Introduction
Today I would like to share a recent battle against 
This battle features a bit different lineup with Taraz bringing three Escalation lineup monsters that make this a totally different battle compared to those in the past.
The Strategy
My strategy was to survive the early rounds, eliminate the biggest threats, and win through attrition. Although I lost my main damage dealer, Venka the Vile, to Kobold of Burden’s Reprisal ability, Thunderous Herald’s Execute ability allowed me to eliminate the dangerous Shiraza and her damage-halving attacks. After taking down Grimbardun Smith, my team was wearing down Kobold of Burden while self heal was keeping Mystic Mudbinder alive. Once Kobold finally fell in round seven, victory was practically secured. It was a satisfying win that showed how smart ability combinations and classic Bella Ratajowlski can overcome a stronger opponent that put up a more modern lineup!
The Battle
In the first round my damage dealers were able to take care of the Moribund Arrowbait and get pretty good damage against Grimbardun Smith unfortunately Grimbardun Smith is likely to get healed by Taraz's Meriput Magician.
Unfortunately in the round two due to the Reprisal ability from Kobold of Burden I lost my main damage dealer Venka the Vile. We did manage to take out the Grimbardun Smith. But at the start of round three things are actually not looking good for me with three monsters remaining on the field compared to Tarazes four monsters and due to his speed advantage Shiraza is going to hit my Mystic Mudbinder and half his magic damage before my Mudbinder has a chance to strike.
As predicted Shiraza halved my Mudbinder magic damage, but fortunately thanks to Thunderous Heralds Execute ability I was able to get rid of the always pesky Shiraza and her halving strikes for good in this match. At the start of round four things are starting to look up for our team.
Round four was basically an exchange of blows with Taraz and I managed to reduce his Cobold's health from twenty to twelve at the start of round Five, but my team is also going down in health with both Mudbinder and Herald getting their health readuced.
After round five you can see that my Mudbinder health is starting to stabilize while Cobold and Herald are still going down:
We see the same tendency in round six, but the trend is now clear, we will be able to get rid of Cobold faster than our Heralds is going to fall:
Finally in round seven we were able to get rid of Cobold and now it is only a matter of the time before our win.
And finally in round nine we get our victory:
It is a sweet win with sixty ranking points being awarded for the win here as Tarazkp is almost 1,360 points higher in ranking than me at this time. His ranking is no accident as his deck is better than mine and most of our meetings my teams get defeated, but not this time!
Conclusion
This battle proves that the classic Bella Ratajowlski lineup still has plenty of fight left in it! Even against Tarazkp's updated Eternal Tofu Escalation lineup, my team managed to overcome some serious early setbacks, and secure a hard-earned victory. While newer cards and updated strategies can certainly make battles more challenging, a well-built classic lineup with the right combination of abilities can still compete and win. Beating an opponent ranked almost 1,360 points higher than me makes this victory even sweeter! Sometimes, you don't need the newest lineup to win in Splinterlands, you just need the right strategy and a little bit of luck, that is what makes Splinterlands fun!
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