Is Splinterlands worth it?

in Splinterlands3 years ago (edited)

It's been a lot less "eventful" than I'd hoped

My "$1-A-Day" plan is off to a slow start.. in fact I think I might be earning less than when I started (as the SPS price keeps dropping) - read that post here here if you're interested.

I'm assuming there are 100s of us all playing "noob-level" decks, and so it's a lot of the same ol' - same ol' decks & strategies.

Experiencing a lot more losses than I'd like to admit though (11 win: 9 loss over the last 20 games). 🤦‍♂

There is an upside though: I'm getting to know the cards quite well (and even have a few established strats based on which splinter I think my opponent is gonna be playing). Playing all level-1 cards is definitely not as easy as it sounds. Yes, my opponent is at the same advantage/disadvantage, but that just means I'm seeing a fair number of draws in my games too (especially when we are both playing the same splinter and have the same "healer tanks" that eventually just fatigue out in the last round)... but at least there aren't any (OK, OK, a negligibly small percentage maybe) whitewash games where I get my ass properly handed to me.

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End of Season rewards

Unfortunately, my season rewards were nothing to write home about... so in the absence of winning some game-changer cards in blog comps, I foresee a similar story unfolding in my near future.

Fortunately I'm a persistent MOFO, so I'll come up with a plan. Off the top of my head: Definitely gonna change the (self-imposed) rule of not spending money on new cards/packs as soon as the new edition is out. Will limit it to only the liquid rewards I earn from blogging though... It's a far more realistic experiment anyway: Blogging on the chain that gives me the game and using those rewards IN the game. It's still a (fiat) free way of getting into and progressing in the game. That's the story I'm telling myself, and I'm sticking to it.

Some Happy/Positive Vibes

This post is starting to depress even me, so let's rather focus on some of the cool things I've got up to over the last couple of days:

Loving the Sneaky-Sniper-Oppressor vibe of Death Splinter

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If/when I get to silver/gold, I'm sure my stats are gonna tell me that I (over)play Ruler of the Seas faaaaar too much. Using Alric to give everyone a +1, Ruler boosting everyone further... They surely have to (still) dominate the high mana silver league games? * Makes note to scratch around some and see if there are stats to that effect. *

... but I digress... Back to MY deck/week:
Gotta love a good sneak/snipe/opportunity combo... easily making short work of the the enemies back & middle line-up.

Just watch out if the enemy is also using a lot of sneak (why I put my Jester at the back to absorb 4 damage which could be 2-4 rounds depending on their attack, but hopefully your own sneak and opportunity attacks would have taken care of that before round 2 or 3 and then you Jester's 2 attack cleans up nice and quick).

Another problem is this:

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While all your little sneaky snipers are forced to target a wall and making little/no progress, they will get picked off slowly but surely. ... I've come up against this combo a lot, and almost always lose when I'm playing black.

...except in this game:
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(fortunately for me) Leaving your tail-end so exposed was one thing... but wasting the poor golden eagle so far back makes me think this could have only been a bot choosing that line-up ;-)

Hey... a win is a win, and I'll take it!

Watch that game here if you're interested:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=41ef162d36336c2ba25817d9efc5fa3e417dfb7b&ref=mrtoking

BTW did anyone else notice this on @peakmonsters

In the "Bulk View" there's a new set of filters which will help everyone renting out cards instead of playing them.

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LOVE IT... don't wanna be leaving money on the table if I'm renting out decent cards for 50% below market ... and just as NB (if not more) don't wanna be losing out because my cards aren't being rented because they're now 50% over market from when they were first listed.

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Final Thoughts / Question

Guilds boost DEC earnings for every battle... but are there any "free" guilds out there for the newbies that I could join? Drop me a comment below.


P.S. And as always: If you're reading this and run a daily/weekly Splinterlands competition on HIVE - please drop the link in the comments below.

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If you're reading this having come from twitter/facebook/whatever (or in the very unlikely scenario that you're a HIVE blogger that HASN'T joined Splinterlands yet, and wanna join me... please sign up using my @splinterlands referral link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=mrtoking

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I am enjoying the matches as well. I am in the Bronze level trying to get to the higher levels. If you find a guild, let me know as I have not joined one yet. I need to join one and probably will within the next week. Here's to winning more matches.

I haven't searched TOO hard yet, but most guilds are aimed at larger players. They require a DEC fee to join and/or every day/week (in order to build up the guild for one, and to keep the freeloaders out).

The benefits of a guild are great (discounts on new packs in the shop, but also bonus DEC for every battle). ... I was just wondering if there wasn't maybe some "incubator"-style guild aimed at those in the smaller (and most NB free to join).

I would say that while it is well worth it, there are ways to win cards with the community, the game is entertaining and as you progress the rewards are better.
I have never played a tournament because I do not think I can be among the first, but I do the daily missions and play up to 80% energy, all very well.

First up, let me apologise for the slightly click-baity title ;-)

Yeah... it's definitely going to be worth it. The cards bought back in Alpha/Beta are now worth 10X - 100X.
Me Personally: I spent a few bucks on packs and cards, and even without selling them will recoup the original costs in a few days/weeks with just the SPS airdrop, and then there's the on-going DEC daily income from renting them out... so yeah, DEFINITELY "worth" it.

The title was a) to get people to read the post and b) re-evaluate my original $1-A-Day objective without actually spending any money on cards... I'm not entirely convinced that's possible anymore.

I was going to say you should get into the rentals market but I see you’ve figured it out already that’s cool. You can also follow the official splinterlands blog here on hive and participate in the weekly challenges to boost your earnings.

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Yeah... I've been on the rental market for ages... but when you're earning <1 per battle in the lower bronze leagues it's not really worth it... hmmmmmmmm, but then again, some great "game-changer" commons are on there for 0.1DEC/day.

Good idea... I'll go scratch around a bit.

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Check out the last post from @hivebuzz:

Feedback from the August 1st Hive Power Up Day

I have very basic cards but I'll be bronze 1 soon, dreading the high price summoner leagues. The rent is high

I'm getting to Bronze II "easily" enough... but without enough power, I can't actually play there yet.

But yeah, you're right... since my favourite summoners are out of print, hopefully the new edition has some cool summoners or I'm gonna be joining you on the rental market.

From what I've been reading though, the cost of a levelled summoner is easily covered with a win or two every day.

Check out SPlinter elites. Not sure if there's any slot available but they're a nice group of people there.

Cool... thanks for the heads-up @belemo

Hey @belemo

I just tried to join... but the guild is full :-(

Please keep me in mind when you guys have an open slot again.

Please & Thank You ;-)

Word of advice from someone that has been in this since January 2020, make use of those neutrals with Reach. Having 2 monsters using melee against the first position will help so u aren't stuck with one card not doing anything, or worse, a range attacker in 2nd position right off the bat. The neutrals are there for a reason, use them. Even back when I first started, I can count on maybe 2 fingers the amount of draws I've had.
Also, if you are playing with Death, make use of the Undead Priest. That one less life goes a long way. I'll be glad to share more insight on the game and whatnot via the Local Celeb Status guild.