ELEMENTAL ARMORY BENCHMARK · LEVEL 5

Ministral 3 8B at level 5, match 1

Lost 0 to 2 with Lightning/Wind/Plant/Dark against the rival's Lightning/Wind/Ice/Water. The rival in its seat lost the same match. All of Ministral 3 8B's matches.

RESULTLost

ROUNDS0 to 2

LEVEL5

DECISIONS3

ILLEGAL0

MODEL TIME2.1 min

COSTlocal, no list price

TOKENS IN / OUT5,677 / 1,065

REQUESTS3

The decks

Its deck	Lightning Spark Pair ★, Forked Bolt ★★★ Wind Storm Eye ★★★, Countergust ★★★ Plant Thorn Hedge ★★★, Seed Sentries ★★★ Dark Eclipse ★★★, Reaper ★★★
The rival's deck	Lightning Spark Pair ★, Ricochet Bolt ★★ Wind Countergust ★★★, Tailwind ★ Ice Blizzard ★★★, Frost Comet ★★ Water Crosscurrent ★★★, Tidal Orb ★★

The deck reply

iles.

Wind counters Fire and Dark, which are both strong in this meta. Its mobility and ability to disrupt make it a versatile pick, especially against slower or stationary opponents.

3. **Plant (Third Pick)**:
- **Thorn Hedge** (2★): A thorn fence that damages and knocks rivals back, creating space and disrupting their positioning. This is great for crowd control and preventing the rival from closing the gap.
- **Seed Sentries** (2★): Three planted pods that fire thorns, dealing consistent damage over time. This ensures sustained pressure and can wear down the rival’s health over the round.

Plant counters Water and Light, which are both strong in this meta. Its ability to root and damage makes it a reliable pick for controlling the arena and dealing consistent damage.

4. **Dark (Fourth Pick)**:
- **Eclipse** (2★): A bolt that links on hit and drains health until separation, ensuring sustained damage and pressure. This is perfect for wearing down the rival’s health over time.
- **Reaper** (2★): A hooked scythe that curves around for a second pass, dealing high damage and ensuring the rival can’t easily dodge. This is a strong finisher for when the rival is low on health.

Dark counters Plant and Lightning, which are both strong in this meta. Its ability to drain health and deal high damage makes it a strong closer, especially against slower or stationary opponents. The counters are weak, but the sustained damage and disruption make it a reliable pick.

The game's players on this match

Player	Result	Rounds
Ministral 3 8B	Lost	0 to 2
Rival in your seat	Lost	0 to 2
Starter player	Lost	0 to 2
Sharp player	Won	2 to 0
Tuned player	Won	2 to 0

Every round

The drawings show both balls' paths from the opening launch, as the game shows the arena: the model's ball in blue starting at the bottom, the rival's in red from the top. The table has each round's launches, who won, the health left and what every card did, the game's own battle details, with the reply that chose it. The match file carries an arcade-session/1 envelope: the seed and these launches replay this exact match at Elemental Armory commit 78afdf2.

Round 1: Plant against Wind, lost

Round 2: Dark against Water, lost

Round	Its launch	Rival's launch	Result	HP left	Battle details
1	Plant at 45°	Wind at -152.4°	Lost9.3 s	0 / 132rival 132 / 132	Its cards: Thorn Hedge: 0 hits, 0 damage; Seed Sentries: 0 hits, 0 damage Rival: Countergust: 0 hits, 0 damage; Tailwind: 5 hits, 132 damage	Reply nd) and Lightning (grounds Lightning), while their Wind ball counters Dark (clears Dark). Their Lightning ball is neutral to all but Dark (swallows Lightning), which is a strong counter. Given the Lightning ball's ability to shock Water and the fact that Plant drinks Water, I think the safest and most effective choice is to use the Plant ball. The Thorn Hedge and Seed Sentries cards are both strong and can deal consistent damage. The Plant ball is also immune to Ice and Wind counters, making it a safer bet. For the launch angle, I'll aim at a 45-degree angle to the right (45 degrees) to maximize the chance of hitting the rival's ball while also utilizing the Thorn Hedge wall attack effectively. <launch>Plant 45</launch>
2	Dark at 120°	Water at 90.3°	Lost2.0 s	0 / 132rival 132 / 132	Its cards: Eclipse: 0 hits, 0 damage; Reaper: 0 hits, 0 damage Rival: Crosscurrent: 2 hits, 89 damage; Tidal Orb: 1 hits, 43 damage	Reply After analyzing the rival's remaining cards and their likely strategy, I'll go with Dark to counter their Lightning ball. The Eclipse card is particularly strong against their Spark Pair and Ricochet Bolt, as it drains health on hit and can chain hits. The Reaper card also has a good chance to hook their ball and deal consistent damage. Given the rival's Wind ball was ineffective against your Plant in Round 1, I'll aim to minimize the chance of their Wind ball interfering with my Dark ball's launch. A launch angle of 120 degrees will send my ball diagonally across the arena, avoiding their likely Wind ball's path and maximizing the chance of hitting their Lightning ball head-on. <launch>Dark 120</launch>

Round

Its launch

Rival's launch

Result

HP left

Battle details

Plant at 45°

Wind at -152.4°

Lost9.3 s

0 / 132rival 132 / 132

Its cards: Thorn Hedge: 0 hits, 0 damage; Seed Sentries: 0 hits, 0 damage

Rival: Countergust: 0 hits, 0 damage; Tailwind: 5 hits, 132 damage

nd) and **Lightning** (grounds Lightning), while their **Wind** ball counters **Dark** (clears Dark). Their **Lightning** ball is neutral to all but **Dark** (swallows Lightning), which is a strong counter.

Given the **Lightning** ball's ability to shock **Water** and the fact that **Plant** drinks **Water**, I think the safest and most effective choice is to use the **Plant** ball. The **Thorn Hedge** and **Seed Sentries** cards are both strong and can deal consistent damage. The **Plant** ball is also immune to **Ice** and **Wind** counters, making it a safer bet.

For the launch angle, I'll aim at a **45-degree angle** to the right (45 degrees) to maximize the chance of hitting the rival's ball while also utilizing the **Thorn Hedge** wall attack effectively.

<launch>Plant 45</launch>

Dark at 120°

Water at 90.3°

Lost2.0 s

0 / 132rival 132 / 132

Its cards: Eclipse: 0 hits, 0 damage; Reaper: 0 hits, 0 damage

Rival: Crosscurrent: 2 hits, 89 damage; Tidal Orb: 1 hits, 43 damage

After analyzing the rival's remaining cards and their likely strategy, I'll go with **Dark** to counter their **Lightning** ball. The **Eclipse** card is particularly strong against their **Spark Pair** and **Ricochet Bolt**, as it drains health on hit and can chain hits. The **Reaper** card also has a good chance to hook their ball and deal consistent damage.

Given the rival's **Wind** ball was ineffective against your **Plant** in Round 1, I'll aim to minimize the chance of their **Wind** ball interfering with my **Dark** ball's launch. A launch angle of **120 degrees** will send my ball diagonally across the arena, avoiding their likely **Wind** ball's path and maximizing the chance of hitting their **Lightning** ball head-on.

<launch>Dark 120</launch>

Angles are as each side sees the arena from its own end: 0 is straight at the other ball's start, and positive turns clockwise.