Writing this article, I want to share my personal experience in playing Splinterlands the last season. I hope that by reading this article, new players will appreciate the economy of the game and the importance of battle strategy and record keeping.
For two weeks now, I find myself unmotivated to write about my experience during the last season. However, after seeing last night that @splinterlands posted the Social Media Challenge, I checked my folder and I organized the files I collected. In fact, reaching my fourth season on Splinterlands, I already started to create a folder for the following season in order to keep all the relevant files whether it’s about the game or any new ideas on Hive that I encountered. The goal is to keep a record that I can use in creating content afterwards. As I opened them, I observed that I have collected the following files:
- On the economics of NFT blockchain based games
- On the importance of comments and Hive communities
- About discussions on the current trend in politics and public policy
- Words of encouragement to keep building and to develop expertise
- Tension about down voters
- The non-censorious character of Hive
- Content related to Chaos Legion packs, EOS rewards and an update of my family’s accounts
- Screenshots that show incentives I received for posting brief comments, and
- Interesting battle stories
Including all the mentioned files above in just one article is impractical. And so, in this article, I just want to focus on three of them: my experience in opening CL packs, EOS rewards and an update of my family’s accounts, and two interesting battle stories.
Opening Chaos Legion Packs
Due to limitation in fund, I only managed to collect 1,020 SPS, and as a result I only received 6 vouchers during the pre-sale. I utilized both my SPS staking rewards and airdrops to buy 6 CL packs. Though small, considering the increase in number of players, I am satisfied to be included among the first 5,000 in ranking of those who purchased CL packs.
Opening the CL packs, I had a roller coaster experience. Every pack I opened, I checked the market price of each card and came up with a total price per pack during the time of the opening. As we all know, the prices of CL cards already declined and so these prices are no longer applicable:
| CL Packs | Market Price at the Time of Card Opening |
|---|---|
| Pack # 1 | $12.65 |
| Pack # 2 | $30.88 |
| Pack # 3 | $31.44 |
| Pack # 4 | $4.92 |
| Pack # 5 | $9.58 |
| Pack # 6 | $36.69 |
| Total Value of 6 Packs | $126.16 |
Pack # 1
Pack # 2
Pack # 3
Pack # 4
Pack # 5
Pack # 6
Opening the third pack got me excited when I saw 1 epic, 1 rare, and 1 gold card. Sadly, the fourth pack is depressing. Its value is just almost equivalent to the purchased price @ $4.92. Originally, I was thinking to stop at the fourth pack. But after seeing the minimal value of the cards, I decided to open the remaining two. Seeing the content of the fifth pack got me excited again. The last pack is the best of all for it contains 1 gold card, 1 rare, and 1 summoner. The total market price of the sixth pack was $36.69.
After evaluating all the newly bought CL cards, I decided to swap 5 of them with 4 epic cards that I think will have great utility in the battle field. These are the cards I sold:
And these are the epic cards I bought:
EOS Rewards
During the seventh season, the EOS rewards received by my family were far better than mine. However, the situation reversed the last season. I received better rewards than them with two rare and four common cards plus three legendary potions and a total of 12 DEC.
As for my second son’s account, he received two common cards, four legendary potions plus a total of 13 credits.
My wife’s EOS rewards were better than my two sons. She received one rare and one common card plus two alchemy potions and a total of 68 credits.
As for my youngest son’s account, the cards he received were almost similar to my second son plus two legendary potions and a total of 123 credits.
Here is the update of my family’s accounts as of 05 December 2021:
| Account Name | Total Rental Fee | DEC as the Season Started | DEC at EOS | DEC Earned | Collection Power as the Season Started | CP at EOS | CP Added | Card Value as the Season Started | Card Value at EOS |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| rzc24-nftbbg | 450.11 | 8,067 | 6,524 | -1,543 | 8,645 | 9,820 | 1,155 | $361.34 | $235.01 |
| arlenec2021 | 281.58 | 311.876 | 447.22 | 135.344 | 180 | 320 | 140 | $5.62 | $5.01 |
| kopiko-blanca | 394.785 | 1,199 | 1,068.46 | -130.54 | 240 | 600 | 360 | $7.40 | $11.10 |
| axietrashgame | 329.86 | 279.2 | 569.11 | 289.91 | 160 | 355 | 195 | $5.08 | $5.31 |
As you can see, as the season started, I only had 8,645 collection power and ended the season with 9,820. My DEC declined for I utilized a portion of them in purchasing a few cards that I consider useful in the battlefield. Despite the increase in my number of cards and collection power, the total value of my cards declined from $361.34 down to $235.01 simply because the prices of Splinterlands cards dropped.
The collection power of my wife increased from 180 to 320 and her DEC also increased from 311.876 to 447.22. Her card value declined from $5.62 down to $5.01.
As for my second son’s account, his DEC also declined for I utilized it to increase his collection power from 240 to 600. His card value appreciated from $7.40 to $11.10. This is already a great improvement compared to the fact that my son’s account was stuck below a $3.00 value even after more than three months of playing.
My youngest son’s account also improved from 279.2 DEC to 569.11. His collection power increased from 160 to 355, and his card value despite the price decline of cards appreciated a little bit from $5.08 to $5.31.
Interesting Battle Stories
Finally, for interesting battle stories, it was my first time to see a team of high-level gold cards defeated by level 1 cards. This demonstrates that leveling up one’s cards, though it gives player a battle edge, it does not guarantee a sure victory.
In the first battle, I utilized water splinters against a team of life splinters composed of two tank healers and two shield repairers. The high strong defense and high melee attack of Torhilo the Frozen combined with reach ability of Flying Squid, magic attack of Nerissa Tridawn, double strike by Axemaster, and opportunity ability of Deep Lurker overwhelmed the taunt ability of Shieldbearer, the tank healing ability of both Divine Healer and Venari Crystalsmith, and the shield repairer ability of both Armorsmith and Lone Boatman.
As for the second battle, it’s life splinters versus another team of life splinters. The other player relied on the taunt ability of Shieldbearer, the ability of Silvershield Knight to give all friendly monsters an additional melee attack, the double strike ability of Silvershield Assassin, and the sneak attack again of Silvershield Assassin, Feral Spirit, and Stitch Leech.
Both teams utilized the taunt ability of Shieldbearer. But despite using higher elvel cards, the other player lost the game to level one cards. Yes, Djinn Renova, Temple Priest, and Loan Boatman contributed to the team’s victory, but I think it was the combined chemistry of both Pelacor Arbalest and Venari Crystalsmith that greatly influenced the outcome of the fight.
So far, that’s the summary of my journey in playing Splinterlands during the last season.
If reading this article got you curious about this game, why not give it a try? Here's my code.
Grace and peace!