Why Chaos Legion should be the base set for Modern League

One of the main problems of Splinterlands has been to retain newcomers in the game. I think that the very controversial Chaos Legion set could actually be the one that changes that.

I first and cautiously mentioned my idea as a counter-argument for @aftersound ‘s video “Chaos legion is making Modern too complex” , where he goes into several arguments that are directed towards taking CL out of modern ( ). He called my idea “[…] the perfect counter argument” – so I kept thinking it through. Thanks for the encouragement!

Let’s dive into my arguments :-)

Chaos Leagion has a high gameplay value

As we all know, CL is way overprinted, and prices are way too low, and basically everybody hates it from an investment standpoint – but for gameplay, it’s actually a great set. Even when playing in Wild, most of the cards I encounter are from CL. Some of them even now command a high valuation (Inevitable), and others are, though cheaper, seen all around the battlefields (Djinn Oshannus).

A bronze-league starter set for $27

The fact that it’s cheap is one of my main arguments. I turned on my excel sheet and pulled the 10 highest ranked cards (based on the XBot analysis sheet by @sylar1 ) of each splinter, including summoners (plus fiends for each splinter).

In order to have 10 Bronce level cards of each splinter, including summoners and fiends, you have to pay around $27. Cheapest splinter is Life with $2.00, and the most expensive is Dragon with $5.80 (due to Quix). This is an example, a show case – but if you go through it, it’s actually quite a competitive set. It does not inlcude any Soulbounds or ex-soulbounds, nor gladiators.

Prices are from more or less a month ago, they should be a little higher now.

Repurpose a mistake

Let’s face it – the cards are already there. The packs are already there. They’re already worth so little, as soon as they rotate out of modern, will they have any value at all? Why not give them a constant value, and mitigate the huge error that was done in the planning/minting process? That way, the price might even stabilize a little higher than currently. And some disgruntled players who bought into CL for way too much money in the early days might be a little less disgruntled. Using CL as a base set for modern would spin the bad fame around and give it a purpose.

Relatively simple use

Also, CL is still easy to understand. There’s no tactic stage, no 20 new abilities. It’s basic, but not too basic. As a newcomer, one can easily make up tactics and strategies and roam around in Bronce league, getting the hang of it. Sure, you won’t be competing high level, and you will get beat up by some of the better cards, gladiators and soulbounds – but you can learn your way around the game for a relatively low price.

Way more $-competitive than Rebellion…

Looking at the amount of BCX you get for your money, CL is the best. The $27 would get you 9 Rebellion packs, aka 45 cards/ 45 BCX – random ones. That’s not even close to the competitive 520 BCX for the 10 bronze level cards, or around 450 random BCX from CL packs bough on Hive.

… but not enough to rule the world.

There are some Rebellion cards that will wipe the floor with this set, yes. It will not compete with Venka, Rage, Tofu, Mantaroth and the other OP cards that came in rebellion – not even Inevitable can do that. But again – it’s to start. If someone really gets into it and decides to invest more and get other modern league cards, they will be there. Also, they’ll have a hard time against Gladiators and CL-Soulbounds. But it gives the chance to start getting both merits and glint.

Having a base set would be a safety net

Right now, one of the main things I hear from “older” players is that they don’t buy the new cards because they will rotate out and lose value anyway. Having one set that is always modern will be a safety net for new players who don’t know about rotation and all the other things yet. Buying CL cards was a sure thing, they wouldn’t rotate out, and some new player might buy them off if I don’t like the game. It gives more safety from the investment standpoint.

To make money, one still has to invest

It’s still spending money on Splinterlands. There’s no way around it, even when renting cards and SPS, somehow money has to be funneled into the game, DEC will be burned or credits purchased. And since the new reward selection does not include any summoners, it’s now a lot harder to be competitive without investing.

So far my arguments. I'm very sure that there are many good counter-arguments, as well as arguments I haven't thought off. I'd be happy about any new ideas regarding this :-)

Thank you for reading! Have a nice Sunday!