I nearly always have challenges with Zaku, but this morning I played a near perfect lineup for ruleset, which was an Equalizer and Reverse Speed round, with 22 Mana available. 22 isn't low, but it isn't high either, making it iffy as to whether someone will play a low-mana summoner or a high that has more buffs. I went low, they went high.
As you can see, at this point, it looks like I am going to be overpowered heavily once Zaku applies the powerup to the Ranged weapons and health, plus adds in blast with every hit. Plus, there is Beetle Queen with tank heal. But, the devil's in the details.
While we both have added shields and shield repair, one of the core details is that my Queen Mycelia has rust. The other details to note are Blight and Bilkja at the back both have weaken and while Zaku can be a challenge at speed, as a lot of the Ranged cards are fast, this is a reverse speed ruleset, not just an equalizer.
But the real hero?
Or should I say Heroine, is Epona. In this case, it is her Strengthen and Shield Repair that are vital.
As you can see, once all the buffs and abilities are applied, things are looking quite a bit different between the two opposing forces. Spirit Druid Grog with headwinds (my highest mana card in play) has canceled out the powerup to the ranged weapons, Weaken has dropped them two HP and strengthen on both Epona and Failed Summoner have increased mine two, meaning that after the Zaku add-on, there are 3 HP points difference. Not only this, having the Flaming Monkey in there for shield repair is great, but it also has Swiftness, upping the speed of all the cards by one.
But did I need them?
Even though I have thorns on Mylor and the Queen with Amplify, it is only going to benefit against two cards, but Failed summoner is a nice additional counter against the magi of the Beetle Queen. I assume it is in second position as it has a shield. Now, the shields aren't going to matter much for me anyway, as I am playing an all-magic lineup and low and behold, this lineup has no defense against magic at all. Essentially, the only hope is that the "blast" damage will be enough.
Spoiler alert.
It won't be enough.
My first monster to succumb was my Failed Summoner in the tank position - but it was already round three. Essentially, with the magic power I have, plus the reflect and occasional thorns, by that stage, this was all that was left.
This might have felt like a small victory as after all, there are only ranged monsters left, meaning that the first in line is useless other than as cannon fodder anyway.
Except... Spirit Druid Grog also has resurrect! So the win of killing at least one monster was at least for the moment, a short-lived victory.
With one HP and a shiny new shield, he was good to go for another two hits.
Final result?
After 6 rounds of slaughter, Zaku had to limp away from this one, licking his wounds.
As said, I don't have a lot of luck against Zaku normally, but under these particular conditions, this is my own little "master class" lesson that even with all that firepower, slow-moving earth can not only win the day, but stay almost completely untouched with some of them, scavenging and filling themselves up on the carcasses of the fallen, to be stronger than when they started.
And, if you want to have a look at the battle with a little more animation than my "had to be there" telling of it, here is the link.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_de214a7e4eb293820f1d17a2afcf9c07&ref=tarazkp
And for reference purposes, currently I am the highest I have ever been ranked in Champion 3, with 3,957 points.
That's a lot of battles... and I have watched them all.
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
