1-8 SLEEPING LION
1-8 Sleeping Lion is the 8th stage of 1 — The Legend Begins. Previous stage: 1-7 Guardian of the Ranch.
The base has 120,000 HP and every dangerous thing in this stage is something you summon by hitting it: a Gory and a Hippoe at 95%, 85%, 75% and 65%, then Squire Rel and four Doge Darks the moment it drops under half. So the question isn't how hard you can hit — it's whether your field is full before the base is.
The lineup that does it
Five Normal cats and nothing else: Macho Cat and Wall Cat as the meat, Brave Cat and Giraffe Cat as the damage, Sexy Legs Cat as the second wall with reach. No Rares, no Specials, nothing over 600¢ — and this run is on 2-Crown difficulty, where every enemy is at 600% and the boss at 150%, so on 1-Crown it's comfortably overbuilt.
Treasures
A Normal-cat clear on 2-Crown is really a treasure clear. Nothing in the video shows the runner's list, so take it as read that these are at 100% across Empire of Cats — they're the difference between Sexy Legs surviving a Hippoe and not.
Opening: everything, all the time
Doges and Snaches from the first second, Those Guys from forty. Machos and Walls hold them at the door while the Worker Cat climbs — but unlike a boss-rush stage there's no waiting here: Braves and Giraffes go out as soon as there's money, and the line is already walking toward the enemy base at 0:40, with the Worker Cat still on his way to Level 8. He maxes at about 1:25 with the fight already at the far end.
the opening — walls up, damage dealers as soon as there's cash · plays here, from that second
The 50% rule
Each 10% you shave off the base spits out a Gory and a Hippoe, and Sexy Legs is what handles them: long enough to hit over the Walls, tough enough to take a Hippoe swing with Treasures behind it. Keep every button pressed and the stack grows faster than the base shrinks. At 1:40 the base is at 69,684 of 120,000 and the game says it — これ以上出撃できません, no more units can be deployed. That's the whole trick: the field is full before the base crosses 50%, so when Squire Rel and the four Doge Darks arrive at about 1:48 they walk into a wall of Braves and Legs and are gone in twenty seconds. Clear at 2:16.
the field is full — unit cap hit before the boss trigger · plays here, from that second
If you have more
The wiki's own pick is UFO Cat: it outranges everything here and knocks the Doge Darks back, so a UFO stack behind the walls makes the boss burst a non-event. And if you've beaten Moon in Empire of Cats Chapter 3, the Doge Darks are nothing you haven't seen.
THE SHORT VERSIONFive Normal cats, all buttons all the time, and never let the base go under half before the field is full. About two minutes.
⚙ Trait counters worked out from the roster — the guide's plan doesn't need them; kept for reference
Squire Rel is Traitless. Anti-Traitless units take less damage and deal more.
HITMAN CAT A Hitman Cat: Deals massive damage to Traitless enemies Also fits “Clear the crowd.” 
LONE CAT AND KITTEN A 100% KB + Freeze + Resist vs Traitless. Also fits “Out-range Squire Rel.” 
DRILLER CAT A 100% Weakens Traitless to 10% and (True) Strong vs Traitless. Also fits “Out-range Squire Rel.” 
D'ARKTANYAN S Strong Against Traitless on a Long-Distance area attack — answers the many Traitless bosses. Also fits “Out-range Squire Rel.” 
JAGANDO JR. A Lord of Ruin Jagando Jr.: Strong against Traitless enemies (Deals 1.5x damage, only takes 1/2 damage) Also fits “Clear the crowd.” Squire Rel reaches 110 range. Units that out-range it can chip safely without taking hits.
GROSS CAT A Range 350 — fires from beyond its 110. 
MASTER URIL A Range 405 — fires from beyond its 110. Also fits “Clear the crowd.” 
SALON CAT S Range 350 — fires from beyond its 110. Also fits “Clear the crowd.” 
NERD CAT A Range 1200 — fires from beyond its 110. Also fits “Clear the crowd.” D'ARKTANYAN S Range 340 — fires from beyond its 110. Also fits “Counter Traitless.” 7 enemy types stack up here. Area attackers hit the whole push at once instead of one unit at a time.
URURUN WOLF A Area attacks hit everything in range. Also fits “Out-range Squire Rel.” SALON CAT S Hits whole crowds, and is Weaken-immune so it keeps firing through Weaken stages. Also fits “Out-range Squire Rel.” NERD CAT A Evolved/True hit groups over a Long Distance band. Also fits “Out-range Squire Rel.” D'ARKTANYAN S Area damage means it punishes grouped Traitless enemies at once. Also fits “Counter Traitless.” 
ACTRESS CAT B Hits multiple enemies at once for budget crowd damage. Also fits “Out-range Squire Rel.” WIKI PICK = listed on the stage's Battle Cats Wiki page; COMMUNITY = found by title, channel and date. Neither is verified by Claws' Den. Nothing loads from YouTube until you press play. Find more on YouTube ↗
The castle you destroy to clear the stage.