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Hello there, this is my entry to the latest "Battle Mage Secret Weekly Challenge!". If you want to participate or learn more about the challenge, click here. This week we must formulate a strategy with the Rise of the Commons ruleset.
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RULESET: Rise of the Commons
With the Rise of the Commons ruleset in action, only common and rare units can be used in the battles. Luckily, it doesn't affect the summoners.
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Rise of the Commons is a simple ruleset to understand as only commons and epic monsters are allowed to be used in the battles. It restricts a lot of us and that can be difficult to make a good lineup, especially with a limited no of active elements.
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My Lineup
This is my lineup for the battle
It was just a 31-mana cap battle and only had the 'Rise of the Commons' ruleset that we have already discussed.
Only the Fire element was active during this battle which restricted the number of options I had to choose my summoner from. I used the Brewmaster Abraxas as my summoner. I didn't have much choice and I used it because it cost 3 mana only and I could use the extra mana on my lineup.
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I used the Grimbardun Fighter as my tank in the first position. It cost 9 mana and dealt 3 melee attack damage with good speed. It came with a good amount of health and some extra armour to keep it alive for some time. But the best part is its two abilities which makes it a good defensive weapon in my arsenal. Its 'shield' reduces the damage from melee and ranged attackers by 50% and that helps a lot in any battle.
Next in my lineup was another melee attacker called Mad Ogre Anarchist. It costs 6 mana which is a bit high for what it seems to offer. But that is compensated by its 'opportunity' ability which makes it a useful unit and a surprise element in my lineup.
Next in my lineup was Nimbledook Scout. It was a no-attack unit with good speed. And its 'backfire' makes it a kind of attacking unit as well. But this can be utilized properly by giving it some attacks and the next unit helped in doing exactly that.
Moxian Rebel is a unit with the 'Weapon Training' ability which gives its damage stats to the nearby units if they don't have any attacks. That's why I placed it between the Nimbeldook Scout and Chaos Agent. Both have good speed but no attacks.
Last but not least was Firecaller, it deals a lot of range attack damage but comes with relatively lower health and no armour. It costs 5 mana and if it dies it increases the stats of the adjacent units because it has the 'martyr' ability.
Now that my lineup was set, it was time for battle.
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I will share my battle here, which I have uploaded to YouTube.
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My Strategy
My strategy in this battle with just commons and epics units allowed was to use two sturdy units at the front of the lineup which can take most of the hits and remain standing for a long time. With the ruleset and just the fire element active, we were very restricted on the number of cards to play in this unit. Even my opponent looked like they never played with fire and I don't play much with fire element myself so it was a bit for me. Luckily, my opponent didn't have good cards. They were using a level 1 summoner.
Even in the high silver leagues, they were using level 1 summoner which means that they were not prepared for fire element.
I used the Brewmaster Abraxas as my summoner which saved me one mana from the average 4 mana summoner cost. I wanted to use as much mana on the rest of the monsters.
Grimbardun Fighter was a good tank at the front of the lineup but was susceptible to magic attack damage. Most of my lineup dealt with magic attack damage because the Moxian Rebel gave the 'weapon training' to the adjacent units with no attacks.
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The battle was close even though I had much better cards but eventually, I won at the end. If they had better cards it could have been bad for me. But I focused on the fundamentals of the battle and didn't care too much about what my opponent could use against me.
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Conclusion
Rise of the Commons is an interesting one and can be challenging for some, especially when it is paired with a more restrictive choice of elements or other rulesets which reduces your available cards further and if you are playing in a Modern format it can be a tough choice sometimes. However, I try to go back to the fundamentals of the game like using sturdier elements at the start of the battle and supporting them with extra armour, health or healing if possible. It can be a challenge for some but with a good understanding of the basics and analysis of your opponent's last five, you can have better ideas on what to use. But still, I prefer to come up with a lineup which boosts my strength rather than actively trying to counter my opponents' attacks.
Let me know what are your strategies to deal with this ruleset.
Thanks for reading...
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Note:
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