Introduction

Feral Spirit was this week's Battle Challenge, so I went ahead and rented one. It seems like older cards are being selected for the Battle Challenge currently. I'm looking forward to some Chaos Legion and Reward cards being featured in the future.

https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/beta/Feral%20Spirit_lv1.png # *Feral Spirit* Card Review When I started playing **Splinterlands**, *Feral Spirit* was still part of the **Starter** cards. I often found myself choosing that Cheshire Cat smile in my lineups, when I played **Life**. He was a cheap fast **Sneak** attacker that synergized with *Silvershield Knight* and *Cave Slug* to clear out the opponent's backline. However, times have moved on and so has the meta. *General Sloan* doesn't synergize with *Feral Spirit*. And currently, *General Sloan* is cheaper to buy. *Feral Spirit* has some really good stats as he levels up, but at the current prices he's really expensive compared to newer cards. Even though I like the card and (especially) the artwork, I won't likely ever own a copy.

Lineup Selection

As Feral Spirit doesn't synergize with Sloan, I needed a match ruleset that Lorna Shine could shine. I found what I was looking for in a 13 Mana, Lost Magic, Heavy Hitters match. Life, Earth, and Fire were the options to choose between. I was pretty sure my opponent, @aqualime, would pick General Sloan based on his/her recent matches. My strategy would be to try to use cheap Opportunity and Sneak monsters to kill the Ranged monsters and hope that Divine Shield and the cheapest hit points I could fit in the list would give me enough time to do so.

https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/dice/Lorna%20Shine_lv2.png I selected *Lorna Shine* as my summoner. Her **Divine Shield** grants a lot of staying power, especially in low point matches. https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/chaos/Soul%20Fiend_lv1.png For the low cost of nothing, *Soul Fiend* would nobly take 2 hits and die. If I got real lucky, he might even do a point of damage. https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/reward/Pelacor%20Conjurer_lv3_gold.png *Pelacor Conjurer* is an awesome tank in lower mana matches. Cheap point cost with a decent amount of **Health**, high **Speed**, and **Flying** has him finding his way into most of my **Life** lists. I play him so much I bought the **Gold Foil**. He should take at least 4 hits in this match and if my opponent misses, might take 5-7 attacks to bring down. https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/beta/Feral%20Spirit_lv1.png *Feral Spirit* is the first true attacker on the team. I put him in front of the rest due to his **Speed** and 2nd **Health** point, which may allow him to survive a round if he finds himself in position 1 and I get lucky. https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/dice/Battering%20Ram_lv1.png *Battering Ram* with his single **Health Point** and **Speed**, was put into the safest position on the list. I needed his **Opportunity** damage to stack and he has no defenses. https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/chaos/Celestial%20Harpy_lv1.png *Celestial Harpy* brings the opportunity damage stack. Flying might make her slightly more survivable, so she gets a slot towards the rear. Hopefully, I can drop at least one attacker in round 1. https://images.hive.blog/0x0/https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/chaos/Chaos%20Agent_lv2.png I don't expect my opponent to have any **Sneak** monsters, but I used my last point on Chaos Agent, just in case I'm wrong. # The Battle Upon seeing my opponent's lineup, I was excited to have predicted his/her strategy correctly. Seeing *Lensmaster* and *Halfing Alchemist* made my heart sink a little. I was facing a possible 8 damage output, compared to my 4. And I only had a single **Health** point advantage. [Watch the battle here.](https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_c357f59e25d0fc5cb600af844808e9de&ref=alphawog)

Final Thoughts

I really thought my opponent had the better of me after my Pelacor Conjurer was taken out so quickly. Stacking damage abilities is key, as early attrition causes a compounding effect. I should've put the Chaos Agent in 1st position as it would've given Feral Spirit more time to Sneak. My opponent had a 3rd of his/her team's hit points in the most rear ranged monster. While that stopped my Sneak attacker from accomplishing his goals, it also became useless hit points as soon as it was in position 1. Lorna Shine's ability might as well double hit points in these low mana matches, it is so good.

New to Splinterlands?
Use my referral and buy the Spellbook. I'll delegate you enough Collection Power to start earning DEC for your first week of play. At least until I run out of collection power to delegate.