Gladiator's Bloodlust

I hadn't intended to write a follow-up post for the Born Again ruleset, but a recent victory where Bloodlust triumphed over poison compelled me to share. This battle showcased the dominance of a lone Gladiator on the battlefield, offering a contrast to my previous strategy heavily reliant on Martyrs. While Martyrs also did play a role in this battle, they were merely background actors. In my deck, it was Katrelba Gobson who stole the spotlight. Let's delve into the details of this epic battle.

I typically opt for Helios Matriarch over Lobb Lowland, as the +1 speed buff tends to be more effective than a -1 debuff for the opponent's deck. Additionally, it allows for the inclusion of Dragon cards. However, circumstances led me to stick with Lobb this time as Dragon Splinter was off the table.

Terraceous Grunt is my favorite tank for such decks, primarily due to its high HP stats, enabling it to withstand significant damage from both magic and physical attacks.

In this strategy, I play my key card surrounded by both Martyrs available for the Green Splinter—Venari Marksrat to block any potential Opportunity attacks and Fungus Flinger to handle sneaky monsters.

And then there's Katrelba Gobson. If you can keep this monster alive in the first rounds, it tends to become overbuffed, transforming into a killing machine, as was evident in this battle.

The Battle

Surprisingly, my opponent chose Underboss Fabino, one of the Rebellion summoners. Fabino's poisoning ability is a huge threat but can only be used once. Moreover, there's a drawback under this ruleset—once reborn, the poisoned monster gets cured. It didn't seem like the wisest choice to me. On the other hand, the front two-card combo of Venari Marskrat and Grund works great, particularly when Grund receives healing from Goblin Psychic.

However, placing the monsters this way, with Fungus Fiend at the end, inadvertently helped buff Katrelba Gobson and ensured its survival despite the poisoning. Gobson managed to eliminate two monsters each round, virtually ignoring the poison. Eventually, it became fast and lethal enough to handle the buffed Grund decisively. Bloodlust with two attacks per round proved to be an incredible combination, especially in low to mid-mana cap Born Again games like this one.

See the full battle here.

Posted using Splintertalk