**Some battles where epic and legendary monsters dominate the battlefield can still be finished in only two rounds; sometimes, ruleset modifications make the environment too lethal, even for nearly invincible beasts. A combination of Earthquake and Noxious Fumes works well, and when a bit of toxicity blends with Explosive Weaponry, the battle won’t last long either—even if the mana cap is high enough to draft the cream of the crop. This was the case in [my recent battle](https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_ff8fba6c326a4bb74af4ba844302e4d0?ref=godfish), in which my army wiped out its foes in just two rounds. Let me share a few tricks I had up my sleeve that turned the tide in my favor.**

 https://img.inleo.io/DQmXDXyxjK55K1LpRySCE84L75VNaY46pCYM4PBLgdJhjYQ/image.png 


There are a few key things to remember in such battles—be faster, use martyrs and gladiators, and don’t let your opponent target any monster in your pack but the one you let them. Snipers and opportunists pose a significant threat. **Helios Matriarch** was the only summoner capable of drafting monsters tailored to my strategy, so she was an easy pick.

I did not have a tank. Instead, I sacrificed **Venari Marksrat**, allowing this rodent to absorb a blow or two before it perished, and buffed the gladiator behind it.

My **Quora Towershead** doesn’t have Immunity yet, but she can still handle a bit of poison thanks to self-healing. Besides, she was supported by two martyrs, so the odds that she would slay a monster or two—thereby unleashing her bloodlust—were rather high in this ruleset.

I only placed **Fungus Flinger** in the third position because its speed stat is higher than Marksrat’s. Still, this martyr was there primarily to die and to buff Quora—and, of course, the monster behind him.

**Night Reaper** was born (or hatched, who knows?) for such rulesets. The odds of facing a flying monster in any position other than first were quite high, and a single blow from Night Reaper could spread more damage than that of three or four other monsters combined.

Here’s the trick to keep my other monsters safe. **Thunderhoof Nomad** is immune to blast splash damage and can survive for two rounds before succumbing to the poison. As it turned out, two rounds were more than I needed.

**Terraceous Hulk** was the real tank, taunting all enemy strikers. Its Void Armor provides reasonable protection against magic attacks; I was sure this rather slow and clumsy beast could survive for at least two rounds.

 https://img.inleo.io/DQmRJcPyuwYCt7MUALaLLMWyGwWebso62DmUP4ALC34V1Xn/image.png 


## The Battle
I believe my opponent could have picked a more suitable summoner. **Quix the Devious’** speed debuff fits the ruleset, but the ranged monsters’ debuff was ineffective. Besides, Quix’s low level limits their monsters. Using **Forgotten One**—the only monster with Immunity—as a tank was not the best strategy either; my opponent could have kept this monster safe as reinforcement to the battlefield when all other monsters had already suffered two or three rounds of poisoning. On the other hand, the three magic strikers were a sound choice, each having an ability that suited the ruleset. **Tenyii Striker** and **Scavo Firebolt** were acceptable—I assume they were economical choices after spending a lot of mana on the previous cards.

 https://img.inleo.io/DQmbbgtHyzzxGWbBS766JWH2Pf1aXCxG6bpbk3oSG4cpQD6/image.png 


The battle was over in no time. My strategy worked perfectly—I only lost the fake tank in the first round, and my rear tank taunted all of the opponent’s monsters while the blast damage was absorbed by Thunderhoof Nomad without causing any harm, just as I had planned. Although all the opponent’s monsters survived the first round, the entire pack was wiped out within only three blows by Night Reaper and Quora. 

 https://img.inleo.io/DQmZgF9sZSQXH16tkkBSHaqtH4fg6Xgw3yVaNMTakmz5PQe/image.png 


#### See the full battle [here](https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_ff8fba6c326a4bb74af4ba844302e4d0?ref=godfish)!

Posted Using [INLEO](https://inleo.io/@godfish/toxicity-handling-jf)