Explosions shook the battlefield. People ran from their homes pleading for help, their screams drowned out by the sound of fighting. Fires burned through the streets and buildings collapsed in heaps of smoke and dust. The group known as the Chaos Legion had arrived and they weren't taking prisoners.

Xenith warriors stood in the distance, hoods covering their faces. Their creed prevented them from getting involved in political disputes, but this was no dispute. This was a massacre. “We must do something! We can't let these people fall at the hands of these invaders!” A bronze skinned woman yelled, yanking the hood off her head. An elder Xenith member responded, “This is the way of it Delya. We must consult with the monks to see what they decree. If they believe this is fate, then we must remain out of it!”

Delya angrily turned away from the group and pulled her hood over her head. She pulled a bow from her quiver and took aim at an enemy soldier within range. “Delya, no!” Screamed the Xenith member. The arrow flew and embedded itself in the heart of the Chaos Legion soldier. They slumped to the ground, unmoving. Delya shot a glare back at the Xenith warriors and readied another arrow. “Now, I am part of the disorder. I will bring balance to what I have started.”

~~ STATS ~~

This card is a perfect example of "what you see is what you get" - costs only 2 mana, and the stats are in line with that - 1 ranged attack, 1 speed and 2 health.

Nothing extraordinary, yet there is something about this card that makes me always use it. It just always fits in the lineup, and it always does its job.
As the levels go up so do the stats, so at max level (8) it has 2 ranged attack, 4 speed and 5 health.
Perfect fit for low mana battles, like the one I will show you today.

~~ BATTLE ~~

Today's battle was the clash of the little ones, it took a while, as it always does when teams have low fire power. My opponent had a good plan, but how did it go - find out below.

If you want you can see the whole battle, play by play - click 👉 HERE 👈

~~ RULESET ~~

Ruleset in this battle was quite interesting and I will try to explain each part of it.

~~ STRATEGY REVIEW ~~

I saw in my opponent's history matches that he used Life splinter last five matches (probably had Life daily focus active like me). I saw he usually uses General Sloan (+1 ranged attack for whole team) or Tyrus Paladium (+1 armor for whole team) summoners, strong tank combined with heavy ranged or magic attackers.

These were my options considering available splinters:

• Fire - We could use Tarsa summoner for that 1 extra melee attack and health, maybe try to outdamage the opponent. But if he chose Tyrus Paladium for that extra armor I would have to do twice the damage.
• Water - We could use Kelya Frendul summoner to give the team 1 extra armor and speed, giving my team an edge with extra survivability, or use Alric Stormbringer and load my team with magic attack monsters and try to nuke the opponent down.
• Life - We could use Lorna Shine summoner, with her divine shield ability and go heavy sneak attack, but (same as fire splinter option) if he uses Tyrus I'm in big trouble.

In the end I chose Life splinter with General Sloan summoner. Good thing with General Sloan and Little League ruleset is that because we have to use low mana monsters, which usually have low attack, with +1 buff to their attack you double their damage output in most cases. So I instanty thought of Xenith Archer, and his brother Xenith Monk with his Heal, paired with Venari Crystalsmith for her Tank Heal and ranged attack.
My opponent also went with Life splinter and Tyrus Paladium, so it was a good thing I had a tank that could survive for long time, giving my damage dealers enough time to penetrate enemy shield.

~~ LINE-UP ~~

You can see the line-up from both teams in battle screenshot right after this section. I will go through my line-up and explain why was each card picked and put in that spot.

SUMMONER

GENERAL SLOAN Life splinter rare summoner that increases friendly ranged attack by 1. I chose this summoner because the ruleset was forcing me to use low mana monsters that have 1 or 2 attack, and this buff of 1 ranged attack gives them 100% boost in damage, which is usually decisive factor in a battle.

1st POSITION ("TANK")

XENITH MONK Rare Neutral card. Very strong tank in low mana battles or Little League because of his Heal ability (which he acquires at level 2). He's my main go-to guy when I'm in these kinds of battles. He did exactly what I wanted him to do, he survived the whole battle, while my damage dealers did their thing.

2nd POSITION

TIME MAGE Rare Life splinter card. Very useful monster, used all the time in Life splinter because of her Slow ability and magic attack. She gets even better on level 3 when she gets additional magic damage and on level 5 when she acquires Rust ability (reduces the Armor of all enemy Monsters). I put her in second position, because she is least important in the team after the healers and damage dealers. (not that she is not important, just not THAT important)

3rd POSITION

DIVINE HEALER Great common Life splinter card. She has Tank Heal ability, and on level 3 she gets 1 magic attack. So make sure you get her at level 3 or above to make use of her full potential. I put her in third position because other three monsters behind her are ranged attack and can't attack if they get to tank position, while she can.

4th POSITION

PEACEBRINGER Great rare Life splinter card. Perfect for Little League ruleset battles. Costs only 4 mana but packs 2 ranged attack at level 1 (2 at level 3 and 4 at level 6). So make sure you use him at highest level possible to get most out of him. I put him in fourth position, the sweet spot for every damage dealer, protected from the front and the back.

5th POSITION

VENARI CRYSTALSMITH Another great rare Life splinter card. Equipped with ranged attack and Tank Heal, she fits perfectly into this team. At level 6 she acquires Dispel ability making her even more desirable. I put her in the fifth position, so she's not first to get hit with Sneak attack, so she can live longer and heal/attack longer.

6th POSITION

XENITH ARCHER This card fits into the team perfectly like a glove on a hand. With only 2 mana, it can fill any hole in your line-up, and yet it brings ranged attack. Buffed by a summoner it brings you even more value per cost. I put it in the last position to take eventual sneak attack hit before any of my stronger damage dealers.

~~ COURSE OF THE BATTLE ~~

The battle wasn't very short, but right after first round it was clear who will be the winner. Only question was, how long will it take.

Round 1

Round one started slowly, my damage dealers taking down most of their tank's health, while my healers healed up my tank to full, like he never took any damage.

Round 2

Round two my guys took out their tank and half health of their secondary tank, but since he has one healer less then I do, he didn't manage to heal him up, leaving him vulnerable in the next round. My tank is fully healed again, and looks like he will stay like that for the rest of the battle.

Round 3

Round three their secondary tank is out, and now its Time Mage's turn to take the pounding with the rest of the team too weak to do anything to help her.

Round 4

In round four my guys managed to take out both the Time Mage and Truthspeaker, leaving their Peacebringer and Venari Crystalsmith with only 1 armor they have from their summoner.

Round 5 & 6

Round five and six were just a matter of who will deal the winning killing blow and the honor went to Time Mage with the assist from Xenith Archer.

~~ RESULT ~~

This battle happened at the start of the season while I was still climbing up the leagues, that's why the RP and DEC earned was so low.

~~ CONCLUSION ~~

Did your strategy work?

• Yes, my strategy worked out perfectly. Having a summoner that buffs ranged attack by one, doubling the damage output proved to be the winning combination.

What will you try differently next time?

• Probably nothing, its just a matter of the amount of available mana and trying to fit in all the cards I wish to use.

Do you like XENITH ARCHER? Why or why not?

• Xenith Archer is a card I always have rented in. I use him every day, especially in low mana battles or Little League. Because of his 2 mana cost, he can be fitted in every team. It would be nice if he had one more ranged attack on max level, but that would be asking too much from a rare card that costs only 2 mana.

I wanted to mention a few other very cheap range attack cards with similar stats and that could be used the same way as Xenith Archer:

• Silvershield Archers (Common, Life splinter) - amazing rare card that costs only 2 mana with Snipe ability right from level one and Double Strike at level 6. Only downside is 1 ranged attack on all levels.
• Herbalist (Common, Life splinter) - another amazing card from Life splinter that costs only 2 mana. Special thing about it is Cleanse ability on level 3 and Triage on level 8. And it gets 2 ranged attack on max level.
• Goblin Fireballer (Common, Fire splinter) - 2 mana common card with Snare at level 5 and Stun at level 10. Not bad, 2 ranged attack it gets on level 8.
• Pirate Archer (Rare, Water splinter) - this is one of those cards you have to have. Only 2 mana, and it has Blast right from level 1 with 2 ranged attack it gets on level 5.
• Igor Darkspear (Epic, Water splinter) - another card I always keep by my side because it has 2 ranged attack at level 3 and Stun at level 4 (not because my brother's name is Igor).
• Acid Shooter (Epic, Earth splinter) - this card is what I rent whenever I play Earth, no matter how much it costs. It has Scattershot from level 1, 2 ranged attack at level 3, Cripple at level 4 and Poison at level 6. So much going on with this card.
• Goblin Dartling (Common, Earth splinter) - 1 ranged attack all the way through to max level, with Shatter at level 5 and Knock Out at level 10
• Undead Archer (Rare, Death splinter) - has Affliction at level 1 and get Shatter at level 5 with 2 ranged at level 7.
• Weirding Warrior (Epic, Death splinter) - has Shatter at level 1, 2 ranged at level 3, Amplify at level 4 and Rust at max level (6). So much going with this card. Great support card that has a bonus in ranged attack.
• Naga Assassin (Rare, Dragon splinter) - last but not least, this card is simply great to have. With amazing 5 speed (6 from level 5 and up), Backfire at level 4, 2 ranged attack at level 6 and Swiftness at max level (8). What more can you ask from a 2 mana card? She's a must-have!

This list turned out to be longer then I thought. I usually rent most of those cards, depending on my daily focus, just never put them in one place so didn't realize there are so many of them. Some are better then others but you won't miss if you pair any of them with Xenith Archer.

Link to the battle itself can be found 👉 HERE 👈

If you still haven't tried Splinterlands try it out 👉 HERE 👈

Thank you for your time, and please vote if you like this post. 👍

Credits

Special thanks to:

@carrieallen for ultimate markdown tutorial.
@rqr4 for text dividers used in this post.
@splinterlands for images used in this post and for making this great game.