ELEMENTAL ARMORY BENCHMARK · LEVEL 8

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

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

RESULTWon

ROUNDS2 to 1

LEVEL8

DECISIONS4

ILLEGAL0

MODEL TIME12.1 min

COSTlocal, no list price

TOKENS IN / OUT8,071 / 14,702

REQUESTS4

The decks

Its deck	Fire Meteor ★★★, Flame Wheel ★★★, Firefront ★★★ Plant Thorn Hedge ★★★, Seed Sentries ★★★, Wild Growth ★★★ Wind Storm Eye ★★★, Countergust ★★★, Wind Tunnel ★★★ Ice Ice Wall ★★★, Shattershot ★★★, Blizzard ★★★
The rival's deck	Lightning Ricochet Bolt ★★, Spark Pair ★, Zap ★ Wind Wind Tunnel ★★★, Tailwind ★, Storm Eye ★★★ Ice Icicle ★, Blizzard ★★★, Ice Slick ★ Water Undertow ★★★, Returning Wave ★, Tidal Orb ★★

The deck reply

that **Fire, Plant, Wind, Ice** is the only 4-element set that counters ALL 8 elements:
- vs Fire → **Wind** counters
- vs Water → **Plant** counters
- vs Plant → **Fire** counters
- vs Light → **Plant** counters
- vs Dark → **Wind** counters
- vs Lightning → **Ice** counters
- vs Wind → **Ice** counters
- vs Ice → **Fire** counters

Every rival pick has a clear answer, and in each matchup only one of my balls should be avoided (Plant vs Dark, Wind vs Lightning). This gives maximum strategic flexibility in the simultaneous pick phase.

## Card Strategy

Since all elements have exactly 3 three-star cards available, and three-star always deals 160% damage without sacrificing speed or reach, I'm running all three-stars. The area-denial nature of these cards synergizes with the shrinking arena at 22 seconds — as space contracts, zone control becomes increasingly oppressive.

- **Fire**: All three-stars are area/burn effects that layer constant pressure
- **Plant**: Thorn Hedge (wall) provides trigger variety + knockback; the two auto three-stars add root and area damage
- **Wind**: Three-stars are all push/sweep effects — perfect synergy with Wind's identity of displacing rivals
- **Ice**: Shattershot's three shards + Blizzard's three icicles create multi-hit area patterns that punish the shrinking space

<deck>
Fire: Meteor, Flame Wheel, Firefront
Plant: Thorn Hedge, Seed Sentries, Wild Growth
Wind: Storm Eye, Countergust, Wind Tunnel
Ice: Ice Wall, Shattershot, Blizzard
</deck>

The game's players on this match

Player	Result	Rounds
Qwen3.8 Flash-Next	Won	2 to 1
Rival in your seat	Lost	1 to 2
Starter player	Lost	0 to 2
Sharp player	Won	2 to 0
Tuned player	Lost	0 to 2

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, won

Round 2: Ice against Water, lost

Round 3: Fire against Ice, won

Round	Its launch	Rival's launch	Result	HP left	Battle details
1	Plant at 20°	Wind at -152.4°	Won2.3 s	47 / 156rival 0 / 156	Its cards: Thorn Hedge: 0 hits, 0 damage; Seed Sentries: 1 hits, 60 damage; Wild Growth: 1 hits, 96 damage Rival: Wind Tunnel: 1 hits, 39 damage; Tailwind: 1 hits, 32 damage; Storm Eye: 1 hits, 38 damage	Reply est) - Wind: loses to Lightning AND Ice (0 wins listed, 2 losses) - Ice: beats Lightning, no counter against it (safe) Key insight: Plant has zero counters among their balls while actively countering their Water (which holds their best card, Undertow ★★★). Its toolkit of root (Wild Growth) + knockback (Thorn Hedge) + thorn projectiles (Seed Sentries) creates excellent control that synergizes with its area damage. Their Lightning is the weakest deck (★★, ★, ★), their Ice is bottom-heavy (★, ★★★, ★), and their Wind has Tailwind ★ dragging it down. Plant can handle all of these without facing a counter penalty. Launching at a slight right angle to spread Wild Growth's spiraling root tips across the arena while keeping Thorn Hedge's knockback pressure central. <launch>Plant 20</launch>
2	Ice at 35°	Water at 90.3°	Lost3.4 s	0 / 156rival 24 / 156	Its cards: Ice Wall: 0 hits, 0 damage; Shattershot: 2 hits, 57 damage; Blizzard: 1 hits, 75 damage Rival: Undertow: 1 hits, 68 damage; Returning Wave: 2 hits, 38 damage; Tidal Orb: 1 hits, 50 damage	Reply nters Lightning, is neutral vs Water, and neutral vs mirror Ice — the safest overall. Why Ice is the best pick: - All three cards are ★★★. - Shattershot's three-way spread covers area well against anyone. - Blizzard slows and adds icicles — great against projectile-heavy Lightning and against Water's slow approach. - Ice Wall rewards wall interactions and punishes aggressive opponents. - No remaining rival ball has a counter advantage over Ice. Angle reasoning: - Lightning's best shots are straight-line projectiles (Ricochet Bolt, Spark Pair, Zap) — a non-zero angle makes me a harder tracking target. - A moderate diagonal keeps me engaging without overcommitting to a wall side. - This positions me well for Shattershot's spread to catch them as they react. <launch>Ice 35</launch>
3	Fire at 22°	Ice at -34.8°Fire melts Ice	Won4.4 s	4 / 156rival 0 / 156	Its cards: Meteor: 0 hits, 0 damage; Flame Wheel: 0 hits, 82 damage; Firefront: 0 hits, 74 damage Rival: Icicle: 2 hits, 55 damage; Blizzard: 1 hits, 67 damage; Ice Slick: 1 hits, 30 damage	Reply ess of what they choose. - Fire melts Ice (advantage) and faces Lightning with a massive card rating gap (three ★★★ cards vs ★★, ★, ★). Fire is clearly superior. Angle reasoning: - All three Fire cards are auto-casting area effects (Meteor crater, Flame Wheel orbits, Firefront wall) that reward closing distance to maximize overlap time. - If the rival picks Lightning, their projectiles (5-6 ball width range) can miss — a slight angular approach makes them harder to land. - If the rival picks Ice, going at a mild angle avoids predictable pinning against walls while still getting my burn effects connected. - Round 1's 20° worked perfectly for a decisive victory; a small variation keeps me slightly less predictable while maintaining the same effective strategy. <launch>Fire 22</launch>

Round

Its launch

Rival's launch

Result

HP left

Battle details

Plant at 20°

Wind at -152.4°

Won2.3 s

47 / 156rival 0 / 156

Its cards: Thorn Hedge: 0 hits, 0 damage; Seed Sentries: 1 hits, 60 damage; Wild Growth: 1 hits, 96 damage

Rival: Wind Tunnel: 1 hits, 39 damage; Tailwind: 1 hits, 32 damage; Storm Eye: 1 hits, 38 damage

est)
- Wind: loses to Lightning AND Ice (0 wins listed, 2 losses)
- Ice: beats Lightning, no counter against it (safe)

**Key insight:** Plant has zero counters among their balls while actively countering their Water (which holds their best card, Undertow ★★★). Its toolkit of root (Wild Growth) + knockback (Thorn Hedge) + thorn projectiles (Seed Sentries) creates excellent control that synergizes with its area damage.

Their Lightning is the weakest deck (★★, ★, ★), their Ice is bottom-heavy (★, ★★★, ★), and their Wind has Tailwind ★ dragging it down. Plant can handle all of these without facing a counter penalty.

Launching at a slight right angle to spread Wild Growth's spiraling root tips across the arena while keeping Thorn Hedge's knockback pressure central.

<launch>Plant 20</launch>

Ice at 35°

Water at 90.3°

Lost3.4 s

0 / 156rival 24 / 156

Its cards: Ice Wall: 0 hits, 0 damage; Shattershot: 2 hits, 57 damage; Blizzard: 1 hits, 75 damage

Rival: Undertow: 1 hits, 68 damage; Returning Wave: 2 hits, 38 damage; Tidal Orb: 1 hits, 50 damage

nters Lightning, is neutral vs Water, and neutral vs mirror Ice — the safest overall.

**Why Ice is the best pick:**
- All three cards are ★★★.
- Shattershot's three-way spread covers area well against anyone.
- Blizzard slows and adds icicles — great against projectile-heavy Lightning and against Water's slow approach.
- Ice Wall rewards wall interactions and punishes aggressive opponents.
- No remaining rival ball has a counter advantage over Ice.

**Angle reasoning:**
- Lightning's best shots are straight-line projectiles (Ricochet Bolt, Spark Pair, Zap) — a non-zero angle makes me a harder tracking target.
- A moderate diagonal keeps me engaging without overcommitting to a wall side.
- This positions me well for Shattershot's spread to catch them as they react.

<launch>Ice 35</launch>

Fire at 22°

Ice at -34.8°Fire melts Ice

Won4.4 s

4 / 156rival 0 / 156

Its cards: Meteor: 0 hits, 0 damage; Flame Wheel: 0 hits, 82 damage; Firefront: 0 hits, 74 damage

Rival: Icicle: 2 hits, 55 damage; Blizzard: 1 hits, 67 damage; Ice Slick: 1 hits, 30 damage

ess of what they choose.
- Fire melts Ice (advantage) and faces Lightning with a massive card rating gap (three ★★★ cards vs ★★, ★, ★).

Fire is clearly superior.

**Angle reasoning:**
- All three Fire cards are auto-casting area effects (Meteor crater, Flame Wheel orbits, Firefront wall) that reward closing distance to maximize overlap time.
- If the rival picks Lightning, their projectiles (5-6 ball width range) can miss — a slight angular approach makes them harder to land.
- If the rival picks Ice, going at a mild angle avoids predictable pinning against walls while still getting my burn effects connected.
- Round 1's 20° worked perfectly for a decisive victory; a small variation keeps me slightly less predictable while maintaining the same effective strategy.

<launch>Fire 22</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.