A Prickly Opponent: Splinterlands Social Media Challenge

My deck is not complete so I will need to push to the Life side of things here. Depending on the level of the opposing summoners, there could be some very serious abilities in play. I'll be using a sixth level rare Life summoner.

Manuevers

Each unit is given the Reach ability which allow melee attacks to occur from the second position.

Thorns

Melee attackers will receiver two melee damage on every successful melee attack. Reflection Shield is a counter to this. Amplify increases the damage dealt by Thorns.

I think that General Sloan offers a wealth of opportunites to cause damage from afar against an opposition. A good alternative would have also been within the life deck and that is Franz Ruffmane which would offer Gladius card options which do also have significant damage output. With General Sloan, each ranged physical damage will be increased so this is something I have considered as well.

With Thorns, I am expecting to see a significant amount of ranged and magic damage from my opponent and so utilising Void on Iziar hedges my bets a little to counter any magic damage. Great health and two magic damage means that this card should survive a good amount of damage - that is unless the opponent uses Fury to take down Iziar with the Taunt ability. Taunt will send all damage toward Iziar where possible so some support to keep it alive may be required.

In a Thorns ruleset, Corsair Bosun is an excellent option with reflection Shield. Great damage and armour combined with good speed make this an excellent card - expensive for ten mana but well worth it!

Here and in the lineup to provide good support to Iziar at the front. Whilst only having a single magic damage, I wanted to vary my damage type a little and ensure my entire lineup had something very different to offer.

A solid attacker with the Double Strike ability, making it six damage per round. With Flying, this is a more difficult target to hit. Ideally, I am hoping Flying will help to avoid any incoming Opportunity strikes once the Taunt monster in first position, Iziar, is taken down.

Blast damage is the name of the game here. Combined with General Sloan five damage to the initial target and a further three damage to adjacent targets. With some armour this is a solid unit and one which takes some beating to take it down. A good damage source and a consistent one for my lineup.

Swiftness plus three ranged damage and five speed make this a strong card and one I will certainly miss in the new modern. Five health means this card is also strong enough to sit at the back and soak up a decent amount of pressure from sneak also.

Dragon summoner and it opens up a chosen element's Gladius cards which can be deadly if not careful. There are some incredibly strong Dragon cards to be aware of also. At fifth level and in Gold Foil, a great card to have in the collection. A decent choice depending on what my come to follow.

Martyr is an excellent ability and this is the sacrifical lamb in first position to provide a bit more spark to the next card. I remember discussions from a good while ago now about whether to level this card up to keep it low level to ensure it remains a target for Opportunity etc. A good card, depending on the next choice.

At fourth level this is an excellent card and the Void ability takes it to the next level. With Scavenger and Bloodlust, as well as a Martyr to give this a little boost, this is a real threat if combined with a Weapons Training card in an adjacent position. I like this choice if combined in the next position.

Here is that Weapons Training card I expected to follow Helmet Kharafax. Providing magica damage to a Gladius card which will likely be bolstered by a Martyr in the near future is a good tactical plan. Will it be enough?

With three damage and Triage, this is a significant threat and problem if I wanto do damage to the opposing backline in this battle. With the Strengthen ability, all opposing monsters will have health which is one higher than usual.

This is a card which Pelacor Arbalest will sweat over as it targets Flying monsters from any position on the battlefield.

A Taunt monster which is in a good tactical position as it keeps the focus of my attacks spread. A good choice by my opponent here and one I have used myself several times also.

Night Reaper came straight for Pelacor Arbalest and immediately balanced the battlefield. Iziar did well holding down the first position and strong damage from Prismologist is giving out significant damage to their opposing backline.

With Helmet Kharafax in first position, the opposing lineup is looking vulnerable with Corsair Bosun ready to take it down in the next turn. Reflection Shield is really doing well in this battle.

In this last stage of the battle, I think we can see that the Night Reaper should have been in the second or first position of the opposing line up.

• The opponent's strategy was a really good one and on another day it may have worked. I think ensuring cards with Bloodlust have the opportunity to gain further momentum is vital. So perhaps placing thegladius card further back in the lineup would have made it more effective.

• A variation of damage is important as it ensures a singular counter does not prevent progress.

• Void and Taunt are very effective and can halt a magic only based lineup.
  

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