The battle challenge ruleset this week is Super Sneak. In this ruleset, all Melee attack monsters have the Sneak ability.
The battle I chose to showcase is a 32 mana brawl battle with the Super Sneak, Healed Out, and Broken Arrows rulesets. Fire, Water, and Life were the splinters available to play.
Here is a link to the battle:
https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sm_8KDWpBwVNUrRu4i1LN1x
I chose the Water splinter and the summoner that adds Armor and Speed. My strategy will be making use of the ruleset and going all out on Sneak attacking my opponent. I loaded up my backline with Melee monsters. I put a monster with Thorns in last position and a monster with the Shield ability in the second to last position. This way I am prepared if my opponent goes with a Sneak strategy like me. Besides Melee the only other type of attack that can be used in this match is Magic. So in first position I placed a Baakjira which has no attack but has lots of health with the Void ability. Hopefully the Baakjira can last long enough to give my Melee monsters plenty of time to Sneak attack the end of my opponents lineup.
Start of Battle / Round 1
My opponent chose the Water splinter and went with the summoner that increases Magic attack by 1. Their strategy is to come at my first tank with a strong Magic attack. Good thing I have my Baakjira in first position.
Round 2
During the first round, I was able to defeat my opponents' monster in last position. My Baakjira is hanging on at six health.
Round 3
During the second round, I lost my Baakjira. I am still working away at the end of my opponents’ backline. It now looks like an even race with my sneak attack monsters versus my opponents Magic attack monsters.
Round 4
During the third round, I defeated a couple more of my opponents’ monsters but lost one of mine.
Round 5
After the fourth round, my opponent has only one monster remaining.
At the conclusion of Round 5 I was able to declare victory.
Overall my strategy worked for this match. I got pretty lucky and my Melee monsters did not have as many misses as I was expecting. My opponent had three monsters that were a little difficult to hit because of their speed and abilities. I won the match because my Sneak attack monsters made it through my opponents’ backline quicker than my opponents Magic attack could get through my lineup.
The Super Sneak ruleset is one of the most interesting and it is often difficult to decide on what strategy you want to use. The obvious strategy is to load up your lineup with lots of Melee cards that will Sneak attack. However, doing this is risky because your opponent may be well prepared for a sneak attack. There are several different things they can do. They can booby trap the end of their lineup with Thorns and Retaliate. Or they can make the end of their lineup hard to hit with speed and the Dodge ability. Finally, they can simply try to slow down your attack with the Shield ability. So sometimes I go with a strategy that is less obvious. Most of the time this means using a lot of Ranged or Magic attack monsters.