Hello there.

Today I'll share my battle under the Maneuvers ruleset. But first, I will share some of my thoughts regarding it. With this ruleset, all monsters with the Melee attack have the Reach ability. This affects even monsters with dual attack types, as long as they have the melee attack. The Reach ability lets melee monsters in the second position to attack the enemy in the first position.

Since this is a ruleset that empowers melee monsters, I can expect a lot of players to take advantage of it. They can have monsters with double strike like Coastal Sentry and Grund in the second position, where they are safe and can attack with reckless abandon. As a counter to this possibility, I usually consider putting a Thorns monster in my first position. Depending on the strategy, adding Demoralize and/or Inspire monsters can also be good.

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 tournament battle, and it was a Wild Bronze battle with Corrosive Fog, Rise of the Commons, and Maneuvers Rulesets. A 15 mana battle is on the low amount and only Earth, Death, and Dragon are available. I can think of a lot of different strategies for each so I will try to counter as much as I can.

For Earth, Obsidian and magic monsters isn't that good since Thaddius counters them. Using Grund can be tricky because of the possibility of Cursed Windeku, or other Thorns monsters. Since this is Wild, a Mylor with Mustang can be really good, but I don't have the Mustang. Since it will most likely be a front to back matchup with the low mana, one can get spicy with Katrelba to catch them off guard.

For Death, Thaddius with Cursed Windeku is the usual option. It can counter both magic and melee teams. Shavi can deal with the backline, or if one is scared of sustain, they can use the Revealer.

For Dragon, there aren't a lot of options because of the low mana, and rise of the commons. If anything, I'd use Helios just for the increased speed, and maybe Naga Assassin for some Sneak defense.

The Lineup

For me, between the lineups I mentioned above, I'd rather go with a Katrelba team. Going for a magic or melee team that goes front to back is dangerous. Katrelba with the sneak is a high risk high reward strategy. If they use the simple Shavi and Windeku team, I lose, but if they use anything else, I have a high chance of winning. Since I expect a Windeku, I had to place the Mycelic Morphoid in front. I don't want it to attack with reach and kill itself. I'd rather it take the Windeku's attack, and for the Lurking puffer to tank other attacks.

The Battle

Link to the Battle

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The Matchup

My opponent decided to go with an Earth team that I did not expect. They went for a sustain team that I did not consider. Flesh golem with the heal, and Wood Nymph for additional healing. The Morphoid is in the second position to provide additional attacks. The chicken is to buy time against sneak attacks. Looking at it, my team actually feels like it will be very effective. But thinking about the other teams I had in mind, only the Windeku Shavi team wins against it.

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End of Round 1

My Katrelba was able to make quick work of the Chicken and Nymph, and getting 2 Bloodlust stacks afterwards. My Puffer is still at 4 HP, so Katrelba still has 2 more turns of free attacks. It looks like my high risk is paying off big time.

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End of Round 2

Katrelba killed the Morphoid, and got another bloodlust stack. It got damaged with the Thorns, but at this point it is nothing but a scratch. Katrelba was also able to hit the Flesh Golem with its second attack. Even thought it healed, it is already within kill range for Katrelba next round.

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End of the Battle

I will have to say that I was very happy that my risk paid off handsomely. I was confident that my strategy would be good against a lot of possible teams, and I was right. I did not expect my opponent's team, but I still got the win. It did make me wonder if just keeping it simple and going with the Windeku and Shavi team would have been the better option, since it beats my Katrelba team as well. I guess I'll try it out next time.

The Result

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Conclusion

In tournaments where there are additional limitations on top of the Rulesets and banned elements, 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 wasn't expecting. Since I used a team that is very unorthodox, I think I caught my opponent off guard, and was able to come out with the win.