I have that itch to play again. Listening to the likes of @tarazkp and @azircon chatting about tactics does that to me.
It’s all well and good being a lazy monster lord but you need to keep in touch with what’s used and what’s ignored if you are to know your customers.
For the second time within a month, I put together a makeshift deck bound for the Silver League (hopefully that I will retain this time).
Meandering through a stack of BOT opponents I restricted myself to just TWO splinters and used mostly Chaos League cards with a dash of the old stuff to give me the edge.
Without the big Summoners (Yodin Zaku etc...), it was a steadier ascent through the tiers of the Bronze league and I can't recall a match where my opponent was not using solely Level 1 (L1) cards throughout.
My deck contained a Tarsa and Obsidian (both L2) and the entire stack of Earth and Fire monsters at the max levels I could command.
Yet this does not guarantee victory and I spotted tactics along the way that caused my defeat on numerous occasions.
If these are all BOTS then they must be using a different BOT than I have become accustomed to. Cards were strategically placed and I had to outthink my opponents whether human or otherwise.
Entering the Silver League of course gives me non-shit rewards and a whole TWO chests per daily quest.
If you think you are going to earn DEC in Bronze I then think again. I was getting credits and the odd NFT.
Silver is where you need to be to get anything at all and that means a deck of 15,000 Collection Power.
Having made Silver III I was surprised that all my opponents were still using L1 decks, and I mean ALL.
Here I was, preparing L4 Summoners and upgraded monsters but need I bother? The Bronze deck I had put together was still cutting through my opponents as long as I took note of the ruleset.
The times I lost, I studied the matches. How could I lose if I had L3 Commons, L2 Rares, L2 Epics, and the odd Legendary thrown into the mix?
Before you ask, I checked for @thong355 which exists along with many other 'thongs'. Better than @penis355 I suppose.
It is all down to tactics and I decided to have a look at a few of the decks of my foes.
Nearly all of them were barely above the 15K requirement for the Silver League. Many of them were rental decks, some from the same renter.
More BOTS and farms, but they know how to strategically place the monsters to win.
They have a daily expenditure of around 36-50 DEC per day, so they would have to make this just to break even.
Factor in the reward cards (which have mostly little value) and you have a mild profit.
Who’s behind the players? I don’t believe there is a BOT capable of picking up the specific rule sets and strategically placing monsters in beneficial spots to win.
Which means some kind of cheap labour is going on. It reminds me of World of Warcraft during the noughties. The game was filled with Chinese farmers working for very little and using illegal BOTS.
WOW prohibited BOTS and it became a cat and mouse game with Blizzard upgrading their security system to catch and perma-ban the accounts.
On Splinterlands that will not happen, yet I am curious to find out if these are cheap-labour players or who’s behind it all.
Out of all those cards I sent to the @dismayedworld account I have been using just a handful and the odd situational card.
In the Silver League, there can be up to TWO rulesets, and ignoring them is a bad idea.
Here are some of the monsters I have been using (to great effect).
Forgotten One: I have yet to see this Fire Tank used against me at this level. I don't think it's expected at Bronze or even Silver III to see these types of monsters used.
It is a situational card best used for the poison ruleset but is a decent tank in its own right. I have just upgraded mine to L4 (as nobody seems to want to rent it at this level). I can only use him at L3 but now with 'Retaliate', he's going to be interesting.
Goblin Psychic: Used by all my opponents at L1. Mine is now L5 and what a monster combined with Obsidian. L5 benefits from 'Affliction' which will give me the edge.
Grum Flameblade: What a blast this guy is. Nobody uses Grum in Bronze, yet I did and he only works well in the reverse speed ruleset. I used him once in a regular set and lost… talk about embarrassing!
I sent my L2 over and with the extra magic defense, he's going to rock.
Grund: Double strike is always going to be popular and I can see why Grund is the most expensive Epic. I happen to have a Gold version and will stick with this for now.
He does hit harder at L3 so I might be tempted to switch him out soon. Eight damage per round is major. I only use him on high mana matches and position him just behind the tank as he is a melee monster.
Hill Giant: I have mentioned him before, he's a cheap low mana tank with big hit points. He gets in the way and that's his job. I am using an L5 now, gold version.
Lava Launcher: What a useful monster this one is. He can be used as a tank if required by rule sets, positioned as an auxiliary tank, or used as a vanilla damage dealer.
I need to upgrade mine to L3. Lava Launchers are not expensive and should not be overlooked.
Scavo Firebolt: A card I am toying with. I have sent over an L4 to replace the L2 but it's still in cooldown.
Queen Mycelia: The difference between winning and losing quite often. Not so effective against Obsidian decks but anything else suffers if I use her.
Global buffs have always been high on my list and I love 'Protect'. Combine this with the next card and it's frustrating as hell for your opponent.
Scavo Hireling: The number of times this little freaky guy has given me wins is astounding. He's a neutral Armorsmith, a card I rated highly over 2 years ago.
To use him effectively, your team needs to have armour, and that’s where he pairs up well with Queen Mycelia.
Tenyii Striker: A stalwart opposition card and one I could see the potential right away. I now have an L4 Striker and with 'Dodge', he's going to be hard to kill.
Earth Tank: Flesh Golem or Unicorn Mustang?
The opposition all use L1 Mustangs, I can see why as it protects well against Magic opposition. I did have an L2 one hanging around from the Untamed days and so whisked it across.
However, you can't beat the old Flesh Golem as even at L3 (Bronze) as he has that potent self-heal.
It's little wonder I can rent out a pile of them and they get snapped up right away at great CP/DEC values.
What I will use in Silver as an Earth tank is to be determined. Probably a combination of these as so far my opponents have still been 100% L1 decks.
I have sent a few tryout monsters to the @dismayedworld account to play with. Iza the Fanged looks like fun, is quick, and needs to be with that poor health rating.
I have been using Acid Shooter as a filler card. 2 mana makes him useable though he doesn't fill very well with Obsidian.
The remaining monsters I will be trying out in various other situations.
A Silver League deck is going to cost you several hundred dollars. There is no getting out of that. Splinterlands is great fun but is an expensive game, they make no qualms about that.
If you want to succeed then you need the edge, and a brain to figure out both your's and your opponents' tactics.
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