Battle Mage Secrets Weekly Challenge! Taking Sides!

[Source]

Hi everyone! It's time for the weekly Battle Mage Secrets challenge and the challenge this week is the Taking Sides Ruleset.

About the Ruleset

Taking Sides

The Taking Sides ruleset states that "Neutral Monsters may not be used in battles". This means that your deck is restricted to the Splinter that you are using. Using the Dragon splinter will ensure that you have a larger selection of monsters to choose from.

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Battle Ruleset(s)

Details of my battle with this ruleset is as follows.

Taking Sides: Neutral Monsters may not be used in battles
Back to Basics: Monsters lose all abilities
Only the Fire and Water Splinters can be used
Mana Cap: 14
Format: Modern

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Cards & Line Up

The
Summoner vs

Summoner: Kelya Frendul - This increases the Speed and Shield of my deck by 1.

The Line Up

Position 1	Position 2	Position 3	Position 4

vs

Position 1	Position 2	Position 3	Position 4

[Card image source]

Position	Name	Description
1	Torrent Fiend	It has low health but can take two hits here if the opponent doesn't use magic monsters.
2	Albatross	It has low health too but can take two hits here if the opponent doesn't use magic monsters.
3	Hardy Stonefish	Again, another monster with low health but can take two hits here if the opponent doesn't use magic monsters.
4	Djinn Oshannus	It is my main damage dealer and can hopefully take the opponent out before they get to him.

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Strategy

The ruleset here meant that (1) the cards are limited to the Splinter used, since the Dragon Splinter is is not allowed in this ruleset, (2) Monsters have no skills and we can only rely on the Summoner skills.

I opted for the Water Splinter as I wanted to use Djinn Oshannus to take out the opponent while using the really weak cards to slow him down. I felt that this was the best possible strategy here since monsters lose all their skills.

The opponent opted for a stronger tank using the Cruel Sethropod and monsters with ranged attacks. This is a strategy that I wouldn't usually employ for the Back to Basics ruleset because the ranged monsters are basically useless once they get to position 1.

I think my strategy panned out well, though I felt relieved only after taking out Angelic Mandarin. It was a cruise in the park after that, since Kulu Swimhunter could't attack when in position 1.

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Thoughts on the Taking Sides Ruleset

The Taking Sides ruleset can be a little restrictive, as it cuts out a common set of Neutral cards that can be used. If the Dragon splinter can be used, it can help to augment and expand the card set that can be used. Otherwise, it will be down to who chooses the better strategy for the battle.

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Battle

Watch the battle here