Conclave Arcana just dropped and there's already so much to talk about. Between new cards like Conclave Artificer, new debilitations like Reckless and the whole idea of Bloodlines shaping the meta and being the new foundation of this game, Conclave Arcana seems like a very important turning point for Splinterlands. When we thought that Rebellion and Summoner Tactics changed the game, we didn't knew that the Splinterlands team was cooking for something more.
Your Favorite New Cards
Since the removal of Chaos Legion in Modern Format, all of my strong builds went out to the dumpster. I scraped for what is left from what good strategies I've learned from Chaos Legion and Rebellion and landed on relying with Weapons Training. I'm glad that Conclave Arcana is compatible with this strategy which allow me to adapt to the new style of play.
One of my favorite cards from Conclave Arcana right now is Conclave Artificer. This card has no attack, which makes he perfect for Weapons Training builds. Conclave Artificer having no means of attack can actually make him stronger than others that have them since he is pretty capable of getting new attacks through Weapons Training which is pretty crazy.
Even at level 1, this unit is useful because of Camouflage. He can’t be directly targeted unless in the 1st position keeping he safe against Sneak builds. Conclave Artificer has 7 armor and 8 health with 4 speed at max level and all of that for just 4 mana. I think that kind of stat efficiency plus protection is gonna be huge in especially since he allows you to use other higher mana units. He also has Lookout, which helps reduce damage from Sneak, Snipe and Ambush attackers, and Void Armor to block magic before reaching his health.
The Most Exciting Abilities
For me, one of the most exciting new abilities is Reckless. This is a debilitation or an ability that affects your units in a bad way instead of the enemy. When units with Reckless debilitation attacks, each successful attack also deals 1 damage to adjacent allies. That might sound bad, but this debilitation opens up so many interesting plays especially with units that gets stronger when damaged.
Reckless can help trigger Painforge, which allows the unit to gain +1 attack when damaged by your own other units, or Enrage, which boosts speed and melee if the unit is damaged. I think players will start using Reckless not just as a downside, but as a setup tool for special synergy builds. That kind of risky but smart combo feels really fresh for Splinterlands.
Potential Combos or Team Builds
There’s already some crazy combos with Conclave Artificer like the one shown here in this battle
https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_77c9b7aeee7c4decea7b366a0c41ae35?ref=slimeyph
In that battle, Artificer is placed between Rage and Bren Palesworn. Rage gives him 3 magic attack and Bren Palesworn gives 2 ranged and 1 melee, so he ends up with triple attack type and solid statlines. To further abuse this idea, I have Nidhoggr as my Archon giving Conclave Artificer and two other units both Blast and Deathblow abilities. Both abilities trigger per attack which means Conclave Artificer can deal a lot of damage to multiple units per round. Also, at higher levels, its Lookout ability even protects Rage and Bren from backline targeting effects like Sneak or Snipe.
You can also do a similar thing using Daarg Deadblast (has magic Weapons Training) and swap Rage with a water unit. Just change Archons from Dragon to Water so you can make it work. This would not come with the Blast advantage though. I think this kind of setup will become a regular strategy in the upcoming weeks once discovered.
Predictions on How Conclave Arcana Will Reshape the Meta
I think Conclave Arcana will push more builds that rely on Bloodlines and cross-element combos. Bloodline Dominion and similar mechanics allow more flexible summoning and we’ll probably see more cards that reward you for matching Bloodline types. I also wouldn’t be surprised if we start seeing elemental counters, like in Pokemon where, fire deals more or less damage to specific types.
There’s also the possibility of “Kinds” becoming a future mechanic. In lore, the Splinterlands have eleven kinds of creatures, like Beastborn, Colossals, Demifolk and so on. These kinds are divided into bloodlines, and that could easily lead to balance rules or effects like “Beastborn get +1 power” or “Demifolk recover HP each round,” in addition to their own Blooadlines. That kind of passive effect layering with Bloodlines would add more depth to battles appealing to veteran players.
If Splinterlands ever builds a system similar to Pokémon’s type chart, with elemental strengths and weaknesses, it'll totally change how people pick cards to play. The information of your enemy's last units played will also give you a major advantage. That would make Splinterlands more reactive, not just power-based giving players more control over the game.
Lore or Creative Storytelling Inspired by the New Set
I really hope the team think about making trailers that brings the lore and Bloodlines to life. While I yap a lot, I'm one of those who don't reall want to read big walls of texts. It would be better to have some visuals to gain attention of some people who just want to understand the world of Splinterlands in 2-3 minutes of digestible chunks. Trailers that show what happened in Chaos Legion and Rebellion or how a different units live their everyday lives in Splinterlands, would be amazing. If done correctly and good, it also may get viral creating buzz increasing the playerbase.
On Other News
I reached Diamond 2 after Conclave Arcana's first release and that was surprising. I used the same strat as I did here and a little bit more that I would reveal in the future.
I'm currently roaming in Gold 2 and Gold 1 and got this amazing pull as well, two Golds and one Legendary for free.
Hi, y'all. Slimey here, your jolly and gullible little blue slime. I got reincarnated to this world to better my art and join community challenges to get more practice and improve my skill.
Know more about me by checking out my introduction post
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Images are taken from Splinterlands, Drawn in Krita, Animated in Photoshop and Edited in Canva.