Starter lineup: Death shard...on a tight budget (Novice/Bronze)

Death shard is easily my worst shard. I've been looking at putting together a basic lineup that plays to deaths strengths. Mostly I see that its strong with ranged but has no healers and poor tanks. So, my cheap lineup would be :

Summoner: Contessa because she's cheap :)
Haunted spirit up front
Undead Priest up next
Haunted Spider, Undead Archer, Dark Astronomer, and Twisted Jester finishing off the crew.

Use it for low mana battles (adjusted as necessary). Spirit buys some time so the archers can rip apart the enemy.

Any ideas on how to make it better for cheap?