There's this battle strategy that I've often used whenever specific rulesets come up. It's a formidable play, but it's not difficult to counter, so I use it prudently. It wins me some battles, some not. But for every time, it's always fun.
Then, Chaos Legion came along and made the strategy even more fun! ๐
That's why these two Trample monsters with hybrid attacks are quite dangerous. With the ability to attack from a distance, there are plenty more chances to trigger Trample's double hits.
Both monsters unlock Trample at level 4. The legendary Oaken Behemoth is particularly threatening for its high magic attack and large array of skills when in max level. It's too strong! ๐ฃ
But Melee Trample monsters get their time in the spotlight. Some rulesets allow Melee monsters to attack from any position. And when you get these Trample monsters with usually high attack damage on a more secure spot, you can watch them unleash mayhem one hit after another.
These are the rulesets that unlock Trample potential to the maximum. Melee Mayhem lets Melee monsters attack the enemy's frontline from anywhere. Equal Opportunity offers the same flexibility to Melee monsters but targets the enemy with the fewest health points.
While Super Sneaky also unlocks Melee attacks from any spot, they can only hit the rearmost. But even if the Trample monster kills the enemy monster on the last position, the skill doesn't activate because there's no next monster.
Disintegrator is a new Neutral monster from the Chaos Legion. And last week's Battle Challenge featured monster. It has many decent skills despite being Common. So much so that it seems closer to a Rare rather than Common. The stats are average for a seven-mana monster, but it's really the skills you're paying for.
Here's Disintegrator's skill evolution:
The Demoralize debuff that drops enemies' melee attacks is very appealing. More so post-Chaos release since there are a lot of melee-centric teams these days that capitalize on summoners, Kelya Frendul and Tarsa.
Knock Out and Retaliate are useful, tricky skills in some situations. You got to be really creative in team plays and positioning to utilize those. But since I'm only fighting on the Silver Leagues, I'd only get Demoralize and Trample at most. And honestly, that's more than enough already.
I'm renting a very cheap level 5 Disintegrator for 2.925 DEC a day. It's too cheap!๐ฑ And with that, I got my final Trample monster. All I need to do is wait for the right rulesets to let Trample fly.
I waited for a few days until I finally got a compatible ruleset with a big mana pool. The upcoming battle's Equal Opportunity would allow me to freely place Trample melee monsters in any position. So I'm adding them as much as I can ๐ค.
Now, here's my lineup of Dragon and Earth monsters:
[Summoner] Quix The Devious. I sang praises for Quix in last week's Battle Challenge post because he's the best guy to deal with big mana battles. Quix also allows me to mix-and-match Splinters and take out more Trample monsters.
[1st Position] Unicorn Mustang protects my frontline from Magic attacks. I often use monsters with Shield or Void as my main tank. I'll likely be facing more physical attackers this battle, but I want to place a countermeasure in case I've guessed incorrectly. So I got a Void tank just in case my enemy's going magic-heavy.
[2nd Position] Flesh Golem is my secondary tank. It has the ever-handy Self-Heal skill and decent stats at level 4. With this battle's Equal Opportunity ruleset, it's good to take the chance to put as many heavyweight melee attackers on the team.
[3rd Position] Desert Dragon is my first Trampler. I'm setting up my sturdier monsters closer to the front. And among all of my Tramplers, Desert Dragon seems the most durable because it has three points of armor.
[4th Position] Rexxie is my second Trampler, and used to be the only one on my deck. Good thing I got two new Tramplers from Chaos Legion. I considered placing Rexxie farther back to keep him safer since he's my strongest attacker. But I changed my mind and decided to keep the next monster in the safest spot on the team.
[5th Position] Disintegrator completes the trio of Tramplers. I got it in the most seemingly secure spot in the lineup because I wanted to keep its Demoralize skill around as long as possible. There's a good chance that my enemy will think the same as I and put more melee monsters. So the melee debuff would especially be essential this time.
[6th Position] Brownie secures the last spot on my team. I just had that one last mana from the pool to fill up, so it's perfect for Brownie and his Haste skill. He also gets upgraded, since his main weakness of having low health will be resolved by the Equalizer ruleset. He's also the fastest among everyone on the team, so I'm hoping he can dodge several sneak attacks.
This is the live battle, captioned -- "How Many Tramples I could get?" ๐
I included both teams' mana utilization rates as a battle evaluation criterium. My opponent only had 77% utilization; they should have replaced Kobol Miner with a much stronger melee monster. It also seems they weren't able to optimize for the Equal Opportunity ruleset. All those Sneak and Reach skills override Opportunity, so they won't be attacking the most vulnerable. Their debuffs were quite good, though. The health debuff was quite significant because of the Tarsa-Goblin Shaman combo.
In Round 1 my Unicron Mustang tank is getting pummeled. My enemy had powerful melee attacks, so Mustang's void isn't helping much. It fortunately survives to face the next round. But, my opponent's Cerberus doesn't. Desert Dragon lands a killing blow on Cerberus, activating the first Trample for this battle. It then lands a 4-point hit on Fineas Rage.
Trample Count: ๐
By Round 2 my Unicorn Mustang exits the battle and Flesh Golem is now on the frontline. Rexxie keeps the tide of the battle on my side as he deals us our second trample hit. That red splatter effect is particularly gnarly.
Rexxie also lands a devastating 5-point strike on Kobold Miner via Trample effect. The Kobold's health is running low, thus Desert Dragon gets to take another Trample finisher. However, I also suffer a bit of loss as Tenyii Striker offs my Brownie with a sneak attack.
Stomping his way to Round 3, Rexxie removes Goblin Shaman from play, along with its double debuffs. My Flesh Golem is still in great shape as it continuously heals itself.
My opponent's Tenyii proves to be very nimble, as it dodges my attacks several times. Miss after miss. But I eventually got lucky with Desert Dragon landing a clean hit in Round 4, and launching the fifth Trample on this battle. Efreet Elder is severely outnumbered, but it puts up a fight with his Last Stand skill. Once again, it's all misses. Not until Round 6 where Desert Dragon surges with a winning slash. No Trample is activated at this time. The match ended in my ๐ฅณ Victory ๐ฅณ.
My strategy worked great in this battle. I think it's in huge part caused by some missteps in my opponent's lineup since they underutilized the Equal Opportunity ruleset. Had there been faster and more powerful melee strikers on their side, I would have been in danger. My team is so slow, especially when Brownie's Haste gets taken out.
What I'd do differently is use faster monsters or find ways to increase my team's speed. This is very crucial in rulesets like Equal Opportunity or Explosive Weaponry. The damage output is so high in these rulesets, affecting the most vulnerable in your team. So it's best to strike first and potentially knock one or two enemy combatants out before they even get to attack.
Thoughts on the Main Strategy
Although, the Triple Trample Trolling delivered exceptionally in this battle, I'd still use it sparingly. It's very easy to counter such a setup with Thorn and armor, so I can only comfortably use the play when counters don't come up in my opponent's battle history.
Despite being an iffy strategy, it's still mostly just for fun. And I was able to try out new stuff, so all is great!
Most definitely. ๐
Disintegrator is the only Neutral monster who has the Demoralize skill within the Bronze and Silver leagues. There's one other Neutral with the skill, the legendary Legionnaire Alvar. But that can only be unlocked in Gold League and beyond.
It's also worth noting that Disintegrator has a very cheap rent and purchase price. It's not a universally effective card in all battles, as its usefulness relies on specific battle conditions and enemy types. But the low price point makes it a worthy investment as an effective counter for whenever the opportunity comes by.
