Hands down, the game mechanic that annoys me to no end is definitely cripple. What it basically does is when a monster with Cripple hits an opponent, that opponent loses one max health.

Even the biggest tanks and healers cannot solve a Cripple problem. It will slowly chip away at the max health leaving lesser and lesser health to heal. And despite all the ailments that Cleanse can cure, it is also rendered powerless against Cripple's devastating afflictions.

Solution to a Crippling Problem

There are a few ways which I usually deal with the Cripple ability. One is to use speed superiority, place a tank monster with a very high evasion rate and watch it dodge enemy attacks left and right.

Coeurl Lurker is a great example of this. It can evade all types of attacks and has Taunt. Cripple actually requires the attack to hit so opponents cannot apply Cripple when their attacks are dodged by the enemy monster.

Another strategy, which I'm going to highlight in a shared battle, is using Life Leech. This ability converts half of the damage dealt of a monster into health.

Life Leech has a pseudo-heal effect which also allows a monster to exceed its maximum health. So basically, in a way, Life Leech has the opposite effect of Cripple. And while Cripple has a fixed health deduction of 1, Life Leech's health increase is based on the damage potential of the monster.

Here, I'll be utilizing one of the best Life Leech monsters in the game, the queen of the underseas, Runemancer Kye. One of her strengths is that she has a high attack rating and it is magic type, which is an advantage because it bypasses armor and directly attacks the target's health.

Shared Battle

For my featured battle, it is a 25-mana silver league match between Thaddius Brood and Kelya Frendul. It has Armored Up, Tis but Scratches, and Aimless rule sets. You can check the full battle here.

I prepared a minimal lineup for this match with just Venari Marksrat, Runemancer Kye, and River Hellondale. My opponent. on the other hand, maximized the monster slots with a variety of creature types.

Due to the randomness of Scattershot, River Hellondale manages to land the first killing blow to Corpse Fiend while the enemy's Venari Bonesmith takes down my Venari Marksrat. This death triggers Martyr once, benefitting Runemancer Kye. River then resurrects it.

Runemancer receives a second buff from the Martyr activation. She then proceeds to the forefront, exposing her to attacks imbued by the Cripple ability. She manages to steal life from Venari Bonesmith and Cursed Windeku which compensates the health losses.

River Hellondale falls at the fourth round and Runemancer Kye was left to fend for herself. But by this time, she is already at an advantage as the Life Leech gains and banked health are now significant enough that the combined attacks of the enemy monsters no longer pose a threat to her.

After five more rounds of back and forth exchanges, Runemancer Kye closes the game by obliterating Wierding Warrior.

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Thank you for reading and see you in the battlefield!

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