You don't understand skimander, he is my second most favorite monster after tuskal+evolutions which should stand alone in S tier.
Skimander gets 5% damage for every speed you give him. Tizik can give skimander one speed per intelligence during the buff.
Kabu works well with krog for massive slams. The tree can give you two food every fight if you let the front die negating it with haunted.

Early thoughts after two/three days of playing the game. I dsagree on Gheist. It's not the best one, but it's cool. My best run was: Woad, Gheist and Hydrim, if I remember correctly.