Underdog Victory -- Isgald Vorst

Welcome back to another #Splinterlands #communitychallenge here on Hive. Today's focus is on Underdog Victories. Battles that looked like sure defeats, but somehow your team was able to overcome the odds and snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. Once I saw the theme for this week, I knew exactly who to turn to.

First, let's set the scene with the battle conditions for this underdog victory.

It was a low mana battle, just 14 to use for my archon and units. Making those decisions even more difficult is the Taking Sides rule, meaning we could not use popular low-mana neutral units like Elanor Bravefoor or Halfling Refugee. Aim True meant that all of our units would connect on their attacks, so I wouldn't have to worry about an attack missing due to blind or dodge. Finally, Are You Not Entertained meant we could select a gladiator to join our team for this battle.

The only element unavailable for selection for this battle was Earth, so I would not be able to take advantage of either of the powerful Gobson common gladiator units. Instead, I decided to put all my eggs in the basket of another powerful common gladiator, Isgald Vorst.

Lucky for me, I have her fully maxed out at Level 10 where she has a 5-power melee opportunity attack with piercing at 5 speed. With a kit like that, she is ready to do some damage. Pair her with Elias Max Pruitt to give Vorst the armor strike tactic and she becomes a dual-attacking terminator.

I decided to go all-in on Vorst + EMP in the 14-mana battle, meaning I only had 2 mana left to use after spending 7 on my archon and 5 on my gladiator. With neutral cards unavailable, my only choice was to jam with the water and life legendary 1-mana reward units. I hoped that the added melee attack and armor would allow them to provide enough of a speed bump for Vorst to be able to tear through my opponent's lineup.

YIKES! My opponent fielded a very powerful lineup with the new dwarf archon to give all his units +2 armor. They had 16 attack power from their four units and much more armor + health. I really needed Vorst to hit hard and hit first, but my opponent had two units that would attack before Vorst.

The Conjuror and the Healer both have 5 speed and attacked before my melee unit because of how attacking priority works. When my Vorst did get to attack with its 5 armor strike and 6 melee attack, it wasn't even able to clear my opponent's tank. I was very worried that my lineup wouldn't be able to stand up to the onslaught from my opponent, especially since Vorst wasn't able to bloodlust in Round 1. Here's the state of the battlefield after Vorst's dual attack.

I was definitely feeling like an underdog looking at this battlefield. By the time Vorst was able to attack in Round 2, it was my only unit left on the battlefield. But this is where Vorst was able to turn the tide!

Vorst needed a dual attack to take down the Canary Keeper, but once that threat was cleared, the battle became more favorable. The real key to the battle was the placement of the 6-power Conjurer. If the range attacker was in the rear position, it would have been able to weaken Vorst's armor with an attack in Round 3. However, in the 3rd position, it was not able to attack in Round 3 because it was forced into the tank position when the other range unit was killed.

You cannot count Vorst out of any battle, especially when she has armor strike to complement her already deadly melee attack. Although she looked like an underdog when the battle started, she showed that she can turn a battle around all by herself. Don't discount her ability to tear through an opposing lineup using the dual attack granted by Elias Max Pruitt's armor strike tactic. Until next time...