can now look at abilities that return damage on the melee and range, which will be Thorns and Return Fire. Imagine the frustration your opponent get when facing a lineup that returns everything. On top of return, dodging is great too, so field in cards with Dodge or even Flying to boost your chances of avoiding getting hit.

Then next will be attack alteration. Demoralize takes care of melee output from your opponent while Headwinds does the same for range attackers. Lastly, if you intend to field a heavy melee lineup, you can also consider putting cards with Inspire to boost your lineup.

Stats wise, no special outs. The higher the better for attack, speed and survivability in the match.

With these in mind, let's start to talk about the battle proper.

The Battle
Link: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_c71c110d1a80d4145ec54da10dc383d5&ref=vaynard86

Ruleset
Counterspell
Mana Limit: 47

Opponent Lineup

• Summoner - Thaddius Brood
• Position 1 - Night Ghoul
• Position 2 - Arachne Thug
• Position 3 - Silent Sha-vi
• Position 4 - Daigendark Hunter
• Position 5 - Dhampir Stalker
• Position 6 - Cursed Windeku

Prediction before pressing rumble
Both side lined up strong teams for this match. Opponent side have an equal amount of hard hitters as mine and opponent was expecting me to use sneak and prepared a Cursed Windeku to return the favour. May the best team win.

Battle Synopsis

Round 1, Game on. Night Ghoul has taunt so everything from my side went to it while opponent had 2 sneak, Tinderlock and Antoid Platoon manage to hold on thanks to the Protect from Ferox Defender.

Round 2, Things got a little more exciting, Night Ghoul smashed by Countess Sinash, while Tinderlock get smashed by the dual sneakers from my opponent and Antoid Platoon fell victim to the Thug.

Round 3 saw the fall of the Thug and the 2 sneakers courtesy of my opportunistic cards and Ferox Defender. Both sides are thinning down.

Round 4-7 saw how my lineup chew on my opponent with a good thing that Lava Launcher holding the fort till the end and letting Countess to take out everyone else. Victory secured!

Post Battle Summary
Whew, if I fielded melee sneaker or more melee cards, it would be a clear cut loss to me for sure. Thankfully I put in what I needed to ensure victory.

Did my strategy work? It was intended to have such a mix and hence with the good mix of cards with Protect, Shield with even number of melee/range attackers, it paid off well. The Protect was really significant else, my front line and backline would have melted within a single turn.

What's the Battle Mage Secret?

Today's Battle Mage Secret was a lineup tailored for any occasion so as to not be overly lop sided on one type since we are not fielding magic cards. This is why I deployed a good mix of both range and melee cards. Each of the card had their purpose in the lineup, the opportunist just wrecked havoc everywhere while Lava Launcher being the last and facing Cursed Windeku just made my day because I won't get subjected to the thorns which will just eat up any melee attacker easily.

So in the event that you are playing such a ruleset, why not call on both Swords (melee) and Arrows (range), it diversifies the play and you will not get locked down so easily should you pick the wrong cards to focus on.

Wrap Up
I hope you guys enjoyed reading my sharing on the rule set Counterspell. I would really appreciate it if you liked and/or commented to let me know what are you thoughts.

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Till my next battle sharing, take care, stay safe and happy battling!

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