Hello there.

Today I'll share my battle under the Earthquake ruleset. But first, I will share some of my thoughts regarding it. With this ruleset, all monsters without the Flying ability take 2 physical damage each round. Since it is physical damage, the Shield ability can reduce it to 1, and the armor from Protect can block one round of damage. This is one of the rulesets where the Snare ability is really good. Snared monsters lose their Flying ability, so they take damage to the Earthquake as well.

In this ruleset, the first thing that comes to my mind is, Martyr. Earthquake and Noxious Fumes are two rulesets where the Martyr cards can die earlier. They can buff regular monsters, or even the Flying monsters, which will be surviving for a while. Gladiator cards with armor are also pretty good in this ruleset. Whenever they get a kill, they get armor which blocks the earthquake damage.

I made this meme in https://imgflip.com/memegenerator

With the Earthquake ruleset, I usually have a different strategy for each element. For Fire, I try to make use of both Martyr cards, and placing a Gladiator card in between. Eternan Brune can remove some of their armor as well. With Water, I usually go with Possibilus with Noa and Kulu Mastermind. I remove their armor, and hopefully pick off the backline. My go to team is usually Earth with Quora placed between two martyr cards. Mycelia can give them armor, and Quora can get armor afterwards. For lower mana, I use Regal Peryton instead of Quora. Life actually has a lot of Flying monsters, and Franz Ruffmane gives Gladiator cards like Katie armor. Death has Riftwing and Helheim Demon, and Dragon has Runic Skyclaw.

I believe that being flexible in battle is the ideal strategy. Check the opponent's history, check what they are most likely to use, and counter it. But always pick teams that can also counter different strategies.

Without further ado, let's get into the battle.

The Ruleset

This was a tournament battle, so it was a Bronze battle with Earthquake, Reverse Speed, and Close Range Rulesets. A 34 mana battle is on the high normal amount. The Water element is the only one not available, and I can think of a lot of different strategies for each so I will try to counter as much as I can.

The ideal team for Fire is Chimney Wallstop with Eternan. Removing their armor is good for both the Earthquake, and dealing damage. Wallstop also has a low Speed and high damage which works well with the Reverse Speed ruleset. For Earth, I still think Quora with two Martyr monsters beside it is the best in Earthquake. For Life, Franz with Katie is good, but is countered by Quora. Life has good Flying monsters in Pelacor Conjurer and Celestial Harpy. For Death, Helheim Demon is really good here with Riftwing. For Dragon, Runic Skyclaw has Flying, but is too fast for Reverse Speed.

The Lineup

For me, between the lineups I mentioned above, I still believe in the Quora Supremacy. Lobb Lowland is a bit bad because of Reverse Speed, but if they use a lot of 1 Speed monsters anyway, then it wouldn't be that bad. Pelacor Mercenary is a good Flying tank. Quora between two Martyr monsters is my win condition. Queen Mycelia provides the armor through Protect, and Chaos Agent is the filler card at the back. Even though Quora might miss its Melee attacks, I'm hoping the mix of Magic damage, Heal, and Armor will be enough to outlast and beat my opponent.

The Battle

Link to the Battle

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The Matchup

My opponent decided to go with a Katie team that I considered. They used a tanky front monster that has a lot of armor, and can survive against magic attacks. They then have a lot of Flying monsters in the backline. Their attacks are split to a lot of different targets, so my Pelacor Mercenary might live for a long time.

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End of Round 1

We were able to remove the Imperial Knight's armor, so it will take Earthquake damage to its health at the start of the next turn. My monsters are still healthy, and it was a good decision to put the Fungus Flinger in the second position instead of Marksrat, since Katie didn't get a Bloodlust stack yet.

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End of Round 2

Because of the Reverse Speed, the Celestial Harpy attacked first and killed my Fungus Flinger, while also denying Katie the important Bloodlust stack. Quora got a Martyr stack and increased its stats. My Pelacor is getting a bit low, but I think it already did its job of buying time for Quora.

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End of Round 3

The Celestial Harpy betrayed their team again, this time killing my Marksrat, and giving Mycelia a Martyr stack, so it gets another armor. Quora pretty much nullified Katie's attacks with its Heal. It also helps that their Katie still hasn't gotten any stack at this point of the battle.

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End of Round 4

Their Katie finally got a Martyr stack, but it is a little too late. It can hit Quora for 4, but Quora heals for 5. Quora having more attack than its HP means this battle is over next round.

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End of the Battle

I will have to say that the battle turned out as I expected. This is why I like Quora in Earthquake and Noxious Fumes rulesets. It has enough sustain to stay safe in the backline, while also having enough damage because of the two Martyr stacks. The additional armor from the stacks also helps it avoid unnecessary damage. It also helps that the enemy monsters at the backline are slowly dying to the Earthquake damage. So they are on a clock to kill my Quora, while I am chilling.

The Result

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Conclusion

In tournaments where there are additional limitations on top of the Rulesets and banned elements, I try to make it a point to look at the possible teams and imagine them fighting against one another. I will then choose the team which I think is best. For this specific battle, my opponent used a team composition that I was ready for. The Katie team is strong, and is actually my second choice. Unfortunately for them, it is usually outclassed and countered by Quora.