I have always loved playing in tournaments and in my opinion, the best and most enjoyable tournament sponsored by Splinterlands so far is the Gladiator Open Tournament.
With an Open tournament, everyone gets to play in a level playing field regardless of the deck size. This makes it more attractive given that I am still in the process of building up my deck to make it more competitive without having to rely on rents. On top of that, we get to play Gladiator cards that are maxed for Gold league! That is definitely something to look forward to. 🔥
In this post, I will be sharing with you how I performed in this tournament and some of the favorite LINEUPS that I have seen in the tournament! This includes my LINEUP and one of my opponent's lineup that gave me that loss!
Gladiator Open Tournament Results
Before looking at the lineups in detail, I will be sharing first how I performed in this tournament. I was able to rank 3rd with a 19-3 record (1 loss was due to the tie bug which resulted to a flee).
Here is the Tournament link.
This tournament win yielded a prize of 1,220 SPS in which I used to buy more cards using the PeakMonsters Market.
Favorite LINEUPS from the Gladiator Tournament
Now let us start looking at some of the lineups and how each performed on the matches!
1. Byz Kitty with Quora Tank
To be clear, this wasn't my lineup. This is a lineup that @davethegreat used to give me that big L.
Battle link: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sm_pYmuM2obUivvLdZ45GlF&ref=mozzie5
Deck link: https://peakmonsters.com/decks?deck=9f7a96d5-f2fc-446b-9a43-8a240aa403dd
DISCUSSION
While having a no restrictions because of ruleset is fun (because you have a lot more options), it is also the most challenging one for me! It is like travelling to East Blue without a compass or map.
So in this battle, I opted to focus on the frontline by utilizing magic team. I had Medusa and Igor to support Flagulon Reine's knock out ability with their stuns. This is me basically betting on Reine's bloodlust-knock out combo. But unfortunately, my enemy's ultra supported Quora proved to be better.
Dave has decided to put a Quora tank, which is probably one of the worst tanks against my lineup. At Gold max, Quora gets immunity, which means that the stun that I was hoping for will never happen. Immunity combined with heal from Kitty, Princess, and Quora herself made Quora a formidable tank.
This resulted in me getting this L, and Quora proving that she is the better Gladiator card in this match :)
2. Prince Julian and Melee Friends
Battle link: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sm_jrgIZumCQV9OcYyPGkJN&ref=mozzie5
Deck link: https://peakmonsters.com/decks?deck=0c60d8ae-2737-4c75-9aca-5ffb1446e782
DISCUSSION
Next, we have Prince Julian and Friends. Playing a 12 mana match in an Open Tournanment is fun as it means you have a lot more opportunities to be creative. During this match, I knew that my opponent will likely go with a Gladiator card to focus on, so I opted to add Tower Griffin to the mix due to its Protect ability (i.e., bloodlust monster won't one hit my zero mana cards).
Next, I went for sneaky Kobold Miner and Orella Abadon to kill off my enemy's backline. No other reason for doing this other than I love playing sneaky lineups =)
Lastly, I had two reasons for choosing Prince Julian: Since it is an Even Stevens 12 mana match, it meant that for me to maximize the mana cost, I would have to play either a 2, 4, or 6 mana Summoner. 4 and 6 mana seemed like too much to spend on Summoner in this low mana battle. The other reason is, I would likely not be able to play Prince Julian in other matches than in Open Tournaments :)
3. Possibilus Scatterus
Battle link: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sm_ttVC6nGy8k0qYtFZJOSk&ref=mozzie5
Deck link: https://peakmonsters.com/decks?deck=0aecc717-d16b-4769-851a-a3e76e0eadcf
DISCUSSION
I personally think that Possibilus the Wise is not getting the love it deserves. In my opinion, getting an extra hit from trample every now and then already makes it powerful. Aside from that, making another strong melee card attack with Reach is also a game changer in my opinion.
In this match, I was able to neglect the aimless ruleset by focusing more on melee monsters, and giving priority to Kulu Mastermind and Isgald Vorst. With Isgald Vorst easily picking up and getting buffed because of the backline, I was able to win this match. On top of that, I get to attack Blight due to Trample.
4. Possibilus Reverse Speedus
Battle link: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sm_RNzMj5fL6b8cjDiauSoC&ref=mozzie5
Deck link: https://peakmonsters.com/decks?deck=dd19976c-cee8-4218-a289-18c5289fb9d5
DISCUSSION
For the last deck, we have another one featuring Possibilus. As for this reserve speed match, I opted to go heavy on Melee monsters to maximize the reverse speed ruleset. Here we have Torhilo as the main tank and Relenor Cleaver as the other melee monster. The attacks of these monsters were supported by Enchanted Pixie's Inspire ability.
We also added Venari Wavesmith to the mix to make sure that we won't get one hit by our enemies in case they opt to go for an opportunity-based lineup.
That's it! I hope that you all enjoyed the lineups from the recently concluded Splintnerlannds Open Gladiator Tournament that I have shared.