Splinterlands: meta vs market - hidden beneath mountains of salt!?

Greetings fellow splinterlanders and blockchainers of Hive!

You landed - hopefully safely!
This is 2. post in creeptor`s meta vs market review series.
We will have a look at 1 (underpriced?) card per post - short and sweet.
1.Pros and cons when it comes to battling (modern league) + battle review.
2.Comparable cards prices vs chosen card price.

I have been creeping over Splinterlands battlefield and SL card market simultaneously and I happened to stumble upon ... a lot of salt. But I could swear there was something hidden beneath. Just laying there, more or less dormant ... forgotten?

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It`s bear market, girls and guys.
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Are there bulls in the age of bear?
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NAH.
There are bears (to be bullish about).

Arkemis the bear is a bear. We established that.🤣
He is also THE BEAR. 😎 Coming and going as he sees fit.
Unstoppable.😱
Feared. 😩
Smart ones ... kinda ... let him be. He visits - too often. Sometimes he stays - for too long. But its possible to befriend him. In a way. He is still a beast ... careful.🙃
You say
more?
I say
check out Splinterlands lore!

Lets dive into it.

• 12♥️ at max level, more than decent tank if used right. (+)
• Protect, his first ability, is always useful, especially game-breaking in lower leagues. (+)
• Halving + Forcefield are both good defensive options, especially Forcefield - making 5+ attacks into 1 - becomes really important in higher leagues. Even though those two abilities tend to work in disjuncture, both can still be clutch. (+)
• Must have in high mana matches! (+)
• Neutral = more useful.
• He thrives in melee dominated rulesets: (+)

• Oh, btw ... he is common too. 😜

Rise of the commons? More like BEAR TIME!

On the other hand ...

• 4⚔️, his damage is lacking, especially before he gets enraged. (—)
• He is not a snail ... but then again, he is not a rabbit. Medium "speedish" bear, only decent in normal battle/reverse speed rulesets. (—)
• Expensive as ... 12 mana, it is often hard to find a spot for him. (—)
• He is not very bullish about Splinterlands. (—)

3x DIFFERENT RULESETS, 3X DIFFERENT SPLINTERS ... 3X WIN. (all today)

Try him with Jacek. Enrage + extra speed makes him b(e)arely touchable.

For the market side of things ...

We are looking at total BCX of most printed (all commons have pretty much the same print rate) Chaos Legion main set commons vs BCX of most printed Promo set commons, latter number is lower, even though Arkemis is by far most printed promo common. 😅
And remember he is not in print anymore, while CL commons are still in packs!

Now add Riftwatcher commons to the mix ... Even though their print rate is only around 30% that of Arkemis the bear, realise that`s also their current print rate vs total. When most of RW packs get open, Bear print rate will be slightly lower.

What about the price?

I filtered market by selecting Chaos Legion edition + only commons (CL, CL PROMO + RW in screenshot).
Big surprise is the price of Scavo Hireling (+ some other CL commons hidden behind one or two scrolls up), which must be either too high or I`m missing something. Scarcity, usefulness ... I do not want to repeat myself. 🤗
RW commons prices vs Bear on the other hand seem more balanced, but as mentioned: as more and more RW packs get opened, Arkemis should gain in that front also.
And Vruz? His CL Promo common brother? Arkemis is just better (fight me in comments 🙃), but Vruz is more scarce and strong in his circumstances ... I think price reflects real picture on that one.

Conclusion.

You do you, as always, but I`m stocking up on cards I enjoy playing, cards that win me a lot, cards that should never go out of fashion due to unique kit and I definitely think Arkemis the Bear is one of them.
Is time of the Bear - time to buy the Bear?

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Yours truly, yours creepily - creeptor
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<Screenshots taken from Splinterlands, Peakmonsters and Splintercards.>