Greetings, Splinterlands warriors!
One of the rulesets that always makes me think twice before putting together a lineup is Earthquake. This rule deals damage to monsters that do not have Flying at the end of every round. That means the longer the battle lasts, the more pressure monsters that cannot fly have to endure.
But there is one strategy that players often use to deal with Earthquake: Heal.
The logic is simple. A monster takes damage from Earthquake, then its Health is restored by Heal. If this continues, that monster can survive much longer.
And this time, I faced that strategy firsthand.
With a mana cap of only 28, I chose a Water team with Prophet Rosa. I tried to build a formation that would not only rely on offensive power, but also have an answer to the possibility of my opponent using Flying monsters.
One of them was Chaos Adjutant, with the Snare ability. I included this card to prepare for Flying monsters. Meanwhile, I also brought Surgehammer, a monster that already has Flying, meaning it is not affected by Earthquake.
The other monsters? None of them had Flying.
So from the beginning, I knew that if the battle dragged on, they would keep taking Earthquake damage.
The Opponent Brings a Heal Strategy
My opponent used an Earth team with Aurelia. Interestingly, I did not find any Flying monsters in their lineup.
Instead, they brought Dread Tarrian, which has the Heal ability.
At that point, I immediately understood the plan.
Dread Tarrian was deliberately placed to survive for as long as possible. Every time Earthquake dealt damage, Heal could help restore its Health. In theory, the strategy made perfect sense.
I even found myself thinking, “If this is how it goes, who will run out of Health first?”
But there was one problem.
Surgehammer.
Because it has Flying, Surgehammer did not have to worry about Earthquake. It could stay alive while continuing to put pressure on the opponent with its melee attacks.
Meanwhile, my other monsters were gradually being worn down by Earthquake, while Surgehammer kept standing and attacking.
And because my opponent did not bring any Flying monsters, they had no way to avoid Earthquake damage.
In the end, Dread Tarrian's Heal strategy did not work the way they had expected.
That is what I find interesting about Earthquake. Heal can be a solution, but that does not automatically make it the best answer. We still have to consider how the entire team composition works together.
This battle also reminded me that a single monster with Flying can be far more valuable when the Earthquake ruleset is active. Not only because it survives the damage, but because it can keep applying pressure while the opponent's monsters are gradually worn down each round.
In the end, I managed to win the battle.
When facing Earthquake, don't just think about how to heal the damage. Consider Flying as well, then take advantage of monsters that can keep attacking while the opponent's Health gradually runs out.
Sometimes, a single monster that can fly is enough to make an opponent's strategy lose its footing.
And if you want to see the match, you can check this link:
👉 LINK BATTLE 👈
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