Battle Mage Secrets: Holy Protection - Shock Absorbing Coat

Prelude
Hello everybody, how is it going? It's time for more Battle Mage Secrets. Last week's sharing was on utilising stun giving cards to give additional bonus in battle. This week the ruleset will be on one of that which gives an additional armour in the form of divine shield.

The ruleset of the challenge this week is: Holy Protection

Ruleset Spotlight

Holy Protection
All units gain the Divine Shield ability which reduces the damage of the first attack received to 0.

Divine Shield will be re-applied when a unit is Resurrected.

Blast damage will remove Divine Shield.

Special note: Divine shield doesn't protect against poison.

Abilities/Cards that get shutdown with this rule set
Honestly speaking, there is no ability that get shut down. The only not as good thing will be to use cards that give Divine Shield such as Lorna Shine or Spirit Shaman because Divine Shield does not stack.

What thrives with this ruleset?
For me, abilities/cards that thrive with this rule set will be those that strip off the Divine Shield easily.

Option 1: Blast
This is one good way to strip off the divine shield of adjacent cards. Best if this card with blast comes with opportunity ability like Countess Sinash.

Option 2: Redemption
The death of a card with redemption will strike a one damage to the whole of opponent lineup and totally wipe out the divine shield.

Option 3: Double Strike or Double Attack
Cards with these ability will be able to first strip off the divine shield then do direct damage. Cards like Axemaster, Grund, Silvershield Assassin etc are all good.

Next will be on the defensive portion, with the understanding of divine shield coming back on upon resurrection, cards with resurrect ability should be considered as it gives more value for the ruleset. Cards like River Hellodale, High Priest Darius, Astral Entity etc are some commonly used cards with resurrect.

For further survivability, armour and other defensive related boost should also be considered after the divine shield is being worn off. Protect, void, repair, heal, tank heal, triage etc are the usual good abilities to have.

Stats consideration for this ruleset is simple. High armour, high health and high speed.

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

The Battle
Link: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_90a975a1dc282ef926ce9ed33acf8e96&ref=vaynard86

Rules

Holy Protection,Keep Your Distance
Mana Limit: 44

Splinter	Mana Cost	Position	Reason
Kelya Frendul	4	Summoner	Summoner that gives +1 speed and +1 armour, additional protection on top of divine shield
Venari Marksrat	3	1st	Martyr card to be sacrificed to boost Oshannus
Djinn Oshannus	8	2nd	Fast magic attacker with void
River Hellondale	7	3rd	Resurrect giver, especially to Martyr card
Axemaster	7	4th	Double striker with high speed
Merdaali Guardian	3	5th	Tank healer to keep Oshannus alive
Nerissa Tridawn	9	6th	Backline heavy magic attacker
Total Mana:	41

Opponent Lineup

• Summoner - Kelya Frendul
• Position 1 - Djinn Oshannus
• Position 2 - Nerissa Tridawn
• Position 3 - Magic of Chaos
• Position 4 - Supply Runner
• Position 5 - Kulu Swimhunter
• Position 6 - Gargoya Devil

Prediction before pressing rumble
I have put up my lineup based on the elements I have discussed above. One other thing to note is that my opponent is range heavy especially towards the backline. Let's see if my lineup is able to overcome my opponent's.

Battle Synopsis

Round 1, Rock and roll, things move fast, my Venari Marksrat died, resurrected and died again. Through this, the divine shield acted up on it and help to sustained quite a few damage before allowing a double Martyr given to Oshannus.

Round 2, Continued barrage happened throughout this round, thankfully there is void on Oshannus and the double attack of Axemaster helped to take out opponent's Oshannus.

Round 3, Another deadly combination where Axemaster took out Nerissa with it's double attack. Oshannus gets healed so looked unscathed.

Round 4, The barrage keeps coming and this round supply runner get taken out.

Round 5 and 6, It was picking up the pieces and using all the attacks to take out Kulu Swimhunter and Gargoya Devil in respective turns. Victory secured.

Post Battle Summary
With the right pieces and strategy, it was quite a breeze for the match. Divine shield did make things move a little slower, but as long as we set the match up right, we will be able to pull it through.

Did my strategy work? Yes, this matchup I fielded what I need to give myself advantage on the ruleset in terms of stripping off the shield from my opponent and also the resurrection which absorbed additional damage because the resurrected card carried divine shield when it rose from the dead once more, and gave Martyr to my Oshannus.

What's the Battle Mage Secret?
Divine shield is something really good which help to absorb one big blow. So key is to strip them off with things like double strike. Next is to capitalize the free divine shield upon resurrection which was seen in River Hellondale reviving Marksrat to absorb some more damage upon resurrection from the free divine shield. The rest of the strategy is similar to usual matches in terms of additional armour, speed, void and definitely some healing to keep the front liner alive to sustain the match.

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

I am currently part of PIZZA, an active gaming and creative arts crypto community on the HIVE blockchain and part of PIZZA guild. Popular cryto games such as SPLINTERLANDS, RISING STAR and HASHKINGS are actively discussed in this community.

Many events are being organized from time to time. Join the PIZZA DISCORD. This is a place filled with 💰🍕🎁GIVEAWAYS & AIRDROPS💰🍕🎁 and most definitely consisting of a friendly community to be in.

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

If you are keen on playing Splinterlands, feel free to join me via this link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=vaynard86