The splinterlands landscape has changed over the past few years. In 2020 and 2021, it would be a simple answer -- buy cards as they tended to appreciate as soon as they went out of print. Fast forward to today, the answer is much more complex as the splinterlands ecosystem has expanded.
Let's look at some steps that may guide you whether if you have recently discovered splinterlands.
Assess Your Budget
Regardless of whether you have $20, $50 or $100 as a starting budget, you need to determine what your initial goals are. Nonetheless, if your starting budget, is $10 for the spellbook is non-negotiable -- you need it to get started with ranked play and unlock the ability to earn Glint and SPS.
Invest in Summoners First
Whether you are a seasoned splinterlands player, or a new player -- one piece of advice that has stood the test of time is to focus on buying summoners. Summoners are the base foundation of any collection, and a good summoner is worth its weight in DEC.
Prioritizing summoners from Chaos Legion and Rebellion sets would be my recommendation. You can pick up very affordable summoners like Kelya Frendul or Tarsa in comparison to the older edition summoners. Picking up these summoners will allow you to build a flexible collection that can compete across different rulesets and leagues. Last week I published a post on my favorite low mana cost team and Kelya was featured.
Purchase Key Monsters
The obvious next steps are to focus on building a core collection around these summoners. You will want to look for key monsters with high utility and versatility across many different rulesets and leagues. Cards like Diemonshark, Deeplurker, and Pelacor Mercenary are staples that can be used in numerous rulesets, battles, and different mana cost ranges. Cards like these will serve as a base and allow you to earn Glint and then be able to use the Glint to purchase Soulbound Reward cards. While these cards can't be traded or sold (unless you spend huge amounts), they will help expand your collection.
How do you know which cards are good? I love using the Splinterguide.com site as it provides rankings and ratings for monsters and summoners per league.
Use Rentals to Supplement Your Collection
If you can't afford to buy every meta card, rent them. Cards like Baakjira can be rented for pennies, allowing you to compete in higher leagues without having to spend large amounts of money. Rentals give you the flexibility to adapt your strategy based on your budget.
SPS - A Different Investment Approach?
For years, the default answer when it came to investing in splinterlands was to focus on building a strong collection and consistently grinding out the rewards. You would benefit greatly as your assets would appreciate while you would be getting a good yield. In 2024, this is no longer the case with many of the changes introduced to splinterlands over the past 18 months. Therefore, if you had a larger budget and didn't want to play daily, maybe a better investment case would be to buy SPS and stake it.
The SPS price has bottomed recently but has been trending in a positive direction over the past month. The market for SPS has been volatile, and while it may not seem like an immediate return on investment, staking SPS will provide long-term rewards in terms of governance participation and potential price appreciation.
Concluding Thoughts
Ultimately, whether you have $20, $50 etc, the splinterlands ecosystem has changed. Years ago -- the sentiment was buying cards and using them and they will tend to appreciate once out of print. Nowadays, the reality has vastly changed and will require a more nuanced approach.
Where would you put it if you had money to invest today in splinterlands?
Are you new to splinterlands and want to learn to play the game? Check out my Ultimate Guide to Splinterlands: A Collection of Articles and Guides. If you enjoy reading my splinterlands content, please follow and support me by signing up to playing splinterlands through my affiliate link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=mercurial9.
Thank you for reading and hope you have a good rest of the day!
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