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Monster Focus

In this episode of the Social Media Challenge, I'd like to highlight a Legendary Summoner from the Death Splinter, a proud member of the Chaos Legion collection: meet the ASTRAL ENTITY 👀

The ASTRAL ENTITY is a Summoner I frequently deploy in specific rulesets to sigBoldnificantly enhance my battle success rate. When used with careful strategy, the Summoner's bestowed abilities can be a game-changer. Plus, can we take a moment to appreciate the stunning artwork on this Summoner? It's certainly a bonus to have this eye candy accompanying you for battle! 😜

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According to Splintercards, there are only 21,217 copies of ASTRAL ENTITY printed and they are currently trading at the below prices (at the time of writing) for both the Regular and Goil foil copies! 🤑

Rulesets and Abilities Focus

Certain battles highly incentivize the utilization of ASTRAL ENTITY,
particularly when confronted with the following rulesets.

Up Close & Personal - Only units with melee attacks can be used

Armored Up - All Monsters have 2 Armor in addition to their normal Armor stat

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ASTRAL ENTITY is most commonly encountered in battles governed by the rulesets mentioned above, thanks to the Summoner's remarkable abilities that can greatly benefit the team.
When paired with the following monsters, they become a formidable force
that can wreak havoc on any opposing team!

The Dodge ability provided by ASTRAL ENTITY enhances the evasion capabilities
of both the Pelacor Deceiver and the Ever-Hungry Skull 😎

The Resurrect ability can bring back either the Legionnaire Alvar or the Ever-Hungry Skull once during the battle, restoring them to full Armor stats, albeit with 1 Health remaining! 😁

The Battle

In my alt account, jimbei, I was able engage in a battle that showcased the impressive capabilities of using the ASTRAL ENTITY in conjunction with some of the monster pairings that I mentioned. To get right into the action, the battle link can be found here. Otherwise, do read on as I go into more detail regarding the lineup and fight.

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Let's start by examining the ruleset governing this battle. It comprises three key rulesets. First, the Super Sneak ruleset grants all Melee attack monsters the Sneak ability. Second, the Ferocity ruleset bestows all monsters with the Fury ability, enabling them to deal double damage to any target monster with the Taunt ability. Lastly, the Odd Ones Out ruleset restricts the use of monsters to those with odd Mana costs. This battle operates under a mana cap of 38 and exclusively allows the Earth and Death Splinters.

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Summoner, Astral Entity

Given the ruleset restrictions that limit us to the Earth and Death Splinters, I made the choice to go with the Death Splinter and selected ASTRAL ENTITY as my Summoner. My strategy was rooted in the expectation that my opponent would avoid using Magic units, as the Death Splinter's Thaddius Brood Summoner could cause a -1 Magic debuff, making the Magic-heavy Earth Splinter less appealing. The presence of the Super Sneak ruleset further bolstered my confidence in this strategic gamble! 😏

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First Position, Pelacor Deceiver

As I mentioned earlier, the Pelacor Deceiver synergizes exceptionally well with the ASTRAL ENTITY, and it's strategically placed in the first position to maximize its abilities. Its Flying ability, coupled with the Dodge ability granted by the ASTRAL ENTITY, allows it to effectively evade with higher percentages from both Melee and Ranged attacks. Additionally, its Backfire ability enables counterattacks, dealing damage when the enemy misses their target! 😁

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Second Position, Silent Sha-Vi

In my favored lineup whenever I use the Death Splinter, the Silent Sha-vi plays a pivotal role. It wields the Sneak ability, which usually ensures a lethal offensive strike, efficiently eliminating the enemy's backline. However, in this specific battle under the Super Sneak ruleset, the Sneak ability loses some of its uniqueness. What truly sets Silent Sha-vi apart is its Piercing ability, enabling it to pierce through the target's Armor, inflicting extra damage directly to their Health, making it a formidable force on the battlefield 💪

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Third Position, Venari Marksrat

Ever since the Martyr ability was introduced, Venari Marksrat has become a key component of my battle strategy. I strategically positioned it between the Silent Sha-vi and Lire The Dark, with the hope that if it were to be eliminated early in the battle, it could provide a substantial boost to the adjacent monsters. This tactical sacrifice was aimed at empowering my primary attacking units, giving them the edge needed to secure victory in the battle! 🙂

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Fourth Position, Lira The Dark

Lira The Dark assumes a pivotal role as the primary source of damage in my lineup. Thanks to its Swiftness ability and its innate high Speed, Lira The Dark typically launches the initial attack in battles, setting the tone for the encounter. The synergy between Swiftness and the Opportunity ability grants Lira The Dark the ability to frequently dispatch low-health monsters with its opening strike! 👍

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Fifth Position, Dhampir Stalker

The Dhamphir Stalker isn't a monster I typically deploy in battles due to its 5 Ranged damage. It might sound a bit unusual, but I've become cautious about monsters capable of dealing 5 or more damages due to the prevalence of monsters with the Forcefield ability. In this particular battle governed by the Odd Ones Out ruleset and limited to the Earth and Death Splinters, there are only two monsters with this ability, Mycelic Slipspawn and Djinn Muirat, both of which are Magic units that I assume won't be part of this battle. Hence, my decision to opt for the Dhamphir Stalker this time around. 😅

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Last Position, Ever-Hungry Skull

As previously mentioned, the Ever-Hungry Skull exhibits exceptional synergy with the ASTRAL ENTITY and is intentionally situated in the last position due to the Super Sneak ruleset, fulfilling the role of a backline tank. With its noteworthy Armor statistics and counteractive capabilities such as Thorns and Return Fire abilities, the Ever-Hungry Skull has the potential to inflict significant damage on enemy's Melee monsters attempting to Sneak on it, which proves particularly advantageous in this specific battle! 😆

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The Analysis

This battle took an interesting turn as I found myself facing off against a fellow Balthazar's scholar! For those who have been following my journey, you might know that I also manage a scholarship account under Balthazar with the in-game name: bltzr-wizard-729 🤗

As I had anticipated, my fellow scholar opted not to deploy any Magic units for this battle and focused on fielding a team primarily composed of Melee units to take full advantage of the Super Sneak ruleset. Similar to my strategy, the opponent adopted a defensive lineup by having Legionnaire Alvar in the front and Ever-Hungry Skull at the rear. They also added a support unit, Scavo Hireling, to perform Armor Repair when necessary! 👏

With such a well-structured team on my opponent's side, I was supposed to be in for a challenging battle that could swing in either direction. However, the true hero of this match turned out to be the ASTRAL ENTITY, thanks to the abilities it granted to my team. The Dodge ability significantly affected my opponent's attacks, leading to crucial misses during their assaults. Moreover, the Resurrection performed on my Ever-Hungry Skull was a game-changer, effectively wearing down the enemy team through Thorns and Return Fire damage. My calculated gamble paid off and led me to victory! 😂

Do you guys have any go-to strategy as well? Do share them with me in the below comments.

If you made it this far, I sincerely appreciate your time and value your encouragement. Please feel free to leave any comments or suggestions so that we can discuss about other strategies. Thinking about giving Splinterlands a try but haven't signed up yet? Feel free to use my referral link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=ak08, and be sure to reach out to me if you have any questions!

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Are you interested in reading some of my future writings? Don't forget to follow me! In the meantime, here are some of my most recent blogs if you'd like to view them:

NOA THE JUST: UNLEASHING THE POWER OF RUST!	UNVEILING THE ODDLY (PUN INTENDED) IDENTICAL LINEUP!
A TRIUMPHANT RIFTWING IN A CHAOTIC BATTLE!	A TACTICAL SHOWDOWN IN A BATTLE OF REVERSE SPEED! (Latest Blog)

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All banners, dividers card and battle images used in this article are open source and obtained from the Splinterlands team or made by flauwy. Do check out his link for other amazing designs!