When I saw this one pop up, I was excited, I love the Nerissa Tridawn Monster, I use her all the time, so this was an easy one for me, additionally, this fight will be showcasing some of the new additions to Splinterlands in the last week, so this was a double whammy that I was excited about! First up Nerissa:
Just looking at the card you can see why I like her, the artwork is great, but the stats, yes she is pricy at the 9 mana cost, but the 10 health means she is there for awhile and then the 3 magic damage, that is just solid, the two speed is not the greatest, but with magic you will be hitting more often than not!
Before we get to the battle, let’s look at the history and the lore that has been written about Nerissa Tridawn (by Splinterlands.com):
Nerissa is a proud warrior of the water. Armed with her enchanted trident, she defends the seas, the rivers, and the lakes. She is well known across coastal villages, and they often call on her for help. She has slain great sea beasts that would otherwise kill everyone in their path. She has rescued sailors from hurricanes, and even warned villages of incoming tsunamis to save lives. Her bravery and brilliance in battle have led to her being called Nerissa the Hurricane.
Nerissa was born and raised by the ocean, and could swim before she could walk. She always felt the sea called to her. And within her it stirred a deep magic. An ancient mana of tides and waves. Nerissa answered the call, and travels between the continents of the Splinterlands.
When settlers and explorers made their way to Praetoria, Nerissa was there to help with every step of the journey. But the blight that gripped the land worried her deeply. Its corruption spread into the waters that she loved so dearly. She often caught herself crossing paths with Igor the Finback and his tribe of Trench Dwellers. Each time she had to pull back or risk all of them attacking her at once.
When Nerissa learned of the deeper plot of the Chaos Legion, she vowed to defend Praetoria and its inhabitants with her life.
Then a story by Splinterlands as well:
A wave carried Nerissa quickly to the shore. A small village awaited her, bordered by the jungle and currently drenched in the raging thunderstorm.
A worker on the dock held up his lantern, squinting. Then he gasped. “Nerissa the Hurricane!”
Nerissa's bare feet made contact with the gritty sand. She strode quickly towards him. “We must gather everyone in the village! A great wave is coming. I will lead the people to safety on higher ground.”
“Yes, ma'am!” he turned and rushed off towards the homes.
Nerissa turned to look out at the angry ocean. The wild wind whipped her hair back from her face. No one would die tonight. Not on her watch.
The battle that we are examining for this one is a middling mana cap at 28, plus:
Heavy Hitters: All Monsters have the Knock Out ability.
Wands Out: Only Monsters with Magic attack may be used in battles.
Unprotected: Monsters do not have any armor and do not get armor from Abilities or Summoner Buffs.
Two new ones here that Splinterlands added in the last week, first, the three rule set, before, it was only limited to two rules, so the three really adds another dimension to the game, you need more cards to work well within the set, it makes every card usable, which is nice. The second aspect is the Wands Out rule, only being able to use magic, that is a new one as well, but Nerissa fits right into that league!
Here is the quick link to the battle, from the Modern Gold League: (Link) however, I will break it down, then you might want to watch again.
First up, the Summoner:
Being a Water Splinter, it helps to start with a Water summoner, so enters Kelya, I love this summoner, the boost to speed and giving everyone armor, it fits into so many lineups! Granted in this one, the armor meant nothing because of the ruleset, but the speed did help.
The front line was Djinn Oshannus:
Many times, when I am running Water I use Oshannus up front because of the high health and the speed, which is great, but having Void, where it reduces magic attacks, along with Phase, which means that magic attacks can miss him, it creates a powerful tank. I used him on this one for that high health, magic attach, but the void and phase, since everything is magic, it is an ideal fit.
The card of the hour:
In the second spot spot Nerissa, that magic hit, but when Oshanus goes down, a good amount of health, additionally, if there is a sniper on the enemy team it would hit her but she would be able to ward it off for a little while.
Next we have my last card on this one:
Since I already had 17 mana down, I decided to put in River for the 2 magic damage, the 4 health, not a lot there, but I figured the resurrect ability would come in handy, letting Oshannus come back for another round and if they have any 1 magic damage monsters it would not hurt him.
My strategy did work on this one, which is always great! However, not all of it panned out well, River died in the second round due to Virak having the Coral Wraith that has a sneak attack with magic, so that hurt. Oshannus’s phase ability came in with some missed attacks from the enemy. Nerissa took some hits from that sneak attack, but her high health allowed her to make it through! The other big thing was the void on Oshannus, the enemy only had monsters that had 2 magic attack, Nerissa with 3 magic attack makes a huge difference against their void armor. So instead of only doing 1 damage, Nerissa was doing 2 that allowed me to take out the enemy Oshannus faster, thus allowing me to win!
You can see why I love this card and it is Highly Highly Recommended for any water deck, Nerissa helped me get out of bronze and silver leagues, I use her a lot, get her, level her up, join the fray!
Overall, this was a really good battle for me, and when you are watching a battle, you always need some Pizza! If you are looking for a great area of Positivity along with a great community, com join the Pizza Family!
You can find them here: Awesome Pizza Discord
Remember to reach across the aisle and talk to someone that might be different than you, you might be amazed at the person you find!
I do want to say thank you for reading all of this and have a wonderful week!
Dr. Kqaos
Photos come from PowerPoints stock image, Bitmoji with Splinterlands logo on top of it, or my own screen shots of Splinterlands, along with the image that they provided for the Weekly Challenge.