Fab Four:
With only four monsters to choose from your options are limited and you will likely have plenty of mana to choose from. A varied deck is helpful but it might time to pull out a heavy hitter or two.
Ruleset:
Maneuvers:
all units have the reach ability so this will make melee units attack from the second position and they will target the first position on the opposing team.
Fab four:
restricts the maximum number of monsters to four per team.
Stampede:
allows multiple tramples to occur if a monster has the Trample ability.
Line ups:
Eternan Brune:
Possibly my luckiest reward pull yet when I gathered FIVE BCX in one chest early in the current Soulbound reward cycle. I am looking to reduce my opponent's armour and I feel that doing so may give me a better chance than using Tarsa in this situation. I may be wrong here but I would rather balance my damage out a little than go all in on a melee battle.
Ferox Defender:
When I come up agains the Ferox Defender, I find it really annoying and tough to work around. With eight health and five base armour - seven if you add the additional plus two from the Protect ability - you have a tough nut to crack. I would really like to get this card playable at sixth level but in order to do that I would need to level my Eternan Brune another 16 BCX for Regular foil and two more Gold foil BCX. Overall I think this is a strong common card for the eight mana on offer.
Drybone Raider:
With two different attacks, Drybone Raider offers a damage output from any range. What is powerful here though is combining Drybone Raider with the Manuevers ruleset which grants all monsters Reach. This allows this twelve cost monster to attack from behind a tank such as the Ferox Defender. If I can find the right card to support the ranged and melee attack of the the Drybone Raider then we could have a very good chance at victory.
Fire Caller:
I really like this card for five mana. The Fire Caller has the Martyr ability which when activated gives a plus one to all monster stats in the adjacent positions. Ideally this card is taken out early and the benefit of Martyr can be shared amongst my biggest hitters in the lineup, Drybone Raider and my last remaining monster. With three damage and speed, this card is no slouch and offers a good attacking input which hopefully won't be utilised too much.
Sorriel The Bale:
Who says magic doesn't exist within the Fire element? A really strong option here with the Double Strike. Ideally, my opponent uses Opportunity and takes out the Fire Caller, activating the Martyr ability. In turn this would take Sorriel The Bale to six damage per round and makes him a little healthier and faster. A cool benefit of this Legendary monster at second level is the added utility of Blind which will make my lineup much harder to hit. A powerful card in the right circumstances - is this the right time?
Opposing Lineup
Kelya Frendul:
Additional armour and speed what is there not to love about Kelya Frendul, easily one of the best base set Rare summoners in my opinion and it is reflected in the price against the other summoners within the Chaos Legion set. Buffing the lineup's speed is a good way to take out a target as quick as possible and should help get some damage output onto the battlefield. My Eternan Brune will negate the plus one armour which is a good factor in my favour for sure.
Diemonshark
With solid health, armour and speed the Diemonshark is a near perfect tank. With the Trample ability, I need to watch out for any kills by the Diemonshark or it will begin to rampage through my lineup if I am not too careful. Certainly glad I brought some magic to the party as this card is tough to beat in a physical battle. A good choice of card.
I am glad to see an opportunity attacker here and who better than Kulu Mastermind who, with four attack and speed is also backed up by a strong nine health. This is a good card. Do we see a Weapons Training strategy beginning to form here? A great choice of card and my Fire Caller is looking like the perfect Martyr play.
Another opportunity attacker here has the battle going in the direction I am happy with. A strong card with three damage and speed as well as seven health all for the tidy sum of six mana. A good choice here and another card which I hoped to see as my Martyr ability begins to look a dead cert at this moment.
Wave Brood:
With the Taunt ability, this is an excellent card. I always prefer to combine a card such as this with the Triage to give it additional longevity but honestly this is an excellent card and one I may have chosen in the circumstances as it directs the damage to exactly where I want it to come from. A good selection and will take a round to wear down.
If the opposing Diemonshark can get the Trample ability to activate then we could be looking a loss here. Trample and Stampede timed correct can really decimate a lineup. Ideally we take that card out as soon as possible to prevent this possibility.
The Battle
Round 1:
Solid damage done to Fire Caller means the Martyr is due to pop in the next round. A good job of damaging the Wave Brood means the focus will soon be on the Diemonshark as well. Very positive and encouraging signs with Drybone Raider dealing damage to both Wave Brood and Diemonshark simulataneously.
Round 2:
With opportunity, my opponent has taken out the Fire Caller which has triggered the Martyr ability. This has worked in my favour giving both Drybone Raider and Sorriel The Bale an additional plus one to their stats. With both monsters using Double Strike this has increased their damage output significantly and Sorriel The Bale is now cutting through the opposing health quickly.
Final Round:
With the damage already done, there is not much Kulu Mastermind and Deeplurker can do to prevent the loss from happening.
Post Battle Thoughts:
Given I am in Diamond 3 currently and have just over 5.1k SPS, my Gold foil cards and Guild bonus are starting to stack nicely to improve my rewards. I do think my next step should be levelling Rare summoners to fifth level to allow me to unlock some of my cards additional abilities. Ferox Defender gets access to Repair at sixth level and is a card I have enough BCX for.
There are plenty of other cards I have at a higher level and for me level five Rares is key to moving my account to the next level.
Final Thoughts:
- Maximising damage is the key to victory. Using the mana available to push for the highest damage output and Martyr is a great way to maximise this. With Double Strike you have a great partner for Martyr as the damage output just multiplies quite nicely.
- Overall, Eternan Brune has been a huge boon for my account as I picked up several copies in Gold Foil very early on in this reward set. Highly capable of playing in Diamond 3 where I am right now.
- I need to increase my staked SPS if I wish to earn more chests next season.
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