The battle challenge ruleset this week is Stampede. In this ruleset, the Trample ability can retrigger.
The battle I chose to showcase is a 23 mana brawl battle with the Melee Mayhem, Born Again, and Stampede abilities. All splinters were available to play except for Death.
Here is link to the battle:
https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sm_shQjTNclDM0mqpfHWYGY
I chose the Earth splinter because I wanted to make use of my Quora Towershead gladiator card. It seems like a perfect fit for this match with the Melee Mayhem and Born Again rulesets. From the backfield it will be able to attack with both Magic and Melee. In this Born Again match there will be plenty of dying and rebirth. So there will be lots of opportunity for Quora to grow with the Bloodlust ability.
In addition, this was a home arena match for me and my guild has chosen to block Quora from being used in our home arena. So I know that my opponent will not be able to use the card against me. I filled out the rest of my backline with a variety of Melee and Magic attack monsters. In Melee Mayhem, I never like to go all in with Melee monsters since it is predictable. So your opponent may be waiting for you with Thorns, speed, etc.
Start of Battle / Round 1
My opponent used the Yodin summoner with mostly ranged attack monsters. Their first position monster has an incredible amount of speed plus Thorns. Good thing I have some Magic attack monsters.
Round 2
During the first round, I lost the first two monsters in my lineup. I only have three monsters remaining but one of them is Quora.
Round 3
During the second round, my monster in first position was able to induce several misses by my opponent. I defeated my opponents’ monster in first position and my Quora got its first Bloodlust boost.
Round 4
During the third round, my Quora moved into first position and also got another Bloodlust boost.
Round 5
After the fourth round, my Quora has become unstoppable.
Round 6
I think Quora has become the most powerful monster I have ever seen. Eight Magic attack, seven Melee attack with 17 Health.
Overall my strategy worked for this match. I went with a combination of Melee and Magic attack monsters. In addition, I used a monster which given the rulesets had great potential to become unstoppable and it did.
I will admit that in brawls and tournaments I usually just ignore the fact that it is a Stampede ruleset. Don’t get me wrong. Using a Stampede monster in this ruleset can be super exciting if your opponent does not have armor and has low health monsters. There have been matches where I have gone through all my opponents' monsters in one turn. I did this using a Double Strike Stampede monster and so the Stampede just kept retriggering and retriggering. The problem is that it is just too risky and conditional if you really just want to win. All your opponent has to do is use monsters with Armor and it messes up your entire strategy. That is why in games where I really want to win like the brawl battle in this case I do not even think about using Stampede. However, if I am in ranked play then I am in a less serious mood and just looking for some fun, then I do use Stampede monsters.
