A starting player in the new reward system: the first week

I started playing Splinterlands 1 week before the rewards update, so I think I qualify for being a "starting player". Ok, I got like 20 DEC and potions last season. This season is my first, real, complete one. I want to share my first week here, how I went from hopeless to hopeful.

For the context, I played the Elder Scrolls Legends and Gwent, so I'm quite used to generous free building of accounts and in real life I don't like to rent. Waste of money. So I spent a good part of my 4000 credits that goes with the Spellbook to buy 2-3 cards of each splinter in order to get a part of the Rshare for not using all starter cards.

This update is quite important for the future of the game and the influx of new players. So how does it go for real new players? (and not real alt accounts with tons of knowledge and resources behind)

Day 1: Life focus

Not my favorite but well. Starting at Novice with full ECR, I discovered after my first win that I should reach Bronze before getting anything.

Ok, ok, I'm at Bronze, let's get a win! Yes! Let's see the reward!
1 RP 0.002 DEC
Now imagine my face, looking at the focus bar: 1/300... I remember well the table with "Bronze: average Rshare 166" Well well well... that will be a long day...
But I kept grinding anyway. I could get one chest per day before with the daily mission, the devs wouldn't release an update where noobs do far worse, right? So I should get my chest! So win after win, with around 50% of the Rshare due to the starter cards penalty, I got up to 30 RP for a victory, and finally got my chest!

Only to realize I was now at 55% ECR. I knew about ECR as a mechanism against farming and never looked into it as I thought I wouldn't be concerned playing a few games per day. Looking into it I realize at this rate I would earn 1 chest every 2 days, and that doesn't look good. Not good at all. Even more when you get potions most of the time.

Earning of the day: 1 season chest + 1 focus chest (potion) + 0.5 DEC from playing maybe

Day 2: Fire focus

I played a couple games, but either to lose or to earn 5 RP so... I just let go and let the ECR replenish.
At this point I was pretty disappointed. Here I was with a game I can't learn because I can't play much, I can't improve because I can't get rewards, and it just seem one has to invest a lot to bruteforce his way up to get something.

Day 3

I didn't play to let ECR replenish and to reflect on my noobitude.
That's when I saw a post of @namelessnameless starting an alt account (check his posts here, here and here). I honestly didn't received it well at first. "A noob account full of delegated gold foils? How can that be representative of starting players? Arf, these guys in their ivory towers..."
Then two of my neurons might have touched or something "hey... but... what if I do the same?"

Day 4: Earth focus

So I looked for the first time at the renting market. Well, it's quite cheap actually. I rented 3-4 cards (summoner, tank, commons and rares) and honestly I was a bit salty about it. "So, that's how one is supposed to play the game? That's the skill involved? Let's play then, see how skilled I am!"

Cost of the day: 3.6 credits to rent
Earning of the day: 4 season chests + 4 focus chests (137 DEC) + 1.11 DEC from play

Well... It is indeed better. I had at least decent rewards for playing, for a really cheap rent, so I was more confident about the profitability of renting cards.

Day 5

I didn't play to let ERC resplenish
But I had an idea (well, let's say I realized by myself how the game was played). I was at a rating of 817. The Silver League was just at the tip of my fingers... I am far from enough Collection Power, but I can rent it if needed, right?
If renting was needed to progress in this game, then let's rent, heavily!
Plus I have a day off, I could play 1 game per hour at 99% ECR, and only consume it at the end of the day.

Day 6: Earth focus again

I went with an heavier hand on the renting market. I got myself a more complete deck, and even gold foils and legendaries (but cheap! just to check if the rewards were indeed better in Bronze II)
330 RP and 0.2 DEC per win, nice! It makes indeed a difference
As I had enough rating, I rented more to get to Bronze I.
660 RP and 0.4 DEC per win
I had a nice win streak 900, 1200, 1400, 1600 RP for a win. I was far from my first games of the season!

And here I was. A rating of +1000. Do I want to hunt silver chest next season? Yes please! Let's rent something with enough power, anything I don't care, I won't even play with it.
And I'm in Silver III, huzzah!
1100 RP 0.6 DEC per win
I maintained 99% ECR all day and finished at 76%

Cost of the day: 28 DEC of rent
Earning of the day: 30 season chests + 16 focus chests (118 DEC, 4 Commons and potions) + 13 DEC from play

It's weird but I have mixed feelings about it. I'm happy with the rewards of course, but it felt like cheating. And I like to build slowly, I don't have that sense of progression reaching so high (yeah, don't laugh! Silver III is so high!) so fast.

Today Day 7: Life focus again

I'm not comfortable with Life decks, and while it seems good to play 1 every 2 days to make the most of the rent and ECR, these focus chests at 300 RP seem too easy to let go now.
So I just rented enough to put myself in Bronze I (although I have the rating for Silver III), just to get a couple of these easy chests. It wasn't a very good run, but well, 11 focus chests nonetheless, for 18 games played.

Cost of the day: 23 DEC of rent
Earning of the day: 5 seasons chests + 11 focus chests (11 DEC, 1 Common, 1 Rare, 7 damned potions) + 4 DEC from play

That was some unlucky chests...

That's it. While it may seem obvious for most of you (yeah, a noob discovering how Splinterlands works), starting players have to take the jump, and I think some need to see the result before being confident enough to do it themselves. And not by a veteran who knows well the game and market, but by a complete noob like me.
I've read that everywhere, "just rent the cards". But I didn't apply the advice until the face in the wall.

So don't make the same mistakes I did! And you should play at the league of your rating, and just rent if you don't have enough power.

Now there are different points I'd need to take a look at.

• the sustainability of reaching high. Can I afford 30 DEC for the rent, every day, even with non-optimal ECR ?
• and its pendant: how to optimize the management of ECR?
• oh, right, and I have to mentally prepare to complain for next season "silver chests are too difficult to get, better to stay in Bronze" :D

Until then, keep grinding!