Hello, Splinterlands friends and community! Today, In this battle, I’ll be sharing an interesting match featuring the Are You Not Entertained? ruleset, which allows each player to deploy a single Gladiator card in their lineup. Gladiator cards are uniquely powerful because of their Bloodlust ability, which boosts all their stats by 1 each time they defeat an opponent, making them ideal for dominating the battlefield. This particular match highlights a fierce showdown between Isgald Vorst and Helmet Kharafax, two formidable Gladiators known for their usefulness and overpowered in specific situations. Both cards will act as main damage dealers, taking advantage of Bloodlust to snowball their strength and overwhelm opponents. The strategy in this battle will highlight gladiator cards around optimizing their abilities and ensuring they survive long enough to take full advantage of Bloodlust, showcasing how rule sets like this can turn the tide in favor of a well-deployed Gladiator.

INTO THE BATTLE: https://next.splinterlands.com/battle/sl_13f2f7dab9bd08d4d61d60ee9b35fe1f

Set-up Plan Strategy

The rule set given is Are You Not Entertain? single gladiator card can be deployed in the line-up, Manuevers all monsters will gain the ability of Reach, and What Doesn't Kill You all monsters will gain an ability of Enrage with 36 mana cap only death element is inactive. Since I can summon a one gladiator card I will utilize it as my main damage with Dragon & Water element combo because I also want to use Vruz on this dragon element and water element for most melee sneak and opportunity monsters has decent damage and speed.

My Lineup

In this battle, I deployed Quix the Devious as my summoner to reduce the opponent’s speed and ranged damage by 1, giving my team an early edge. My lineup included Baakjira, Kulu Mastermind, Deeplurker, Isgald Vorst, Vruz, and Doctor Blight, positioned in that order respectively. Baakjira served as the primary tank in the first position, offering exceptional utility with its Void, Slow, Strengthen, and Heal abilities, while still attacking in melee damage thanks to the Kulu Mastermind's ability to enable tank attacks. My strategy focuses on melee damage with opportunity abilities, making it the perfect combo for the "What Doesn't Kill You" rule set, where the Enrage ability boosts all stats by 50%, creating a powerful synergy for melee monsters opportunity attacker.

Vruz played an important role as bait for enemy Sneak or Opportunity attacks while also triggering its Martyr ability upon defeat if the opponent didn't focus on targeting the frontline then it would act as additional melee damage with its True Strike ability, boosting nearby monsters for even greater damage potential. This lineup effectively capitalized on the opponent's vulnerabilities, focusing on overwhelming backline and low-health targets. Although this is a common strategy, it remains highly effective across multiple rule sets. For more insights, check out my other blog that highlights Water element strategies featuring Sneak and Opportunity abilities.

https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@zactian/water-element-strategy-guide-with-sneak-and-opportunity-ability

Analyzing the battle

The opponent deployed Eternal Tofu, an overpowered legendary summoner that provides all friendly monsters with +2 health, Snare, and Thorns abilities. Additionally, it offers a choice between Corrosive Ward and Divine Shield for three monsters or Triage and Scavenger for one monster. The opponent chooses Corrosive Ward and Divine Shield on Satha Toledo. Their lineup included Mantaroth, Pelacor Conjurer, Aves Sturgis, Helmet Kharafax, Acid Shooter, and Satha Toledo, arranged in that order. This setup showcased excellent positioning, particularly with Aves Sturgis, which used its Weapons Training ability to grant +3 magic damage to non-attacking monsters, namely Pelacor Conjurer and Helmet Kharafax.

The opponent’s primary damage dealer appears to be Helmet Kharafax, whose Bloodlust ability and magic-countering traits make it a significant threat. Although I did not prioritize magic damage, the presence of Thorns from Eternal Tofu puts me at a disadvantage due to my melee-heavy strategy, as the reflected damage will take a toll. While the Enrage rule set might amplify my melee attackers' damage, it also increases the risk, as my attackers will take more damage when striking thorned monsters. Additionally, Mantaroth stands out as a tanky legendary monster with its Shield, Repair, and offensive abilities like Blast, Armored Strike, and True Strike, making it particularly challenging for my Baakjira and Kulu Mastermind. I’ll need my Opportunity attackers to focus on eliminating the opponent’s backline quickly, or this battle might already be lost.

I was surprised to overwhelm the opponent with a significant damage difference, successfully taking down most of their backline. Both Baakjira and Kulu Mastermind managed to hold their positions until round three, giving my melee Opportunity attackers enough time to target and eliminate the opponent’s most troublesome support units.

I was lucky that the opponent didn’t use Amplify, which could have perfectly synergized with Thorns, reflecting even greater melee damage (the same damage) at my attackers. This would have significantly increased the challenge. Instead, I dominated the battle through superior melee damage and speed, thanks to the What Doesn’t Kill You rule set, which boosted both stats by 50%. This strategy highlights the importance of carefully positioning cards based on their abilities and stats, especially in the Are You Not Entertained rule set, where every move can shift the tide of battle.

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Credits:
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