Hello there.
In my previous posts, I wrote about how to start playing Splinterlands, and to join the Splinterlands Discord. Hopefully you've played a few games, seen the complexity and fun of the game, and is up for the challenge. If you've browsed the discord, especially the mavericks channel, you might have seen the different ways you can earn from the game. This should get you excited, since people are still earning a lot even in this crypto bear market.
On the other side of the coin, you might have read about bot farms, and how difficult it is to be a beginner right now. A lot of the recent changes have been done to reduce the rewards being siphoned by the bot farms. From DEC rewards to staked SPS rewards, adding merits in rewards, adding custom focuses, etc. Since bot farms operate in the lower leagues like bronze, this also affected newer players, but not as much. SPS is still a valuable and tradeable token, but you need to unstake it. Merits are mainly used in guilds. You can buy Gladius packs with merits to increase your collection power or CP. Custom focuses reward players that play for them instead of bots just running the usual teams. Some bot farms are already closing because of these and the players are feeling the benefits with increased rewards. I'm hoping that you can see that the pros outweigh the cons and still decide to play Splinterlands.
To help new players get started on their journey, the Splinterlands team has included 3000 credits in their Spellbook purchase.
Credits are non-tradeable in-game currency used to purchase game assets. They are pegged at 1000 credits to 1 USD.
When I purchased the spellbook last August 2021, there were no 3000 credits included. I think they only added the credits early this year. Now before I give my opinions on what to do with the 3000 credits, I'll share the two common recommendations of veterans from discord in case you didn't ask there and went straight to my post. [I appreciate your trust, but you're missing out on a lot of things by not joining the SPL Discord.]
- You can buy cards with your credits.
Compared to when I started [during the crypto boom], cards are really cheap. You can buy legendary cards for under a dollar. Add to that the fact that Chaos Legion packs are still available, so the supply is still increasing and prices can get lower.
So what to buy? If you opt to buying cards with your credits, the reward cards are the cheapest [you can also get them as you continue playing], then the Chaos Legion cards. I would suggest you continue playing and take note of the cards that you use frequently and win you games, then buy those. Different players have different strategies and preferences. Initially you want to buy 1BCX level 1 cards so you can use the copy and increase your earning potential. You can buy higher levels as you learn more about the game.
- You can rent cards with your credits.
Unlike buying cards where reward cards and CL cards are the cheapest, the rental market is different. A lot of older cards [Alpha, Beta, Promo, Reward] are renting for dirt cheap. This is because of supply and demand, and the Modern and Wild formats. All cards can be used in the Wild format, while only newer cards can be played in the Modern format. This causes older cards that can't be used in modern to rent cheaper, while newer cards that can be used in both to rent higher. So where to play? Personally, if I'm a new player and I'm renting, I will play in Wild. Modern is too competitive and people are using high leveled cards even in bronze. Wild has a lot more options in cards, and the rentals are cheaper.
So what to rent? This is tricky. You can rent Alpha cards for 0.1DEC/day and legendary cards for less than 1DEC/day. So you can use different strategies and team comps that you prefer, but as a new player you have limited knowledge of these. Here is where the SPL community comes in. From Youtube videos, to PeakD blog posts, to discord chats, there are different team comps shared in all of them. There are Water/Life/Fire/Death sneak, Water/Earth magic, Dragon/Life ranged, Life/Water taunt to name a few. Try to search and try them, and see what works for you.
- For those trying to be smart by saying: "Those are the only options anyways". New players can make the mistake of buying potions, not knowing what they are for [Potions are used when opening card packs]. I personally think the wording in the shop page needs to be improved to include the term 'packs' [Improve the drop rate of GF/Legendary Cards, Double the chance of getting a GF/Legendary card whenever a card is generated!]. Not once is it stated there that they are used for packs. You need to read between the lines or look at the Open page.
- If you are a new player that wants to buy and open a lot of packs, don't forget to buy potions to increase your chances of getting better cards.
Now for my own opinion on what to do with the 3000 credits. I would like to note that these are my thoughts on the matter for the current state of the game. If I had written this post before the update of rewards from DEC to staked SPS I would have just recommended renting cards outright. If the SPL team makes additional changes where I think this is no longer the best move, then I will try to update this post again. Not financial advice, do your own research.
- I think you should do both. But not in the simple way as above.
Before you say it is a cop out answer, let me explain how I based my answer and where I'm coming from. I think the game is very difficult for new players right now since it has been out for quite some time. A lot of players have their own collection from playing before so they have ample resources to work with. The game rewards players for their investment. If you have a small amount, you earn a small amount; have a large amount, earn a large amount. If you only invested 10USD for the spellbook, don't expect to earn anything close to 1USD a day anytime soon. With that being said, I suggest new players to play the game first and get a feel for the game. Once they see the potential, then invest more.
I do believe that this game is a bit Pay-to-Win since not all cards are created equal, and some cards are definitely better than the others. But that's where the complexity of Splinterlands comes in. Newer players can use the rental market to rent strong cards and even the playing field somewhat. And that is how I got my answer of doing both. "Buy the GOOD cards and rent the STRONG cards".
Some of the veteran players could start getting an idea of where I'm going, but for new players they might be confused as to what the difference is between good cards and strong cards. If you have been renting cards you are conscious of renting strong cards to help you win, but you might have overlooked the good cards since you already have them. To be specific, I'm suggesting you buy cards that are good for renting out, and then you rent the strong cards to win games.
I believe in the saying "If you give a man a fish, you feed him for a day. If you teach a man to fish, you feed him for a lifetime". If you simply buy cards with your 3k credits, you can only buy a few strong cards and barely have enough for a competitive deck. You will then be using starter cards, reducing your earnings. If you simply rent cards, you should be able to play for weeks before your credits run out. But after that, you need to wait to unstake your earned SPS, burn them for DEC, then buy/rent again. If you do both, where you buy the cheap CL cards, and rent the rest, you will eventually run out of credits as well.
With my suggestion, sure you will be left with little credits for your rentals initially. But if you are able to find the good cards for renting out, you should be able to generate DEC consistently which you can use to fund your future rentals. This applies not just to new players, but to older players as well.
In my next post I will show you some tips on how to find these good cards, as well as a bit of intro to Peakmonsters. As always, try to keep playing and learning about the game, and do your own research.
TLDR: Buy good cards that you can rent out, then use your DEC earnings to rent strong cards to win. NFA, DYOR.