For this week's challenge, I wanted to try something different with the Noxious Fumes Modifier since most players just stack Immunity or Cleanse and call it a day. Instead, I picked a strategy that looks normal at first but does a unique way to counter the poison in Noxious Fumes modifier. It’s a fun and different way to deal with poison damage and I think this match shows how creative you can get with the right units and right knowledge of the game.

The modifier you’re focusing on: Noxious Fumes

All units start the battle poisoned and lose 2 health at the beginning of each round, starting in round 2.

The Noxious Fumes modifier looked like a hard one to manage because the damage can accumulate if you don't have any plan for it. With proper knowledge and the right units, you can easily master the Noxious Fumes modifier.

And since we're talking about mastering the modifier and not simply surviving it, why not let me give you some unique way to do it and go out with a big bang?!

Your go-to team or combo when this modifier appears

I don't have strict a go-to team for my battles because I want to be flexible. I do follow a rough guideline of unit's roles when making a team for any rule.

Archon - Marlai Singariel
I really like this archon because she is simple to use and understand. She gives your team 1 magic damage extra. That's it. No weird shenanigans, just plain stat boost. This is effective though because a lot of strong magic attacking units are in the Water Element and you will see it in this battle.

1. Tank - Giant Alpine Skink
The damage is a bonus but what's more important are the health and abilties. Giant Alpine Skink have Shield which is good against melee and range attacks. A good amount of health is also needed unless the unit have Void Armor or Void since magic attacks bypass armor.

2. Second Tank - Ulundin Overseer
I like having dual tanks in my team. In Splinterlands, you don't know what your enemies will do and use until you're in the battle so you must always be prepared. The secondary tank doesn't need to be too strong but having high health and armor is always a good idea. I am running a Weapons Training build in this match so Ulundin Overseer fits that requirement of not having any attack for the Weapons Training so he is both my second tank and a damage dealer.

3. Weapons Training - Daarg Deadblast
His role is very simple. He gives damage to the nearby units through Weapons Training and that's it. Weapons Training doesn't get removed if Daarg Deadblast dies so after he gives the nearby units attacks, then he already fulfilled his role. One good thing about him though is his Weapons Training is Magic Attack, which means the two nearby units will also get a boost from Marlai Singariel. This is a cheap-mana but strong combo that you can add in your lineup regardless of what build you are running.

4. Carry - Grimbardun Smith
The fourth position is normally the carry. Usually I put the carry right in the middle which is the third slot but since I am running a Weapons Training build, the carry is on the fourth. Grimbardun Smith has Immunity which is good in Noxious Fumes modifier. He doesn't get any negative debuff like Poison or Blind so he can be safe until it's his turn to be the frontline.

5. Carry - Abyssal Elemental
Behind the carry is another carry. I like Abyssal Elemental because he can fill a lot of role and that is why you can see him in a lot of my builds and lineups. He can be a carry or a tank depending on the situation and sometimes, he can also act as both of them. In this battle, his role is to dish damage while surviving. I have a very special idea for this battle which I would show later and it involves the Resurgence ability, maybe the strongest ability in the game.

6. Sneak Support - Captain Fellblade
I prefer units that have armor or resistance against melee attacks to be put in the sixth position because I am afraid of Sneak which are normally melee units. With this fact, I normally put Abyssal Elemental here because of his armor and Resurgence ability. The reason I have Captain Fellblade instead is because Abyssal Elemental is my current carry for this battle. I don't want Abyssal Elemental to die early then gets eaten by the Sneak units. So, instead, I want to have a magic attack unit that can attack from the back and I chose Captain Fellblade.

Why your strategy works (or how you figured it out!)

As boring as it can be, I learned this strategy through reading. It is stated indirectly in the Splinterlands Support Website:

Revival Abilities

Resurgence and Negative Status Effects (also called magic debuff). When units get revived from death with abilities like Resurgence, Resurrect, Rebirth and Soul Siphon, magic debuffs are removed while positive buffs are reapplied.

As you will see in the battle below, after Resurgence activates, Blind and Poison were removed while the bonus attack from Marlai Singariel still applies. As I also have learned from experience, Magic buff and magic debuff are the tiny icons on top of the unit's main picture. The revival of the unit does not stop the stat change like the enemy Archon's -1 Speed from reapplying.

Status Effects (From Splinterlands)
Some abilities apply certain status effects that can enhance your team's stats or reduce the opposing team's stats. These status effects are broken down into two categories: Positive Status Effects and Negative Status Effects. While Positive Status Effects can be Dispelled, Negative Status Effects can be Cleansed.

A battle link that showcases your tactic in action

Battle Link: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_789e2436948d32e285aa34ad6de917c6

Early:
I had a good solid defence against the enemy and the modifier for this battle. I have three main tanks and Daarg Deadblast giving two of them more damage with the help of Weapons Training. At the start, it looks like I have the disadvantage especially when the enemy have Anasth Soothsayer which is the best unit to use in Noxious Fumes Modifier. Not only it has Cleanse but also has Tank Heal. It's perfect for the Noxious Fumes Modifier for sure.

Mid:
As we get to the mid game, we can see that a few units already died from the damage and poison. Even with the Cleanse and Tank Heal, the enemy tank still fell because of my damage output for this battle. They have a solid strategy entering this battle but I don't think they have a better strategy and damage than me.

Final:
Finally, my strategy starts to kick in. My unit would die from poison damage but Abyssal Elemental's Resurgence makes it reborn with max health and max armor with the caveat of inflicting 1 damage to all units. When a unit gets revived, all negative debuff like the poison and blind gets removed and this helped me stay ahead of the battle.

Closing Thoughts

This match showed me again that Noxious Fumes Modifier is not something you survive by luck but something you can plan and even take advantage of if you know how everything works. The way Resurgence interacts with poison is, honestly, still one of the coolest tricks in the game I discovered because it helps you in the battle by removing the most problematic part of the game. When you pull off a combo like this, it feels very rewarding especially when that landed you a win where you should've lost.

The whole battle also reminded me that Splinterlands is really about knowing your cards and how they behave under each Modifier. Sometimes, you don’t need fancy sure-win complicated combos or expensive cards. You just need the right piece in the right spot to win and for this one, Abyssal Elemental truly proved why it’s one of the best cards to use in Noxious Fumes Modifier and stays on top as one of my favorite cards of all time.

Posted Using INLEO