There’s always something fascinating about things that grow stronger the more the enemy let them be. Like a blade that sharpens every time it clashes with another or a spirit that feeds on its own pain, I’ve always liked watching units that turn from zero to hero. Some units don’t start strong but become terrifying as the rounds go on. It’s always interesting to see which ones can live to fight another day.

Today, I’ll talk about one of my most favorite unit of the game. Sometimes, it’s not about good defensive abilities or high deadly attacks, it’s about how long you can keep the fight longer until your unit win it all.

Lore

Among the khayal, death is sacred, a tradition to be honored, not cheated or twisted. But Zha'kul never cared for tradition. He craved power. And death, properly harnessed, was power beyond reckoning.

Zha'kul dwelled in the bogs of Fenmoor Basin, alone but for the shadows he conjured from the Shadow Plane. They drifted around him in unchanging patterns, replaying echoes of forgotten events.

https://splinterlands.com/card-detail/745/regular/14?tab=lore

Stats

Shadowfey Sheik feels like a weak unit at first and needs caring before it can carry your games. It has solid magic damage and a strong health pool making it survive long in drawn-out fights. It excels best when paired with units that let you extend the game like units with Corrupted Healing or Taunt since every turn gives it more health to snowball with Life Leech.

Abilities

Icon	Name	Description
	Flying	Has a 25% bonus chance of evading Melee or Ranged attacks from Units who do not have the flying ability.
		is a match because Flying gives higher evasion and when combined with Dodge, the chance to miss skyrockets. This can make Shadowfey Sheik extremely hard to hit by melee and range units. It’s a strong combo that keeps the unit alive long enough to scale its Life Leech.
		is a counter because Wingbreak removes the advantage of Flying and makes sure each attack not only hits the Flying target but also prioritizes them while giving extra damage. This puts Shadowfey Sheik in a very bad position especially if he's the only unit you have with Flying ability. If targeted first, it would not be able to gather health enough to take over the game.

	Life Leech	Unit's health increases each time it damages an enemy Unit's health by half the damage dealt.
		is a match because Painforge gives Shadowfey Sheik more damage. The more damage he has, the more Life Leech stacks he gets. Every hit increases the value of Shadowfey Sheik. Together, they form a deadly loop that snowballs if the enemy does not able to stop it quick.
		is a counter because Void Armor makes Life Leech less effective since the damage goes into armor first before affecting health. Shadowfey Sheik’s Life Leech only works if it hits health, not armor. If the enemy has Repair on top of this, it can completely lock Shadowfey Sheik's Life Leech.

	Painforge	+1 power when damaged by Poisoned or Burning, or hit by an ally.
		is a match because Painforge can punish enemies with Poison since it gives Shadowfey Sheik agency to increase its damage. This uses the enemy's ability against themselves by using it to power your Shadowfey Sheik instead.
		is a counter because Magic Reflect can easily destroy Shadowfey Sheik since its main attack is magic. Even with good health, it will keep taking damage from its own attacks. It limits Shadowfey Sheik’s potential in matches where many Magic Reflect units are present.

	Affliction	When this unit hits a target, it has a 50% chance of applying Affliction on the target causing it to be unable to be healed.
		is a match because Affliction becomes devastating against teams relying on healing their tanks. Once Shadowfey Sheik lands an Affliction, it can stop the healing completely. It’s especially strong in fights where sustain is the enemy's main strategy.
		is a counter because Immunity completely ignores Affliction making that ability useless. Enemies with Immunity can still be damaged but Shadowfey Sheik loses one part of its control.

Good Rules to Consider

Icon	Name	Reason
	Equal Opportunity	All units have Opportunity (targets the enemy unit with the least health).
		Life Leech works perfectly here since Shadowfey Sheik gains health from every attack while not being targeted first. It benefits from surviving the longer the fight goes on because of Life Leech. The longer it lives, the more massive its health becomes by the endgame.
	Earthquake	Non-flying Units take 2 Melee damage at the end of each round.
		Flying negates the Earthquake damage entirely letting Shadowfey Sheik outlast grounded units. Most enemies will slowly gets damaged every round while Shadowfey keeps unharmed. It’s one of the safest choices when this rule set appears.
	Noxious Fumes	All Units start the battle Poisoned.
		Painforge turns this toxic environment into an advantage. While others slowly lose health, Shadowfey Sheik keeps growing stronger. The health from Life Leech helps it sustain through poison damage.

Bad Rules to Think Twice

Icon	Name	Reason
	Healed Out	All healing abilities are removed from Units and Summoners.
		Affliction loses all purpose when healing is disabled. Without the need to block heals, one of its abilities loses value. It still does damage and other abilities still work but the lost of ability is still a disadvantage.
	Weak Magic	Magic attacks hit Armor before reducing Health.
		Armor blocks all the magic attacks first, which ruins Shadowfey Sheik’s Life Leech. Every attack wasted on armor delays its health gain. In this rule, Shadowfey Sheik will feel underwhelming and unusable until your team breaks the unit's armor.
	Counterspell	All units have Magic Reflect (returns 50% of magic damage to attacker, rounded up).
		Magic Reflect everywhere is Shadowfey Sheik’s worst nightmare. Each attack rebounds damage back and can shorten its life fast. This rule makes it more of a liability especially when it cannot gain any health consistently.

Battle

Link to battle

This battle should've been heaven for Shadowfey Sheik. You have Poison from Noxious Fumes rule that triggers his Painforge increasing his damage which increases the Life Leech, Arachne Weaver heals it and the loop goes on. Enemy magic attack and range units can't even reach Shadowfey Sheik because of the magic attack units blocking the Snipe to Shadowfey Sheik. Everything would be advantageous to this unit except the fact that I have lower levels and my Shadowfey Sheik does not have any Painforge. Either way, The Life Leech and bonus damage from Lorkus is enough to keep this boy healthy while the rest of my team rips through the enemy team.

Images were taken from Splinterlands, made in Canva, drawn in Krita and animated in Photoshop.

Support me by joining Splinterlands using my referral code.