Social Media Challenge - A New Addition To My Water Foundation Collection - Saltwater Mage

Prelude
Good day to all, hope that all of you are having a good week so far and having many memorable and interesting battles in Splinterlands. I am back on schedule and would like to share that I have been battling hard in Frontier Format and managed to add new cards to my collection, similar to previously when I obtained Mystic Scaleweaver.

This time round, I did manage to land my hands on a copy of Saltwater Mage which will be really good and complements the Foundation Archon which gives us an additional 1 magic attack.

An epic water splinter card that strikes for 2 magic attack but in a sneak manner which aids in clearing up unknowing backline cards through sneak. I would say this is definitely a really nice card to have. So let's take a look at how this card performs in a standard ranked battle in modern.

Battle Sharing

Reference Battle
Battle Link: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_3aff1dca795ca0f4a34a750302df3538?ref=vaynard86

Ruleset: Explosive Weaponry
Mana Limit: 66

Selection Analysis
We have 4 splinters available for selection - Water, Earth, Death and Life. With a large amount of mana at my disposal, I thought water will be a good choice for me so that I have allowance to field some high mana cards such as Commander Slade and Mystic Scaleweaver.

So here is my selection of the lineup. This match I will be using Foundation Archon, Marlai Singariel which is needed for me to add one more magic attack to magic attackers in my lineup. The tank of choice for me has to be Commander Slade, with the enfeeble and dodge, this card is not easy to go up against as it will weaken the melee attack with each successful hit and it is equally hard to land a hit on it. On the 2nd position, I used Lunaki Howler, a neutral foundation card that that is a magic attacker and will synergize with Archon. Next will be the Saltwater Mage which I hide deep in the lineup which can clear off many cards from opponent's rear. After Saltwater Mage, it will be Mystic Scaleweaver which gives slow to my opponent lineup so that I can strike first. Next up are 2 opportunity cards, Arield Shieldmaiden, a range attacker and Conclave Tracker, a magic attacker. These will make up my lineup.

On my opponent end, my opponent used the exact same Archon as me to give magic attackers attack boost. Other than Saltwater Mage which is the same, almost everything else is different. Tank wise, opponent went with Giant Alpine Skink which has shield. Behind Skink is Thanalorian Scion which is amazing agains magic attackers with the void armour with 10 armour which will be able to absorb a fair deal of magic attack. Next up is Abyssal Elemental with the resurgence and Saltwater Mage. Captain Fellblade is on opponent lineup with a dual attack and on sneak, a very strong card that wrecks from the back. Last in the lineup is Archer Koi for armour repair, with sneakers all around, tough to stay alive for this.

Surprisingly both of us used Saltwater Mage which I guess is due to the fact that it is a decent card. So let's see how this card performs in a match through the round by round synopsis.

Round by Round Synopsis

Round 1 - A very fast paced round 1 with loads of casualties due to the blast and I witness how strong Captain Fell Blade is with the double attack. Skink was cleared off by my frontline strikers while my 2 back line cards while killing Archer Koi, but did not survive this round.

Round 2 - Another super fast paced round which saw so many cards fallen due to all kinds of blast that came from front and back. Opponent's resurgence caused some problems to my lineup but effectively, everyone is almost down to bare bones and need to win quick before the blast just boom everyone out.

Round 3 - With all the blast going all over the place, suddenly it become a 1v1 matchup with my Slade going up against opponent's Abyssal Elemental. From this, I know how this will end.

Round 4 - Everything draws to a close when Commander Slade take out the final card on my opponent lineup. A really nice, fast and furious match that ended with me coming on top.

Battle Summary
I can really see how smashing in from the rear, especially harder to handle if it is magic, so in this case Saltwater Mage and opponent's Captain Fellblade really not easy to handle for most people as they can just clear off the backline with ease. I like this foundation card that I obtained. Definitely will feature more of it in future matches in both modern ranked and foundation. Another nice card from the foundation set that can be obtained by clearing more foundation matches and opening reward cards.

Wrap Up
Thank you all for dropping by the post and walking through with me the various strategies and gameplay that I wanted to share with the community so that everyone improve their gameplay. If you have good strategies on how I can even better my selection, do share with me in the comments.

See you next time!

I am currently part of PIZZA, an active gaming and creative arts crypto community on the HIVE blockchain and part of PIZZA guild. Popular cryto games such as SPLINTERLANDS, RISING STAR and HASHKINGS are actively discussed in this community.

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Till my next battle sharing, take care, stay safe and happy battling!

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