diaries of @dhimmel

Welcome to the inaugural entry into the diaries of @dhimmel, where @dhimmel takes notes on strategy as he battles to be one of the very top @steemmonsters players in the @splinterlands.

Battle

Today's notes involve this 22-mana Target-Practice battle against @begonethot of the Immortal Gods guild. Prior to this defeat, I had 29 wins and 5 losses on the season, and am ranked 4th currently.

Now for the battlefield. Here's what we dealt:

Vocabulary

• Target Practice: All Ranged and Magic attack Monsters have the Snipe ability.
• Snipe: Targets enemy Monsters with Ranged, Magic, or no attack that are not in the first position.
• Blast: Does additional damage to Monsters adjacent to the target Monster.

Strategy

Usually for this format I'd focus on throwing down some blasters, because blast gains extra damage per attack when paired with snipe. This is because when snipe-blasting, the target monster is surrounded on both sides, meaning no blast ricochet goes to waste.

Then, the next question is whether to go ranged, magic, or mixed for your attack. This match was complicated by the fact that Water and Dragon summoners were off the menu. So the Fire splinter would be the natural next choice, since it's got Elemental Phoenix and Fire Demon (although no summoners to buff either ranged or magic since Dragons were off the table).

So I designed a team that could beat a fire-snipe-blast team. First, I used only melee monsters, as to not have any monsters in the back row that would be snipe-targetable. Therefore all monsters besides the front must be melee. This leaves a sneaky team as the only viable option.

I chose Life Splinter for The Peakrider for ranged protection, Feral Spirit to sneak, Armorsmith to repair, and Silvershield Paladin to protect against ranged-attack and reflect magic.
Add in the Crystal Werewolf to silence magic, and we are talking about one defensive team that has a concentrated and lethal sneak attack.

When I clicked battle, I was stoked with the team I concocted, confident it would demolish the opponent into deep despair. But what happened instead? The genius of @begonethot! He gave me a taste of my own medicine, but with one of the most lethal variations I've seen for when you know the other player is going with the same strategy. We'll call the strategy The Sneak of Life.

@begonethot made two critical placements to go ultimate Sneak of Life.

First, he places Angel of Light in the lead. This can be a slick move, as the Angel of Light is somewhat evasive with flight, while able to heal herself and have armer repaired by Armorsmith. Furthermore, she inspires friendly melee with +1 attack.

Her biggest weakness is against strong magic, which will blow her apart faster than she can heal. And if she dies first, you've wasted her resurrect ability. So this was a huge risk, but if you think the other player will Sneak-Life, then the lead monster won't be under heavy attack load. Update: see @begonethot's comment on how the trailing Lord Arianthus is guaranteed to soak up most of the ranged/magic attack making the risk to Angel of Light less.

Furthermore, you spend your tank monster allocation on abilities rather than a half-hearted solo attack that is bound to be too impotent to do lasting damage, while possibly triggering an angry retaliation or thorn lashing.

Second, @begonethot trails with Lord Arianthus, whose shielded thorns weak havoc on melee sneakers. Plus if it resurrects, it will have armor and health taking potentially two strikes (or more due to Armorsmith) to banish it from its afterlife. Also Earth Splinter was on the table, so you may have to contend with the sneaky magic of a Goblin Sorcerer.

In conclusion, I played the ultimate Sneak of Life team with the expectation that the opponent would play a sniping ranged, magic, and blast medley. But @begonethot predicted my move and extended it to its extreme.

Should I have switched Crystal Werewolf and Silvershield Bard? Probably, as that would have better defended against the Sneak of Life, although it could lead to a monster down faster if the opponent blasts. Anyways, the switch wouldn't have been enough to tip the scales in this match. Good game @benonethot.

Stay in touch

Do you like this content? We upvote insightful comments with every last drop of our power. Follow @monstertalk, @dhimmel, and @trang to stay in the loop.

Also who else is loving guilds and double rule sets? Are you an elite player, looking to join a guild of top caliber and ruthlessness? Consider the PeakMonsters PREMIERE guild. Currently, capacity is maxed out, but my understanding is that there will be opportunities for new members, as this is a merritt-based guild without membership fees.