<center>![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/23u5XZkknrKMxcbqtRWyHWUxP3KNqYuMbiB1WQ9WTasDu2Ho3oZgre3THiz7hEL8duNLa.png)</center>

---

Hello there, this is my entry to the latest "Battle Mage Secret Weekly Challenge!". If you want to participate or learn more about the challenge, click [here](https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battle-mage-secrets-weekly-challenge-november-8-2023). This week we have to formulate a strategy with the **Target Practice** ruleset.

<center>
![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/Eo8LdD4ybSHHXRhmfYnBRuzYGcDQ2av1HAUVtpQkQ8QAf6x2tjJ2BurpBnak4McAKZR.webp)
</center>

### <center>**RULESET: Taking Sides**</center> 

<div class="pull-left">

![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/AKWx2MEtw19c9tEoycWUHFyjbBqjtxoDo6kk1dJEQhAJWSTsBz52Br3VDgqdUe7.png)


</div>

<br>

With the **Target Practice** ruleset in action, all Range and Magic attackers gain the 'Snipe' ability.

<center>
![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/Eo8LdD4ybSHHXRhmfYnBRuzYGcDQ2av1HAUVtpQkQ8QAf6x2tjJ2BurpBnak4McAKZR.webp)
</center>

The 'Target Practice' ruleset is very easy to understand as all ranged and magic attackers receive the 'snipe' ability before the start of the battle. And as we know the monsters with snipe ability target the first enemy unit with ranged, magic or no attack that is not in the first position. So, it kind of removes the pressure from your tank. 

But it can be a good strategy to use a couple of heavy melee attacks at the front which can take down the tank quickly so your enemy lineup gets weakened significantly. Let's see how this ruleset affects my lineup and how I strategies for the following battle. 

<center>
![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/Eo8LdD4ybSHHXRhmfYnBRuzYGcDQ2av1HAUVtpQkQ8QAf6x2tjJ2BurpBnak4McAKZR.webp)
</center>

### My Lineup

<center>
<div>

This is my lineup for the battle

|<center>Position</center>| <center>Summoner/Monsters</center> |  
| ------------ | ------------ | 
| <center>Summoner</center> | <center>Obsidian</center> | 
| <center>Position 1</center> | <center>Grund</center> | 
| <center>Position 2</center> | <center>Uraeus</center> | 
| <center>Position 3</center> | <center>Regal Peryton</center> |
| <center>Position 4</center> | <center>Tortisian Chief</center> | 
| <center>Position 5</center> | <center>Queen Mycelia</center> | 
| <center>Position 6</center> | <center>Doctor Blight</center> |

</div>
</center>


This was a 32-mana cap battle and had the 'Target Practice' ruleset which as we already saw gives all the ranged and magic attacks the 'snipe' ability.

Only Earth, Death and Dragon elements were active during this battle. Well, I wanted to overwhelm my opponent with heavy magic attacks so I went with the **Obsidian** summoner which increased the magic attack of all friendly mages by 1.

<center>
![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/23tbP7Rimg45b4qiErzidwT1tw7o56UJgfb1YrurpLVV5jGmxwv2sF218zuBE29C1QaMD.PNG)
</center>

---

I placed **Grund** in the first position as my tank. It costs a whooping 10 mana but comes with a lot of health and attacking strength, dealing 4 melee attack damage twice in a round is not a small thing. I wanted to get rid of their tank and knew this might be the only unit that could attack it because I wanted to use mostly the magic attackers. It's 11 health was enough to hold the front-line too.

Next in my lineup was **Uraeus** who was another melee attacker who came with a 'sneak' ability and I used it as a surprise element to attack the enemy backline which sometimes has weak units placed, especially in the lower leagues. 

**Regal Peryton** was the first mage in my lineup, I knew it was going to get attacked due to the ruleset giving snipe ability to enemy units. It only costs 5 mana and has 6 health which was not that bad but I used it as my first mage because of its great speed and flying ability which has increased the chance to avoid those ranged attackers that I was expecting during this battle.

The next magic attacker in my lineup was **Tortisian Chief**, a heavy magic attacker dealing 2 attack damage on its own coming with decent health, and costing just 5 mana. I was going for a heavy magic attack setup and this was a perfect unit for that strategy.

I placed **Queen Mycelia** in the fifth position in my lineup. Yet another magic attacker dealing just 1 magic damage on its own and having only 4 health but its 'protect' ability helped my defence get much stronger and added a couple of extra armour to all my units. Also, it had the 'amplify' ability which was not that useful during this specific battle composition.

Last but not least was **Doctor Blight** who, as you guessed, was another mage dealing 1 magic attack damage on its own but coming with some useful abilities. 'Affliction', 'Camouflage' and 'Posion' all of the abilities were useful during this battle and all this cost just 4 mana.

Now that my lineup is set let's talk about my strategy for this game.

<center>
![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/Eo8LdD4ybSHHXRhmfYnBRuzYGcDQ2av1HAUVtpQkQ8QAf6x2tjJ2BurpBnak4McAKZR.webp)
</center>

### My Strategy

The 'Target Practice' ruleset is an interesting one and can be a tricky one especially while arranging your units and making the lineup. Would you use a weaker tank and use strong magic, ranged and no attacks units at the back to stay longer while expecting a lot of snipers or just double down on the tank and try to quickly eliminate your opponent's tank to rearrange their lineup and hope for the best?

I went with a balanced approach while using a strong and sturdy tank at the front in the form of **Grund** and just went with a heavy magic attack damage so if things go well, the battle could be over shortly because of my heavy magic attacks using the 'snipe' ability to my advantage.

Also, giving extra armour to all my units was a big part of my strategy so I could avoid those ranged attackers sniping at my mages. As you will see, this strategy worked in my favour and gave me an easy win in the end.

<center>
![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/Eo8LdD4ybSHHXRhmfYnBRuzYGcDQ2av1HAUVtpQkQ8QAf6x2tjJ2BurpBnak4McAKZR.webp)
</center>


I will share my battle here, which I have uploaded to YouTube. [Battle Link](https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sm_WhPQEuMYmpHM0IBiXAia)

<center><iframe width="798" height="449" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/rSPtY4KNn24" title="Ruleset - Target Practice" frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share" allowfullscreen></iframe></center>

<center>
![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/Eo8LdD4ybSHHXRhmfYnBRuzYGcDQ2av1HAUVtpQkQ8QAf6x2tjJ2BurpBnak4McAKZR.webp)
</center>

My opponent went with an interesting strategy, they managed to get rid of my extra armour and used the **Grund** as well. but their backline was much weaker and looks like they didn't compensate for all the 'snipe' attacks that were going to come their way.


![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/23tRxoZLS1JQF1De8sZvaNTmWiBTNjzrS7rAjFFyR9FJ6dE32MKpDMhSpeLS6XnCTNBHg.PNG)

---

Their **Goblin Psychic** which was the only healer in the opponent camp who should have supported their tank just got eliminated on the first attack and this made it much harder for them. Getting their only mage this cheaply was a mini-victory for me.

But still, their **Grund** tried to defend the front line while their weaker units at the back got hurt badly. It was a good thing I used a strong tank at the front or it could have been bad for me too.


![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/23tbM6gGA4zHWwHvjNRwK4nQL6xSn8CY8FBMnuaozENLzuxFM2cvMoLVDL91GrqzZ7VBY.PNG)

---

Just at the end of round 2, it was looking good for me as I managed to get rid of three powerful attackers from the enemy team.


All my units worked with great synergy and performed each of their roles well which granted me one of the quickest wins. Ending in just two rounds, it was a powerful display of raw attacking strength from all the friendly units.


<center>
![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/Eo8LdD4ybSHHXRhmfYnBRuzYGcDQ2av1HAUVtpQkQ8QAf6x2tjJ2BurpBnak4McAKZR.webp)
</center>


## Conclusion



**Taking Sides** ruleset is an interesting one where we have to keep a few things in mind and there are always trades off with using a specific strategy but in the end, you have to be proactive and form a strategy against what you think your opponent is going to play. You can just go with a strong tank and use a non-attack with good defensive stats and it could work well.

Or you can just focus on getting raw attacking strength like I did and not care too much about the snipe attacks. So, there are so many strategies but always going back to the fundamentals is better. Have a strong tank, support it with extra armour and possibly a healing unit and just keep an eye out on the placement of your range, magic or non-attacking units and you are good to go!

Let me know what your strategy is with this ruleset.

<center>
![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/Eo8LdD4ybSHHXRhmfYnBRuzYGcDQ2av1HAUVtpQkQ8QAf6x2tjJ2BurpBnak4McAKZR.webp)
</center>


*Splinterlands is a popular NFT-based play2earn game. If you have not joined the game yet, then you are missing a lot of fun. You can join by using my [referral link](https://splinterlands.com?ref=pravesh0).*

Note:  
- Text dividers are from [freeztag](https://www.ecency.com/hive-13323/@freeztag/splinterlands-or-art-contest-173-or-a-free-to-use-splinterlands-divider).   
- The banner is from @splinterlands 


![](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/pravesh0/23t7YkG6fg88iz2jQcQ6wZgPcAvcVQquAi3WjG3hbxKCtiE4gjps4afdYX26n27cScKDJ.png)

| [**SPLINTERLANDS.COM**](https://splinterlands.com/) | [**SPLINTERSHARDS (SPS)**](https://sps.splinterlands.com/) | [**BLOG**](https://peakd.com/@splinterlands) | [**DISCORD**](https://discord.gg/splinterlands) | [**TELEGRAM**](https://t.me/splinterlandsHQ) |