Sometimes in Splinterlands, things get really complicated and you've got to deal with too many mechanics, effects and little details. But then, at other times, everything becomes super simple and straight to the point. Honestly, it can still be stressful but kind of refreshing too. Today’s match kind of felt like that. It's just a battle of raw stats and nothing fancy.

It’s funny because you think when everything is removed, the game becomes easy, but actually it forces you to choose smarter. The battle instantly becomes in the character select and not in the actual battle. Then, suddenly, every stat matters and there’s no special trick or combo to save you if you pick wrong. So yeah, sometimes simple rules still hit different and can surprise you if you are unaware.

[battle]
https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_9441ee941d307589349d6b1ec32eebfe

The Ruleset That Defined The Fight

Back to Basics: Units lose all abilities.

This battle used Back to Basics rule, which means all units enter the battle with zero abilities. It don’t matter if a unit normally has strong buffs or defensive skills. Everything is just raw stats here. So, in this kind of fight, you don’t overthink abilities or synergy, you just pick the strongest bodies and biggest damage you can bring.

Because of the huge mana cap, this rule gets even more fun. You get to throw in some chunky, high mana units and it becomes all about high health, high damage, and speed. Simple rule but also, it's also stressful because if you pick the wrong stat, you could lose the battle fast.

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The Team Composition

In a Back to Basics rule battle like this, team building changes a lot since nobody got abilities to carry them. That means every card is judged only by numbers, so picking the right stats is the whole reason you either win or get crushed right away. Also, all units in this battle will have no abilities because of Back to Basics rule but the archons does which may give you an advantage if you play them right.

Archon: Dolfar Darflak (3 mana)
Cheap and simple Archon for Back to Basics. It don’t give abilities like other archons but it allows you to mix Fire and Death units which give more flexibility and more options on what units you can bring in the battle.

Chaos Golem — 9 mana | 4 armor | 10 health | 3 speed | 3 melee
Big tank body for front. With 4 armor and 10 Health, this thing can take damage even without defensive abilities. Also, this unit hits hard enough so it’s not just sitting there soaking up damage.

Helheim Demon — 10 mana | 2 armor | 9 health | 3 speed | 2 magic
This unit has magic attack that ignores armor which is very good here. The high health is good too so it don’t just fall over. It is really good in Back to Basics rule.

Infernal Firestorm — 10 mana | 5 armor | 9 health | 3 speed | 2 magic
Another beefy magic unit but with even more armor. This unit survives long and keeps the magic attacks going. It's perfect for battles where consistent attacks matter.

Umbral Elemental — 9 mana | 4 armor | 7 health | 2 speed | 2 magic
More magic attack, more armor, more staying on the board longer. Not the fastest but still adds reliable magic attack each round. This is the last unit in this lineup that I would consider as a tank.

Kelan Gaines — 8 mana | 0 armor | 6 health | 5 speed | 2 magic
Fast magic attacker. IT has decent health but high speed means it can land hits early and maybe secure kills before taking damage if worst comes to worst. It's a good pick for Back to Basics because speed really matters here in a pinch.

Gravebrand Warlock — 8 mana | 0 armor | 5 health | 1 speed | 3 magic
This is a free unit that you can get on Glint rewards store. It's a slow but heavy magic hitter. 3 magic is huge value for 8 mana so this one stays in the lineup. Since there was no threat of Sneak, I put him in the back because we want it to keep firing until late game.

The Strategy Behind Your Lineup

Since abilities don’t work at all, I focused straight on raw stats. My priority order was simple:
High health first, then highest magic damage, then speed, and for the last slot strong magic finisher.

Back to Basics becomes a straightforward test of strength. Magic attacks are extremely good because it ignores armor and does not miss. Pair that with tanky frontline units so they don’t collapse too fast and you have a composition that can stay on long fights while dealing consistent damage.

Speed is also huge because one early attack can reduce the enemy's firepower. That’s why I made sure that I mix in some fast magic attacker like Kelan Gaines in the lineup. With this lineup, I don’t need fancy strats and abilities. They are just strong units punching through until the end.

The Key Moment That Turned The Tide

Enemy has Sheng Xiao, a dragon archon that gives Poison Burst to its 2 selected units. Poison Burst gives poisoned status to the unit that kill that unit and 50% chance to apply to adjacent units. The enemy Sheng Xiao gave it to its first 2 units, Moribund Arrowbait and New Beluroc Aegis.

The moment that turned the tide is the death of the second unit, New Beluroc Aegis. The death of this unit means I am now cleared of the poison threat. The Poison Burst did poisoned the last 4 of my units but due to the high health of my units, it's not as much of a problem than I expected.

After that death, I also got access to the enemy back line which means I can start killing the damage dealers reducing the damage the enemy team can deal as well. Choosing high health units really paid off when battling in this Back to Basics rule.

Hi, y'all. Slimey here, your jolly and gullible little blue slime. I got reincarnated to this world to better my art and join community challenges to get more practice and improve my skill.

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Images are taken from Splinterlands, Drawn in Krita, Animated in Photoshop and Edited in Canva.