Battle Mage Secrets - Axemaster VS Harklaw: Who Will Win?

The theme for the current "Battle Mage Secret" challenge is Close Range ruleset this time! This means Ranged cards can attack from the first position! That gives a massive boost to Ranged cards but I feel that it's always good to strike a balance between spamming Ranged cards and the other cards too. It's not always easy to get the specific ruleset, but if you play hard enough, you definitely can find one!

For this ruleset, it's not too difficult to manage but of course, that depends what other rulesets it is paired with.

Anyway, I thought it would be still be interesting to introduce some useful cards and show how their strengths can be maximised especially with a particular ruleset. In this post, the featured card is an old card, Axemaster!

At 7 mana, his stats is very deserving of a Epic card even at Level 1. The Double Strike ability is one of the best abilities to have on a card and having 5 HP and a high speed of 4 means it will have no issues taking a few hits (unlike... Pelacor Arbalest :P).

As usual, here's the lore for Axemaster for your reading interest:

The mysterious clan who call themselves Axemasters are perhaps the most peculiar group of people in the whole of ΛZMΛRÉ. They live under the moist ground in cave dwellings in the eastern thickets of the great Jungle, somewhere between the Palace of Eld and the treacherous tree known as Sligbough Oak. For many generations, they have protected the treasures of Eld from intruders, raiders, and even pirates who are unfamiliar with the legends of the curse. Some scholars claim that the Axemasters consider themselves the stewards and true owners of the treasures of Eld, but if you could get close enough to an Axemaster, they would tell you that they are merely protecting the people who would be foolish enough to touch the cursed treasure.

Genetically, Axemasters are a hybrid race called Meru that was created by merging Human and Mer (with a touch of Chaos magic) into amphibious creatures. Mer stories say that these demon offspring were ousted from Poseidar long ago, that they were not welcome anywhere under the water. As a result, they found the surface and made a home for their clan on the shores. In the years since, the clan has continued to migrate further and further from the water, where their Mer enemies are plentiful.

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Battle Type & Team Lineup

Position	Card/Level	Mana
Summoner	Kelya Frendul	4

My favourite and strongest lineups are Water so I had to go with Kelya Frendul for this one. Water has quite a number of strong Ranged cards too.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
1	Sea Monster	8

Sea Monster is my default Water tank for most battles and it is no different this time. No funny business in putting a Ranged card even though they can attack from the tank position.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
2	Tide Biter	3

Tide Biter is almost always my secondary tank in low battle fights, as having Reach and 2 Melee damage for a 3 mana card is already very strong. No different this time - again, no gambling of Ranged cards so early in the lineup.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
3	Torrent Fiend	0

Here comes the filler card to buy more time for the backline, which will be all Ranged cards. Hehe!

Position	Card/Level	Mana
4	Merdhampir	4

Merdhampir slots in the 4th position and its Life Leech ability should ensure that it becomes very tanky by then.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
5	Axemaster	7

Axemaster is the most important card in my lineup as 4 damage per turn in a low battle fight is BIG. My chance of winning depends how long he stays in the game.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
6	Igor Darkspear	2

Igor Darkspear's sole task is actually to protect Axemaster from any potential Sneak attacks. Having 5 HP for a 2 mana card is massive and that completes my very decent Water lineup.

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• Pre Battle: I was fortunate that my opponent put out a Level 1 lineup and there was no way I was going to lose this. Let's see how fast I can win this!
  

• Round 1: Definitely underestimated my opponent as Harklaw was a tough nut to crack. Half my hits were neutralised by the opposing Harklaw's Shield. Slowly, but surely?
  

• Round 2: Ouch, my Igor Darkspear went off and the opposing Harklaw was still standing. Now Axemaster became Sneak's target.
  

• Round 3: Once the opposing Harklaw fell, his entire team was almost defenceless. It was 5 vs 3 cards now and there was no chance to blow this.
  

• Round 4: Axemaster did most of the heavy lifting and we were almost done!
  

• Round 5: Yay we win! Wasn't as easy as I thought!
  

If you are interested to watch the battle, you can find it here.

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Post Battle

Did my strategy work? I am always confident of my Water lineups. However, I was expecting a landslide victory after seeing my opponent's lineup but it didn't turn out to be the case. Harklaw is definitely very strong but I hardly see players using Harklaw these days. Fortunately, Axemaster was very strong and pushed my team across the finish line.

What's the Battle Mage Secret? Axemaster is a must-have for Water lineups. Hehe!

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So that's all I have! What are your takeaways from this battle? Feel free to comment below, as I am always keen to learn and improve!

As always, thanks for reading and have a pleasant day ahead!

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