It's time for a Splinterlands strategy guide on one of the game's newer rulesets that fills players with dread. Fortunately, that dread is not as deadly as the poison which afflicts their monsters in battle. Don't breathe too deeply, we're about to talk Noxious Fumes.

Noxious Fumes

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All monsters start the battle poisoned

Overview

There's not a lot to say. You've got to know what you're doing in this ruleset, then get it done quick or your team will be dead before the third round. There are however some fun tricks that you can employ to outsmart the Poison. Some of them are obvious (like Healing), while others (like Resurrect and Cleanse) take a little more planning to pull off effectively.

Your main objective in a Noxious Fumes battle isn't much different from your main objective in any other Splinterlands battle: Be the second team to die and you'll win.

Extra Health, Extra Heal

Usually you can count on the Tank Heal ability to keep your tank strong and therefore protect the other monsters on your team. This is not so simple in Noxious Fumes because every monster on the field is immediately getting hit with Poison damage at the top of the 2nd round. Instead of Tank Heal, focus on the self Heal ability in this ruleset. It's not as common as Tank Heal, but it will keep back row monsters and tanks alike healthy long enough to at least deal some damage outside the Poison.

I recommend using a high-Health monster with Healing right in front if that's an option for you. For me, Sea Monster is the first that comes to mind. With Healing as its native ability and Health of 8 even at level 1, the Sea Monster can really stand up to some Poison damage. And if a couple monsters on the enemy's team fall before your Sea Monster, then there's a good chance it will go the distance, which in Noxious Fumes is the same as winning.

Always choose the monsters for the back row that have greater Health. Life Leech and Scavenger are also useful abilities in this case because they will add crucial Health points back as they are taken from your team by Poison's sting.

Cleanse, but Carefully

Cleanse is the ability that will remove negative status effects from your tank once per round. But you must be careful when placing your Cleanse monster. They tend to have lower Health and defenses; they must be buried deep inside your team so there's no chance of damage coming to them. They'll be killed quickly enough by Poison as it is. Here is a list of monsters with the Cleanse ability.

Diamond Dragon
Herbalist
Kelp Initiate
Mermaid Healer
Silvershield Bard
Truthspeaker
Zalran Efreet

See? There aren't that many, and most of them are pretty quick to fall themselves. If you can find a good cleanser in your collection that can stay alive long enough, you may become a champion of Noxious Fumes.

Resurrection Kills the Infection

This little trick is often overlooked, but Resurrect is one of the most effective abilities against Noxious Fumes. Basically, when a monster is resurrected, they will return without the affliction of Poison. Keep in mind that they'll also come back with only a single Health point and there's a good chance that they won't last the round.

If you're able to strategically resurrect members of your team 2 or 3 times throughout the battle, you'll have a far greater chance of surviving while your opponent is torn apart by Poison damage. Because the greatest numbers of Resurrect cards and Cleanse cards can be found in the Life Splinter, that Splinter has a distinct advantage in the surviving the Poison department.

Down with the Quickness

Another aspect of Noxious Fumes battling that is often overlooked is Speed. Speed always plays an important role in the outcome of Splinterlands battles, but in Noxious Fumes I've always found that turn order is especially important, and here's why.

The fastest strong attacking monsters tend to be a little weaker, but in Noxious Fumes you can use that to your advantage with Speed. If you plan on many of your monsters being dead before the end of round 2, you may be better off. With this strategy, you use one powerful and well-defended tank in front. Your quick back-row monsters will attack immediately, putting several of your enemy's monsters into range of Poison death at the top of the next round. Your monsters will die too at the top of the next round, but their damage will already have been done. If you played it correctly, your enemy's team will crumble as your tank remains. This is especially effective if you use the first round to weaken the Health of your enemy with Magic attacks, since they go directly to Health points.

Some Poison-Resisting Cards I Like

These are some cards I like to play in the Noxious Fumes ruleset. As always, these are by no means the best cards or the only solutions, but I will do my best to explain why they work for me. If you have top choices of your own, feel free to share them in the comments for the benefit of the rest of the class!

Molten Ogre

My reasons for liking the Molten Ogre in Noxious Fumes are high Health and Demoralize, one of my favorite abilities. I've found that your opponents like to throw in a lot of Melee attacks in these battles, and reducing them all by one will often buy you another round of precious life. That's usually enough to finish off the enemy team. I would go a different way in low mana battles, unless you're prepared to fill your whole lineup with this big guy.

Sea Monster

As I already mentioned above, I like the Sea Monster as a tank in Noxious Fumes. It's got a hefty mana cost, but the Healing ability and high Health are usually worth the expense. I like to pair it with the Crustacean King, who will certainly die quickly in these battles, but will offer at least one Tank Heal to the Sea Monster and some Armor before it does.

Scarred Llama Mage

I know not everyone can enjoy the luxury of the Scarred Llama Mage as a summoner, but she's very well built for the Noxious Fumes ruleset. She'll cast Cleanse on the front monster of your team once per turn, and as the summoner, she's in no danger of dying from Poison damage. If you play at lower levels, I highly recommend the Llama, but she can get a little pricey if you're trying to max her out.

Bila the Radiant

This gold-skinned beauty has been life-leeching her way into my heart and taking a place as one of my most often used Life Splinter cards. If you place her carefully, she'll begin leeching life early enough to not only kill the enemy monsters quickly, but keep herself safe from multiple rounds of Poison damage. I especially like the Divine Shield ability in Noxious Fumes, and Stun is like an extra OP bonus that works half the time.

Ancient Lich

The Lich has two of my favorite points that make a great Noxious Fumes monster: Life Leech and Resurrect. If you're not playing it at level 4, then you won't get to enjoy the Resurrect ability, but Life Leech and Void might be enough for you anyway. I've always found that Life Leech (especially with a Magic attack) allows you to gain life faster than losing it from Poison. Void will play an additional role in keeping the Lich alive long enough for your victory.

Scale Doctor

Yep, it's another Legendary. I guess Legendaries are extra effective in this ruleset. Every one of the Scale Doctor's abilities work directly toward fighting Noxious Fumes. While your tank is (hopefully) being healed plentifully, the good doctor will be healing one of your back row monsters each turn. Strengthen gives an extra Health point to each of your monsters, which makes a huge difference with all that Poison damage, and both Rust and Repair are Armor-related abilities that can help tremendously.

Gelatinous Cube

Noxious Fumes is one of those situations that was made for the Cube. I usually forget to include this card in my Noxious Fumes battles, but my enemy remembers. The results are always frustrating. The Cube is always hard to kill, but in this ruleset, it's almost always the last monster standing. I wouldn't recommend playing below level 6, because Healing is necessary for the best chances. Every time surrounding monsters die, the Cube will gain Health, and every round it will heal itself, probably faster than your enemy can hurt it.

That's all folks! Hopefully this little guide has given you a few good tips and tricks for the Noxious Fumes ruleset. I'll see you on the battlefield, where I'll be building up my resistance to various hellish poisons!