Especially when it comes to playing Splinterlands, I am somebody that likes to win. I like picking a synergistic lineup, using a powerful Archon, and putting my team onto the battlefield to secure the victory. As much as I like winning, I also think that there's a lot to be learned from defeat. So, in today's post, I promised myself to do something different. Instead of picking a match where I thought I did really well, I determined that I was going to play one match and regardless of the outcome, that was going to be the match that I shared in today's post.
The Match Begins
This was a 59 Mana match with the earth, water, fire and dragon splinters available. The ruleset dictated that only units with 3+ speed could be used and units got a 50% melee power and speed buff when they were not at full health
My Lineup
Heading in to the match, I decided to play my favorite water team. It consists of Marlai Singariel, Shock Trooper, Commander Slade, Mindless Thrall, Great Bear Druid, Captain Fellblade, and Anasth Soothsayer. I was hoping that the combination of a strong magic team would allow me to bypass the opponent's armor and quickly eliminate their units.
But I Was Wrong
Unfortunately, things didn't go as planned. My opponent's Sultry Barmaid used its Ambush attack to get in a first round strike against my Shock Trooper, and then Commander Slade used its high speed and 4 melee damage to completely eliminate Shock Trooper in the very first attack of round 1.
It's rough to loose a 5 Mana unit at the start of the battle, but things kept getting worse. My Soothsayer also got eliminated before the end of Round 1.
Mindless Thrall was also cut down by a powerful armored strike from my opponent's Aerial Shieldmaiden.
Things Weren't Looking Good
By the end of the first round, it was pretty clear that I was in trouble. I only had 3 units left, whereas my opponent still had a full field of 6 units. My opponent's onslaught continued, and by the start of Round 2, I was down to 2 units: Commander Slade and Great Bear Druid
By round 4, it was pretty clear that the battle was over. My Great Bear Druid was the lone survivor facing off against 3 opposing units. At the end of the day, my opponent secured the win.
What I Learned
Although I did lose this match, I learned a very valuable lesson: leveled up cards of a lower rarity can sometimes be more powerful than a single BCX copy of a higher rarity card. Heading into this match, I thought that I had a pretty strong lineup.My deck was loaded up with epic cards, like Shock Trooper and Captain Fellblade, and I even had a legendary card, Great Bear Druid. However, one of my opponent's most powerful cards was Sultry Barmaid. This is only a common card, but my opponent had it leveled up to level 5. So it had both the Ambush ability as well as the Stun ability. This Ambush ability proved key to helping take out Shock Trooper in the first round.
On top of that, my opponent had also leveled up its Bludgeon Hucker, which meant that it had the Slow abiity.
The combination of Slow and Ambush gave my opponent a HUGE advantage in terms of getting in some decisive first round strikes.
Just as importantly, it showed me the importance of leveling up those common and rare cards to get extra abilities. Especially for a budget player like myself, this is an important reminder that Splinterlands isn't just about buying the most expensive card and thinking you're going to carry the victory. Splinterlands requires strategy, planning, and a little bit of resource management to prioritize what cards you want and how to level them up.
Join Me In Splinterlands
Even though I didn't win this match I still think it's important to point out the fact that my opponent won some glint as well as SPS for winning this match That's one of my favorite things about Splinterlands. Not only is it an action-packed trading card game, it also gives players the opportunity to earn cryptocurrency and NFT rewards for winning matches. So if you like trading card games and you're interested in the possibility of earning rewards for winning matches then I'd invite you to join me in Splinterlands using my referral link.
Disclaimer
As a US resident, I am required to disclose that I might receive a benefit, such as reward or incentive, if you join using my affiliate link. All image credits belong to Splinterlands. Nothing is financial advice.