Hello there.

Today I'll share my battle under the Fog of War ruleset. But first, I will share some of my thoughts regarding it. With this ruleset, the Sneak, Snipe, and Opportunity abilities are disabled. It means that apart from Scattershot, there are no ways to hit the backline. Most teams will be forced to go front to back with their attacks.

Since attacks will be very focused on one target, adding a Taunt monster is near the top of my priority to try and split the damage. Depending on the available mana, I will add support monsters to keep my front and Taunt monster alive. Blast and Scattershot are viable options as well, so I will try to keep my team protected with some armor, and add Triage if possible.

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 Wild Ghost tournament battle, and it was a Silver battle with Fog of War, Corrosive Fog, and Taking Sides Rulesets. A 54 mana battle is on the high amount, and only Fire, Earth, and Life are available. I can think of a lot of different strategies for each so I will try to counter as much as I can.

This is my second time playing a Ghost tournament. In Ghost tournaments, players don't use their cards, and everyone is given the same set of cards. This puts everyone in the same playing field, and strategy and experience makes the difference. The last time I played in something like this, I experienced choice paralysis because of the whole set of cards that I am unfamiliar with. Hopefully I can do better this time around.

The ideal team for Fire is Yodin with a lot of fast monsters to deal a lot of damage quickly. Jacek is an option, but isn't as good because of the really high mana. I expect a lot of high HP monsters to be used, and Scattershot attacks might take a long time to kill one.

For Earth, this might be one of the best times to use Llama + Kron. Because of the Fog of War, there is no risk of Sneak attacks, so it is almost certain that the last position monster will get the Last Stand buff. Adding a martyr before it can increase the buff even more.

For Life, Ilthain can be an option to counter Yodin, but it will be disastrous if they play the Llama Kron team. Chanseus with Iziar can be a good option to split the damage. Chanseus' Triage and Repair can be perfect in a support team. The Llama Kron team might not have enough damage to kill Iziar fast enough, while the team goes front to back.

The Lineup

For me, between the lineups I mentioned above, I'd rather go with the Chanseus Iziar team. Inevitable adds an additional Triage. The Immunity can protect it against debuffs like Affliction, that will seriously hamper on my strategy. Bosun has both damage and Reflection Shield in case I face a Yodin. Defender of Truth gives Protect and a bit of damage. Adelade adds the second Repair, while Crystalsmith heals the front.

I really like this tournament, because apart from Bosun, Crystalsmith, and Iziar, I don't own or rent any of the other cards. And those three that I do have, I don't have them in Silver levels. This is a fun way to use cards that I haven't used before.

The Battle

Link to the Battle

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The Matchup

My opponent decided to go with a Llama Kron team that I did not expect. They used a Minotaur Warlord in front, which has both Magic Reflect and Return Fire. They then comboed it with Lord Thanalor who has Amplify. Goblin Psychic with the Tank Heal is expected, and Mushroom Seer for the Silence is a nice touch. They might have forgotten that there was Fog of War since they put Beatrix Ironhand in the back, maybe for its Thorns. They have a lot of damage, but it is a good thing I used Iziar that has Void. So their magic damage will be halved.

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End of Round 1

I did not expect to kill the Minotaur on the first round. It had 12 HP, but I guess that just goes to show the importance of Bosun's damage. I understood their strategy after that round. They wanted the Minotaur to slowly take out the backline by letting them kill themselves. Unfortunately for them, my strategy counters theirs completely. Having double Triage and Repair neutralized most of their damage. Iziar's Void also countered most of their magic damage. This is looking like a win this early on.

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End of Round 2

Kron is a bit harder to kill than the Minotaur. At the end of the round I was able to deal 3 damage, so it will only take a few more attacks, but we can definitely kill it. The Goblin Psychic was able to apply the Affliction on Iziar, so my Triage is useless now.

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End of Round 3

Kron down! This means that their main win condition is out. Beatrix can still attack once it is the last monster, so the Last Stand won't be wasted. But their team looks like it is lacking firepower now.

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End of Round 4

Now that is an interaction I haven't seen much before. After Iziar died, it was revived because of the Resurrect ability. What I didn't expect was it to have armor again. The Corrosive damage was gone, as well as the Affliction, and the Protect armor was reapplied. Inevitable then healed Iziar with Triage. Goblin Psychic applied the Affliction again, but I still have one more Resurrect, so I'm already calling it here. This battle is over.

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End of the Battle

I will have to say that I was surprised that the battle was such a stomp. At the end of the battle, my team had full health. The only sign that a battle happened was the corrosive damage to my armor. The lineup I came up with feels nasty. Double Repair, Triage, and Resurrect feels overpowered. I'm not sure how it would have done against a Yodin team, but Bosun with the Reflection Shield would make it a good battle.

The Result

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Conclusion

In tournaments, 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 I considered, and countered. I was able to come up with a very cohesive team that is very hard to kill, and I ended up with a flawless victory.