SplinterlandsX (eXperiment): I Finally Got Lucky

This is the next installment in my experiment in building a Splinterlands account from scratch without additional monetary investment after the initial Spellbook purchase. I am chronicling my journey so see if this is a viable activity and, if so, how long will it take to reach that level (I'm shooting for SILVER...after that, we'll see).

Brief History

In lieu of all of the recent changes in Splinterlands gameplay, a few weeks ago, I started an experiment to see if a new player could build a viable account without any monetary investment (besides the Spellbook, of course). I created a brand new account for my wife and started playing it (you can read the previous installment in this series HERE). Initially, I don't expect this account to make much progress, so I will work on creating a couple of posts per season. If things begin to get interesting, frequency should increase.

When I initially created this account, I was several days into a season. Even though I was playing this account with a bot, I was unable to accumulate enough points to earn a season chest at the end of that season. I wanted to see if it was possible to earn a chest with a bare minimum account that only contained a few cards that could be purchased with the original 3000 credits and starter cards. However, during my first full season, I was able to earn a single season chest with the few cards this account currently owns. It would have been nice to obtain a new card with that chest, but hey, SPS is progress.

I also began entering card giveaways to see if I could increase the collection before the season ended. Unfortunately, in the last season, I did not get to enter as many giveaways as I would have hoped and was unable to win any additional cards for this account since the season began. Since this is be best way for me to acquire new cards at this point, hopefully I will be able to get into a more consistent routine and increase my entries as time goes on.

Current Status

I finally got lucky!!! Oh, get your head out of the gutter...

My efforts to enter giveaways finally paid off. I won not one, but two new cards to add to this collection.

First, I want to thank @sentipl (whose most recent giveaway can be found HERE) for Silent Sha-Vi:

Since this was one of the cards I purchased in with my original 3000 credits, I now have two of these. So, I'll pose a question to you...should I try to sell this card and buy something else or try to rent it out to bring in additional funds to grow the account (and bring it back if I am close to reaching BRONZE I level again)?

I would also like to thank @kryptodenno (whose most recent giveaway can be found HERE) for Elven Defender:

This card is new to this collection. It's nice to be able to add cards, even if they are low level. You have to start somewhere. I'm still looking to win my first reward card, though.

With the delegation by @oadissin expiring, I am back down to BRONZE II level. However, I have added a third Season Chest for this season with the possibility of earning another in the final 4 days of the season.

Once again, thank you to @oadissin for the boost that led to those extra chests. Don't forget to check out @oadissin's giveaway where you can pick from several Chaos cards to be delegated to your account. There are several higher level cards (for me, anything above level 1 is higher) and even some GFs you can choose from. You can check out the most recent post by going to:

Contest // Chaos Legion cards Delegation // Twice Weekly #48

AMA (Ask Me Anything)

In my first post, I stated:

If you have any suggestions on how a new player can progress without having to invest any outside influx of capital, I'd love to hear it. Also, if you are a new player that has questions about anything I am doing with this account (or anything else, for that matter), leave me a comment...

With this is mind, I received comments from a couple of people in my last post that I should probably address.

@mypathtofire asked,

"so the answer to your thesis is basically, without investing and buying some cards, you cant do anything in splinterlands?"

and

"I was considering to setup a bot account to play for fun, but I guess it is better to just rent the cards out. Not sure which is the higher return?"

In response to your first question, I would have to say the jury is still out. While the going is extremely slow right now, I am making baby strides (even if it comes with some help from other people). The goal is not to build the account completely on my own efforts. It is to build the account without investing any money. At this point, the eXperiment continues.

When it comes to knowing whether renting or using a bot will provide higher returns, I think that would vary based on your collection. Since I only have extremely low cost cards, I don't think I would make much renting at this point. I'll take my chances with the bot. You'll have to evaluate that for yourself. Maybe do your own experiment where you rent your cards one season and use a bot the next to see which provides the best returns.

Also @darmst5339 provided some advice that other new players might benefit from,

Since it is a new account, I would suggest using any earnings to start covering the ghost standard cards so that the penalty for using them is lower and you earn more. The payout from your post would probably cover one or two of them so far. Review your prior matches and pick ones the bot uses most frequently

Buying Starter (ghost) cards is where I started with my original 3000 credits. I was planning on investing my Hive Rewards from these posts in new cards, but I had not considered whether I had enough yet. I'll have to evaluate what I have earned and what I can afford. I think you are right in suggesting I purchase more cards as quickly as possible to increase my CP so I can progress faster.

Also, I have already begin to look at the cards that the bot is using. I have found that information to be very valuable. Thanks for the suggestions.

What's Next

I will have to do some calculations to see if I have enough Hive Rewards to purchase any additional cards. Also, I need to decide if I am going to sell my second Silent Sha-Vi to apply toward new cards, as well.

As always, I have set the entire Hive Rewards for this post to go to my wife's account. Also, the rewards from my previous post (1.267 Hive Rewards) as well as the additional tokens a few people contributed towards it (BBT, CTP, and PIZZA) were also forwarded to my wife's account and will be used to build toward purchasing additional cards when enough has accumulated.

I will try to continue with my plan to be a little more diligent in joining in giveaways, as well. Hopefully, I will continue to have luck in this endeavor.

Only time will tell where we go from here...

If you missed any of the previous volumes of this series, you can find a link here:

• SplinterlandsX (eXperiment): Mid-season update of second full season - A surprise boost
• SplinterlandsX (eXperiment): The First Full Season - Results from the first full season
• SplinterlandsX (eXperiment): The Experiment Continues - The first update
• Starting Over - An Experiment - Setting up the experiment