Share Your Battle --> Wave Runner (also known as "The Real Jaws")

Hello my fellow Splinterlands afficionados,

it's high time I send in my entry for this weeks battle challenge with WAVE RUNNER as the main protagonist.

When I wanted to summon my beloved creatures for the first battle after I read the contest post, I couldn't believe, that I didn't own Wave Runner yet, so I went to the market with a very tearproof bag and bought the little fish for a hefty price of 0,53$.

If you can't get enough of gripping Splinterlands battles, you can click the video link below and see for yourself, which monsters WAVE RUNNER swallowed whole.

Video-Link

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Game Settings

• It was the standard ruleset without any restrictions
• Mana cap was at 30
• All Splinters were active
• My opponent chose Life with Tyrus Paladium as Summoner (+1 Shield)
• As we were in the early stages of the new season and I tried to climb in Bronze, I chose Water with Alric Stormbringer as my Summoner (+1 Magic Attack)

As I said earlier, it was a couple of days ago, when the season just started and I had to climb from novice to Bronze. Until Chaos Legion is rolled out, I won't buy cards, and after the reduction of Reward DEC, I have to calculate, how much I rent, so at the start of every season, I have to start from the bottom, but that is ok.
You learn a lot of the game, when you start out with not a whole lot of cards and you have to try to outsmart your opponent. I mean, this aspect of the game won't go away, I presume :o), but we have to play with what we got, so I tried to plough through the early stages of the season with water and occasionally earth/Mylor or death. But water is still the best splinter in Bronze, because most players won't buy/rent Owster with magic reflection, and otherwise, you are almost unbeatable. When you figured the positions of each monster out, you win most of water vs water battles as well
and so I could incorporate WAVE RUNNER, even as I decided to take Alric with his +1 Magic and build a magic-heavy line-up.

The new rare reward card Venari Wavesmith is a godsent. The little DEC I had, went straight to buying this card and as I said, it paid dividents right away. The 2+ armor are IMBA and with Spirit Miner in the back as well as Captain's Ghost with his affliction, I was pretty sure, I could take down my opponent.

I put WAVE RUNNER in the second position, obviously :o). His reach could have made the difference with any other strategy but with +1 magic, but I wanted to try it out anyway.

As I put three high mana cards in my team (Captain's Ghost with 7, Venari Wavesmith with 5 and Spirit Miner with 6 Mana), I had 4 Mana left.
With Venary Wavesmith, I now can afford to put Kelp Initiate with his 5 speed and 5 health (and only 2 Mana) in the tank position. He now has 2 armor as well at the beginning. And I put Ice Pixie in the third position. This could have been a mistake, if my opponent had chosen one snipe character. I should have put Captain's Ghost in third position, but I messed up without paying the price for it, fortunately.

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Battle Line-Up

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First Round

The extra armor was very convenient, because my opponent had two sneak cards and I otherwise wouldn't have placed Spirit Miner in last position which comes in handy, when there is a water vs water battle as it often happens in Bronze. Then you have to hope, your high value cards are in the back positions.
I quickly got through his Shieldbearer without needing affliction (he had a Divine Healer and could have healed the tank) and Kelp Initiate dodged one attack and was still in play in the second round.

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Second Round

My magic cards got throuth the next to enemy monsters (Silvershield Knight and Divine Healer) without losing one of my own. Wave Runner did his damage, but only on the armor. In this case, it would have been smarter to put another magic card in, but I wanted to try out this card and if my opponent had put any other summoner than Tyrus in, Wave Runner wouldn't have had to put his teeth in those wooden shields but in the flesh of the enemies.

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Third Round

Two strikes and his last card (range) was in the tank positon. Wave Runner attacked one last time the enemies shield, before my magic monsters did the rest.
It was a good battle but in all honesty, I could have placed a better card instead of Wave Runner. But I only had a level 1 and knew, I can afford to put in a counterintuitive card.

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Conclusion

I could have used WAVE RUNNER at level 5, when he gets another ability, namely "Knock Out". At level 9, he gets his third and last ability: "Snare". In my opinion, snare is not a must have ability for a monster, but Knock Out is pretty awesome. When I get the chance, I will level this mighty shark to level 5 and use him more with the melee water set (with Bortus and Demented Shark as priority cards).

Thank you for reading my entry for the Weekly Battle Challenge of Splinterlands.
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