Introduction to Battle Formats

Splinterlands is a TCG play-to-earn game where players can own, trade, upgrade and battle with NFT cards. Battles in this web3 game are fast, easy to learn but very challenging to master. Players must build a deck with one summoner and six monster cards depending on the element allowed and the ruleset of the battle. The battle then will commence automatically and a winner will be decided at the end.

One notable difference Splinterlands has among its competitors is the introduction of Battle Formats - Modern and Wild. This post will focus on the said formats and how players, new or old, can enjoy the game with their existing collections.

Card Edition Sets

Before we begin with the Battle Format discussion, we need to understand what Card Editions Sets are. Like most TCGs, Splinterlands issue Card Edition Sets at least every year. Card Edition Sets introduce new cards, new abilities and sometimes new game mechanics. As of this writing, the existing Card Edition Sets are Alpha, Beta, Untamed, Chaos Legion and Rebellion. Card Edition Sets are further divided into Core, Promo, Reward and Special Subsets. Core editions are the primary cards introduced in that edition. After the introduction of that edition, Splinterlands issue special Promo cards that contain newer abilities and/or game mechanics. When there are new Reward cards issued, they would belong to the current edition set. Special Subsets, on the other hand, has dedicated names and are related to the lore of the core set they belong to. For examples, Untamed has Dice as a subset while Chaos Legion has Riftwatchers.

Alpha	Beta	Untamed	Chaos Legion	Rebellion

N/A	Orb	Dice	Riftwatchers	TBA
N/A				TBA

Battle Formats

Now, lets move on to the core of the matter - Battle Formats. Currently, players can choose between Wild and Modern formats.

Wild format allows players to use ALL of the Card Edition Sets along with its promos, rewards and subsets. This is basically a free format where players have a wide variety of cards to choose from. Wild format allows players to use bots. Good for players with older collections.

Modern format, on the other hand, only allows the use of the two most recent Card Edition Sets. As of this writing, only Chaos Legion and Rebellion sets can be played on the Modern Format. Bots are not allowed here. Good for new players.

Format	Allowed Sets	Bots
Wild		Allowed
Modern		Not Allowed

Reward Pools

Battle formats has separate reward pools. This means that the amount of SPS you gain from each battle win is different per format. This goes without saying that league, rank and SPS staked also affects your rewards. Here is an example of the pool distribution:

Players can always check the available rewards pools in Splex.gg (See references below)

Choosing Formats

To choose the format, just click on the toggle button above the battle history page.

Modern Challenge

Challenges can be made either in Wild or Modern format. By default, all challenges, otherwise stated, are in Wild format. To challenge using Modern Cards only, choose Modern Cards in the Allowed Format combobox.