Ability strategy twitter.png

Introduction

This week we have a look at the last stand ability. This is a very rare unit. At the moment of writing this post i only had one.

After this post i got two 😍

This ability can be an life saver when you last unit is boosted and killing the enemy before they kill you :)

Ability

Gains +50% to all stats if it's the only Unit on the team alive.

Last Stand will increase all stats of a Unit by 1.5X (rounded up) when the Unit is the last standing.

Official ability information from splinterlands: List abilities

Synergies / strategy

Abilities benefits

Taunt - Direct attacks away from the unit you intend to have its last stand by focusing your opponent's attacks elsewhere

Stun - If your opponent uses stun, your unit will not be able to attack even if Last Stand is in play.

Be aware of abilities
Forcefield - A double-edged sword - your Unit with Last Stand will benefit from extra protection from attacks of 5+. However, if your opponent plays a card with forcefield, your last standing unit's attack of 5+ will only deal 1 damage.

Deathblow - When you last stand unit is boosted also you enemy with deathblow that does 2x damage when there is only one enemy left.

Ruleset benefits
Fog Of War - With Sneak, Snipe, and Opportunity disabled, your intended Last Stand Unit is more likely to make it to the end - full health stat intact!

Be aware of ruleset
Reverse Speed - Consider whether the boost in speed to your Unit with Last Stand will harm the outcome of your battle.

Select / favorite

Mine last stand units:

This week it was not hard to pick a favorite. While writing i bought a Runemance Atuat for 4.5$ to get him at a level where it gets last stand. This ability is very powerful.
battle stats of this unit:

As you can see i do not use it often. and only high mana battles.

Strategy

High mana game with only ranged units that are all poisoned.

Rulesets

Going the Distance:
Only range units may be selected.

Noxious Fumes:
All units are poisoned at the beginning of the match. Note units with immunity are not poisoned and it can be cleansed.

FiveAlive:
Only five units can be selected.

The Lineup

Summoner

Card	Reason
	Logically with going the distance it always good to pick Quix for the -1 range attack. You know you will be facing ranged attackers lol

Units Lineup

#1	#2	#3	#4	#5

Runic Skyclaw (lvl 6)
Even it cannot attack i placed it here because of the high speed in the hope for many misses.

Lava Launcher (lvl 6)
Second unit is a closed ranged unit so it can attack in the front. The stun should help reduce the potential closed ranged unit of my opponent

Drybone Raider (lvl 2 GF)
It made the team for the double strike and it will be boosted before its killed

Firecaller (lvl 10)
With the martyr it in the team in this position to boot Tinderlock. I Don't mind the low health on this one its mend to go down in one or two rounds.

Tinderlock (lvl 6)
Star of this week i hope it will survive the poison. It has 11 health so that should give him some rounds

The Battle

Reference

Link to the battle:
Link to battle

Rounds

Start :

There we go... some similarity in the line up. all front attack so that is great for my Tinderlock to unleash it last stand.
I got some nice evade chance. my opponent has some extra close ranged units. I dislike his supply runner that is a good choice for its swiftness and strength.

Round 1:

4 misses, the first part of the plan is working. With this speed i wander if the last stan is needed.
Still some high health unit left to kill.

Round 2:

Forgot about the poison that hurts. pretty close to the team some will die next round by the poison.
Then it will come down to part 2 and 3 of the strategy. Martyr and as last the last stand. The last stand will bring up the health and will keep it alive for somewhat long against the poison.

Round 3:

Part 2 is executed the martyr has done its part. Poison will take out another two units next round.
Then the last stand will be needed to kill of the last unit.

Round 4:

From 5 health to 11 health and in one blow my Tinderlock kill the Molten Ash Golem which makes it a win.

Conclusion

At the moment of writing this post i noticed again how rare the last stand ability is.
In very specific cases this is a very use ability that can just swing the battle your way.
In the end a pretty sure victory:

Previous ability strategy posts

Below you will find references to the other ability strategies / analysis posts.

Ability	post
Affliction	Ability post: Affliction
Amplify	Ability post: Amplify
Backfire	Ability post: Backfire
Blast	Ability post: Blast
Blind	Ability post: Blind
Bloodlust	Ability post: Bloodlust
Camouflage	Ability post: Camouflage
Conscript	Ability post: Conscript
Close Range	Ability post: Close Range
Cleanse	Ability post: Cleanse
Cripple	Ability post: Cripple
Deathblow	Ability post: Deathblow
Demoralize	Ability post: Demoralize
Dispel	Ability post: Dispel
Divine Shield	Ability post: Divine Shield
Dodge	Ability post: Dodge
Double Strike	Ability post: Double Strike
Enrage	Ability post: Enrage
Flying	Ability post: Flying
Forcefield	Ability post: Forcefield
Fury	Ability post: Fury
Giant Killer	Ability post: Giant Killer
Halving	Ability post: Halving
Headwinds	Ability post: Headwinds
Heal	Ability post: Heal
Tank Heal	Ability st: Tank Heal
Immunity	Ability post: Immunity
Inspire	Ability post: Ispire
Knock Out	Ability post: Knock Out
Last Stand