Rise of the Commons

The name of this ruleset is a bit of clickbait—don’t expect any revolt against the Splinterlands nobility by peasants. It simply limits you to Common and Rare monsters only. However, some of these monsters are heavily underestimated. When you find a strategy tailored to them, they can match favored monsters easily. On the other hand, the second modification, Target Practice, adds some spice to this battle and can really change the tide of events. You have to learn to use it to your advantage. That’s what I did in this battle, which ended in a decisive victory for my set.

Passing on the opportunity to draft a Gladiator when the best monsters are unavailable is even dumber than under other rulesets. As I decided to stick with the Fire Splinter, there was no other option but Eternan Brune.

Ferox Defender is far from the best tank ever, but you don’t need a tank under Target Practice. Besides, when you manage to keep Ferox alive for a couple of rounds, its armor buff makes it worth the 8 mana points.

Chimney Wallstop was the key monster of my setup. I intended it to become an overbuffed killing machine, and it took this role with dignity.
The easiest way to boost a gladiator is to let a Martyr perish next to it. I wanted to play it safe, so I drafted two Martyrs instead of just one.

Venari Marksrat was there to absorb some damage and buff the others. This monster hardly ever has another purpose.

In contrast to Venari Marksrat, Firecaller is quite a decent ranged monster. I could imagine drafting it even without its Martyr ability.

I expected my opponent to rely on magic monsters and intended to keep them away from Chimney Wallstop for as long as possible. I hoped Pyrewatch Devil would get great HP stats over the battle to ensure that.

Last but not least, Dumacke Orc is a great rear monster, capable of blocking most sneakers for several rounds.

The Battle

My opponent opted for a similar strategy with a fake tank, mainly to save mana points for other cards. Combining Ujurak Mystic with Mycelic Slipspawn was wise considering the ruleset modifications. The last three monsters were rather well chosen. Mad Ogre Anarchist and Katrelba Gobson are dangerous, especially when they work together. I only have doubts about Goblin Psychic, as you couldn’t expect a battle where healing your front monster will be important with this setup and ruleset. The offensive potential of this goblin is rather limited; people usually play it for its healing abilities. Besides, its low speed makes it an easy target.

The battle proved that putting my hopes into Dumacke Orc was right. This single monster effectively held the two opponent's melee power monsters away from my key cards, and the orc even managed to survive. While my opponent’s offensive was kept busy in the rear of my pack, I managed to eliminate the taunting Mycelic Slipspawn and the decoy tank with only one of my Martyrs lost. Meanwhile, Chimney Wallstop got buffed enough to become invincible, so the rest of the battle was a slaughter. No wonder it ended up in a decisive victory with only one casualty on my side, thanks to better card selection and wiser placement.

See the full battle here!

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