I've recently discovered Sheng Xiao and Poison Burst and now, I have a big fun with that combo. The Poison Burst from Sheng Xiao is really strong that you only need two Taunt units to get them off really good. Syrenth, a dragon taunt unit, is perfect. She is a dragon, which means she is available everytime Sheng Xiao is available and not that hard to kill because of the lack of defensive abilities like Shield or Void. Let's check out her true potential and see more in this post.

Lore

Syrenth Senrellesash is a dragudo in the Gloridax Empire’s Dragonsguard. Whether on foot or mounted on horse or drake, her skill with a bow is legendary… as are her slurs. She has a mouth like a sailor and handles her bow like she was born with it in her hand.

Syrenth served under Dragutsu Matsuuri Kei during the uprising of Solace. She fought from the ramparts and in the streets, shouting her taunts and curses as her arrows skewered the legionnaires of Chaos, and she laughed prettily as the streets ran red with their blood.

https://splinterlands.com/card-detail/696/regular/13?tab=lore

Stats

Syrenth is a tanky backline protector that uses Taunt to soak up attacks while dishing out high ranged damage and punishing enemies with Return Fire and Stun. At max levle, she has 10 health, some armor, and defensive tools like Dodge. It's a great tank at the back when played smart. It combos best with Poison Burst, Amplify, and a lot more flexible strategies.

Abilities

Icon	Name	Description
	Taunt	All enemy Units target this Unit (if they are able to).
		is a match and the reason why I play Syrenth. You can put Poison Burst using Sheng Xiao's Summoner Tactics with a Taunt unit and, believe it or not, let that unit die. Every enemy targets Syrenth, she dies, poison spreads to the enemies and now, your other units just need to survive.
		is a counter because units with Fury deal double damage to Taunt units, making Syrenth vulnerable to quick takedowns if focused by high attacking units. Enemies can easily get access with this ability during Ferocity rule.

	Dodge	Has a 25% chance of evading melee or ranged attacks.
		is a match because it boosts your whole team's Speed, making Dodge harder to counter and giving Syrenth more chances to avoid melee and range attacks.
		is a counter because it completely counters Dodge by guaranteeing hits from any attacks. This removes Syrenth’s evasiveness from Dodge and her speed reducing her overall survivability.

	Return Fire	When hit with a Ranged attack, Units with Return Fire will return half the damage (rounded up) back to their attacker.
		is a match because it boosts the reflected damage by +1, making Syrenth a deadly trap for ranged attackers. This increase the Return Fire from Syrenth.
		is a counter because Deflect negates Return Fire so ranged enemies don't take damage when hitting Syrenth, neutralizing this entire ability.

	Stun	When a Unit with stun hits a target, there is a 50% chance that the target will skip its next turn.
		is a match since Stun requires a successful hit and Syrenth has range attacks that can miss, True Strike guarantees the hit will land making Stun more reliable. You can give Syrenth this ability through archons and modifiers.
		is a counter because if the target dodges, Stun doesn’t land, making Syrenth's attacks unreliable against high-speed units or those with abilities that improves evasion like Dodge or Flying.

Good Rules to Consider

Icon	Name	Reason
	Explosive Weaponry	All units have Blast (deals an additional 50% damage to units adjacent to the target, rounded up).
		Taunt forces enemy units to attack with Blast. This allows you to control which units will take that Blast damage.
	Close Range	All units have Close Range (can use ranged attacks from the first position).
		Lets Syrenth keep firing from the front line, removing its biggest weakness as a ranged unit. With this rule, you can also use Syrenth as your main tank and support her with units that have Tank Heal.
	Aim True	All units gain True Strike (attacks will never miss).
		This rule is a double-edged sword because it blocks Syrent's Dodge but it helps ensure that Syrenth’s stun lands, making it more consistent.

Bad Rules to Think Twice

Icon	Name	Reason
	Fire and Regret	All Units have Return Fire (returns 50% of ranged damage to attacker, rounded up).
		Syrenth has ranged attack. It takes Return Fire damage whenever it attacks reducing its survivability.
	Ferocity	All units have Fury (deals double damage if the target has Taunt).
		Makes Syrenth a damage magnet because of Taunt. Fury punishes units with Taunt hard with double damage. Since Syrenth has Taunt, it makes her a very bad unit in this rule.
	Going the Distance	Only units with ranged attacks may be used.
		Only range units can be played in this rule and Syrenth's Return Fire is a big factor in this rule. She gets all the attack with Taunt and returns a portion of them back to the attacker with Return Fire.

Battle

Link to battle

In this battle, I have Sheng Xiao place Poison Burst on my two Taunt units. They are like landmines that if they die, they really become a huge problem for my enemies as they are put in a big countdown. Now that Poison Burst is in place, the question is, would my enemies kill me first or would the poison kill them first?

Images were taken from Splinterlands, made in Canva, drawn in Krita and animated in Photoshop.

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