Equality?

When it comes to the Equalizer ruleset, the math is quite simple: the one who can deal more damage emerges as the victor. Yet here comes a battle of mine, where only melee monsters were allowed; I was up against Tarsa, who is widely regarded as the top summoner for such a ruleset, and I still managed to beat him. Allow me to demonstrate how the pace and agility of Water can triumph over the brute force of Fire. Now, let me introduce my setup first.

Possibilus the Wise was an essential choice for this battle. No other water summoner could guide me through it successfully. Possibilus granted two invaluable abilities upon my monsters, which were utilized in nearly every round: Reach and Trample. Although the additional two lives provided an advantage over Tarsa's +1 buffs, they did not prove to be the decisive factor in this encounter.

Now, as for Hardy Stonefish, I doubt it would make for delectable seafood. However, I placed it in the first position just to get roasted. This inexpensive card, costing only 1 mana, was meant to absorb as many attacks as possible and meet its end.

Coastal Sentry proves to be an exceptional card when paired with Possibilus the Wise. Its double melee damage of four, combined with Reach and Trample, makes it a formidable killing machine. Moreover, with an equalized 15 HP, it can effectively guard the coastline for a while. It's no wonder that Coastal Sentry played a crucial role in this game by eliminating my opponent's first three cards.

In Equalizer games, using a Sneak monster is typically counterproductive as it consumes valuable turns attacking the rear of your opponent's deck. Nonetheless, I decided to go for Pelacor Bandit over Uraeus or other inexpensive cards due to its swiftness and Flying ability. I hoped that it could evade some attacks and inflict a moderate amount of damage while flying too high to be hit. Surprisingly, the Bandit failed to evade a single attack this time.

I find Deeplurker to have an excellent cost-effective ratio. With reasonably high speed, it efficiently picks off one creature after another. However, in this particular game, I was sure it would primarily target the first cards since their HP would be the lowest, considering Coastal Sentry attacked first.

As for Torrent Fiend, it's a free card I always play whenever the opportunity arises. I deployed it to protect my rear, anticipating the possibility of my opponent making the same unwise decision of using a Sneak card, just as I did. He did not, and Torrent Fiend didn't participate in this battle at all.

The Battle

As I've mentioned, the key reason for my victory in this battle was the speed of my cards and strategic placement. Two of my opponent's cards were unable to attack until they reached the first position, granting my relatively useless tank the advantage of surviving longer than the opponent's tank. At this point, the "mana score" stood at 6:0 in my favor.

Occasionally, I track the mana costs of the cards used and eliminated to assess their effectiveness for future fights. Throughout the entire battle, I maintained the lead. Even Mordeus, which is undeniably the best card in my opponent's deck, failed to turn the tide of the battle (mainly because the tide always sides water). Modeus succeeded in slaying my Coastal Sentry but was eliminated shortly after. From that point on, it was simply a slaughter of the remaining two rather weak cards.

I believe my opponent could have utilized any Shield monster instead of Tusk the Wide. Since magic monsters were not allowed, its Void ability proved to be voided. Nevertheless, the other cards were well chosen. Neither of us made a significant mistake on this occasion, so the victory can be attributed to a superior strategy I have just shared with you.

Check out the battle here!

Posted using Splintertalk