Hello Splinterlands summoners and Happy Splinterlands Thanksgiving! There is a lot to be thankful for this year. We see our game experiencing a renewed sense of resurgence after the Chaos Legion era. In previous years, there were a lot of negativity because of inflation, decreasing asset values and delays in the land game play. That has changed this year as the Splinterlands team implemented updates to our game starting with the new set, Conclave Arcana. Which is why my thanksgiving is to the Splinterlands team! Here are the notable game updates this year.

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Conclave Arcana Set

Conclave Arcana replaced the Chaos Legion set in the Modern Mode. It introduced a new pack system like a Starter, Standard, Alchemy and Legendary packs. The new set also introduced the Bloodline and Archon system rebranding the summoners. Archons can now summon not only their elements but their race as well. Archons also provide buffs to their race. This bloodline mechanic opens up new strategies and synergies that were not available in previous sets.

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New Black Foils and Arcane Versions

Conclave Arcana set included new foil variants aside from gold foils. The Black and Arcane versions are ultra rare versions that already come at maxed levels. Chances to obtaining the Black Foil and Black Foil Arcane can be increased by using Midnight Potions produced by land owners.

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Tutorial Campaign and Frontier Mode

The Campaign or Missions is an onboarding mode for new players. It teaches the basics of Splinterlands while rewarding the players with usable cards. Later on, the players can start in the Frontier Mode and earn more cards that can also be used in Modern Mode. For this reason, even veteran players enjoy the Frontier Mode since it offers a balanced playing field. In the Frontier, strategy more than depth of cards win the game. The Frontier cards can also be traded in the market making it another earning opportunity to players.

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Survival Mode

For players who own a lot of cards that they don't use, Survival Mode is something to be thankful for. It gave the cards utility in Survival Mode since it allows all cards from any set to be used similar to Wild Mode. There is no energy system in Survival but when a card gets defeated it goes on cooldown and cannot be used for a certain amount of time.

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New Reward Cards and Unbinding Scrolls

The new reward cards feature forty three new cards. They can be earned by buying from the reward shop and league advancement. Regular foil reward cards are soulbound while gold foils can already be traded or transferred. To unbind regular foils, a new item called unbinding scrolls are needed. They can be obtained from chests, crafted by land owners or bought from the market providing another DEC sink.

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New Rulesets

Splinterlands team continue to introduce new rulesets in the game like Dragon Breath or No Pain, no gain. This introduces more variety in Splinterlands battles and makes every battle unique.

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Mobile Game Improvements

The mobile game was temporarily turned off but was later reinstated with a smoother and easy to use UI. It's easier to play Splinterlands on mobile now as it became more mobile friendly.

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Update to Land

Earlier in the year, Land 1.75 was implemented introducing new resources like wood, iron, stone aside from grain. Later on, new land cards were announced giving land owners the ability to craft cards. It also introduced a new resource called Cinder which can be generated by burning non soulbound cards providing a deflationary mechanic to older cards.

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Final Thoughts

The updates has made our game appealing to new users especially the Frontier Mode. New players find an easy entry to Splinterlands with the combination of tutorial while earning game asset rewards in the form of cards. At the same time, veteran players appreciate more diverse gameplay experience with the new rulesets and modes (Frontier and Survival). The new cards and changing meta introduce balance to the game. Land owners too have something to be thankful for because of the updates on the land gameplay. Land can now produce tradable items like midnight potions and soon will even be able to craft cards. All these changes are thanks to the Splinterlands team who pulled through this year. I'm excited for the what the team brings up next year!