ELEMENTAL ARMORY BENCHMARK · LEVEL 1

Qwen3.8 Flash-Next at level 1, match 1

Won 2 to 1 with Fire/Dark/Plant/Ice against the rival's Lightning/Wind/Ice/Water. The rival in its seat won the same match. All of Qwen3.8 Flash-Next's matches.

RESULTWon

ROUNDS2 to 1

LEVEL1

DECISIONS4

ILLEGAL0

MODEL TIME11.4 min

COSTlocal, no list price

TOKENS IN / OUT6,377 / 10,748

REQUESTS4

The decks

Its deck	Fire Firefront ★★★ Dark Eclipse ★★★ Plant Wild Growth ★★★ Ice Blizzard ★★★
The rival's deck	Lightning Contact Arc ★★ Wind Air Blade ★★ Ice Ice Slick ★ Water Tidal Orb ★★

The deck reply

Looking at this matchup, I need to consider counter coverage, card reliability, and raw power since all balls are at level 1 with one slot.

**Deck strategy:**
- Cover as many opposing elements as possible with counter bonuses
- Pick ★★★ auto-trigger cards for reliability in the small bouncing arena
- Ensure each ball can win on its own or contribute to a timer win

**Counter analysis of my picks (Fire, Dark, Plant, Ice):**
- I counter: Plant (×2), Lightning (×2), Water, Light, Wind, Ice (×2)
- Neutral only: Fire and Dark — but I carry both, so I can at least match those neutrally

**Card picks:**
- **Firefront** – A sweeping wall of flame is extremely hard to avoid in a shrinking arena, and the burn DoT adds up over 45s.
- **Eclipse** – Arguably the strongest card in the game. Links on hit and drains until separation; in a small arena, separation is nearly impossible, giving sustained damage *and* healing.
- **Wild Growth** – Three spiraling thorn tips with root control. Root locks the rival in place, guaranteeing full damage from the initial burst and any lingering hazards.
- **Blizzard** – A drifting cloud that slows and sheds three icicles. Slow makes the rival easier to hit with everything, and three projectiles from one cast are very hard to fully dodge.

<deck>
Fire: Firefront
Dark: Eclipse
Plant: Wild Growth
Ice: Blizzard
</deck>

The game's players on this match

Player	Result	Rounds
Qwen3.8 Flash-Next	Won	2 to 1
Rival in your seat	Won	2 to 0
Starter player	Won	2 to 1
Sharp player	Lost	1 to 2
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: Ice against Wind, lost

Round 2: Plant against Water, won

Round 3: Fire against Ice, won

Round	Its launch	Rival's launch	Result	HP left	Battle details
1	Ice at 20°	Wind at -152.4°Ice stills Wind	Lost13.8 s	0 / 100rival 1 / 100	Its cards: Blizzard: 2 hits, 99 damage Rival: Air Blade: 5 hits, 100 damage	Reply rd ★★★) is my strongest choice here: - Counters Lightning (Ice grounds Lightning) ✓ - Counters Wind (Ice stills Wind) ✓ - Neutral vs Water but Blizzard ★★★ vs Tidal Orb ★★ gives me a 60% damage edge - Neutral vs Ice but Blizzard ★★★ vs Ice Slick ★ gives me a 160% damage edge This means Ice has either a counter bonus or a significant card advantage against ALL four of the rival's options — no other ball in my deck can claim that. Angle choice:** Blizzard is an auto-attack that drifts and sheds icicles, so I want to close distance while avoiding being too predictable. A slight angle helps against Tidal Orb's straight-line wave (it can miss) and against the weaving Air Blade, while the slow from Blizzard keeps me in control even if Lightning tries to contact me. <launch>Ice 20</launch>
2	Plant at 15°	Water at 90.3°Plant drinks Water	Won24.9 s	62 / 100rival 0 / 100	Its cards: Wild Growth: 2 hits, 100 damage Rival: Tidal Orb: 1 hits, 38 damage	Reply st remaining options are Water (Tidal Orb ★★) or Lightning (Contact Arc ★★). Both are likely picks. Why Plant is the safest choice: - Beats Water (the most probable pick, being their strongest card) - Neutral against Lightning and Ice — no bad matchup exists - Wild Growth ★★★ (160%) with root on touch is devastating in a shrinking arena — once rooted, the rival can't reposition away from the spiral thorns - The wide spiral pattern is anti-evasive: even if they dodge one direction, the coverage catches them Launch angle: The rival played evasively in Round 1 (launched at -152.4°). The spiral pattern of Wild Growth covers a wide area regardless, so a slight offset angle ensures I'm not perfectly predictable while the spiral still blankets the center lane. <launch>Plant 15</launch>
3	Fire at 35°	Ice at -34.8°Fire melts Ice	Won7.5 s	78 / 100rival 0 / 100	Its cards: Firefront: 0 hits, 100 damage Rival: Ice Slick: 1 hits, 22 damage	Reply either way, but Firefront ★★★ (160%) is a zone-based moving wall of flame. A stun only pauses it briefly; it resumes burning afterward. Fire has the raw damage edge (160% vs 130%) and isn't mechanically disrupted by the stun the way Eclipse is. - If rival picks Ice: Firefront ★★★ vs Ice Slick ★ is a massive mismatch regardless. The rival most likely picks Lightning (Ice is 1-star with no counter vs either of my options — it's nearly a dead card). Against Lightning, Fire handles the stun far better than Dark does because Firefront doesn't depend on maintained contact. Launch angle: Lightning wants to close distance for Contact Arc. A moderate lateral angle places my flame wall across the likely intercept path, punishing Lightning's aggressive approach. <launch>Fire 35</launch>

Round

Its launch

Rival's launch

Result

HP left

Battle details

Ice at 20°

Wind at -152.4°Ice stills Wind

Lost13.8 s

0 / 100rival 1 / 100

Its cards: Blizzard: 2 hits, 99 damage

Rival: Air Blade: 5 hits, 100 damage

rd ★★★)** is my strongest choice here:
- Counters Lightning (Ice grounds Lightning) ✓
- Counters Wind (Ice stills Wind) ✓
- Neutral vs Water but Blizzard ★★★ vs Tidal Orb ★★ gives me a 60% damage edge
- Neutral vs Ice but Blizzard ★★★ vs Ice Slick ★ gives me a 160% damage edge

This means Ice has either a counter bonus or a significant card advantage against ALL four of the rival's options — no other ball in my deck can claim that.

**Angle choice:** Blizzard is an auto-attack that drifts and sheds icicles, so I want to close distance while avoiding being too predictable. A slight angle helps against Tidal Orb's straight-line wave (it can miss) and against the weaving Air Blade, while the slow from Blizzard keeps me in control even if Lightning tries to contact me.

<launch>Ice 20</launch>

Plant at 15°

Water at 90.3°Plant drinks Water

Won24.9 s

62 / 100rival 0 / 100

Its cards: Wild Growth: 2 hits, 100 damage

Rival: Tidal Orb: 1 hits, 38 damage

st remaining options are Water (Tidal Orb ★★) or Lightning (Contact Arc ★★). Both are likely picks.

**Why Plant is the safest choice:**
- Beats Water (the most probable pick, being their strongest card)
- Neutral against Lightning and Ice — no bad matchup exists
- Wild Growth ★★★ (160%) with root on touch is devastating in a shrinking arena — once rooted, the rival can't reposition away from the spiral thorns
- The wide spiral pattern is anti-evasive: even if they dodge one direction, the coverage catches them

**Launch angle:** The rival played evasively in Round 1 (launched at -152.4°). The spiral pattern of Wild Growth covers a wide area regardless, so a slight offset angle ensures I'm not perfectly predictable while the spiral still blankets the center lane.

<launch>Plant 15</launch>

Fire at 35°

Ice at -34.8°Fire melts Ice

Won7.5 s

78 / 100rival 0 / 100

Its cards: Firefront: 0 hits, 100 damage

Rival: Ice Slick: 1 hits, 22 damage

either way, but Firefront ★★★ (160%) is a *zone-based* moving wall of flame. A stun only pauses it briefly; it resumes burning afterward. Fire has the raw damage edge (160% vs 130%) and isn't mechanically disrupted by the stun the way Eclipse is.

- **If rival picks Ice:** Firefront ★★★ vs Ice Slick ★ is a massive mismatch regardless.

The rival most likely picks Lightning (Ice is 1-star with no counter vs either of my options — it's nearly a dead card). Against Lightning, Fire handles the stun far better than Dark does because Firefront doesn't depend on maintained contact.

**Launch angle:** Lightning wants to close distance for Contact Arc. A moderate lateral angle places my flame wall across the likely intercept path, punishing Lightning's aggressive approach.

<launch>Fire 35</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.