Introduction
Flying units often have the upper hand—literally with the extra dodge change. Together with the earthquake rule set, where often more flying units are selected. This is where snare will come into mix. Take down those wings and bring them back onto the ground.
Snare removes the Flying ability from enemies when it lands a hit, grounding them and making them vulnerable to Earthquake damage or just easier to hit. It’s a niche ability, but in the right matchups.
With the arrival of new Rebellion cards, things have gotten even spicier. There's a Rebellion summoner that gives all your units Flying, Risqruel Drath, which sounds amazing—until someone counters it with Eternal Tofu,
Let’s do a deep dive into how Snare works, where it shines, and which cards to keep your eye on if you want to start clipping wings in style.
Ability
100% chance to hit and apply Snared to targets with Flying. Snared units lose all bonuses from Flying.
- When the target unit gets hit with Snare, that unit has Flying removed. However, the attacking unit with Snare will still hit this same unit 100% of the time, even when the Flying ability is removed.
- Snare can be Cleansed.
- If a flying unit is Snared, dies, and gets Resurrected, Snare is removed and will need to be re-applied.
Official ability information from splinterlands: List abilities
Synergies / strategy
Abilities benefits
Scattershot - I like to combine snare with scattershot especially when earthquake is in the mix it funny to watch to see multiple flying taken down to the ground.
Snipe/Sneak/Opportunity - Combining Snare with targeting abilities can be exceedingly useful if the flying unit is not in the first position. Your opponent may intersperse their flying units strategically - particularly if the Earthquake Modifier is involved.
Ruleset benefits
Earthquak - This is the most obvious one there is a higher change flying unit are select so this the best time to take along a snare unit.
Select / favorite
Mine snare units:
Now it comes down to choose my favorite snare unit. That is not easy task because i do not choose often a specific unit for its snare. so lets bring some stats to it.
My most selected snare units:
Well definitely the Venari Marksrat is not selected for its snare so that is not my favorite Merdhampir is a better pick but lets also watch what my best performing units
Looking at this my pick is going to be:
I will be honest still the other ability are the most existing the life leech and cripple. The snare is a bonus
Strategy
Medium mana battle, with little league is good change to get the Merdhampir out on the battlefield. 3 restrictive rules can become a hard selection.
Rulesets
Little League:
Only unit that cost 4 mana or less
Taking Sides:
No Neutral units are allowed
Going the Distance:
Only ranged units
The Lineup
Summoner
Units Lineup
| #1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  | |  |  |
Angelic Mandarin (lvl 8)
For only 3 mana you get 7 health even it cannot attack from this position it can heal the backline if my opponent choses a snipe of sneak attack.
Mar Toren Seeker (lvl 5)
Range unit with dodge and snipe when it gets in the front it might trigger a miss one or two.
Mar Toren Trader (lvl 10)
The headwind is a very useful skill when there are only ranged units, my opponent will do -1 damage for each of its units.
Merdhampir (lvl 10)
Star of this week when my opponent brings a flying it will be snared down. Also the cripple with life leech is a double edge sword it reduces the max health of your opponent and you gain a extra health do i need to say more.
Igor Darkspear (lvl 6)
Only 2 mana for 5 health is sweet deal. It does 3 damage.
Kulu Swimhunter (lvl 10)
The backline defender even tough there are not many range sneak units it still to protect you back and its the highest attack power another reason to put it in the back.
The Battle
Reference
Rounds
Start :
My opponent made some interesting picks right out of the gate. First up, they brought a Protect unit, giving all their monsters bonus armor. That’s always a solid defensive move—it can really throw off damage calculations, especially in early rounds.
Then there’s the unit with Burning. That one’s a bit of a gamble. It’s sitting right in the front line, which is bold. I’m hoping once round one kicks off, the Fire starts spreading to the backline and causes some chaos for them.
Looking at their team, I spotted two Flying units. That’s where my Snare pick starts looking smart. If I can land hits on those flying monsters early, I’ll bring them down to earth and open them up to Earthquake damage or make them easier to finish off.
But here’s the real kicker—they only brought one high-damage attacker. That’s perfect for me, because I’m running Headwinds, which reduces Ranged attack across the board. With just one big hitter on their side, this debuff hits hard. Their offense just got clipped, right along with their wings.
Round 1:
Both sides took a hit this round—we each lost a frontliner. Unfortunately, the Burning effect didn’t spread like I hoped. That front unit just went down without lighting up the rest of the enemy team. Bit of a missed opportunity there.
But hey, here’s why I love running Mar Toren Seeker: that Dodge came in clutch this round. One clean miss from the enemy and suddenly the tempo swings in my favor. You can see it in the screenshot—Seeker doing its job with style. 👍
Now, the big moment I’m looking for: taking down Kha'zi Conjurer. Once that unit is out of the way, I don’t see much left in terms of firepower on their side. From here on out, I feel like the game’s tilting my way.
Round 2:
Just as expected—once that heavy hitter went down, my opponent’s team really started to crumble. With barely any damage output left, it’s basically a walk in the park from here.
Shoutout to Merdhampir and that Snare! It did exactly what it was supposed to—ground those flyers and make them easier targets. Love when a plan comes together.
Neither of us brought any Close Range units, so now the monsters sitting in the front are just soaking hits without fighting back. They're pretty much sitting ducks at this point, just waiting for cleanup.
Round 3:
Boom! Another miss! You just gotta love the Dodge mechanic—seriously, it never gets old. 😍 My Mar Toren Seeker is straight-up styling on the opponent at this point.
Meanwhile, Merdhampir—a total star of the week—keeps doing what it does best: draining health and stacking it up. It’s already sitting at 11 HP and looking tankier than ever.
With the enemy team falling apart and no real threats left on the board, I’d say we’re just one or two rounds away from wrapping this up.
Round 4:
Thanks to my speed advantage, I got to strike first this round—and that made all the difference. I managed to take down another unit before it could even react, leaving my opponent with just one monster in the front… and it can’t even attack.
At this point, it’s basically over. With no threats left and my team still going strong, it’s just a matter of time. Next round—GG.
Round 5:
Victory!
Conclusion
This was a fun one—Little League really changes the dynamics, and you could see how certain units shine in that format. Merdhampir was an absolute beast, racking up HP with Life Leech and throwing in Cripple for good measure. Add Snare to the mix and you’ve got a monster that does it all.
Snare might not be the flashiest ability, and yeah—it’s a bit niche. But when you’re up against Flying units, especially in rulesets like Earthquake, it becomes a huge asset. Grounding your opponent’s key units can be the difference between barely surviving and dominating the match.
So next time you see wings across the board, don’t be afraid to bring a Snare unit and clip 'em.
Previous ability strategy posts
Below you will find references to the other ability strategies / analysis posts.
That's all for this week hope you enjoyed reading this ability strategy/analysis. See you all on the battlefield.
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