Hello there.
Today I'll share my battle under the Stampede ruleset. But first, I will share some of my thoughts regarding it. With the Stampede ruleset, the Trample ability can trigger multiple times if the target is killed. Trample usually stops on the second target whether it kills it or not. But with Stampede, the whole team can be killed on the same turn and by the same monster if it has enough damage to one shot all enemies.
In this ruleset, I usually prefer to use Possibilus, but also expect my enemy to do the same. Water is going to be expected because Diemonshark has Trample innately, while Possibilus grants it. The Desert Dragon also has Trample, but people don't use it as much.
Of course, the ones above are just guidelines. Since we can have up to 3 rulesets in a battle, these can change quickly. If a Taunt monster is available, I'll probably include one in the back to at least spread the damage as well as prevent a possible early Stampede activation.
I believe that being flexible in battle is the ideal strategy. Check the opponent's history, check what they are most likely to use, and counter it. But always pick teams that can also counter different strategies.
Without further ado, let's get into the battle.
The Ruleset
This was a tournament battle, so it was a Silver battle with Stampede, Even Stevens, and Aim True Rulesets. A 26 mana battle is on the normal amount. All elements are available, and I can think of a lot of different strategies for each so I will try to counter as much as I can.
The ideal team for Fire is a Melee team with Tarsa. Melee monsters have good stats, and the Aim True will help them hit their attacks. The Shield of Antoid Platoon can help mitigate some damage. For Water, Possibilus with Coastal Sentry is expected. Using Diemonshark as the front tank is an option. For Earth, Grund with Mycelia and Goblin Psychic is an option. For Life, Sloan with Arbalest is ok, and add Chaos Knight and a few support and damage monsters can work. For Death, Windeku with Ravenhood is expected to punish Possibilus teams. They have a good amount of options to add to those two. For Dragon, Chwala is also really good to counter the Melee teams. Quix would then counter the Range teams. It can then be combined with the monsters from other elements.
The Lineup
| Card | Ability | Comments |
|---|---|---|
 | Increases the Speed of ally monsters by 1 and has Conscript | Gladiator cards are really strong so I want to use them. I also want to increase my Speed to hopefully attack first and kill the enemy before they can attack. |
 | Magic Reflect | This is my counter to magic teams, as well as my highest HP at 2 mana. It was mostly a fill pick. |
 | Sneak | I'm going for a Sneak team, and Vruz is essential in removing armor of the backline. I'm placing it in second position to at least give some protection for my Mycelia in case my front line gets killed too quickly. |
 | Protect | I am using a Gladiator card, so I want them to have armor that can increase along with the Bloodlust stack. |
 | Bloodlust, Sneak, Double Strike | Katrelba is my main damage dealer and win condition. I'm hoping to take out the back line early instead of taking time on the front line. |
 | Sneak, Double Strike | My cleanup crew. I hope Dhampir can take out enemies that Katrelba wasn't able to kill, as well as reduce the HP of the next target for an easier kill. |
 | - | My Sneak tank. If I encounter a similar team, Naga Assassin shouldn't immediately die to a Katrelba attack. |
For me, between the lineups I mentioned above, I'd rather go with a Katrelba team. I can use a Possibilus, but I also expect my opponent to do the same. I don't want the battle to go down to RNG, and who attacks first. This Katrelba team is something I frequently use in Ranked, and usually catches opponents by surprise.
The Battle
The Matchup
My opponent decided to go with an expected Possibilus and Coastal Sentry team. They used a Demented Shark which I did not expect, since it increases the Sentry's attack to 4, which will immediately kill my front line. The Demented Shark positioned at the back will also buy a lot of time for the Sentry to attack. All my monsters are in danger of being one shot by the Sentry, but the silver lining is that it is the only one attacking. I won't be killing the Kelp Initiate early, so I still have a chance.
End of Round 1
Vruz did its job of removing the armor, and my Katrelba was able to deliver the killing blow and get a Bloodlust stack. Dhampir removed the Demented Shark's armor, and dealt a bit of damage, but it is still really healthy. The Coastal Sentry is still safe an will be able to kill a lot of my monsters next round.
End of Round 2
Katrelba wasn't able to kill the Demented Shark, and the Coastal Sentry was able to kill both Vruz and Mycelia, while also removing Katrelba's armor. Fortunately, Dhampir performed its purpose and killed the Demented Shark. The Coastal Sentry is still undamaged, but it now has to deal two attacks to my Katrelba to kill it.
End of Round 3
Katrelba was able to kill the Kelp Initiate and gain an armor stack. This was the purpose of adding Mycelia and Protect. Because of that my Katrelba didn't die to the Coastal Sentry's attacks. Because my monsters are faster, I should win next round.
End of the Battle
I will have to say that I was happy that I won that battle. I expected the Possibilus, and I was confident that I can counter it. Adding Protect to buy time, and focusing on the backline is a very good strategy against it. If I went with my Diemonshark + Coastal Sentry team, I think I would have lost. Gladiator monsters are really powerful because of their Bloodlust, so I try to use them whenever I can.
The Result
Conclusion
In tournaments where there are additional limitations on top of the Rulesets and banned elements, I try to make it a point to look at the possible teams and imagine them fighting against one another. I will then choose the team which I think is best. For this specific battle, my opponent used a team composition that was really strong, but I was ready for it. I think I only won because I countered it, and it could have won against most of the teams I thought up. It was also better than the Possibilus team that I was planning to use. Even though I countered it, it was still a pretty close battle. That goes to show the power of Trample and Stampede.