Battle Mage Secrets - There's A Water Magic Card With Blast!

The theme for the current "Battle Mage Secret" challenge is Briar Patch ruleset this time! Or rather, it's better known as Thorns! It's not always easy to get the specific ruleset, but if you play hard enough, you definitely can find one!

For Thorns ruleset, teams should try to avoid Melee cards. Because Ranged cards cannot attack from the tank position, usually Magic cards are more popular.

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 another Soulbound Reward card, Riverboat Captain.

At Level 1, it is already a pretty decent card. This card reminds me of Magi of Chaos, but he has a interesting Blast ability and when used right, it can deal up to 3 damage in total, which is very powerful. I have accumulated enough cards to level him up to Level 2 and having the speed boost is a big plus.

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

With the fall of the Wizards’ Veil and the influx of settlers to Praetoria, cities and settlements sprang up along the coast and soon spread inland. Many were established along lakes and rivers to facilitate trade, and riverboat captains play a vital role in transporting goods and services from one point to another.

Most riverboat captains are skilled artificers, empowering their sails, anchors, sextants, compasses, and other nautical devices with magic to navigate, speed their travels, and defend against pirates, brigands, and the wild beasts that populate Praetoria.

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Battle Type & Team Lineup

Position	Card/Level	Mana
Summoner	Kelya Frendul	4

Water has many strong Ranged and Magic cards and it is definitely Kelya Frendul as the summoner choice for me. Djinn Oshannus is a definite must in the lineup.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
1	Torrent Fiend	0

A filler card. Apparently I have run out of mana after fielding all the cards so this extra card helps to buy some time for my Magic and Ranged cards in the backline.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
2	Djinn Oshannus	8

Djinn Oshannus is my main tank for this battle and I am hoping that my opponent will opt for Magic cards. Otherwise his high speed should also cause some problems for Ranged cards as well. The longer he survives, the higher my chances are for victory.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
3	Nerissa Tridawn	9

Nerissa Tridawn is one of the best Water Epic cards in my opinion, packing a 3 Magic damage at a pricier 9 mana card. If mana allows, she is definitely a solid pick for Water lineups.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
4	Riverboat Captain	6

Riverboat Captain is a upgraded version of Magi of Chaos and the Blast ability is very useful because some of the annoying healer cards are often hiding in the backline. 3 Magic damage per turn for a 6 mana card is very powerful.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
5	Magi Of Chaos	6

Riverboat Captain or Magi Of Chaos? Why not play both! There's nothing to pick for Magi Of Chaos as he is an easy card to play and gets the job done.

Position	Card/Level	Mana
6	Axemaster	7

No Water lineup is complete without Axemaster. In my view, he is still one of the best Water Ranged cards in Splinterlands. Because of his high speed, he hardly misses, and this means you can 4 damage per turn for a 7 mana card. His survivability is also not a concern because of his high speed as well.

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• Pre Battle: I thanked my lucky stars when I saw my opponent field a full Level 1 lineup. There was almost no chance I would lose this right? We shared a few similar cards but let's see how my strategy would play out.
  

• Round 1: The tanks from both teams were cleared by both Djinn Oshannus-es and it was 5 vs 5. They used a Taunt card which meant Riverboat Captain's Blast ability could hit 2 adjacent cards.
  

• Round 2: It was a battle of damage output on my team versus a healer on their team. A little surprisingly was that my opponent actually opted to use Deeplurker - I presume it was a gamble to hunt down weak cards in the backline at the expense of Thorns. I usually won't resort to these measures because the Thorns can put yourself at a massive disadvantage.
  

• Round 3: While both Djinn Oshannus-es battled it out at the front, most of the action took place behind as it was down to 5 vs 3 cards now. Clearly, my opponent sabotaged himself with Deeplurker.
  

• Round 4: Finally, both Djinn Oshannus-es bowed out of the battle, having done their best for their respective teams. It was now 4 vs 1 and there was no way my opponent was going to come back.
  

• Round 5: Nerissa Tridawn was a tough nut to crack but we did it anyways.
  

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

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Post Battle

Did my strategy work? Sticking to textbook theories is one of the safest ways. This means no gambling of Melee cards on Thorns, and using strong Magic cards.

What's the Battle Mage Secret? Riverboat Captain has a sneaky Blast ability and as long as your opponent is not using Venator Kinjo, he will shine.

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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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