This week's featured monster is the ***Goblin Shaman***.

Goblin Shaman belongs to the fire splinter with WEAKEN ability and no-attack at its initial level. The **WEAKEN** ability decreases the health of all enemy monsters. This ability is very effective in a fast-paced game. At level 3, Goblin Shaman gains 1 Magic attack, and at level 5 gains a new ability, **SLOW**. The **WEAKEN** and **SLOW** abilities combination is deadly specially in low mana capacity match. #### ***Battle rules and strategy*** The rule set in this matched was *Reverse Speed*, mana cap of 24, and the playable Splinters were *Fire*, *Water*, *Earth* and *Dragon*. ![sps_battleid_sl_cbb2a160751b3e7974cbbb790eb3f14c.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQmRCB1oiwVNbKDU6QnUrFp9tzkLCvg8UdsWsR9bsifhc7u/sps_battleid_sl_cbb2a160751b3e7974cbbb790eb3f14c.png) Checking the previous matches of my opponent, I anticipated he/she might pick a Water splinter. Usually I picked the Water Splinter as well with Bortus as Summoner to counter this Mage line-up, but I feel it is one of the moment to try a new approach. - Summoner => Malric Inferno for additional Melee damage. I don't have Sneak, Snipe, or Opportunity ability in my line-up so I preferred additional melee damage instead of speed. - (Tank) 1st => Rusty Android for the reflect ability and high HP. - 2nd => Prismatic Energy for the reflect ability and high HP as well. I also place it on 2nd position to absorb some damage against opponent with Snipe ability. - 3rd => Goblin Shaman. This is the safest position againts Snipe and Sneak ability. When Goblin Shaman dies, opponent regens the 1 HP deducted by the Weaken ability. - Last postion => Cerberus. I placed this one on the last position just to counter attacks with Sneak ability. Cerberus cannot attack on this position, but atleast can regen some HP if ever targeted with Sneak. One way to counter monster with regen ability is to burst it down, and that's the specialty of Water with Mage line-up. Putting the Cerberus in the 1st position is not a good idea as it cannot absorb much burst damage from opponent. Fast forward to round 12 where all his Mage monsters died from reflect :) ![sps_battleid_sl_cbb2a160751b3e7974cbbb790eb3f14c_rd12.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQmbXQMZbAZusdHVEktTBbCdAA5hXDPqyt6PGFGvEaHn8uC/sps_battleid_sl_cbb2a160751b3e7974cbbb790eb3f14c_rd12.png) And to the final round where I won with the help of fatigue!!! They don't have enough damage to out-power the regen of Cerberus :) ![Screenshot 60.png](https://images.hive.blog/DQmdPcvpjUXfgHvB6dq1W6mzXLGnmceyGpZL9XPY3B7fAPE/Screenshot%20(60).png) This strategy works against Mage line-up. The result of the match may be different if I face a melee or range focus line-up. But that's the best thing with Splinterlands, there's is no perfect line-up. Once I move up to higher leagues and gain access to different cards, I will definitely try using a different line-up and combinations. Here is the link to my [battle](https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_cbb2a160751b3e7974cbbb790eb3f14c&ref=jpleron). ###### Overall, what I like about ***Goblin Shaman*** is that it is a very versatile card you can use in different situations. If you like to participate in this activity as well, you can check this [link](https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/share-your-battle-weekly-challenge-goblinshaman) for more information.