I tried the new Survival mode but quickly realized I didn’t have the cards for it – or rather, I can’t afford to have defeated monsters in cooldown for over a week – so I returned to conventional battles in Modern leagues. Fortunately, these are still entertaining, especially when you face a canny opponent, and the ruleset doesn’t kill the vibe like it sometimes does. This battle was one of the more remarkable – featuring a high mana cap, What Doesn’t Kill You combined with Might Makes Right, and a pair of epic monsters led by a legendary summoner to slay. Here’s how I handled them:
When it comes to high mana cap games, I often play Water Splinter since I have several leveled monsters in this element. And since gladiators always come in handy, I opted for Pembrook Nymph.
I expected to face at least one swift magic striker, so I chose a decoy tank or a kamikaze commando. Coastal Sentry wasn’t meant to survive the first round – her role was to get Enraged and eliminate the opponent’s tank.
My primary tank, Commander Slade, hid behind the sentry, waiting for his moment. I wanted to protect him from at least one round of magic attacks, giving my opportunist extra time to handle the weaker foes.
Since Relenor Cleaver is slow, I hoped he would still manage to attack in the first row. A gladiator with Enrage is always a force to be reckoned with.
I rarely play Kulu Mastermind without pairing him with one or two unarmed monsters, but in this battle, I did. He again proved to be one of the most complex opportunists in the game.
Swamp Spitter has reasonably good stats as a standalone ranged monster. However, I needed his Repair ability more than his archery, as three of my front monsters needed their armor fixed.
The same goes for my heavily armored rear monster. Dumacke Orc is one of the best possible rear tanks, especially when he gets Retaliate. I only hoped to avoid facing any poisonous sneakers.
My opponent drafted a legendary summoner, Cryptic, and chose its poison buff, which is always tricky—especially when applied to a monster with Scattershot. Fortunately, that wasn’t the case here. Aware of the weaker HP stats of their power monsters, my opponent chose a slow yet powerful tank with Taunt, Night Ghoul, followed by Pallus, an outstanding second-row flying monster. Nerissa Tridawn was primarily there to protect the archers behind her, as she could hold the front for a round or two. Dhampir Stalker, Meriput Slinger, and Sea Stalker are all lethal archers with useful skills for this ruleset. It was, without a doubt, a well-assembled deck.
My plan worked as intended. Coastal Sentry was eliminated in the first round, as expected, but not before she managed to take down Night Ghoul, giving Relenor Cleaver a chance to attack. The second round, however, did not start well – Commander Slade was poisoned, and it became clear that he wouldn’t last as long as needed. Fortunately, I eliminated all the poisonous monsters, and the battle was effectively decided thereafter. Nerissa Tridawn fell at the beginning of the third round, and the three archers became almost harmless. By the fourth round, the rest of my opponent’s deck was wiped out.
