I can't believe Splinterlands has only been around 6 years and how far it has come as a game in that time. I am glad this social media challenge has come up because I always wanted to look back on how I got into Splinterlands , how I went away from Splinterlands (non gaming reasons) and then how I got into it again. My journey is funny because I missed out on the good times and I got back in when cards were expensive. It's a tale of rags to rags but I hold no regret on my part because I predict Splinterlands will rise once again because of the nature of the crypto market. Splinterlands is the best game in crypto hands down. It really is genius. And the more that play it realise this is the case. Now is probably the best time to get into the game as card prices are some of the lowest they have ever been and it is cheap to climb the ladder. So how did I get into Splinterlands.
I first discovered Splinterlands when I joined Steem in 2018. There was a new game out and they were marketing heavily. As well as this there were plenty of packs to go around to get you into the game and I was the beneficiary of a few of these after watching a couple of watch a longs or jumping on the town hall meetings on Discord. So I had these cards that looked cool and I didn't really know what to do with them so it took me a while to work out what was what. Summoners for example were confusing to me and why I needed one to play the game but I acquired a good few Beta packs to start off with and I was soon on my merry way. It was only Alpha and Beta cards back then so there was not much to chose from and I remember been sent a few freebies from the Splinterlands Discord moderators to get me going. That was mighty fine of them. I had a look through the Discord history to see how many of these cards I had. I found the below on Splinterlands Discord on the 11/01/2019. I had 66 Beta cards 39 common , 31 rare 9 epic and 3 legendary. I also had 15 gold foil cards with a total BCX of 300 and a grand total of $87.58.
I also purchased 11 packs . Promo and rewards cards then came out a few months later so I acquired a few of these through gameplay as well. I remember playing in Diamond against other players . Those who have legendary status nowadays like Goldmatters and Clove. I did another status check in 2019. It was much more healtier. I was enjoying playing and I remember even playing a battle on a runway during a flight delay to Germany. Back in those days the game used to have my laptop on overdrive and the noise would be humming from my laptop fans to cool the thing down. DEC was about to be released and I remember earning my first DEC for a battle around then. This was great.
Selling Up
Around that time I was becoming fairly annoyed on what was happening over at Steem. It forked and we got Hive. Great I now had tokens airdropped to me but the fallout was bad for all concerned and as a crypto investor I did not hold much hope out for either blockchain after the fork. As well as this I love football and a fan token had just come on the market called Chilliz which was 1 cent a token so I cashed my Steem in and my Hive and invested in this. I needed about $450 for a nice round 200,000 Chiliz and the easiest place to get this was from my Splinterlands cards so I sold these as well.
I was out from December 2019.
NFT Craze and buy back
It had never dawned on me that these Splinterlands cards were in fact the first (and only ) NFT's I had owned and the NFT craze took off in 2020 and Splinterlands was flying high. I had a newborn which was another reason I came off Hive and Steem but once the bambino got a bit older I delved back in. So a year later I started buying back into Splinterlands. I could not believe how expensive the cards had got and Untamed , Dice were released. Chaos Legion was just about hitting down. This was good for me as I could get in cheap again with modern cards. Beta and Alpha were way above my price limit. I was lucky enough that a friend of mine from Steem @penderis , delegated me around 50 cards to get back into the game. I still owe him a favour for this and I am not forgetting. This gave me the tools to get back in and start earning cards again from season rewards. I became active on Hive again and I was lucky enough to have a nice stash in SBI to get a few quid from every post. I had a few old friends that were plugging away as well with a decent Hive Power now. Any rewards I earned went into cards and even to this day I spend my liquid Hive on upgrading my cards.
I tend not to spend my own money on cards. Only rewards. Let me show you my current card holding from my rewards over the past 2 years . An achievement which I am proud of. Sometimes I had to save my Hive rewards for a month to get that one card. (Kron the Undying) who was $100 at the time. The prices going lower is music to my ears.
Game Time
I am not a guy that plays daily. Maybe a few times a week but since the new Glint rewards have launched I am playing daily because you can pick what rarity of card you receive for your hard earned battles. This is great and really given Splinterlands a revival in game play. There is something to aim for now. If I can win 4 or 5 rare cards in rewards per day then it is worth the time spent on gameplay. Not forgetting you are earning SPS as well. As well as this I am climbing higher in the ranked battle leagues and I am currently on DIAMOND I in wild which is wild. Many older players are disgruntled by the card prices but as an older player who sold up and came back, I am all for cheaper card prices. I came here for the gameplay as I really enjoy playing. Not for the ROI really and this is how we are going to onboard. For the tactics , the strategy, the competitiveness. If the price of SPS goes up , great but if it doesn't who cares. This is the way I look at it anyway.
I became a member of the guide Silent Assassins' led by @niallon11 and I enjoy playing these battles. It really hones your skills and I think the users in the guilds have a certain level. It is equivalent to the internationals in football. It is played by the best of the best.
I also purchased a validator node due to FOMO which was a mistake but it might come good in the end and I have 2 plots of land that I am arsing around on. What was interesting is one plot was a pain because you had to have grain to feed your workers so I had to buy another plot to farm grain and one for SPS or research. I couldn't be bothered maximising my production. I prefer more to put the Beta cards I don't use to work as it is like retiring a good race horse and put him out to stud. You roam free now Haunted Spirit, you relax. The young ones will be fine. You were getting too old for it anyway. That kind of thing.
Upcoming Goals
My ultimate goal is to max out on Chaos and Rebellion and have a decent showing in Wild cards as well. With this game things can go full circle and Wild cards may be flavour of the month again. I am into value so I may buy cards that are cheap and who knows , in a couple of years time they could be my banker. I do enjoy upgrading the common cards first to high levels. Their abilities come in handy and sometimes the common cards are must haves. The monster doesn't know he or she is common in the field of battle.
I also am buying cards like I buy my mobile phones. I never buy the new one at top prices. They will only depreciate. I hold off and buy the version before that. It is just as good but better value. Right now I am buying Chaos Legion on the cheap. I will buy Rebellion next year on the cheap. This is my way.
Advice for Beginners
- Don't let 10 losses in a row affect you. You learn from every loss. Watch the battles to see how they play out. I never skip to the end of a battle. I want to know how my opponent wins.
- Study your opponents previous teams in the last 5 battles. You will learn how to beat them then. If they are using one splinter the most and what cards they always play. This will give you an idea about how to beat them.
- Read strategy posts on Hive around gameplay. Some cards put together are lethal. Get to know these cards and you could be lethal yourself.
- Get value from your upgrade. A common level 8 upgrade works with a level 6 rare summoner. Pelecour Mercenary is one of the best cards in the game with a level 8 summoner. He is also one of the cheapest cards in the game. Level up your summoners to get maximum potential with your common and cheap cards.
So there we have it from someone that left an OG and brought back with 1 Rexxie level 2 to my name. Delighted I did though. What a game it is. The rebellion cards are after making each match even more exciting. There are much more cards to choose from to bring down your enemy so no matter who there are , you have the tools to defeat them even at lower levels. This is what I love about the game. There is now no one card that can rule them all. I am sticking it out this time for sure as it is my favourite game. The future is still bright for Splinterlands and I look forward to seeing how things play out over the next 6 years.
Thanks for sharing! - @yonilkar
Cheers lads. The rewards will always go back your way in 7 days.
Greetings,
Happy sixth Splinterlands Anniversary.
Hope to face your team soon in the arena.
Interesting article on important aspect of your journey in the game. It encourages me to target higher prizes while enjoy the road.
How have you spent the celebration week?
Thank you for sharing in the community
#freecompliments
Regards
Trying to get in Champions 1 before the end of season. Hopefully our paths will cross
Hey @blanchy, You forgot to add your post link on your participation comment. Edit that as soon as possible.
did it there. Thanks a million.