Battle Mage Secrets - The Puppet Hides Behind The Overseer

The theme for the current "Battle Mage Secret" challenge is Odd Ones Out ruleset this time! This means only units with odd mana costs may be used. Summoners are not affected by this rule.

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 here'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 Common Death card, Possessed Puppet!

Possessed Puppet is seldom used because there are so many good Melee attackers in Death. Within Death itself, there's the Legendary Harklaw, the tough Cursed Windeku with Thorns and even the Flying Deceiver. Possessed Puppet's weakness lies in the squishy HP. With 4 HP, it's suicidal when faced against Cursed Windeku as well. However, with Ulundin Overseer's Flank ability, it allows him to hide and attack from the second position. With Double Strike, it can deal up to 4 damage per turn which is pretty significant in bringing down the opponent's tank.

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

A possessed puppet is a construct created by a spellcaster to act as a spy, servant, or even an assassin. It appears to be an innocuous doll until the last moment when it strikes. It is not unheard of for the creator to lace their construct's weapon with various maladies as well.

Possessed puppets are used for all manner of tasks, some darker than others. Alchemists utilize them in their stores to assist with their work, while shopkeepers have them run errands. Due to their blind obedience and lack of conscience, though, many are tasked with assassinations and other devious plots. Nothing is quite so unnerving as a child's toy with a pair of daggers, about to snuff out your life.

What they are most prized for, though, is their ability to telepathically transmit anything they see or hear back to their creators, making them incredibly effective spies. This exchange of information is possible through the blood used in its creation, which creates a mystical bond between puppet and master.

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Battle Type & Team Lineup

Position	Card/Level	Mana
Summoner	Astral Entity	6

With 56 mana on the board, we have enough for a Legendary summoner and I decided on Astral Entity because Magic cards are unlikely to feature in this ruleset.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
1	Ulundin Overseer	11

I don't have so many big cards, so Ulundin Overseer is very handy to be placed as the tank. With Ferocity in play here, Night Ghoul is definitely a no no card.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
2	Possessed Puppet	7

We need big non Magic cards so Possessed Puppet takes the secondary tank position behind Ulundin Overseer and hopefully it can deal some decent damage while the frontline holds.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
3	Silent Sha-vi	5

Silent Sha-vi is not a big card but at Level 3, its stats are pretty lethal. 3 Melee damage with Sneak is pretty nasty if opponents don't protect their backline.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
4	Queen Of Crows	9

Queen Of Crows is probably a default placement at 9 mana for this big mana battle. Decent damage and decent HP, an okay card.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
5	Dhampir Stalker	7

Dhampir Stalker is another strong card with 3 Ranged card that is sure to hit thanks to True Strike. This is very valuable when opponents have cards with high speed.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
6	Lira The Dark	7

Completing the lineup is the Legendary Lira The Dark, with a strong speed of 6 and the Opportunity ability.

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• Pre Battle: Both teams had very different lineups. I didn't field a Gladius card for this brawl battle so that's kind of a disadvantage for me. Let's see how Death plays against Water.
  

• Round 1: Both tanks were very strong for this battle and it was an uneventful round.
  

• Round 2: Not a good round as Lira The Dark inevitably triggered Martyr for my opponent with that Opportunity hit, and my tank went down but was revived thanks to Astral Entity. Still holding a 2 card advantage though.
  

• Round 3: Off their tank goes and it was a turning point for me because all my cards regained 2 Armor! That immediately gave my opponent problems and it is now 6 vs 2 cards now. Let's see if I can overcome that Gladius card.
  

• Round 4: And it didn't turn out to be as close as I originally thought. A relief win and all the cards played their part in dealing damage.
  

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

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Post Battle

Did my strategy work? There was no secret sauce in this. It is the usual grind, paying attention to the rulesets and using the preferred cards accordingly, and of course, having the a decent card collection to have more options in card choices. Ulundin Overseer, which was a recent addition, did well in this fight.

What's the Battle Mage Secret? Possessed Puppet behind Ulundin Overseer is a pretty strong combination!

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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