When Rage Became the Deciding Factor

Greetings, warriors of the Splinterlands arena!

As the season draws to a close, the atmosphere of matches usually feels a bit different. Some players take it easy, while others go all-out to chase their final rating. In one of those matches, I encountered a monster that made me sigh deeply and say to myself, “wow… this is going to be tough.”

That monster was named Rage.

The first time I saw this card appear on the screen, I immediately knew one thing: this was no ordinary monster.

Rage is a legendary dragon-element monster with a mana cost of 16. That number alone sends a clear message that this monster isn’t meant to be just a team filler. With that much mana, you usually get a monster with truly serious abilities.

And that is exactly the case. Some of its abilities include:

• Flying – increases the chance to evade melee and ranged attacks.
• Void – reduces damage from magic attacks.
• Weapons Training – adjacent monsters can borrow its attack up to a maximum of 3.

When you think about it, this combination is like a complete package: hard to hit, resistant to magic, and able to empower other monsters. No wonder I immediately felt that this would be a difficult battle.

The match had a mana cap of 22 with the rulesets Explosive Weaponry and Collateral Damage.

These two rulesets are actually very interesting, because they often make the arena feel like a duel between single fighters. Attacks can bounce and hit other units, so even a small mistake in positioning monsters can be fatal.

Seeing those conditions, I tried a somewhat bold strategy.

I chose Isgald Vorst, a gladiator monster with the Opportunity ability, as my main spearhead. My goal was simple: let Isgald pick off the enemy’s smaller monsters one by one and stack Bloodlust until it became extremely powerful.

To support that strategy, I placed two non-attack monsters next to it:

• Noa the Just
• Daigendark Surveyor

My hope was simple: when all other monsters fell, Isgald would still stand and avoid the Collateral Damage effect because of its position near Noa the Just. On paper, the plan looked quite neat.

As soon as the match began, I smiled slightly. My opponent’s strategy was quite unique. They brought many monsters with low mana, even 0 mana, such as:

• Elanor Bravefoot
• Thambo Diamalo
• Scorch Spawn

And of course… standing calmly in the middle of that lineup was: Rage.

Honestly, at first I thought, “this is actually good for me.” Those small monsters became easy prey for Isgald Vorst. One by one they fell, and each time it happened, the Bloodlust effect made Isgald even stronger. Attack increased. Speed increased. Armor increased. I started to feel optimistic.

Until finally only one big target remained: Rage.

At that point, Isgald Vorst was already quite strong. I hoped that one or two more attacks would be enough to take down that dragon monster.

But this was where I truly felt just how powerful Rage was.

Isgald’s attack… missed.

Rage’s Flying ability caused the attack to fail to hit its target. And when it was Rage’s turn to attack, the difference between a legendary monster and a regular one became obvious. With a magic attack of 4, Rage instantly eliminated my monster from the arena.

The match ended in my opponent’s victory.
And I could only chuckle softly while watching the replay.

You can watch it here:

👉 LINK BATTLE 👈

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Lessons from This Battle

This battle actually taught me one simple thing. Sometimes we already create a well-structured strategy, take advantage of the ruleset, and even prepare combos that we believe are strong.

But when facing a truly powerful legendary monster, even a small mistake can change everything. And in this match, Rage proved that it is not just an expensive card — it is truly a monster that is very difficult to defeat with an ordinary team.

For me personally, Rage is one of the most terrifying dragon monsters in the arena.

If one day this card becomes part of my collection, the strategy I would likely use is:

• Placing it in the middle of the formation so Weapons Training stays active.
• Combining it with non-attack monsters to maximize its attack-sharing effect.
• Using it in Earthquake or Target Practice rulesets.

In short, Rage is not just a powerful monster… it is the centerpiece of a team’s strategy.

And after experiencing a loss against this card, I could only smile and say:
“Alright… next time I face Rage again, I’ll need to come with a much more serious plan.”

Talk about Splinterlands,
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