In the Splinterlands Crypto Game, the summoner Vera Salacia might be near useless outside Fog of War and these tournaments, but she is amazing within them, and I'm here to tell you why. The amount of guaranteed damage she does against key cards is absolutely crucial. You might think Snare's only effect is removing Flying from monsters, but there is one more thing it does: attacks against flying monsters are guaranteed to hit their target.
Before Vera, you only had Bortus for non-Legendaries. That means Water splinter would be at a significant disadvantage if its opponent used very few or no magic cards. Sure, Lir Deepshimmer is a direct counter to Yodin, but you don't always have enough mana for him. Up to 25 or so mana, using 7-mana summoners is just too restrictive. It's often not worth it. But you're not getting enough by picking Bortus. However, you earn a lot by picking Vera.
The most important combinations with Vera's Snare is Feasting Seaweed and Parasitic Growth, because of its Opportunity ability. Why? Well, in Fire Splinter, the most iconic and troublesome card available is Spark Pixies. A flying monster with low health. The same applies to all other splinters: Water's Albatross, Life's Thunderbird and Death's Soulstorm. Earth is the only splinter not relying on a Flying Monster.
That means if you're in a somewhat low mana battle (22 or less) and Earth is disabled or your opponent is probably not going to choose Earth, then Vera Salacia is a very strong choice. In this kind of battle, you don't have to worry about most of the Legendaries, because they are all very high in mana. But since Legendaries in general are the only concern against Vera, you can also safely pick her and Feasting Seaweed in the No Legendaries and Rise of the Commons rules, even during higher mana battles.
Last but not least, she is also a considerable pick in regular ranked play if you get the Fog of War rule, because opportunity monsters are already very important in this situation, so you get to kill important flying monsters first. You can mix her with a higher speed monster this time, the Battering Ram. I hope you've all enjoyed this strategical post, and I'll see you in the battlefield!