Maximum Cuteness - Let's Hide!

Better late than never.

During the Chaos Legion pack sale I haven't received a single airdrop. Perhaps it's my usual luck or then again the odds just might be against me since I've had only 64 packs eligible most of the time.

Earlier today my luck finally turned and I got dropped one furry surprise!

I was about to write my post for this week Splinterlands Battle Challenge anyways and because the theme is Dragons, it's more than convenient that it's now gonna be about the newest Dragon summoner - Lily Shieldpaw.

The example battle I'm about to share with you is actually the very first one with Lily but nevertheless, it's gonna be an interesting one. But first, let's take a closer look at our summoner.

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Lily Shieldpaw

When I first saw the card I thought that there was something oddly familiar about this one. Something I just couldn't put my finger on until I read its lore.

A red panda born in the forests of Anumün, Lily was taught the ways of the world by the celestial Byzantine Kitty, as well as the ability to harness the elemental magic of dragons to hide the vulnerable and heal the wounded.

Well, that kinda explains the odd sensation. I also have a feeling that Lily is going to be as great as its teacher, or as annoying, depending on which side you'll end up in.

When reading the lore I also learned that it's not only one summoner but actually three furry creatures each bringing one summoner buff to the table.

• One is providing +1 Health to every friendly unit
• Then there is Triage ability healing the most damaged back-line monster
• Probably the most interesting buff is Camouflage - monsters behind the tank are hidden from direct attacks

With the latter one mentioned in my mind, I rushed to the battle.

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Entering The Arena

While I'm currently struggling to get up from Bronze to Silver I'm quite often up against the Water splinter and opponent having Kelya Frendul as a summoner and Djinn Oshannus as a tank unit. This was no exception.

My opponent had also brought Merdaali Guardian - a tank healer and a Creeping Ooze to slow down my team. The rest of their squad consists of ranged units and one of those worried me the most.

SEA STALKER is a nasty thing(like stalkers on land, I guess) with a really powerful ranged attack(4). This monster is also camouflaged so it cannot be targeted directly.

If that wasn't enough, it has a Snipe ability meaning it will be attacking back-line ranged monsters. With a powerful attack like that it will drop them like flies.

That is if I hadn't brought the three pandas. Now all my monsters are camouflaged and evil things like these are forced to bully someone their own size and leave the weaker ones alone. To live in peace and harmony.

Well, I think my squad ain't as harmless as it might first seem out be. Let's check out which monsters I chose and why.

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My Team

This is a 28-mana battle so I decided to save on mana costs and not choose a more expensive tank monster. In my opinion, CHAOS KNIGHT brings in some real value for only 6 mana. It's pretty fast(speed 3), has a strong melee attack(also 3), and even though doesn't have that strong armor(3) or that much health(4), it's still a great choice because of his Shield ability.

To keep him alive even longer I chose VENARI CRYSTALSMITH who has the Tank Heal ability. She can also do some ranged damage by herself and interestingly enough, Lily will be healing her if there should be some Blast fire.

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Recently I've been playing a lot with Life splinter and General Sloan whose buff is to increase ranged attacks and these two guys have been some real value for my mana.

Now they cannot do that much damage but at least these two nerds should be safe thanks to our fluffy friends.

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Even without a ranged attack buff, PELACOR ARBALEST is a real threat because of his Double Strike ability. Having only 3 health he can also breathe a little easier because for once it seems that he is safe from those Opportunity attacks.

So, everything is cute and everyone is safe but that doesn't mean my opponents' monsters will be safe. That is why I brought WHELP HERDER to prey on the weak links with his Opportunity ability.

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The Battle

Now we have scouted the enemy and checked out my team so I think it's time to see how it all went down. To watch the whole battle click this LINK or/and continue to read my short battle report.

In ROUND 1 the Sea Stalker indeed focused on Chaos Knight who was proudly holding the tank position. Thanks to his Shield ability the Stalker didn't manage to destroy the armor with a single blow. Djinn Oshannus didn't care for the armor but instead his magic attacks went straight through damaging the knight.

Gladly we had the tank healer but unfortunately so did they. Also, because of the Oshannus' speed, we missed a couple of important strikes.

ROUND 2. Again, thanks to Chaos Knight's Shield he was still standing because 2 out of 3 enemy-ranged monsters could do zero damage to him. Sea Stalker could however finally destroy his armor. At the end of the round, we again missed attacks on Oshannus but also managed to hit some leaving him almost dead with only 1 health point left.

ROUNDS 3 - 5. There was some serious healing on both sides but since I got more monsters able to do damage the Chaos Knight was victorious against Djinn Oshannus. Merdaali Guardian was now played into the tank spot and was almost immediately defeated cos she was under such rapid fire.

At this point, the result seemed to be clear even though Sea Stalker managed to make one good strike against the Knight before she became visible and was defeated.

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Conclusion

The effect Lily's Camouflage buff was amazing(not to forget the +1 health buff)! We got so much more chances than we would've gotten with some other summoners and we could even miss a couple of attacks. Still, all my fragile monsters walked safely home. When watching the battle now I think I could have been even nastier and replaced one of my guys with a monster capable of repairing armor. Maybe next time!

I had to scratch my head for a while to think what is the purpose of Lily's Triage buff since the enemy simply cannot harm the units behind the tank... then it hit me - the blast ability.

So here is a bonus example battle of when I got even more excited about this amazing, furry summoner and rented some dragons to try out how it can cope with the big boys. Ok, it's quite an overkill but I can imagine it being useful in the big leagues when you want to mitigate the blast effects and make sure your second-in-line monster is healthy when the time comes to take the tank spot.

All in all, after such a short test period I think Lily is gonna be so much fun. Really made my
day, thanks for reading!