In response to my article:
@byzantinist/splinterlands-which-league-has-the-highest-upgrade-costs
@vugtis asked if I could provide the data for Gold Foil (GF) cards, so here is the GF version.
Please note that for cards with an Untamed or Chaos Legion background, GF Commons start at Level 3 while GF Rares and Epics start at Level 2. These are Bronze level limits, so since a 1 BCX GF deck already has Bronze level cards (other than for Rare monsters), I will omit the "Novice to Bronze" category.
Gold Foil Legendaries (GFL), however, kept the same BCX progression as their Beta counterparts. This was largely due to historical and political reasons. There was a big discussion about this during the Untamed pre-sale regarding the GFL Chain Golem, and it was decided that they wanted to make sure GFL's still felt special to the players so an exception was made.
COMMONS
| League | BCX Needed | % Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Bronze to Silver | 4 | +400% |
| Silver to Gold | 15 | +300% |
| Gold to Max | 18 | +90% |
If you want to look at absolute BCX needed then yes, going from Gold to Max does require the most BCX (18), but that is only slightly larger than what is necessary to go from Silver to Gold (15).
RARES
| League | BCX Needed | % Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Bronze to Silver | 2 | +100% |
| Silver to Gold | 12 | +300% |
| Gold to Max | 6 | +38% |
Since Epic level summoners in Bronze league and Gold league can use an extra level for Rare monsters, a fully optimized Bronze GF deck will need Level 3 (2 BCX) Rare monsters and a fully optimized Gold league GF deck will need Level 7 (16 BCX) Rare monsters.
As a result, when it comes to Rare monsters there is a very significant increase upgrading to Gold league. In fact, when looking at Rare monsters, in absolute BCX terms, it costs twice as much to upgrade from Silver to Gold, as it does from Gold to Max.
EPICS
| League | BCX Needed | % Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Bronze to Silver | 1 | +100% |
| Silver to Gold | 5 | +250% |
| Gold to Max | 3 | +43% |
You can see here that there is a significant increase from Silver to Gold. In fact, in both absolute BCX and %, it is more expensive to upgrade to Gold league than it is to Max level.
This situation partly came about when Splinterlands adjusted the BCX requirements in Untamed. The BCX required for max GF levels was completely unaffected. For Gold Foil cards, you needed the same number of BCX for Rares, Epics, and Legendaries (just like how for Regular cards, the number of BCX remained the same) but for Gold Foil Commons, the number of BCX also remained the same (as opposed to the situation for Regular cards where the number of Commons actually decreased).
Meanwhile, the BCX required for Silver and Gold league were all increased. (Bronze league only marginally increased with the Rare monsters). In Beta edition, Level 3 epics required 1 BCX, Level 5 epics required 5 BCX, and Max level required 10 BCX:
From Beta to Untamed, Silver league required 1 more BCX (from 1 to 2), Gold league required 2 more BCX (from 5 to 7), while Max league required 0 more BCX (remained the same at 10). So this is why it is more expensive to upgrade Epic cards from Silver to Gold league, than it is to upgrade from Gold to Max.
LEGENDARIES
| League | BCX Needed | % Increase |
|---|---|---|
| Bronze to Silver | 0 | +0% |
| Silver to Gold | 1 | +100% |
| Gold to Max | 2 | +100% |
While the GF BCX required for lower leagues increased for Commons, Rares, and Epics, it remained the same for Legendary cards. This was largely due to player concern about how many GFL Chain Golems would be distributed during the Untamed pre-sale and how many copies would be needed for play.
For Regular cards, both Novice league and Bronze league are limited to the use of 1 BCX Legendary cards. When it comes to Gold Foil, both Bronze league and Silver league are limited to the use of 1 BCX GFL's (though in Bronze league, the GFL's are downgraded to Level 1 for gameplay).
SUMMARY: TOTAL BCX
| League | Commons | Rares | Epics | Legendaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze to Silver | 4 | 2 | 1 | 0 |
| Silver to Gold | 15 | 12 | 5 | 1 |
| Gold to Max | 18 | 6 | 3 | 2 |
Just as with Regular cards, if we look at absolute BCX required, upgrading to Max level requires slightly more Commons and Legendaries than upgrading to Gold league but fewer Rares and Epics.
Also keep in mind that due to Legendary Potions, if you are opening boosters, it is much easier to get all the Legendary cards you need compared to Epics. Those who opened boosters during the Untamed and Chaos Legion eras may remember that most people leveled up their Legendary cards much more quickly than they were able to level up their Epic cards.
SUMMARY: % INCREASE
| League | Commons | Rares | Epics | Legendaries |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bronze to Silver | +400% | +100% | +100% | +0% |
| Silver to Gold | +300% | +300% | +250% | +100% |
| Gold to Max | +90% | +38% | +43% | +100% |
If we look at additional % investment we are asking players to make, then upgrading from Silver league to Gold league easily requires the most additional %.
CONCLUSION
Based on this data, I would disagree with the argument that there is such a big investment gap going from Gold league to Max level. The investment costs going from Silver league to Gold league are at least on par with those going from Gold league to Max level, and you could make a pretty persuasive argument that even in absolute BCX or absolute $$$ terms, the cost of upgrading to Gold league is actually slightly MORE than the cost of upgrading to Max level.
As a result, I don't find "investment cost" to be a persuasive argument to justify the existence of Diamond league and why there should be two leagues for Max level cards while there is only one league for each of Bronze, Silver, and Gold.