Streams of Blood (Ranked)

While a blitz is designed to break a holding formation or a defensive line, a rush uses speed and surprise to overwhelm and/or cripple an enemy before they achieve effective buildup. The primary objective is to reduce the opponent's effectiveness as early as possible. A rush is nowhere as effective mid/late game, hence, the emphasis on speed and surprise. In SoB, there are two viable rush tactics: rushing the spawn point and rushing the victory terrain.

A7 & K7: Fig. 5 show the spawn positions in the SoB map. A7 and K7 represent two spawn positions in the enemy's half. With the right starting hand (eg: Sprints, Dashes) and turn advantage, one can easily isolate A7/K7 in the early turns (see Fig. 6) leading to a kill and/or exert early lane pressure. The benefits of rushing the spawn points are two-fold. Firstly, the opponent's party effectiveness is drastically reduced by a third. Secondly, it puts pressure on the opponent forcing him to play defensively and/or make mistakes. However, rushing is not without risks. Once a rush is committed, your units are exposed and a veteran opponent is able to freely target your rushing units or develop a counter-rush strategy.

F7: As of right now, SoB is the only map with 1 victory terrain. This means that it is possible to rush for victory stars. Such positional rushing aim to keep your opponent under early pressure through denial, dictating the arena of combat. If he ignores the unit camping the victory spot, he risks winning the battles and losing the war. If he engages the victory spot, he exposes his flanks to pincers and/or ambushes.

Blitzkrieg refers to a strategy that employs concentrating overwhelming force at high speed to break through enemy lines. In SoB, while offensive map control shuts down a party effectiveness quickly, it tends to spread units out due to multiple lane pockets. The defending party can choose to focus all attacks and blitz a single lane, thereby throwing the opponent into disarray. The blitz is also useful in creating lane pressure, forcing enemy units into giving up precious positions.

Blitzes are highly draw dependent, require calculations and foresight. Well executed blitzes can turn an attempted offensive into a simple rout in a single turn.

Figs. 9 and 10 show an example of a blitz taking out an enemy camping the left lane (purple circle in Fig. 9). Fig. 9 show units in defensive positions (3a, 3b & 3c) prior to the blitz. When the left lane is overrun, 3a moves into range of the victory terrain and combines with 3c to form a horizontal pincer. 3b then patrols the left lane providing support from the left flank. Any enemy unit camping the victory square has to decide whether to flee or fight. Alternatively, 3a and 3c can also combine to pincer the right lane while 3b moves to secure the victory terrain. In the event of enemy retreats, units can move to secure offensive map control terrains and turn the tide of the game.

W1 & X: W1 represents a WoS casted to deny units entering/leaving the victory terrain. The unit at X can either engage an enemy in the side lanes or choose to snipe the victory terrain for points. This is an offensive CC use of Wall of Stone.

W2 & X: If the enemy mounts an offensive push in the mid-lane, casting W2 shuts down enemy units from engaging against X. This allows pincer movement from the side lanes. If X is low on health, W2 has effectively stalled the opponent and bought a precious turn or two for possible regeneration. This is an defensive CC use of Wall of Stone.

W3 & X: WoS is great for denying victory terrain in SoB. Such use may arise in situations where the opponent has points advantage or when a clear mid-lane buildup and offensive is about to begin. This is a denial CC use of Wall of Stone.

Aside from using WoS in the area around the victory terrain, SoB allows for many other places where WoS can be applied creatively. If we study the flow of movement as shown in Fig. 14, units (without Teleport) must traverse certain key areas in order to engage the enemy. Due to map symmetry, due diligence in applying WoS can effectively isolate pockets of terrain that prevent enemies from fleeing/retreating and/or allow for defensive stalls and unit protection.

W4: Units attempting to retreat from the bottom of the map are effectively cut off and caught in a dead-end. Units attempting to move into the leftmost lane from the top are blocked from progressing any further, thereby wasting moves.

W5: Units attempting to contest the mid-lane/victory terrain from the top are effectively cut off and have to either (a) take the long way round to the left side of the map or (b) engage in ranged combat. This is particularly effective as an early offensive rush tactic (offensive map control).

Note to the reader: The 'T' shaped W4 and W5 represent the many ways in which WoS can be applied. It is up to the player to determine whether an 'L' shaped wall or an 'I' shaped wall is best used given the circumstances.

Figure 16 show a unit at X and an enemy at Y with bi-directional line of sight (denoted by the black arrows). When WoI is casted at the area denoted by W6 (Fig. 17), X now has line of sight to Y but Y does not have line of sight to X. X is therefore protected from attacks by Y while having the ability to attack Y without retaliation. In fact, due to W6, X is entirely protected from targeted attacks anywhere in the top half of the map. With the exception of Whirlwind and Whirlwind Enemies, X has effectively scored a victory point while ensuring maximum line of sight upon the enemy. This is a defensive CC use of WoI.

To use WoI offensively, cast the spell closer to Y (Fig. 18). Not only is Y's field of vision severely impaired, it is now susceptible to melee attacks. Ensure that the enemy has run out of moves or is move restricted before applying such a strategy.

Where WoS impedes movement flow, WoI impedes field of view. As Figs. 3 and 4 above shows, maximum line of sight is obtained when units are localized at the center of the map near the tri-lane pockets. However, these positions are restrictive and narrow. Well-timed use of WoI (W8, W9) effectively shuts down the opponent's party effectiveness, making the tri-lanes a dangerous place for the unwary.

Card synergies:

(a) Wall of Illusion is a single turn spell. To maximize its effectiveness, it is best used near the start of every turn. However, it is highly likely that enemy units are capable of moving and adjusting to obtain new line of sight. To prevent this, it is imperative to combine WoI with other CC cards. Card effects with Halt or Encumber synergize well with WoI. Examples include Entangling Roots, frost based attacks (Frost Jolt, Cone of Cold, Cold Snap etc), Icy Block, Reactive Trip, Tripping Sweep and Pinning Spear Toss. In the off-chance that the opponent has Trip, Hit the Deck or encumbering armors in hand, WoI renders the enemy a sitting duck.

(b) Aside from synergy with Halt and Encumber, movement and position manipulation cards also work well to render an enemy unit useless. Telekinesis, Gusts of War, Winds of War, Barge, Force Bolts and Bashes can be used to move the opponent onto illusion terrains. Note that it is far better to bash an enemy onto one's own illusion terrain than to bash an enemy out of one.