How to win with L11/L12 against a full L15 deck?

Facing decks with much higher levels can be frustrating. Yet, especially newer players will be in this situation quite frequently. Hence it's worth to think about: "How can I still win this game, even though my opponent has much higher levels?"

I came across a game that isn't just an example where a strong player beats a much higher-levelled deck, but that also contains some good examples for concepts you can apply. I hope this will be a useful learning moment especially for newer players.

I recorded the game and uploaded it on YouTube. Apologies for the mediocre sound quality, I'm not a YouTuber & used the first-best app to record video on my smartphone. Below the video, I will comment what I see as the key situations and decisions.

• The game starts with wheel scout before harvester against harvester into Missile Squads.
• Benedikt sees two Missile Squads, and knows that his L11.0 Cyber Wheels cannot really deal with the L15.3 Missile Troopers, so he knows he has to go into Flames to be able to compete for the first Missile. 
• Just for context: A L15.3 unit has 37% more hitpoints 
• 37% more damage compared to a L11.0 unit
• Critical moment #1 in the game at 0:35 seconds: Benedikt moves his wheels to the bottom for a scout and the option to block the harvester. He might know Gizarius likes to play tech (hence likes dual harvester), or he might just want to get information and option value. Critical concept #1: Get information. To beat higher levels, you need to have the right unit composition. This needs either luck, anticipation, or good scouting.
• Either way, it allows him to delay the 2nd harvester while engaging the Missiles with his Flame Squad, thus creating two parallel challenges for the opponent. This is a critical concept, as to beat higher-level decks, you need to bank on making better decisions and force the opponent into mistakes. and multiple parallel challenges are a great way to allow the opponent to react sub-optimally.
• Gizarius follows up with Snipers, which is a right decision in my view. He prioritizes further delaying or even winning the first nuke, which gives him more time for his deck that, not just for levels, will be far superior in the late game.
• Benedikt simultaneously plays bikes to go after the harvesters. This is an interesting choice. as he cannot expect to kill Harvesters that have so many hitpoints (level difference!) and can be healed by Liang. But there's a lot of value in the bikes:
• Further aggression that can keep the opponent occupied and/or spend money (delaying the tech)
• Bikes are generally useful against Liang when the Nuke goes off soon, as the Liang player will often try to get pad control with the Liang drone
• Bikes also have the option value of being the anticipatory counter for potential Talons or Drones, which are the likely alternatives to Snipers
• Even if Benedikt would know that Snipers come, it seems likely that another wheels Wheels would not have been enough to win the first Nuke, as he wouöd have no unit to bear the Liang drone hovering over a bad, and 3 underlevelled Wheel squads would likely not have beaten the Missile/Sniper and possible follow-up unit from Gizarius quick enough to win first Nuke
• A rule of thumb is also that you don't want to overbuild one type of unit except there's a clear reason. The first bike gives you more options than the third wheel. 
• There's a tiny mistake from Benedikt at 0:50, who could have moved his Flames up to the opponent Lasers a bit earlier (also good to engage the Sniper and get a bit more damage on it) earlier, and move the Wheels to the hex where it can engage Snipers but not be shot by Wheels. I mention this to show that there's always room for improvement in Rivals.
• The second bike is more interesting from Benedikt. Gizarius, as expected, plays another Missile, as he can be happy with pad control and saving money whilst cheaply defending the bike. But soon we'll see what a good player can do with these bikes!
• The bikes can be seen as a diversion to pull units and focus away from the pads shortly before the nuke. It made Gizarius move his new Missiles down instead of up to the pads, so shortly before the Nuke goes off. At 1:06, Benedikt swings both of his bikes up to take pads, being able to sneak between the Missiles as a consequence of the aforementioned "luring the Missiles down to defend". 
• The right bikes quickly deal with the Liang drone. Gizarius slightly late reaction to make his Snipers attack the new Flamers instead of the Bikes means that the 11.0 Flamers get to the centre pad and contest it just long enough for the nuke to go off.
• Note the pattern: Controlling one Nuke, and contesting the other two. Especially against higher-level decks, this is often a much more realistic way to win a Nuke compared to controlling two pads, which ususally needs winning a fight. When you feel you're behind, keep this pattern in mind: Which is the one pad you can control, and how can you contest the other two just in time for the nuke?
• Directly after the Nuke, Benedikt adds some chipping damage to the Snipers with his bikes rather than go for the harvesters. This seems pointless at first, but consider this:
• First, he needs to quickly abandon the pad with the bikes anyways. Time is still on Gizarius' side, and so Benedikt correctly decides to let the opponent charge the pads
• Second, good players have the habit to take small edges. Shortly stopping bikes for one volley before moving on to the harvesters does not cost much time.
• Third, he might hope he is able to bring down the snipers to a single unit in the squad in the coming phase of the game. This might make it potentially much easier for him to take the second nuke, as a single-unit Sniper doesn't kill his Flamers as quickly, and, when the time is right, can be taken out much faster.
• This shows us a second small potential mistake from Benedikt: He forgets about his single Wheel near Gizarius' base, which pop caps him and has little value outside of scouting. On the other hand, the scouting info is invaluable, and currently the pads are charging. So Benedikt might actually prefer to have more information right now than more units, to create the plan on how to steal the second nuke. Whether intentional or not, this play of thought shows that there's often a trade-off between getting more information vs. having more control of the battlefield. Control of the battlefield is often temporary, especially if you're so behind in levels. But information might help you come up with the one sneaky plan to be ahead just when the time is right.
• In the next phase, Gizarius has the upper hand. This is pretty natural, consdering his unit level advantage, dual harvester income, and the sacrifices Benedikt had to make to steal the first nuke. In this phase, Benedikt's key achievement are ..
•  to prevent his harvester being killed, which could be the nail in his coffin against a tech deck.
• to ensure someone charges the pads at all times
• The final phase for the second nuke then shows good decision making and timing, and illustrates the power of Cyber Wheels: As a squad unit, the Predator needs four shots, no matter many levels it's higher.

Good game, Gizarius & Benedikt! And thanks to the devs for one of the best features of Rivals: The good replay functionality that allows us all to learn from each other, and be entertained by each other.

Liked this post? Check out this game analysis of Alarak beating a deck that has much higher levels.

If you're a newer player, maybe you also want to check out my basic guide for Rivals deck construction