Anyone playing or following Splinterlands should know that there is a huge event currently going on - the presale for the Rebellion expansion. In a little over a month, we will have a whole new set of cards to play with and to trade. I'm sure that many of us are very excited to lock in our pack purchases (and chances at those cool new airdrop promos!), and for anyone who is looking to make some moves with their assets or to otherwise bulk up their collection in the coming weeks, here are a few things to keep in mind in order to maximize your spending money and Splinterlands capital.
Disclaimer: I am not a financial advisor, this article provides my opinions and may or may not be correct. Please do your own due diligence before investing (in Rebellion, Splinterlands, or elsewhere).
Form Your Own Opinions
Peter Lynch said "Buy what you know", and that is solid advice - when determining whether to invest in more packs, single cards, or currencies, don't just take other people's word that certain items will be good or bad. Remember that blindly following other people will nearly always result in you reaching the same destination as them...and doing so a little after they do. In investing, this will often result in you losing out on quite a bit of your potential profits. Forming your own opinions allows you to take advantage of opportunities that other people may have missed, and the make moves that fit your personal situation the best.
When it comes to Rebellion specifically, look at card abilities and stats and decide for yourself whether people will want to use them. If you think they are. then they may be worth picking up. Remember that cards can see a wide range of use across different levels - from maxed out cards getting played at the top of the leaderboard all the way down to basic cards in Bronze. Don't forget that the release of Rebellion will also see the Untamed and Dice sets rotating out of the Modern format - there may be a card or two that suddenly gets its chance to shine in a format where half the cards have changed overnight!
Take Advantage of Opportunities
Once you have done your research and come up with your investment thesis, keep an eye on the markets. The set is new for everyone and there will be different theories on what the new meta will be. Not familiar with a meta? Well, remember that Splinterlands is a card game - you should try playing it for a while! Playing with cards and gaining experience with how cards interact and perform is one of the best ways to identify with which cards will command high premiums in the future.
Then, keep checking your buying platform of choice. Peakmonsters, Monster Market, and Splex are all linked at the top of the market page in-game and offer much better interfaces than the basic in-game one. If you see cards that you feel the market has underpriced, don't be afraid to buy some (or a whole bunch) of them. Though, with that said...
Invest Within Your Means
Remember that while 500,000 packs are available for presale, a total of 10 million Rebellion packs will be available to open in December. Thanks to the new burn mechanics it is unlikely that all of those packs will hit circulation, but it is still important to be aware that there are a large number of cards which could potentially enter the market.
If you see a card at a good price then by all means, go ahead and buy it, but don't forget that a good card at a bad (i.e., too high) price is still a poor investment. And also, if you actively play on the ladder, remember to keep enough of a DEC cushion to be able to maintain your own rentals!
Finally remember that, depending on your goals here, this is either a speculative investment or a game. Taking out loans, running up the credit card debts, or otherwise spending more than you feel comfortable with? Please don't.
Be Open to Alternative Investments
I don't mean real estate here (though that is also a possibility!), I'm talking about not limiting yourself to purchasing Rebellion assets. As an example, if everyone rushes to buy Rebellion cards, there may be good deals on older sets such as Chaos Legion or Riftwatchers. Or if everyone dumps SPS in order to purchase more packs, it may be a good time to get a bargain on SPS. Keep your mind open to different options, and make it less likely that you overlook the potential steal of the year!
Thank you so much for reading all the way to the end. Interested in seeing some more of my writing in the future? Be sure to give me a follow! In the meantime, if you'd like to see some of my recent posts:
Temper Tantrum - Battling with What Doesn't Kill You! - A Splinterlands battle analysis, featuring What Doesn't Kill You!
Splinterlands Economics: Causation - A look at causation, and how we can apply it to Splinterlands!
Splinterlands Economics: Ceteris Paribus - An introduction to the concept of Ceteris Paribus, and how we can apply it to Splinterlands!
Thinking about giving Splinterlands a try but haven't signed up yet? Feel free to use my referral link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=bteim, and be sure to reach out to me if you have any questions!
All images used in this article are open source and obtained from Pixabay or Unsplash. Thumbnails and graphics borrowed with permission from the Splinterlands team or made in Canva.