The moment I first encountered my own zombified guard in Money Coming Expand Bets, I knew this game mechanic was something special. There I was, staring down a version of myself that had died just minutes before, armed with the very upgrades I had painstakingly collected. It's this brilliant design choice that forms the foundation of our first winning strategy: understanding when to fight your past failures and when to walk away. I've logged over 200 hours across multiple playthroughs, and through countless battles against my own undead guards, I've developed five proven approaches that consistently maximize winnings while minimizing unnecessary risks.
Let me be perfectly honest about those zombified guards - they're absolutely terrifying when they appear with your best gear. I remember one particular run where I faced a version of myself wielding a fully upgraded lightning sword that I had lost in the previous attempt. My heart was pounding because I knew that weapon could carry me through the next three biomes if I could reclaim it. This brings me to strategy number two: selective engagement. The game cleverly tempts you by showing exactly what buffs and weapons your fallen guard possesses, but I've learned through painful experience that not every battle is worth fighting. Statistics from my own gameplay show that I only engage with approximately 35% of these encounters - specifically those where the potential upgrade represents at least a 40% power increase over my current loadout. The other 65%? I simply walk away, conserving my health and resources for more certain victories elsewhere.
The third strategy revolves around preparation and what I call the 'risk calculus.' Before even considering engaging one of these undead versions of myself, I always ensure I have at least two healing items and my special ability fully charged. There was this one time I got cocky - I had just cleared a particularly tough room and thought I could easily handle my previous self who had a nice weapon but mediocre upgrades. What I failed to consider was that particular guard's movement pattern, which happened to counter my current playstyle perfectly. I lost nearly 80% of my health in that encounter, which ultimately doomed my run just two rooms later. That mistake cost me what could have been a record-breaking run, and it taught me to always maintain what I now call the 70% rule: never engage a zombified guard unless you're at least 70% confident you can win without losing more than 30% of your health pool.
Strategy four might sound counterintuitive, but sometimes the best way to maximize winnings is to deliberately lose to your past self under controlled circumstances. Early in my Money Coming Expand Bets career, I discovered that when you die to your own zombified guard, the game preserves that particular version with its upgrades for future encounters. I've started intentionally sacrificing runs to create what I call 'gear banks' - specific guards positioned in accessible areas that carry weapons and buffs I want to reclaim later. It's a long-term investment strategy that has paid off tremendously. In my most successful run to date, I had strategically placed three different geared-up guards throughout the early biomes, which I systematically reclaimed as I progressed, effectively giving me access to late-game weapons much earlier than intended.
The fifth and most nuanced strategy involves understanding the psychological warfare aspect of fighting yourself. There's something uniquely challenging about facing an opponent that knows all your patterns, strengths, and weaknesses because it's literally you from fifteen minutes ago. I've developed what I call the 'pattern disruption' technique where I deliberately alter my combat style mid-fight against these guards. Where I might normally be aggressive, I'll suddenly become defensive, or I'll use weapons I typically avoid to create unpredictability. This approach has increased my success rate against these particular encounters by roughly 25% according to my gameplay records. The key realization was that while the guard has my equipment and basic movement patterns, it can't adapt to sudden strategic shifts the way a live player can.
What continues to fascinate me about Money Coming Expand Bets is how these mechanics create this beautiful risk-reward ecosystem. Every time I see that shimmering portal indicating one of my past failures has returned as an undead guard, I go through this quick mental calculation: Is the potential power spike worth the risk? Can I afford the health cost? Does this align with my long-term strategy for this particular run? Through extensive testing across 150+ completed runs, I've found that players who master these five strategies typically see their win rate increase from the baseline 12% to around 28-32%, with their average winnings per successful run increasing by approximately 45%. The zombified guards, which initially seemed like just another enemy type, have become the centerpiece of my strategic approach to maximizing returns in this brilliantly designed game.
