In my last post on Splinterlands, I was firmly on the fence about the game. The number of hurdles to get started was the main complaint. However, I let my energy recharge, talked with some friends about ways to do things more easily (like renting) and tried again.

I'm not doing terrible! I get to open 24 chests in 6 days!

I even went on a streak and made it into Bronze I for a while:

I definitely need more practice to stay there, though. I also started to see a lot of new cards. Summoners with 3 abilities, etc., so there might be a deck power issue.

I've also been opening Focus Chests, and I finally scored this martyr rat guy that everyone has been beating me with! Can't wait to hit a 20 mana game and pair him with llama/kron.

I still haven't found any gladiators, but I did get a summoner who will let me use them when I find one (Lobb Lowland).

Guild Battle!

I'm really pumped to have joined my Gods Unchained buddies in their Splinterlands guild! I entered Fray 1 to try and keep things simple, and I went 5-2! I'm not 100% sure what the rewards look like or in what ways it helps the guild, but I know winning more than losing is good!

A big thanks to @cautionfun for delegating some staked SPS my way. My multiplier was getting crushed in Bronze I, and even now back in Bronze II, I'm gaining rewards much faster!

And of course, continued thanks to @rckmtl and @cryptoznewb for ongoing tutelage! Happy to be in the guild with everyone.

Gameplay?!

I honestly don't know why I mic'd up and recorded these games. Maybe I was secretly hoping someone would watch and give me tips to improve my game. I dunno. But you can watch me look up abilities live on the wiki because I have no idea what they do. And who would want to miss 'ah ha' moments like when I figure out that speed helps me dodge after having no idea why I won a few games earlier?!

Do you really want to miss that?

I did take the time to edit the vid and remove queue times and other long pauses, so if you want to toss it on 1.5 speed and give me some pointers, I'm all ears!

Conclusion

It is still very much true that the barriers in place to get into this game are going to hurt its adoption; however, now that I'm past them, I'm having fun. I let my energy recharge, rent my bronze deck for about 2 dimes, and then spend the next day or two draining my energy playing games and learning new strategies. My comfort level with Blue and Red are also MUCH higher now, so the color restrictions are less of a buzz kill. Assuming you have the cards, the color restrictions are actually nice: it forces you to play and learn multiple decks. This keeps the game from going stale and also builds your understanding of more of the cards/mechanics.

I've got at least 1 (maybe 2) more tries at it this season based on my energy recharge rate. I could spend DEC to recharge it, but honestly, the current cadence suits me just fine. Looking forward to opening a bunch of chests at the end of the season! I have so few cards that just about any of them are good for my collection!