Underdog Wins

Prologue

Conclave Arcana has brought something to the game that I thought wasn't possible - more underdog wins. The game play seems to be way better balanced, though quite a bit more complicated aka with a lot more depth. I'm still getting used to all the new combos and possibilities, but one thing that stuck out was that I frequently win against Max Level summoners, while I still creep around Silver/Intermediate level with my modern ones.

That was the reason why I was hesitant to get into modern again. But I eventually did, and I actually made it into Diamond 1 - with exactly 3400. Of course, the last battle was an underdog win, too, of the first kind I'll describe.

One of the reasons I got so far is that depth in strategy that is possible now. More combinations, more synergies, more counters against OP cards (no surprise that the new Life Archon gives reflection shield...).

Another is the distribution of cards - not everyone has all the cards at max level, so they can't take full advantage of their max summoners, and that favors the underdog, too.

Let's have a quick look at a few battles where I was apparently over-powered, but managed to fight my way through. Well, the cards did, I was sitting in front of the screen biting my lips, fearing a heart attack. That, too, is the new meta - so much more exciting!

Battle 1 - Just not the right cards

Also, my strategy was kind of awesome. Look at the picture below - can you see it?

Triple Attack Krash. I loved this card in the double-attack version with Rage and the Ferexian Hero, but Bren makes things even more fun. That card is a staple for Equal Opportunity.

As you can see, I placed the Artificer next to it, due to the Lookout - which also helps a lot against the Ambush.

It ended in the second round already, with Crash having a total of 12 Attack Points.

Now, look at the opponents cards. Though the summoner is maxed, none of the others is. The Halfling is only level 1 - which is hard to believe at this point of time. With all cards maxed out, this could've been very differently.

Battle 2 - Inconsistent Strategy

Yes, I do love my Akane + Rage Strategy.

Now, here you have a fully maxed and quite powerful team - but not enough consistency in the strategy. The one scattershot and the Snipe make things really complicated, as the damage is not focused - my team takes adavantage of that, as their firepower is 100% tank-focused. Also, choosing Magic Reflect and Return Fire as abilities in an Amplify rule-set was not a coincidence.

And I was lucky that they chose to give Shield to the commander, who already is a great anti-melee/ranged card with Dodge and high speed. Seems like they're missing a few cards to max level, though, since it has backfire then, too. Anyway, giving +2 Ranged to the Ranger and the Dog could've been more productive.

Battle 3 - The Squirrel Killer

This one was a great and risky battle against someone I encounter quite frequently in Tournaments as well, @axemaster88 .

Giving taunt to the Conjurer was a good move in order to not have it burn the rest, but also risky - especially since I had the same suicide idea, using the Shock Trooper, who'd be killed quickly due to magic reflect.

Due to mentioned ruleset, I foresaw little magic troops, so I put the Commander in front, and boosted it with Sevaya - Dodge + Blind + 5 Speed is a great combo against all non-magic-monsters. And the Cleanse and +2 Armor wouldn't hurt, either.

Then the protagonist - the Night Reaper. One of my favorite cards so far for this rule-set thanks to reflection shield, and even more effective against Risqrel with its wing-break. It was a beast in this battle, wiping the floor with the enemy team.

Against any other team, the enemy's line-up would've killed it, probably, as it was nicely assembled for a no-magic-fight, too (Shield, Thorns, Retaliate, Snare, Poison, Piercing).

Battle 4 - The OP Summoner

Yes, it still is OP. The $150 I spent are still a good deal.

This was a very close one, and honestly most of the Strategy was - Tofu. That Thorns is very powerful, so is Triage and Scavenge. Yes, I did take advantage of Blind, Void, Execute, Repair and Opportunity, but without Tofu, that would've ended differently. And it was only level 2! Imagine if I spent another $150... (well, $240 at the moment).

Conclusion

This just wasn't happening in the old modern. Besides the OP summoner, it was almost impossible to beat Max level with Intermediate level. Of course, it will become more difficult later, when everybody is getting used to the best strategies and combinations - but I honestly don't think that will be impossible again. That new depth in strategy, the almost endless combinations, they re-shaped the meta in a huge way.

So, here's my conclusion:

Thank you SO MUCH @splinterlands team and everyone who worked on this! It's really no surprise that this edition is a hit, and I predict that it will sell out completely before end of the year. So, better get back to work 😝

Thank you very much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it at least as much as I enjoyed writing :-D If you have any comments or feedback - please let me know! And don't forget to leave your own posts for me to curate. Thank you very much!

If you don't play the game yet, you can use my referral: Click here for referral :-)i