There is one special ruleset that singles out the weakest monsters on the field and causes everyone to pummel them relentlessly until they are dead, usually within the first or second round. Unlike how it sounds, opportunities are by no means equal in this ruleset. When too many monsters have the Opportunity ability in a single battle, the result is a mayhem of weakling bullying that can disrupt the strategy of even the most season player. In today's ruleset strategy guide, we're going to talk about Equal Opportunity.
Equal Opportunity
Overview
With any ruleset, it's always best to look at the specific wording of the description. The descriptions usually contain all relevant details of the ruleset. In the case of Equal Opportunity, every monster gets the Opportunity ability, not just the Melee or Range attackers, but everyone. There are a few important things to focus on, such as the number of Health points throughout your team and careful placement of the Sneak, Snipe and Reach abilities. There are some things you can control and others that you cannot, but win or lose, Equal Opportunity battles are always an enjoyable challenge for any Splinterlander.
Reverting to Default Ability
While every monster gets the Opportunity ability added to their ability list in these battles, the Opportunity ability does not always take precedence. There are certain monsters that will still perform their original intended functions, and it's important to know which ones so you're not caught off guard in the heat of battle.
Sneak - Sneakers will still always attack the monster in the last row, unless there is a monster with Taunt on the enemy's team.
Snipe - Snipers will still attack their decided back-row target instead of the lowest-Health enemy monster.
Reach - When in the 2nd position, Reach attackers will still attack the enemy's tank, reverting to their default Reach attack. When they are in different positions, they will perform attacks with the Opportunity ability.
Basically, you cannot override Sneak and Snipe with this ruleset. Always expect Sneakers and Snipers to perform their original duties, regardless of the Equal Opportunity ruleset.
Take the Opportunity
Opportunity out of context is an incredibly useful ability when used with a monster who was never intended to attack out of the tank position. This is why I like to use multiple back-row tanks in these battles. You could use Sneak and Snipe to keep better control over the battle, but it's almost always better to pile additional attacks onto your enemy by empowering nearly every monster on your team with Opportunity. There are a few good ways to maximize your use of Opportunity.
Piercing - You'll often see a small amount of Armor attempting to protect the lower monsters in your enemy's back row, making them slightly more difficult to kill in one hit. But in Equal Opportunity, making the most of the Opportunity ability means racking up as many one-hit kills as you can. Piercing is a great way to do this. The first attack from a powerful Piercing back-row tank that is also souped up with Opportunity will almost always kill the weakest enemy monster in the first shot.
Trample - It's a pretty rare ability, as I discussed in the recent Stampede issue, but it will occasionally allow you to kill two of the enemy's back row monsters in a single attack when Opportunity is in play. Trample is wasted 100% of the time when applied to a Sneak attack, but most of the time with Opportunity, you'll be targeting a monster in the middle of your opponent's back row instead of the very back. Therefore, Trample will get the next monster as well. The same is true for Blast. When using Blast with Opportunity, you'll have a stronger likelihood of damaging two additional monsters instead of one.
Double Strike - This is another rare ability that comes in very handy in the Equal Opportunity ruleset, especially when used safely from the back row. Even if your double striker is killed quickly, one round of attacks is enough to do significant damage when attacking with Opportunity. I really like the Hobgoblin in this situation.
Strengthen and Protect
You must remember that it's equal Opportunity, meaning that your opponent enjoys the benefits as well. They're always going to be trying many of the same tactics on you as you are on them. Therefore, it's important to keep your monsters alive, so great attention must also be paid to Health and defense. In addition to a well-placed healer or two, there are two abilities that I strongly recommend for keeping your monsters safe through your enemy's Opportunity.
With Strengthen, you can make sure that every monster on your team has one crucial extra Health point. This will allow you to use quick monsters that might otherwise die before getting their attacks off. With Protect, you can add Armor to ensure that your entire team can take an extra hit of a Melee or Range attack before losing Health. When using Protect, it's always best to start with monsters that has no Armor to begin with: Those are the ones that will benefit the most from its addition.
Magic
The more powerful Magic attacks you can use in Equal Opportunity battles, the better off you'll be. You should always take advantage of the Magic's ability to bypass Armor whenever you can. But keep in mind that very strong Melee or Range attackers with Piercing are an excellent substitute if you do not have enough powerful Magic attacks in your collection. Chances are you will not see a bunch of Void on your enemy's team in Equal Opportunity, but you may run into some Magic Reflect.
High Health
One of the most elementary ways to win in Equal opportunity is simply to have higher Health than your opponent. Don't select cards only for their high Health, but when presented with a choice between a heavy attacker with lower Health and a mid-strength attacker with high Health, always go with the higher Health monster. The winning team in an Equal Opportunity battle is almost always able to break up their enemy's team by taking out the low-Health outliers early. By making sure (for example) that every monster on your side has at least 6 Health, you can guard against this. The opposing Opportunity attackers may be able to attack your fighter with the lowest Health, but it will take them an entire round to kill it, and afterwards you'll still have 80% of your team fully intact.
Some Cards I Like
As always, here are some cards I like to play in the Equal Opportunity ruleset. There are tons of winning choices here, but I'll include on card from each Splinter that makes a good fit for this ruleset in multiple ways, explaining my choices as I go. If you have some of your own recommended cards that differ from these (and I hope you do), please share in the comments so everyone reading this can benefit.
Magnor
Magnor is a good fit for Equal Opportunity for several reasons. First and most importantly, he has the native Taunt ability, which completely throws a wrench in your opponent's Opportunity plans. Next, he is a strong attacker with Trample, and as I explained above, Trample is an extra valuable ability in this ruleset. Finally, his other two abilities (Enrage and Return Fire) both lend themselves well to Equal Opportunity battling. By the time Magnor falls, you'll almost always have the head start that you need to find victory. I wouldn't bother with Magnor in a low-mana battle though.
Naga Warrior
Equal Opportunity battles are an excellent time within the Water Splinter to pull out my old favorite fighting tank: The Naga Warrior. Her lack of Armor under other rulesets sometimes makes it risky to put her in front, but in this ruleset, she'll have plenty of distraction from the rest of the team. This will give her time to get focus on the enemy's tank. In tank vs. tank, the Naga Warrior almost always wins. Chances are she'll even get enraged and pull of a Retaliate or two.
Biceratops
I don't find myself using this card a lot, and honestly I don't play with the Earth Splinter very often. But in Equal Opportunity, it has an excellent combination of stats and abilities to get the job done. It only costs 4 mana, it has decent Health and Armor, and the Thorns ability will make sure that any Melee attacking Opportunists will quickly regret it. While the Biceratops takes some beatings, you should be doing more critical damage to your enemy's team.
Silvershield Knight
I try to use the Silvershield Knight in most rulesets when playing with the Life Splinter, but I'll admit that sometimes the mana is costly. In the case of Equal Opportunity, the three abilities are too perfect to pass up. Inspire increases the damage when you run a Melee heavy team, Piercing cuts through each victim of the Knight's lance, and Trample makes sure that multiple monsters fall when the Knight hits home. I highly recommend using this card.
Phantom Soldier
The Phantom Soldier is a great choice when playing with Death and looking for a good Magic attacker that will also reduce the Magic attack of your enemy. Its high Health is also quite beneficial; if it becomes targeted by Opportunity toward the end of the battle, you'll still have a good chance of winning.
The Vigilator
The Vigilator is impossible to pass up in Equal Opportunity if you're fortunate enough to have one. With two forms of attack and Double Strike, you'll be attacking four times in most cases with this beast. You'll be especially vulnerable to Return Fire and Retaliate, but you should be doing so much damage that it doesn't matter. And of course, it has my favorite ability (Poison) with the greatest chance of activation out of all Poison cards.
Hobgoblin
This is a very straightforward Double Strike monster that will almost always come in handy in Equal Opportunity. I'd definitely recommend playing the Hobgoblin at least at level 3 or higher, or else pair it with a Melee buff Summoner like Daria Dragonscale or Malric Inferno. When he's picking out the weakest monsters, he's very efficient at dealing killing blows.
That's it for today! Hopefully you've now got a decent handle on making the most of the Equal Opportunity ruleset... See you next time!
List of Rulesets
Previous Editions of the RuleSet Strategy Series
- Back to Basics
- Healed Out
- Heavy Hitters
- Silenced Summoners
- Aim True
- Super Sneak
- Melee Mayhem
- Keep Your Distance
- Weak Magic
- Up Close and Personal
- Lost magic
- Unprotected
- Target Practice
- Fog of War
- Armored Up
- Earthquake
- Reverse Speed
- Close Range
- Broken Arrows
- Equalizer
- Lost Legendaries
- Taking Sides
- Rise of the Commons
- Little League
- Even Stevens
- Odd Ones Out
- Stampede
- Noxious Fumes
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