Hey guys!

Last post before the New Year, hope you had a good one. This time the Weekly Challenge is with the Scattershot rule, which is called “Aimless”.

Aimless

When this rule is in effect, those Monsters with either a Magic or a Ranged attack cannot target a particular Monster. For me this rule is a pain in the ass, because there is a lot left out to chance… you may be attacking to a damage sponge card, while your opponent deals damage to your healer.

So, as an attacker you cannot focus your Ranged or Magic attacks, and as a defender you cannot use Taunt or Camouflage to protect your Monsters, so… what do we do?

In my opinion Speed is relevant, as always, but here a little bit more. Also, here my approach may be different when it comes to protecting the tank. Sometimes you may use Healers or Armor Repairers, which in most cases are weak, at least the older ones, so considering that the tank may not be taking heavy damage, but your back line might take it, I don’t pick Healers or Armor Repairers in this rule, unless that Healer has Triage. 

No, it’s a much better idea to pick Monsters with high Health and high Speed and, if you want to focus your attacks, you can always use Melee Monsters with different abilities… Sneak, Opportunity, Reach…

And, if you want to use Scattershot to your advantage, the only thing I can think of, is using Monsters with the ability Enrage, because when their Health is damaged, something very likely to happen with this rule, both their Speed and Attack is boosted. Skargore is a great Summoner for this. Another good idea is to use Monsters with the Blast ability. So, the Fire Splinter may seem like the best choice when it comes to Monsters with a high level of destruction, in detriment of some Speed though… unless you use Jacek or the Byzantine Kitty. 

Battles

Battle 1

Ruleset

Lineup & Analysis

As usual, this battle was done in an Splinterlands tournament. Modern cards, Bronze cap and no Legendary Summoners. Alongside with the Aimless rule, we have the “Tis but Scratches” rule, irrelevant for me and, Broken Arrows, so no Ranged attackers. The only options of attacks where Magic and Melee, so I went for Melee, which is an attack I can control.

• The Helios Matriarch as a Summoner. I wanted the Void Dragon in my ranks and a Gladius.
• Grund as a tank. High Health and a deadly Double Strike, boosted by Thane Newsong.
• As backup tank, the Disintegrator. I expected either Katrelba or Quora, so I betted for diminishing any Melee card attack.
• Next, the Void Dragon. Weak attack, but fast and resistant to Magic.
• Since I opted for Melee attacks to cause damage, I put Thane Newsong in the fourth position to “Inspire” them.
• Next, Katrelba Gobson, my trusted Gladiator, responsible of attacking my opponent’s back line.
• At last, the Mycelic Slipspawn. It’s Taunt is useless, of course, however it has plenty of Health points, so it’s a great defense against Sneak.

The battle was a total success, since I didn’t suffer any casualty. Even though I was lucky that Katrelba wasn’t taken down from an Scattered attack, I believe that my approach was on point, while my opponent didn’t assemble a very collaborative team. My team on the other hand was a little bit more solid, since I defended my Monsters by debuffing my opponent’s Melee attack, while buffing my own, which was key to victory.

Battle Link

Battle 2

Ruleset

Lineup & Analysis

Same tournament as before. In this case we have a short battle. The rules didn’t matter that much to me here, since it was a short Mana battle and I didn’t plan to heal. I was much more worried about the incoming Quora Towershead, a card that I still not own. But luckily, I always find ways to deal with her, even in close spaces like this.

• As a Summoner, Tarsa. I always feel tempted to use Gladiators against other Gladiators, but to eliminate one such as Quora you need teamwork and, in short Mana battles, you should save your Mana.
• As a tank, Tusk the Wide. A big chunk of Health plus Void, a big barrier against Quora.
• Next, a Martyr, to boost stats.
• Then, the key card, Djinn Inferni with it’s Giant Killer ability, which deals double damage against enemies worth more than ten points of Mana.
• At last, the Scorch Fiend, as a dummy… although, against Bloodlust Monsters, these dummies are a double edge sword.

The strategy worked great… I was able to kill Quora. I should mention though, that I was lucky with the “Tis but Scratches” rule, since that probably prevented Quora from healing more than three points per turn, allowing me a very adjusted victory… even though I was lucky, I rejoice on that victory because it was my strategy too…

Battle Link

Anyways, last post of the Year, so I wish you a productive 2024 and may the Force be with you!

Thanks for reading!