If you want to see the other installments in our blog, head over to the Drzoom blog at @drzoom and you can check out our data from the other leagues.

The Champions League for Season 112 (June 2023) has concluded, and the results are in! Who performed better, the humans or the bots? What cards were key to victory in the Champion League? And what insights can be used in your next battle? Let’s explore the data and see what happened.

The Experiment

We are tracking players in the Champion League using Archmage, Xbot and good ole’ human brain power to see which of these methods of play has the highest win percentage, and what cards might be useful for anyone else wanting to compete in Champ. So I gathered up players using Archmage automated scholar, Xbot’s automated service, and those who play without the use of bots. I asked them to track their progress throughout Splinterlands Season 112 (June 2023). There were not any rules, other than, do your best, and let me know if you change your play style (move bots or from human to bot). Let’s see how well everyone fared.

Modern League

Final Leaderboard in MODERN, Champ 1

• Xsuilx was 5th
• VetteV was 29th
• Chaz777 was 36th
• Clove71 was 44th
• FatJimmy and Hyde-20 were 46th
• Ithaka, Bulldog1205, DrZoom, Yuexn, Bjangles, and Angrychipmunk1 did not make the top 100.

Wild League

Final Leaderboard in WILD, Champ 1

• Xsuilx was 43rd
• FatJimmy and Hyde-20 were 45th
• Clove71 was 47th
• AlmightlyMelon was 85th
• VetteV was 85th
• Jacekw was 92nd
• DrZoom did not make the top 100 and finished in Champ 2

Epic Battles

Here are some of the most epic battles from the season, showing head to head player match-ups between folks in the experiment. These were selected by the players and are show in no particular order.

Archmage vs Xbot

• drzoom (Xbot) vs ithaka (Archmage): https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_9c03a450140fe87d1237bbec14c521ce&ref=drzoom
• drzoom (Xbot) vs vettev (Archmage): https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_46e985079093bc53a9a6321e02f80f04&ref=drzoom
• bjangles (Xbot) vs vettev (Archmage): https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_baf917df1d86e48ef1dc4bda4defd219
• drzoom (Xbot) vs almightymelon (Archmage): https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_5aea116478f3eab2fbafb3e116b26c42
• drzoom (Xbot) vs almightymelon (Archmage): https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_e9b2bd034fc99697a0b2c5ef2428e6e6&ref=drzoom

Human vs Archmage

• clove71 (human played by mondroid) vs xsuilx (Archmage): https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_9e45be1fad910701c20cc755728ee474&ref=drzoom
• bulldog1205 (human) vs vettev (Archmage): https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_ad592108f32c138325377717130729ee&ref=bulldog1205
• clove71 (human played by mondroid) vs xsuilx (Archmage): https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_d14a34439f846317fc4611e8be11cb30&ref=clove71
• clove71 (human played by mondroid) vs xsuilx (Archmage): https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_c64f7fc2a8a50c5b4ea0f575225c27ab&ref=drzoom
• xsuilx (Archmage) vs Jacekw (human): https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sm_FfZ9QgU0ZlOFpUjmcB5n&ref=drzoom

Human vs Xbot

• bulldog1205 (human) vs drzoom (Xbot): https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_7f7dd38a1823c68c032537d78fc1feb9&ref=bulldog1205
• bulldog1205 (human) vs yuexn (Xbot): https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_d5a13f3d7798e1a6770b6e8ecc48e77d&ref=bulldog1205
• drzoom (Xbot) vs clove71 (human played by mondroid): https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_2358c2063202aebe4997800906a5b852&ref=drzoom
• drzoom (xbot) vs g1ker (human played by altumns): https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_9788afd35cac29bbbdd20d8e3d94835b&ref=drzoom
• drzoom (xbot) vs fatjimmy (human): https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_155b659519cb476d49a5ee5cf6aec47a&ref=drzoom
• angrychipmunk1 (Xbot) vs clove 71 (human played by mondroid): https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_0b10223db4711ed6c700a4c7ce3f0558&ref=drzoom
• bulldog1205 (human) vs drzoom (Xbot): https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_3a0cb34086ec5e8529e110f7ad2a5cc5&ref=drzoom
• drzoom (Xbot) vs clove71 (human played by mondroid): https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_cd93e006ce7b5fc8b7cd516f9b0fb531&ref=drzoom

Human vs Human

• clove71 (human played by mondroid) vs bulldog1205 (human): https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_b5082839914865bf2f40fde93d0ec822

Xbot vs Xbot

• drzoom (Xbot) vs bjangles (Xbot): https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_e4b3c33238e8e8f032339751f9f3d27a&ref=drzoom
• drzoom (Xbot) vs xbot (yuexn): https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_1167273108545724b984bcd753267d8e&ref=drzoom

Beating Up on YabapMatt

• drzoom (xbot) vs yabapmatt: https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_b7ccbb953cc8b0cde2bfd26e8397c970&ref=drzoom
• vettev (Archmage) vs yabapmatt: https://splinterlands.com/?p=battle&id=sl_41eacbfe6c5c3c258962cd4672c47242

The Cards Used and Their Win Percentage

Since all the players that participated in this experiment had vastly different decks and were able to be successful with various card combinations, I felt it was more useful to track cards used by Champ players in general so I could report cards that would be useful for all players trying to succeed in the Champion league. Here is the card data I used:

• Jacekw’s blog analyzing cards used by all players: @jacekw
• KioKizz’s card data from all players: https://kiokizz.github.io/Splinterlands/battles.html
• My own card usage and win % data from my Splex Prime Token, which can you get at https://splex.gg/prime
• The last 50 battles from everyone who participated in this experiment and the cards used by the top 10 players in Modern and Wild Champ leaderboards.
• AlmightyMelon from Archmage created a bot that will seach card data from the last 50 battles for any player in Modern or Wild. So, if you are an Archmage token holder (https://www.archmage.app/), you can access this tool on their discord server. I used that tool to collect card data.

Raw Card Data (Cards Used & Win %):

• https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1h-R9-BkHm3epCjwEODycOT_KC5HASY2HaLuUoJHUAUk/edit?usp=sharing

PeakMonsters Rental Suggested Decks: https://peakmonsters.com/

Top Cards Used

• Cards A-L: https://peakmonsters.com/decks?deck=ca8a6632-5bf5-4004-b71e-dcfcfb1bd07b
• M-Z: https://peakmonsters.com/decks?deck=2be92afb-8233-4d5b-ac89-4e00c504ece2

Top 150 Cards

• Smaller Deck Option: https://peakmonsters.com/decks?deck=0cb6167f-bc1f-447e-bb84-e26262293198

Conclusions

• After playing the season, talking with players, and analyzing card data I have a few insights I would like to share. These are in no particular order, but offer a summary of what I learned throughout the season, and I hope they help you in your play.
• The longer the season goes on, the more competitive it is at the top. This means it is easier to move up earlier in the season and hard to climb the leaderboards as the season winds down.
• Rental prices increase as the season goes on, so the most cost effective play is towards the beginning of the season.
• RNG (random number generator) is a huge part of game play, because sometimes the best hand wins and sometimes it loses. Our human players discussed this a lot and felt that is an part of the game that must be factored when playing. I noticed that the same deck would sometimes climb through the ranks and sometimes have a losing streak. One player said that, “how one manages energy, streaks, and push for Leaderboards is part of strategy.” I agree wholeheartedly; I rented all the cards that the leaders were using and still could not maintain a place on the leaderboards. There is much to be learned here.
• While I thought collection power would determine a players win percentage, but that was not the case.
• Also win percentage did not always determine your placement on leaderboards. My account had a solid win percentage but did not make the leaderboards in either format.
• The number of matches did not matter as much as I thought either; well timed wins are more valuable. One can pay to play more but that does not always mean more wins. I would sometimes pay for energy and my rating decreased, so more matches does not guarantee more wins.
• The bots fared very well and were stronger than the human players in some cases, but I would argue they were not significantly better. Human power can beat bots and vice versa. I started this experiment feeling that bots had a strong advantage but came away from this thinking that I need to study game play more and do more human matches. I believe that bots are helpful for those wanting to automate their play, but they do not give large enough advantage over humans for me. I am going to work more on my manual play. Players like FatJimmy, Hyde-20, Mondroid, Bulldog1205, Jacekw, Altumns, and the many others who use their brain power have inspired me.

I am so honored to have completed this experiment worked with some of the best players in the Splinterlands ecosystem. These players were so helpful and helped me to realize that Splinterlands is more than just a game, it is a community of passionate people trying to earn, compete, support one another, and influence the direction of the game. I am thankful for their time and willingness to share their data and insights. I appreciate the Splinterlands players and hope that we all are able to learn from this and share what we know with someone else. I want to earn as much as the next person, but I value the connections I have made in this game more than any of the coins I have earned, and for that, I am extremely grateful. Thank you everyone.

Sincerely,
DrZoom
My referral link to start battling: https://splinterlands.com?ref=drzoom
IGN: drzoom
Guild: Immortal Phoenix

Many Thanks & Shoutouts!

• Many thanks to Archmage, Splex, Splintercards, & Xbot for their great products.
• AlmightyMelon and his card-tracking bot was instrumental in this research. Thank you so much!
• I was inspired so much by the human players in this game who taught me so much about gameplay. Keep rocking FatJimmy, Hyde-20, Mondroid, Bulldog1205, Jacekw, & Altumns!
• The insights offered by VetteV, Bjangles, Xsuilx, Tomathellama, Cryptoeater, and many others helped to shape this experiment and were instrumental in its success.
• I also want to give shout-outs to splintercell-01, my guildmates, fellow players, and MAVs who encouraged me along the way!
• Photo credits to Xbot, Archmage, Splinterlands, and Freepik.