Welcome to another Battle Mage Challenge, this time featuring the Fire & Regret rule, which gives every Monster in the field the Return Fire ability.
Fire & Regret
So, when cards have the Return Fire ability, when hit by a Ranged attacker, they will return half of the damage, rounded up. Unlike Broken Arrows, where you cannot use Ranged attackers, this rule is a warning for you to be wary about the consequences of using this kind of attack.
Ideally, you shouldn’t use Ranged attackers, however, if certain Monsters could be useful nonetheless, like for example the Swamp Spitter, who Repairs Armor. Other great exceptions are the Martyrs, whose death improve the stats of your own Monsters.
Considering the rule, logic would say that your opponent is much more likely to use Magic and Melee Monsters, so you should consider using debuffers for this kind of attacks and, on the contrary you should buff your attack of choice, anticipating a probable debuff.
To push your opponent even further, you could consider using Monsters who return Magic and Melee damage, and if you can include the Amplify effect in your lineup, even better.
Lineup & Strategy
This battle was done in the Wild Format, with Silver level cards… I had a slight advantage over my opponent when talking about the card's level. Besides Fire & Regret, we had “Rise of the Commons”, only Common and Rare Monsters could be used and “Lost Magic” … so, no Magic Monsters could be used. To balance that out, we had plenty of Mana to summon anything and the possibility to use all Splinters, with the exception of Earth.
Considering the ruleset, logic dictates that you should use Melee attackers, so that was my approach.
- As a Summoner, the Pembrook Nymph, especially to use a Gladius with Melee attack.
- As a tank, the Diemonshark, plenty of hit points and fast, which is especially good when there is no Magic around.
- Then, a classic from an older set, the Demented Shark. He never gets old, since he helps you to buff your Melee attacks, already at level one. Three cents’ guys…
- In third position, the Disintegrator, now to debuff my opponent’s Melee attacks.
- Next, the Gladius, Isgald Vorst. Great option, since she is fast, and has an Armor, which can be rebuilt, thanks to her Bloodlust skill, which can be activated quite easily, since she targets the weakest Monster, thanks to her Opportunity effect.
- To suppor Isgald, the Deeplurker, very dangerous at level five, with four points of attack and four of Speed, also with an Opportunity effect.
- At last, anticipating Melee attackers with Sneak and/or Opportunity, the Dumacke Orc, who has Shield and Retaliate. I don’t count on her ability to kill with Retaliate, I use it to take down Armor and create an opening for Isgald and the Deeplurker.
My opponent didn’t follow any logic at all. I was expecting Melee Monsters, targeting tank and back line, but instead, he assembled a lineup with four Ranged attackers, which is a very risky bet in this ruleset.
I don’t know if it was lack of cards or just poor judgement… anyways, both his tank and Gladius were on point, but in his position I would’ve:
- Put the Tenyii Striker after the Firecaller, to have another Melee attack, boosted by the Martyr, besides the Gladius.
- Then place the Scavo Hireling, to Repair the Armor generated by the Ferox Defender.
- At last, the Disintegrator to debuff my Melee attacks.
I don’t know if this beats my lineup, but at least you’re not that exposed to the ruleset’s effect, plus you create a more synergetic team.
Anyways, this is it, thank you for reading!!
