As 2022 winds down, us lacrosse goalies can look back with a smile on our face knowing it was indeed the year of the goalie.
ECD launched the Impact goalie head. True Temper lacrosse launched the Radar goalie head. Several other companies like Deep South, Gait and STX teased new goalie heads to launch in 2023.
Then in early December 2022 one of the earliest lacrosse gear manufacturers Warrior launched a brand new version of their goalie head called the Warrior Nemesis QS.
Quick aside – if you want to see the founder of Warrior lacrosse David Marrow in action, checkout this video of him in action as he wins a national championship with Princeton.
The Warrior Nemesis QS is an upgrade to their latest goalie head the Warrior Nemesis 3. Instead of going with the Nemi 4 title they chose QS for this line (also launching new Warrior Nemi QS goalie gloves which I’ll review soon). QS stands for quick save of course.
Let’s get into the review of the brand new Warrior Nemesis QS.
The predecessor to this new head, the Warrior Nemi 3, was actually a very solid head in my opinion. However, it was illegal for the women’s game (for some reason).
I’m not a CEO of a lacrosse manufacturer but if a product is eliminating half the market, that’s not good business.
The Warrior Nemesis QS is legal in both the men’s and women’s game and at all levels – international, NCAA, high school, etc.
The face shape of the new Nemi QS remains relatively unchanged. You can see that clearly when the Nemi QS is side-by-side the Nemi 3:
You still have the flat top, the 7 top stringing holes, the classic Nemi outward flared sidewalls.
When you turn this goalie heads to the side you’ll also notice a striking similarity:
Both have 20 sidewall holes giving those stringers tons of options to throw in a tasty channel.
Surface area wise the Warrior Nemi QS is right up there with the highest. Top to bottom the Eclipse is just under 16.5″ while the QS is at 16.5″.
So face shape wise not much changed with this new version and that’s just fine in my opinion.
So what exactly has changed with this new goalie head?
Warrior Nemi QS Ergonomic Throat
More and more goalies these days setup with their top hand gripping the plastic throat.
As a result, lacrosse goalie head manufacturers have realized the importance of making that part of the plastic very “grippable”.
That’s what Warrior has done with the Nemesis QS slimming down the throat, elongating it some and adding a little “lip” to make it easy and comfortable to grip. The throat also has a slightly textured finish which feels nice in the hand.
Most goalie heads like the STX Eclipse 2 and the ECD Impact do not have the plastic lip at the throat. I am personally a fan of the lip but this will differ by goalie.
Another thing to point out, the lip actually angles upwards (going toward the back) as you can see in this shot:
Lax Goalie Rat summer intern David Miedema who helped me review this head mentioned he wasn’t a fan of this and would have preferred to keep it level but some goalies may like this.
Overall on the new Warrior Nemesis QS the throat design was redone to satisfy those goalies who love gripping the plastic with their top hand in their goalie stance.
Warrior Nemi QS Goalie Head Stiffness
Another extremely important factor for the modern lax goalie head is stiffness.
If you watch a goalie head at the moment it contacts a shot, a flimsy head will literally bend back to the point that the ball goes into the goal.
Happened in the national championship game to Alex Rode:
Thus not only is stiffness very key in a goalie head, but the maintaining of that stiffness as all goalies know over time a head tends to get more and more flimsy (especially on those hot summer days).
The Warrior Nemi 3 – in my opinion – was stiff out of the box but did tend to get a little flimsy with use just like the STX Eclipse 2 does.
For a solution, Warrior has a new plastic they’re calling Therma-Loc+. This hybrid thermoplastic resin retains stiffness by up to 50% better than standard nylon heads.
The QS head feels stiff. It passes all the tests on stiffness for me.
Check the save Brett Dobson makes about half way into this video. That’s the kind of stiffness you want.
Well need to see how that stiffness lasts over time so I guess I’ll update this post after a season or two of play.
Unfortunately, I have seen lots of reports of goalies having their Nemi QS sidewall break relatively early in its life:
So we’re going to have to knock the Warrior Nemesis QS hard for lack of durability. They all seem to break in the same spot too, right on the sidewall.
Has that happened to yours? Leave me a comment down below.
Warrior Nemesis QS: Weight
The challenge in a lacrosse goalie head is making stiffness as high as possible while not sacrificing heavy weight.
For example the CL18 goalie head is the stiffest on the market but its built like a tank and very heavy.
The Warrior Nemesis QS weighs in at a lean 322 grams (11.36oz) unstrung.
For comparison the STX Eclipse 2 is at 325 grams and the Warrior Nemesis 3 is at 319 grams. I don’t have the official weight for the ECD Impact unstrung but its lighter – I’d guess its at 318 grams or so.
So with the Nemi QS you’re still getting a very stiff head at a very nice weight.
When I did the review with summer intern David Miedema we hadn’t seen the official weights yet but he said: “it feels really light..lighter than the Eclipse 2 but not as light as the ECD Impact”.
He was right.
Unfortunately – perhaps because of that lighter weight – some goalies have reported that their Warrior Nemesis QS head keeps breaking. Specifically in the same spot on the sidewall.
I hope Warrior addresses this durability issue because I’ve seen pics like these from a lot of goalies.
He said the Nemi QS strings up identical to the Nemi 3 – which checks out since the face shape wasn’t really altered.
The Nemi line of goalie heads is wider than the ECD Impact or the STX Eclipse 2 and while that is nice in the sense it gives you more saving surface area, it can be a nightmare for stick stringers to get a good channel.
He used the exact same stinging pattern that he used in a pervious Nemi 3 and was able to get a nice channel:
David did point out that the stringing holes are a little smaller so if you’re a stringer who likes to use paracord 550 you’ll need a pair of tweezers and/or pliers to get 2 revolutions through.
So the Nemi QS strings up just like the Nemi 3 and allows you to put in a tasty channel for great rebound control and dropping those dimes on outlets.
Warrior Nemesis QS Look
For now, the Nemi QS comes in 2 colors:
Classic White:
And bone:
Never seen a bone colored goalie head and I gotta tell ya – that thing looks awesome!
Lax Goalie Rat summer intern David Miedema and myself did a video review of the Warrior Nemi QS goalie head that you can check out here:
Conclusion
With the launch of the Warrior Nemesis QS goalie head, the iconic lacrosse company brings several upgrades over the previous Warrior Nemesis 3.
First of all, the QS is legal in the women’s game. Huge upgrade from the Nemi 3 which wasn’t!
The 2 other main upgrades are a redone ergonomic and grippable throat. I really like the way they’ve done this throat and for goalies who grip the plastic in their top hand setup I think you’ll agree with me.
The 2nd upgrade is a new a plastic called Therma-Loc+ which promises to keep the stiffness in the head over the course of the season.
The price of the Nemi QS is about $20 higher than the Eclipse 2 or ECD Impact at $130.
But overall the Warrior Nemi QS is a great head for young male or female goalie as well the pro’s like Brett Dobson and Dillon Ward.
The only remaining question I have about this goalie head: where are the wing flaps?
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Sorry for the delay in response but good news is all those companies have goalies heads on the market now.
STX Eclipse 3, Deep South Lacrosse CL Ace, and Gait Command are all available. Gait head isn’t really new, its just the Under Armour Command rebranded.
If you are considering buying this head, plain and simple, DO NOT. I have been an avid warrior lacrosse user for my entire lacrosse career, and this is where I draw the line. The nemesis goalie heads were always my favorite because of their stiffness and durability. I am currently a college goalie, and this season, I have gone through 3 heads in 2 months. All the heads broke in the same spot on the side of the head during warmup-type shots. Temperature doesn’t matter either, and they broke in a range of 20 to 55 degrees. If you are a Warrior fan and want to continue using their goalie heads, go elsewhere because this is a complete waste of $130.
My son got a Bone QS for Christmas but didn’t start using it until the HS season started in mid-February. By the sixth game of the season it snapped in the same spot as the pics, but on both sides. Warrior replaced it no problem, and got it about three weeks later. Strung it up and it lasted about two weeks and then snapped again in the same spot. Wrote Warrior and showed pics and they made an exception to their one-time replacement policy and sent out another QS replacement. My son has since gone back to using his Nemi 3s and has yet to string up the QS. We both love the Warrior brand, but it’s unfortunate that the new material isn’t holding up. He’s tempted to switch to the Eclipse like EVERYONE else, but really doesn’t like the feel.
After using numerous STX Eclipse 2 & ECD Impact heads, my son wanted to try the QS. We got the first one dyed and it broke on the third time out. We thought this may have been due to the dye job, so we tried a second head. This one broke after making 3 saves.
The manufacturer warranty is 60 days. Unfortunately, we did not get it strung and used in that time so there was no replacement.
I would highly suggest using STX or ECD as opposed to Warrior.
yeah unfortunately there’s definitely a defect going on with the Nemi QS. I talked to someone at Warrior, they are aware. They’re working on a new line of goalie products.
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Great review Coach!
Quick questions:
1. How does the width compare to the Eclipse 2 and ECD Impact (heigh also here)?
2. Any update on whether STX, Gait, or Deep South will have a new head out this year?
Width is comparable to E2 or ECD Impact.
Sorry for the delay in response but good news is all those companies have goalies heads on the market now.
STX Eclipse 3, Deep South Lacrosse CL Ace, and Gait Command are all available. Gait head isn’t really new, its just the Under Armour Command rebranded.
If you are considering buying this head, plain and simple, DO NOT. I have been an avid warrior lacrosse user for my entire lacrosse career, and this is where I draw the line. The nemesis goalie heads were always my favorite because of their stiffness and durability. I am currently a college goalie, and this season, I have gone through 3 heads in 2 months. All the heads broke in the same spot on the side of the head during warmup-type shots. Temperature doesn’t matter either, and they broke in a range of 20 to 55 degrees. If you are a Warrior fan and want to continue using their goalie heads, go elsewhere because this is a complete waste of $130.
Been hearing about this a ton from other goalies too. Seems like a real issue Warrior needs to address. Did yours break like this?
My son got a Bone QS for Christmas but didn’t start using it until the HS season started in mid-February. By the sixth game of the season it snapped in the same spot as the pics, but on both sides. Warrior replaced it no problem, and got it about three weeks later. Strung it up and it lasted about two weeks and then snapped again in the same spot. Wrote Warrior and showed pics and they made an exception to their one-time replacement policy and sent out another QS replacement. My son has since gone back to using his Nemi 3s and has yet to string up the QS. We both love the Warrior brand, but it’s unfortunate that the new material isn’t holding up. He’s tempted to switch to the Eclipse like EVERYONE else, but really doesn’t like the feel.
After using numerous STX Eclipse 2 & ECD Impact heads, my son wanted to try the QS. We got the first one dyed and it broke on the third time out. We thought this may have been due to the dye job, so we tried a second head. This one broke after making 3 saves.
The manufacturer warranty is 60 days. Unfortunately, we did not get it strung and used in that time so there was no replacement.
I would highly suggest using STX or ECD as opposed to Warrior.
Been hearing this a lot unfortunately. I tried pinging my contact at Warrior but never heard back.
My HS Goalie broke his QS sidewall on the 3rd outing. Ugh…
yeah unfortunately there’s definitely a defect going on with the Nemi QS. I talked to someone at Warrior, they are aware. They’re working on a new line of goalie products.