Battle-Tested Favorites: My Go-To Cards in Splinterlands

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Introduction

New week, new challenge! This week, it’s all about favorite strategies. Picking my favorite splinter, summoner, and units? Honestly, that part was easy—they popped into my head right away.

Of course, Splinterlands strategies aren’t one-size-fits-all. You’ve got to factor in things like your opponent’s recent plays and the rulesets in play. But more often than not, I find myself turning to these trusty favorites. Let me walk you through my go-to choices and why they’re so effective!

Splinter: Water

If I had to pick just one splinter to rely on, it’s Water all the way. Sure, you can pair Dragon with Water, but I don’t really count Dragon as its own splinter since you still have to pick a splinter alongside it. So, Water takes the crown for me.

It a splinter with much versatility it can have strong melee decks as well as ranged and magic. where earth is more for magic imho and death and fire more melee focused. This is changing with the latest sets.

Here’s a little showcase of some epic battles featuring my Water teams. Feel free to click the images to re-watch the action!

Summoner: Lux Vega

Now, when it comes to summoners, it’s not hard to pick a favorite—but for me. Lux Vega is the MVP of my collection. She’s versatile, reliable, and just straight-up amazing in so many scenarios.

Yes, I know, Lux is a Neutral summoner, but she doesn’t enable Dragon units. Still, the +1 health she provides gives her an edge over Kelya Frendul, in my opinion. Lux makes my Water teams even more durable and well-rounded, which is why I use her so often.

Want proof? Check out my crazy stats with her:

Best summoners

Specific Lux vega stats

To show you what Lux can really do, here are some battles where she carried the day—sometimes with Water, and sometimes with other splinters.

Units:

Choosing a single favorite unit is tough, especially since I play across multiple splinters. If I had to limit myself to just One, my pick would be Deeplurker. That guy’s an absolute beast in so many situations!

But since this is all about strategies, I thought I’d take it a step further and share my favorite unit for each splinter. I’ll break down why they stand out, and of course, include some battle stats to back it up. Stay tuned as I go splinter by splinter!

Fire: The Forgotten One

Let’s kick things off with the Fire splinter. Now, I’ll admit, Fire isn’t the first splinter that comes to mind when I think about standout units. In my opinion, it’s an all-around decent splinter, but it doesn’t have that one unit that screams "game-changer" in every scenario.

That said, I’ve got to give some love to The Forgotten One. This unit has always been a solid pick for me, thanks to its high health and that clutch Retaliate ability. When I first started playing Splinterlands, I had just one single BCX of it, and I instantly loved its Immunity. Back in the day, there weren’t many units with immunity at level 1, so it really stood out.

It might not be the flashiest card in my deck, but it’s a dependable choice when I need a tank that can shrug off negative effects and strike back hard.

Here are some stats showing how The Forgotten One performs in my battles:

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Water: Deeplurker

I kind of spoiled this one already, but for Water, the choice is a no-brainer. While Water boasts a ton of amazing units, Deeplurker is my absolute favorite.

It’s actually my second most-played unit overall (the first being Baakjira). Even though I use Baakjira a lot, Deeplurker edges out as my favorite because of its higher win rate in my battles. From Bronze all the way to Champion, this card is everywhere—and for good reason.

At max level, Deeplurker becomes a real menace with its Demoralize, Poison, and Opportunity abilities. That combo is just brutal! It tears through weaker backline units, chips away at the enemy team with poison, and makes it harder for your opponent’s melee attackers to deal damage. Talk about versatile!

Here are some stats showing how Deeplukrer performs in my battles:

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Earth: Goblin Psychic

When I think of the Earth splinter, my mind immediately goes to all the amazing magic units it has to offer. And for me, the Goblin Psychic is hands down my favorite (if we’re not counting Gladius cards like Quora Towershead—because let’s be real, Quora is a league of her own).

What makes Goblin Psychic so special? The Heal. This card has saved me countless times in tough matches by keeping my frontlines alive longer than they had any right to be.

At higher levels, Goblin Psychic becomes even better with the addition of Silence, reducing the magic damage of enemy teams. This makes it a staple in almost all my Earth lineups—not just when I’m playing magic-heavy teams, but even when I’m running melee or ranged-focused strategies. Its versatility and utility make it an absolute must-have.

Here are some stats and highlights that show why this card shines in my battles:

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Life: Pelacor Conjurer

For the Life splinter, there’s one unit that stands out—and it’s a reward card you could have earned for free: Pelacor Conjurer.

This unit was already amazing when it first dropped, with its Magic Reflect and solid 8 health at max level. It’s a tank that can absorb hits and punish magic attackers in return.

But what makes it even more exciting now is the addition of newer cards with the Weapon Training ability. With the right setup, you can give Pelacor Conjurer some serious attack power, turning it into a true beast that not only protects your frontline but also dishes out some damage of its own.

It’s a simple yet incredibly effective card that I often find myself relying on when playing Life.

Check out some of my stats featuring this incredible card:

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Death: Cursed Windeku

When it comes to the Death splinter, I don’t even need to check my stats—I already know that Cursed Windeku is at the top of my list. This is one of those units you’ll see being played everywhere, from Bronze all the way to Champion, and for good reason.

What makes Cursed Windeku such a standout card is its Thorns and Heal abilities. These make it an incredibly sustainable tank that can hold the frontline while dishing out damage to melee attackers. It’s a reliable choice in so many situations and pairs well with almost any Death lineup.

Here’s a look at some stats of mine Cursed Windeku’s:

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Dragon: Chaos Dragon

Choosing a favorite for the Dragon splinter is no easy task. There are so many amazing units, and honestly, most of them deserve their moment in the spotlight. However, many Dragon units tend to shine in specific situations, which makes picking just one even harder.

If the mana cap allows it, though, my go-to has to be Chaos Dragon. With its Blast and Scattershot abilities, this card is a wild card on the battlefield—completely unpredictable but incredibly impactful. It’s a heavy hitter with high health, and its chaotic attacks can wreak havoc on enemy teams, often hitting vulnerable targets in the backline.

For now, Chaos Dragon earns the top spot on my list for its sheer power and the excitement it brings to battles.

Here are some stats of my Chaos Dragon:

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Neutral: Uraeus

Last but definitely not least, we have the Neutral splinter. While there are many great options here, two units really stand out to me: Uraeus and Supply Runner.

At lower levels, Uraeus is an amazing addition to almost any team. Its Poison ability makes it a dangerous card that can slowly chip away at opponents, turning the tide in many battles. On the other hand, Supply Runner shines at higher levels, bringing Strengthen and Swiftness to the table—making it a powerhouse for buffing your entire team.

For overall strategy, though, I’ve got to give the edge to Uraeus. That poison ability is just too good and works in so many situations, making it a reliable pick from Bronze to higher levels.

Here are some stats and battles showcasing why Uraeus is such a key card for me:

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Closing notes

And there you have it—my favorite units and the reasons why they’ve earned their spots in my lineup. I hope you enjoyed reading this post as much as I enjoyed putting it together, looking trough my stats etc!

Of course, these are just my top picks, and with different rulesets in play, this list might look completely different. That’s the beauty of Splinterlands—it’s such a dynamic and versatile game where strategy always wins. There’s no single unbeatable card, not even the infamous Eternal Tofu (though I don’t own one to test it myself!). With the right strategy, anything is possible.

Have fun, and I’ll see you on the battlefield!

Do you also want to be part of this amazing play to earn game consider using my referral link.



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9 comments
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And there are still people who underestimate Pelacor Conjurer. He's a great semi-tank.

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shame on them 🤣, some rewards units are just so great 😍

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Hey @beaker007! Just checked your site and it was a cool tool for showing a user's SPL and Hive stats though I have some doubts about my all time hive rewards. The site says I earned about 9.1 k from my curation and author rewards but on my 2023 hive recap, I only claimed 2154 HP while on 2024, it was 1796 HP and if I include the 105 hive that I claimed this month, that only makes 4055 HP. I only started blogging on august 2022 so if we believe the stats shown in the site, I have earned 5045 HP in less than 5 months which would be more than what I earned with my last 2 years.

So I tried to look on some accounts I know has never powered down to check for their KE and if they did not power down, their KE should at least be equal to 1 but they have shown KE that are higher than 1 and their all time rewards were more than their owned HP.

IgnAuthor RewardsCurationHeld HPPowered DownPowered UpDiscrepancyKE
olaf.gui5,343.61 HP300.73 HP3,144.340 HP049.772500 HP1.8
shawnnft13,509.03 HP426.5210,427.119 HP01548.4043508.412 HP1.34

Looking at these accounts, even though they do not power down and power up hive, their KE was still more than 1. I even checked their wallet history for any power down but did not show any.

I know the stats were just being fetched from hivebuzz API and I also did not question it's data until now but if the data from hivebuzz was wrong, it could have painted SPL creators worse than they are supposed to be or I could be entirely wrong about this so it is better for someone with more knowledge than me to look into this.

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Hey @saydie,

First, thank for commenting and looking into the data. It is very important to get the correct value as persons might made decisions on that. Its a new project so there can definitely be some errors or edge cases.

I moved from using the stats from hive buzz to hive sql this is imho more / closer to the source of truth and not interpreted by a site already.

Trying to digest the data for these users I assume the following that can explain it.


Most logical for me is you have 50%/50% rewards payout so 100 HIVE earned is payout as 50 HP and ~22$ in HBD.

In the formula the HBD is not taken into account for this reason:
Hive (liquid and saving) are consider to beneficial for yourself
the same applies for HBD (liquid and savings)
HP is considered as a benefit for the community because you can vote with it and show appreciation towards other members. This value contributes to long term sustainable ecosystem.

So if a person only does a 50%/50% payout it start with a KE of 5 then you receive interest on the HP so i think the number will slowly go down over time. Do not underestimate the compounding effect of interest in that part.

Not sure what the users might have done with the HBD difficult to track down.


Secondly the user could have used beneficiaries even if the intentions are right it still looks like extracting, this is acceptable withing the 10% range i think if the rest 90% is towards HP for the long time sustainable ecosystem.

There might be other reasons that i cannot think of.
IMHO there is one thing we can take from this is that also the curators and the contest post have to make the new user aware on this, upfront :).

If I'm correct you should do a 90% HP to 10% HBD rewards share (this is not a option in peakd as far as i know)

I also think we need to look a bit further then only KE ratio for instance if the extracted value is used for growing SPL is that then considered as extracting (not everything is as black and white).

Also seeing accounts that have a high KE ratio and do not own much spl assets still doing these contest post. These are extractor imho and are not good for the ecosystem.

Let me know what you think of this or am i missing something?

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If I understand your first case correctly, the HBD rewards may have also been accounted from the all time rewards in their HP value and that may lead for the discrepancy. So if I have 9k in my all time rewards, we can assume that half of that comes from the HBD rewards that was shown in HP value. Then the interest will eventually reduce the KE over time but wasn't the interest also the curation reward and was already accounted for all time rewards (author reward + curation reward)?

I also did monitor if the same amount of hive was added to my HP and from the stats shown on Hivebuzz and it seems to be adding the same amount.

My theory is that previously, both HP rewards and HBD on its HP value are included as All time rewards then change at some point to only account for HP rewards due to an update to the code but wasn't able to do the same with the previous data then just combine those rewards altogether and that what makes the discrepancy.


For the second case, It may be plausible if an account set an alt account as beneficiary but as much as I know for the 2 accounts above, only shawn has a beneficiary set on his post and that was from using inleo frontend that automatically sets 5% of his reward for beneficiary and posting on some communities will also set them with a certain % of the reward post. And given that 2 unrelated accounts has such a great discrepancy between their held HP and curation rewards, it may not be the cause for that.


I also think we need to look a bit further then only KE ratio for instance if the extracted value is used for growing SPL is that then considered as extracting (not everything is as black and white).

I agree to this as the hive was not really taken out of the blockchain but used to helps to support SPL and/or other hive Dapps and helps grow the blockchains apps which in turn grows the chain as a whole which benefits everyone.

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author and curation rewards are "just" number of HIVE on what you received at the given moment, no interest is involved here as far as i know.

For the next point i can only reason by, because i do not know how it was in the past.

At the time you receive the 50%/50% rewards the total earned hive is divided by 2 and one part is converted to HBD the other part is stored in HP.

So when you try to keep track of how much does the HBD represent in HIVE or HP, at the moment of payout it the same but then the price changes of HIVE making the amount of hive received in the past different. That seems to be unwanted behavior so just use the total HIVE you receive from the rewards. 1 HIVE stay always 1 HIVE

Down side, who knows this, how to educate user that are just joined for the game and do not have clue on this topic.

This how i understand it at this point, only diving deeper in this matter since the last two weeks. So disclaimer: i do not have all the knowledge about this, also a learning journey for me 🤣

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(Edited)

HBD is likely sold, if not in the account.

Or HBD can be converted to hive.

Regardless of the fact HBD is not counted for the reason you already stated.

Also I like to point out that there will always be borderline case and that is not the intent to identify.

The point is if someone's KE is 2 and someone's KE is 20, there is a difference in their hive etiquette. And the difference is NOT in number but in long term investment mindset. That is what I am after @saydie

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