Adapting to your Enemies: Retaliatory Strike

So a while ago I did an article on Adapting to your enemies, something danians are masters at. The tribe does this by using Compost, Infecting, and Element Proof, but the new set brought a real gem - Retaliatory Strike. An attack I was more excited about than Combustion Carnage or Grounding Grapple! Retaliatory Strike is all about using your opponent's strengths against them. Like when fighting a bigger opponent, you use their weight against them to succeed.

Let's look at Overworlders and Underworlders. Sworn enemies, because they have almost completely opposite fighting styles - Underworlders are totally destructive, whereas Overworlders focus on helping and healing.

But it's not a solitary incident - Mipedians and Danians are also immersed in a gritty rivalry - Why? They too, have very different styles. While mipedians do use mugic and battlegear to control the game, their main power lies in their attacks. Think about it - With two owaykis, maliph, a vlaric shard and a storm tunnel, that's strike: 25, with earth 5 and air 5, bringing a simple attack like thunder shout up to 55 damage! Mipedians repeatedly use these kind of attacks, and they work independently. Owayki helps other mipedians, but if he gets taken out, the rest of the mipedians still have a good shot at winning. Why? They are more independent. They don't need as much support, because of their devastating attack power.

Now look at danians - Typically, the attacks aren't as important. Look at Fliandar - Even if he were to use nothing but spirit gusts, with the right support team he'd still wear his opponent down because of his healing ability. But danians do rely heavily on support and resources - Meticulous planning and combinations are important. Now I'm not saying there aren't exceptions - There are complex mipedians and aggro-tank danians, but that's how it usually is.

So I was playing a match yesterday, and boom. One attack, from Rasbma Darini, and boom - 55 damage, I'm at 5 energy. I know that there's no attack in my deck that could deal 60 damage to take out a Rasbma Darini with no damage done to it, and I'm out of mugic. Then I pull retaliatory strike. Talk about a game-changer! Having a wild card like this one is awesome, and although 3BP is a little hefty, it is definitely worth it. When you can't rely on your own strength, use your opponent's against them!

I just see this as a good weapon against mipedian decks. Now don't get me wrong, I'm a danian player and I love the lizards, but there is definite rivalry there.

Rate this attack? I suppose it may as well be a featured card. I myself give it an 8/10, because it's truly spectacular - And if it comes up at the wrong time, you can always wait till later on when it's more useful. Really versatile, and your opponent rarely sees it coming ;)