The Art of Synergy - Iziar + Sola Ranjell + Venari Crystalsmith

It's a new edition of Splinterlands Community Engagement Challenge and the theme this week is a very special one! It's The Art of Synergy!

There's quite a few interesting card combinations that worked exceptionally well for me, and today I will share something from the Life deck. It's a combination of Iziar + Sola Ranjell + Venari Crystalsmith.

Before we dive into the specifics of this strategy, here's artwork of the cards and the lore as well! Enjoy!

Iziar is the last of the Blesog, a faction of storm giants that hail from the peaks of the Agniavas. It has been a decade since her beloved fell, stricken by time, and now his bones lie beneath the cold, crystalline ground of one of the range's tallest peaks. But before he passed on, he left Iziar with a gift, the seed of new life. She holds this keepsake deep inside her, teaching and preparing her unborn children for the day when she passes on and they must find their own way in the world.

Iziar remains isolated within the mountains, and few have laid eyes upon her. She spends most days toying with the elements, mixing combinations of the ruinous powers of nature and delighting in their raw elemental displays. It is said that nobody can throw lightning quite like a storm giant, and the swirling tornadoes they conjure with a simple twirl of their finger can level a city.

It is written in the prophecies of the Blesog that should the life of the land ever be threatened, then the storm giants will leave their peaks above the clouds and descend into the highlands and lowlands, bringing the raw, elemental power of the tempests with them… and woe to those who stand in their way.

When the Wizards' Council disbanded and settlement of the Praetorian lands was announced by the Gloridax, a silent migration began, unlike any the Splinterlands had ever experienced. The daughters of the moon, also known as the Lunakari, began making their descent to the ground. Ever since the brutal war in the sky known as the war of sons and daughters, the Lunakari have been few in number and their home has been crumbling under their feet. Before the floating continent of Lunaki is gone forever, the women of the Lunakari must descend, and they must do it without being noticed.

Each of these women has powers beyond those found on the ground, remnants from the stolen angel blessings that led to the war with Solaki many years ago. Each day, two more of them make the descent into the Splinterlands by night with instructions to simply blend into life there. Some of the Lunakari have not gone quietly nor blended easily. One of these is a beautiful 19-year-old youth named Sola Ranjell.

She was never fully accepted as a daughter of the moon with a name like Sola, but she clung to her name like a child clings to its mother, saying it reminded her of the “angels who allowed her passage.” Sola's eyes shine with bright gold, like a glimpse of the sun, and her hair is a mesmerizing mix of black and white, like moonlight through the trees.

Sola came to the Splinterlands directly into Praetoria on the brightest night of the year: the alignment of moons. She went straight into the Moxian arena and enlisted herself as a Gladiator, completely unafraid of her Lunakari heritage and representation. She fights for the daughters of the moon, and does not care who knows it. Although she controls many mysterious magical powers, she aims to only fight with hand and weapon in the arena. Her weapon is a long two-bladed staff that is edged on both blades with a constantly burning light whenever Sola holds it in her hands.

Banished from Below 1 of 5 - There are many civilizations on the Planet whose existence has always gone unknown in the Splinterlands. Some of them are part of distant continents, with whom the Splinterlands became disconnected centuries ago, long before the great Splintering. Others reside under the deep water of the Outer Ocean, similar to the way merfolk thrive in the Water Splinter of ΛZMΛRÉ. Still, when considering all the people of the world, it is always easy to overlook those who dwell under the ground. For a round Planet as large as this one, there is nearly endless three-dimensional space beneath the surface, and much of that space is inhabited.

At the center of the Planet, there is a living core, believed to be made of molten rock. This core engine is the origin of all mana and magical power on and around the Planet. From the core, mana arteries extend upward toward the surface and emerge as mana flows, springs and fountains on every part of the Planet.

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Now onto the strategy!

Iziar has two very important abilities - Taunt and Void. Standing at 12 HP, with a decent speed of 3, and Void, it has extremely strong survivability and this means the cards in the backline are very well protected.

However, even the best cards are not infallible. This is where the healers come in.

The Life deck has very strong healers and the first one is Sola Ranjell. Sola Ranjell is a Legendary Gladius card which requires only 3 mana to fill.

• For low mana matches, an Iziar/Sola Ranjell combination can be very strong, because Sola Ranjell can heal 4 HP per turn. That makes it very difficult for opponents to take down Iziar.

• For medium mana matches, Venari Crystalsmith can come in as a 2nd healer and it cost only another 4 mana to fill, making the whole combination 18 mana excluding the summoner. With 2 healers now, they can heal Iziar 8 HP per turn. Not many teams can deal significantly more than 8 HP per turn to Iziar.

• For high mana matches, however, this combination would not be so useful, because the mana would be better spent on bigger cards as Sola Ranjell and Venari Crystalsmith are not suitable.

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Alright time to show them in action in a battle!

Pre-battle: 34 mana is considered a medium mana battle and this strategy would use the 3 specific cards - Iziar to take up the tank position by default, while Sola Ranjell and Venari Crystalsmith formed the backline so that they can last as long as possible and provide all the healing. In between, I could afford to slot another Gladius card and opted for a strong Captain Katie. With Return Fire in play, I decided to gamble and picked Venari Marksrat to try for a self induced Martyr boost.

Round 1: Just like I described, my opponent couldn't overcome the 8 HP of healing by Sola Ranjell and Venari Crystalsmith and Iziar stood firm at the front.

Round 2: My opponent huffed and puffed but they cannot blow Iziar down. Still at max 12 HP after all the healing.

Round 3: My opponent actually had healers and had a strong lineup too, but because they were not able to deal any damage every single turn, it was just a matter of time I inched towards victory.

Round 4: Finally we were down to final card. My entire team remained intact.

Round 5: And we were done!

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Final Thoughts

Iziar alone is a very strong card but it becomes much stronger when paired with one or two healers and in my view, this is just one of the few combinations that opponents just have no way of breaking through unless they disable healing via cards like Doctor Blight, but at the lower tiers like Bronze and Silver, not many cards can pose a threat to this combination. I guess the most tricky part would be to obtain these cards, because they come from different editions. So do try them out and let me know if this is useful!

So that's all I have for this week's Splinterlands Community Engagement Challenge. Let me know if you have any comments too!

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