### "But My Opponent Has Higher Level Cards Than Me!"
We've all had thoughts like this. We set a lineup, load up a battle, and before we even have a chance to hit that Rumble button, we see our opponent has cards that are 1-2 levels higher than ours. We let out a sigh and begin the battle. Maybe we even skip it expecting we're going to lose. 

Well, you don't have to lose!

Read on..

#### Battle Analysis #1

![image.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stevecronin/4VzcgWKY-image.png)
To watch this entire battle, click [here](https://steemmonsters.com/?battle=b473104736eda297b5f22f28d0c6acfb5b2b5bc9&ref=stevecronin)!

Here we are, Death versus Life. My cards are as follows:

1. Level 7 Common
2. Level 6 Rare
3. Level 6 Rare
4. Level 6 Rare

Here's @oendertuerk steppin' in:

1. Level 8 Rare
2. Level 7 Common
3. Level 7 Common
4. Level 5 Epic (a level 5 Epic might as well be a level 7 Common, lol.)

And what happens? Here are the highlights:

- My Haunted Spirit immediately reflects the Epic's Magic Damage and kills him.
- My Jester takes out the Healer's Armor and the proceeds to kill him the following turn.
- My Skeleton Assassin Poisons and kills his Feral Cat.
- Now the Peacebringer is in the *first position* and can no longer attack (because he's ranged ability is disabled) and is slaughtered.

So what happened?

Some of my Monsters have good dodge abilities, but what really won this over was my special abilities.

### "Don't Assume Your Card Gets Better As It Levels Up"

Take my Skeleton Assassin, for example.

![image.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stevecronin/husQpCvm-image.png)

He's currently Level 7. Is that where I want him to be? Maybe. What matters here is that at Level 6, his poison ability is unlocked. That's what we want from him. A Sneak + Poison Monster can be devastating. But you may notice, sometimes when you level up, some stats go down for the sake of others going up. For example, when I leveled him to #7, his health decreased by 1. I do not like this. However, his attack increased to 3. That's fine, I suppose. But, I much prefer to play with cards with higher health.

This really isn't too big of a deal, but when spending 5 SBD to level up a card, is taking a health reduction for the sake of a speed increase worth it? Maybe not. It depends on how you like to use the card.

You gotta level smart!

### Another Factor

No Deck is perfect. Every Deck has its weaknesses and can be devastated as much as it devastates others. Here's an extreme example of this.

#### Battle Analysis #2 (AKA How My Puny Deck Beat the #5 Ranked Player: @marabara)

![image.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/stevecronin/b9CRcYD2-image.png)
To watch this entire battle, click [here](https://steemmonsters.com/?battle=4da4400e4529c08bbdbca78ade5e4b6922402706&ref=stevecronin)!

Yeah, how is this going to work out. Perfectly fine actually! I had TWO tanks (yes, you can do this) that took the brunt of the damage while my Snipers took out everyone from the back. This won't work in every situation but his particular deck was weak to this strategy.

### Share Your Stories!
Have a cool time when you beat someone you maybe thought you shouldn't have? Let me know in the comments below! Also consider following me here on Steemit for future posts about Steem Monsters and other blockchain-based games! Thanks for reading!

#### Other Posts by Steve Cronin
[Steem Monsters: Deck Building #2 - Daily Quests - "Stir The Volcano!"](https://steemit.com/steemmonsters/@stevecronin/steem-monsters-deck-building-2-daily-quests-stir-the-volcano)
[Steem Monsters: Deck Building #1 - Daily Quests - "Defend The Borders!"](https://steemit.com/steemmonsters/@stevecronin/steem-monsters-quest-deck-building-defend-the-borders)
[How to Climb the Leaderboards in Steem Monsters: Season 2](https://steemit.com/steemmonsters/@stevecronin/how-to-climb-the-leaderboards-in-steem-monsters-season-2)
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