Aimless but Still Under Control — Reducing 2 HP at the Start of Battle

Hello Splinterlands warriors!
Hope you’re all staying energized as the year comes to an end.

In today’s battle post, I want to share an interesting experience about how reducing 2 HP from two enemy monsters can actually determine the path to victory. Believe it or not, sometimes 2 HP can save an entire round, and one round can decide the whole match.

What makes this even more exciting is that the battle happened under the Aimless ruleset—meaning every attack becomes random. So reducing HP at the start increases the chance that those random hits will eliminate the weaker enemies first.

And that’s where the magic truly happened.

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My Team Formation

Archon: Reklah
Chosen skill: -2 Max Health for 2 enemy monsters

Monster lineup:

• Ujurak Brave
• Dark Arborist
• Fenmoor Gorgon
• Arachne Weaver
• Gravebrand Warlock
• Kelan Gaines

My strategy was simple but effective:
Use magic-heavy damage so armor becomes irrelevant, then take advantage of the initial HP reduction as a “quick-kill bait” for random attacks. Combined with Arachne Weaver’s healing support and some melee debuffs, this lineup stayed stable while still maintaining pressure.

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Opponent’s Team (Sheng Xiao)

Archon: Sheng Xiao
Chosen skill: Poison Burst + Ward for two monsters

Monster lineup:

• Umbral Elemental
• Thraghun
• Zarin the Scorch
• Ferrous Brewer
• Bristleborn Brigand
• Filthy Scavenger

The opponent brought extremely solid monsters—most had at least 3 abilities, clearly aiming to win. In terms of raw power, their lineup was intimidating. But in Splinterlands, victory isn’t just about big cards—it’s about stacking small advantages early and letting them snowball.

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Round 1 — Things Heat Up Instantly

The two monsters I decided to reduce HP from were:

• Ferrous Brewer
• Zarin the Scorch

The reason was obvious: both had dangerous offensive potential and could disrupt my midline if left unchecked.

And I was right…

The very first attack from Kelan Gaines landed directly on Ferrous Brewer, knocking him out instantly. Big damage + reduced starting HP = swift elimination.

Meanwhile, random enemy attacks hit Fenmoor Gorgon and Ujurak Brave. Thankfully, Arachne Weaver immediately went to work healing them at the end of the round.

My team’s random attacks also started chipping away at the enemy lineup. Even in chaos, that early HP control was clearly paying off.

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Round 2 — Dominoes Start Falling

The battle grew even wilder as Sheng Xiao’s poison burst effects triggered.

But luck was still on my side.

Kelan Gaines’ opening attack once again struck a key target:
Umbral Elemental went down instantly!

Because it died from an attack, Poison Burst activated and poisoned Kelan Gaines.

Not stopping there…
Gravebrand Warlock landed a hit on Filthy Scavenger, triggering another poison burst, poisoning Gravebrand as well.
Amid the chaos, Bristleborn Brigand also got hit by a random attack and fell.

In an instant, the opponent’s once-solid formation was cut in half.

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Round 3 — Numbers Start to Speak

Thanks to Corrupted Healing from Arachne Weaver, my entire team stabilized going into Round 3. This healing was crucial because random attacks can hit anywhere at any time.

On the other hand, the enemy only had two monsters left.
And as expected, once the numbers were uneven, the momentum shifted dramatically.

My team’s magic attacks hit freely without armor resistance, and Round 3 ended with an undeniable victory.

For the full battle replay, you can watch it here:

👉 LINK BATTLE 👈

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Interesting Things About This Battle

• The opponent used a powerful legendary Archon, with Poison Burst + Ward—an excellent mix of defense and offense.
  But that initial 2 HP reduction turned strong monsters into fragile targets.

• Debuffs from Ujurak Brave and Dark Arborist (via Demoralize) softened the enemy’s melee threats, letting my team survive longer even with poison.

• Arachne Weaver’s Corrupted Healing was the hidden MVP.
  With random attacks flying everywhere, that healing kept the team stable across all three rounds.

• Card quality isn’t everything.
  The opponent brought monsters with 4–5 abilities that looked terrifying, but positioning, early debuffs, and timing were the real game-changers.

This is why Splinterlands feels fair: strong cards help, but smart strategy can beat anything.

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Closing — Keep Fighting, Splinter Warriors!

This battle against Sheng Xiao reminded me that Splinterlands isn’t just about owning the strongest cards. It’s about turning small advantages into big victories.

I hope this story gives you fresh insight and energy—especially if you’re grinding through the league while the crypto market is swinging wildly.

Talk about Splinterlands,
If you haven't tried out this fantastic game called Splinterlands yet, I invite you to Join.
It's free, but you'll need to invest in a beginning deck or buy gaming cards to gain real assets like cards and tokens.

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