## This week's Splinterlands [battle challenge](https://steemit.com/splinterlands/@splinterlands/pfgdw-share-your-battle-weekly-challenge-win-upvotes) theme is Serpent of Eld.
I don't often use the Serpent of Eld as I have some other cards I prefer to use as my tank, like the Sea Monster or Chain Golem. Today's daily quest was the water splinter and I had an up close and personal battle that I thought would be appropriate to try and use my Serpent of Eld.

The battle can be found [here](https://steemmonsters.com?p=battle&id=199767ba9a5c7d7abce2104c653bcc10c26fbe3c&ref=golddeck)
![8e2rya.png](https://img.esteem.app/8e2rya.png)

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![2vcbxn.png](https://img.esteem.app/2vcbxn.png)
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<center>##Rules were Armored Up and Up Close and Personal</center>
#### <center>With a 44 mana cap</center>

**Armored Up:** Means all monsters have 2 armor in addition to their normal Armor stat.
**Up Close and Personal:** Means only monsters with melee attack may be used in battles. 

### Summoner Selection:
In this particular battle the summoner selection was not that important. I was trying to complete a water splinter daily quest and both of the water splinter summoners I own, Alric and Bortus, give magic buffs. This was a melee monster only ruleset so neither summoner would provide buffs that help me, so I went with Alric because he was listed first... Even though Bortus is a ninja turtle.
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https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/beta/Alric%20Stormbringer_lv4_gold.png
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***
## Monster Selection

**1rst Position:** I choose the Serpent of Eld  for this position because of the dodge ability. Dodge increases the chances of evading melee or ranged attacks, this is really useful in a ruleset where only melee attacks are allowed. The serpent also has a decent melee attack at 3, a decent amount of health at 6, and above average speed at 4 which will also help evade attacks.
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https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/untamed/Serpent%20of%20Eld_lv2_gold.png
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***
**2nd position:** I used my Wave Runner in my second position because it has 2 melee, 5 health and the reach ability which allows it to attack from the second position. In hindsight I should have used my electric eels because they have the same stats but electric eels costs 1 mana less.
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https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/reward/Wave%20Runner_lv3_gold.png
</center>
***
**3rd position:** I put my feasting seaweed in this position to protect it from the frontal attacks and I wanted to utilize the opportunity ability. With a 3 attack and opportunity this is a nice card that will do decent damage to the weakest of my opponents monsters.
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https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/untamed/Feasting%20Seaweed_lv3_gold.png
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***
**4th Position:**
I choose the Parasitic Growth for position 4 because it is a little bit of a weaker monster in terms of health and I wanted to make sure it was protected from frontal attacks. I used the Parasitic Growth for the same reason as the Feasting Seaweed in that it has opportunity. 2 Monsters with opportunity really slash my opponents team.
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https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/untamed/Parasitic%20Growth_lv3_gold.png
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***

**5th Position:**
I choose the kraken for this position because it has taunt and demoralize. I was expecting my opponent to use some monsters with sneak and or opportunity and was banking on the taunt ability to draw the attacks to my kraken. **Demoralize is a great ability** for an Up Close and Personal rule because it weakens the melee attack of my opponents by 1.
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https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/reward/The%20Kraken_lv2_gold.png
 </center>
***
**6th Position** 
I picked War Chaang as my rear monster because it has retaliate which gives it the chance of attacking its attacker. This is a great ability for the rear during an up close and personal rule because I have a greater chance of having my opponent use the sneak ability. I also like the ranged attack of the War Chaang because it has the potential to land an attack on my opponents tank every round. 
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https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/untamed/War%20Chaang_lv2_gold.png
</center>

**Conclusion:**
My strategy worked pretty well for this battle. The Serpent of Eld made it through 2 of my opponents tanks. I was surprised it did so well against my opponents Goblin Mech.
![aut3ba.png](https://img.esteem.app/aut3ba.png)


 Next time I try this line up I will put the Kraken in the 3rd position instead of the 5th to protect my opportunity monsters better and make them last longer.
![a8mrlm.png](https://img.esteem.app/a8mrlm.png)