It's the End of Another Season and Time to Make Another Change
There are many different ways to approach Splinterlands. One can treat it as strictly a strategy/gacha game, another can treat it as strictly an investment in tokens/assets, and then there are more syncretic approaches. However, one approaches it, it is the approach that works best for that person/entity. This means changing approaches over time and understanding that no strategic approach is forever.
The New Adaptation is Saying Goodbye to Ranked Battles
This may not be for everyone, this is for certain. However, going from playing ranked battles only during early season, brawl rental windows, and advancing to a higher level at the very end to take advantage of better quality End of Season rewards is now not the approach to take.
Why?
The SPS/DEC ratio has changed and this has changed priorities considerably. The Silver/Gold straddle approach is not as "cheap" to do nor is it as rewarding as it was in the past. Playing in Gold fully as a response to structural rewards changes for 2 seasons made sense when DEC was below .006, but when DEC rose due to talk of prioritizing DEC returning back to peg value, it made sense to shift back to a Silver/Gold straddle. However, now that the SPS/DEC ratio is lower, it makes less sense to continue playing in ranked battles.
This does not mean SPS is worthless or not worth accruing especially at cheap prices, it's just that the previous method of earning the SPS makes less sense. It is far more worth it to just buy the SPS and win the SPS in tournaments and brawls while waiting to see when the SPS/DEC ratio rises to justify playing at a more competitive level.
This is definitely NOT an approach nor situation that fits everyone, but it makes more sense to just rent cards en masse and rent cards for select tournaments and brawls. The earnings will be greater and nothing is left up to chance in this current environment. It's an opportunity to use rental revenue to pay guild dues, rent the cards that are strictly needed, buy cards to fill gaps at cheap prices, and trade the Hive Engine market.
The Hive Engine market is truly the Splinterlands extended universe. Taking advantage of it can save a lot of money and also result in profitable opportunities.
This is the true accrual stage. The Advent Crypto Rally seems to be put on hold until Centralized Exchanges crumble and the realization that decentralization is the way takes hold in some fashion. Bearishness, distrust, grifting talking heads with ugly agendas and huge stakes (Michael Saylor, et al), anti-crypto legacy media, and opportunistic demagogue populists are dominating the discourse and attitudes toward crypto as a whole.
Prices should continue to decline and HBD is King at least in this stage. Collecting DEC to earn and buy SPS in other ways is the adaptation.
The Basketball Phrase "Take What the Defense Gives You" Applies
If a Point Guard is facing a 1-3-1 or 2-3 Zone Defense in Basketball, the Point Guard is not going to drive the ball to the basket. The Point Guard has to find the holes in the zone defense to create a higher quality shot.
Same concept here. It makes sense in my situation, but it may not make sense in yours. It's a case where I'm the Point Guard handling the ball and I see that the defense (the market environment) has shifted and took something away from me, I have to find a different way to get the best quality shot (opportunity to get value for my participation).
This is the way to do it. At least for now.