With a lot of battles in this season, I were able to climb back to Gold a few days before the season ends. I've seen that the rankings would be reset if I get to Gold 1 which sounded bad but I think the rewards are also get reset so you can farm again from Gold 3 to Gold 1. It does lowers your ranking but it also makes the game more fun for everyone since you can compete on who goes to the top again.
https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_adedad983b4b6724a786bb6e8ca4033b
This battle has Standard Modifier. Since this modifier doesn't have any changes in the battle, it would be a good modifier to check my level in Gold. It is also a good battle because both Death and Earth Elements have their own quirks and unlike Water Element, you cannot just spam one strategy and expected to win.
I have three tanks, Dread Tafarian, Dire Bear and New Beluroc Aegis as my tanks and Vengeful Monk, Wilhelmdale Deputy and Kicking Roc as my main damage. The last two needs to be protected since if they get to the front, they cannot attack being range units.
Aurelia: Aurelia is a good overall archon. The +1 health may not look strong but it's useful at all times. If your unit's health goes to 0, they die. So, that extra 1 health can mean the difference between your unit surviving and dying.
Dread Tafarian: Dread Tafarian has low melee damage but the heal can be good since he works as the main tank most of the time. At max level, Dread Tafarian only have 8 health so he heals 2 but with the +1 from Aurelia, he gets to 9 health healing 3 health per round. The max level is just a theory though since I am only using a level 1 in this battle.
Dire Bear: Dire Bear is very straightforward. The stats are all you need with this unit. With 7 health and 2 melee damage, he offers good survivability and good damage as a front line unit. He doesn’t rely on abilities, which is not that great for tanks but is still okay since the main role is just to absorb damage. In Frontier Ranked, raw stats can still be good in a lot of ways especially when combined with health boosts like Aurelia’s. I see him as my secondary wall if Dread Tafarian dies.
New Beluroc Aegis: I wanted some support from the back line so I added New Beluroc Aegis. This unit has only 5 health and 1 armor but has Taunt to redirect attacks to it. Due to him not having other abilities than Taunt, he cannot attack so he's just a way to absorb the attacks.
Vengeful Monk: Even though Vengeful Monk has melee attack, he can still attack from the back line thanks to Opportunity. Normally, Spellmonger's Taunt can kill him because he only has 4 health but thanks to Aurelia, he could survive the thorns.
Wilhelmdale Deputy: Wilhelmdale Deputy does not have any abilities but she has 2 range damage which I need for this team. I have high survivability thanks to Aurelia but you also need good damage to overcome the enemy's tanks.
Kicking Roc: Kicking Roc is one of my strongest damage dealers in this lineup. The 3 range damage is a lot especially among Foundation units where damage is usually below 3. Even without abilities, just the 3 range damage can swing fights quickly if protected properly. The only real weakness is positioning. If Kicking Roc reaches the frontline, he becomes useless. That’s why I have units like New Beluroc Aegis to keep units like him extra safe.
The enemy lineup has a good balance but a problem in positioning. While all of their units can attack, they focused too much on the back. Great Bear Druid should be more in the front and Sorrow Harvester should be more in the back due to their difference in health. That's what I would do if I were using their lineup.
Thalgrimore: Thalgrimore reduces all enemy units’ health by 1 which directly counters my Aurelia. This effectively cancels out my health advantage and brings the fight back to neutral ground. Against teams relying on extra survivability, this debuff can be very impactful. It also synergizes well with other units like Sorrow Harvester. In this match, it ensured that my units didn’t fully benefit from Aurelia's ability to increase my team's health.
Nim Guard Captain: Nim Guard Captain serves as their main tank and is a strong choice for Death. His Void ability reduces incoming magic damage, which is powerful against magic-heavy teams. In this particular battle, I’m not using magic damage at all. That means his Void provides no value here. While still durable, part of his strength simply goes unused.
Spellmonger: Remember the thing I said where Vengeful Monk survives because of the extra health from Aurelia, well, Thalgrimore brings him back to 4 health so he dies from Spellmonger's Thorns ability.
Sorrow Harvester: Sorrow Harvester’s Weaken ability reduces the health of all enemy units by 1. Combined with Thalgrimore, that creates a total of -2 health to my entire team. That is a serious disadvantage if not countered properly. Without Aurelia, my lineup would have felt extremely weak. This synergy between archon and unit is actually one of the strongest aspects of their team.
Vengeful Monk: They also brought their own Vengeful Monk, which mirrors my strategy in a way. However, my New Beluroc Aegis disrupts their Vengeful Monk by redirecting attacks with Taunt. That reduces the effectiveness of Opportunity. Because of this interaction, their Vengeful Monk cannot freely attack the units that they need to deal with.
Great Bear Druid: I don't know why their Great Bear Druid is at the back. He has decent health and can act as a main or secondary tank. He has 1 melee and 1 magic damage. Since melee units cannot attack from the back line unless they have abilities like Opportunity, only the magic damage can work for Great Bear Druid in this position.
Black Widow: Black Widow is a good last unit. It doesn't have abiltiies but the extra armor is good against Sneak. Black Widow also have 2 range attack so it is best if you put it at the last position farthest from the front line. If range units get to the front, they cannot attack so it's a good position for range units in my opinion.
In the end, this Standard battle really came down to positioning and synergy. Small difference like Taunt, the unit placement and health modifiers made a bigger difference when it stacked up on top of each other. It is weird to say that I don't think the Gold League has no difference than Bronze. I am still winning even I have level 1 archons as long as the strategy is intact.
