Battle Mage Secrets - Fernheart vs Ilthain: Who Will Win In Ranged Battles?

The theme for the current "Battle Mage Secret" challenge is Going the Distance ruleset this time! This means only units with ranged attacks may be used. It's not always easy to get the specific ruleset, but if you play hard enough, you definitely can find one! This time I was lucky enough to have one - woohoo!

So hers's the interesting battle that I encountered.

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 a Earth Summoner card, Fernheart!

Fernheart packs two very useful boosts for a 4 mana summoner. Having Close Range is extremely powerful in unique rulesets catered to Ranged and having 1 extra HP is never a bad thing.

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

Folia is a world of vast forests and boundless woodland creatures. People are few and far between, living in small settlements or as roving bands of travelers. There is no currency other than hard work and good deeds; food, tools, and labor are traded fairly, one for the other.

Kelvhan Fernheart grew up among a wandering troop of bards and storytellers, living a life beneath the stars. His mother could peer into the future and tell people which paths to take. Their visits to the settlements were often highly anticipated and celebrated by the locals, who would eagerly watch their entertainments in spellbound awe, rewarding them with grand feasts and an assortment of gifts afterward.

Kelvhan was only six when he first wandered from his tribe and got lost within the forest of Dartbron Wood. He wandered for days, fascinated by the secrets of the forest and its creatures. When his parents found him three days later, they were shocked to find him not only unharmed but also well nourished. As he grew older, Kelvhan left the company of his people more often, choosing instead the tranquility of the forest and its creatures to the life of a traveling bard.

On a warm spring evening when he was fifteen years old, he left, never to return. He spent years living alongside the forest’s creatures, and over time, the magic that had been dormant within him blossomed. Others called him a druid, a man who could speak with animals and have them do his will. Some even said they had witnessed him shift into the shapes of the woodland creatures, and it wasn’t long before these people worshiped him and whittle small wooden idols in his image.

Although he carried a great axe made from bone and antlers, Kelvhan had never swung it in anger, using it mainly to fell sick trees so their diseases didn’t spread to others. On rare occasions, it had tasted the blood of ailing and injured animals, sparing them the misery and slow pain of an inevitable death. Above all else, though, Kelvhan was a pacifist and intended to live out his life in relative peace and harmony. But that was before he heard of the Chaos Legion’s atrocities, and he left the comfort of his forest to join the Riftwatchers.

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Battle Type & Team Lineup

Position	Card/Level	Mana
Summoner	Fernheart	4

There is no other summoner that works best for this ruleset! Fernheart is always my top pick for all Ranged lineups because the ability to attack from the tank position makes the biggest difference!

Position	Card/Level	Mana
1	Venari Marksrat	3

My side strategy was to clock a Martyr boost in this battle which I foresee will be very tight, so Venari Marksrat took the first position. Thanks to Fernheart, it can attack from here.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
2	Xenith Archer	2

In this Equaliser battle, the strategy was obviously to pack as many cards as possible and Xenith Archer is cheap in terms of mana to field.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
3	Acid Shooter	2

Ranged only battles are often a test of the depth of one's card collection - fortunately I had enough for this one. Acid Shooter comes in as a good fit for this battle as a low mana card.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
4	Iza The Fanged	4

Iza The Fanged is relatively expensive at 4 mana but the Scavenge ability would come in very valuable once the frontline starts to fall. Having Fernheart means it can attack from the tank position so the accumulation of HP would help.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
5	Venari Seedsmith	5

Venari Seedsmith is hardly seen in battle lineups because it's not a great card to be honest. For unusual rulesets like this, I thought it would be a good gamble, for the same reasons stated for Iza The Fanged.

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• Pre Battle: Interesting clash here, my opponent had Return Fire ability and that was definitely very lethal in this Ranged only battle. So it would be a clash between two very talented summoners in this area.
  

• Round 1: Both teams employed the same tank strategy, and both Venari Marksrat were struck out, boosting both secondary tanks. The opposing Gargoya Devil turned into a tough card and was posing some challenges to my lineup.
  

• Round 2: The opposing Gargoya Devil was causing some problems, and all this while, I was getting all the Return Fire hits. Fortunately, I had hits with Sneak and Scattershot from Iza The Fanged and Acid Shooter and my opponent's backline was badly hurt.
  

• Round 3: Trouble started to brew as I still had problems taking out the opposing Gargoya Devil. My one additional card advantage was quickly gone with the relentless Return Fire hits. The Scavenge ability from my last two cards was the only thing that kept me in this battle.
  

• Round 4: FINALLY the opposing Gargoya Devil was taken down by sheer brute force but the collateral damage from Return Fire was real. Looks like the battle was going to be very close.
  

• Rounds 5-6: Once again, the collateral damage came into play again and both sides lost one more card, leaving my last card left on the board.
  

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

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Post Battle

Did my strategy work? This was a very interesting battle, with two Summoners were unique abilities that work very well in Ranged only battles. Fortunately, my cards had more tricks such as Sneak and Scattershot, and that helped me edge out in this very, very close battle.

What's the Battle Mage Secret? Fernheart is the best pick for Ranged only battles for sure!

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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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