~ New Players Corner - Building A Bronze Deck & Acquiring Assets ~

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~ New Players Corner – Building A Bronze Deck ~

Welcome fellow Splinterlanders! I’m going to be creating a series of posts for newer players that focuses primarily on issues surrounding the entry of the game and common issues I’ve observed.

The biggest and most important lesson I learned when I entered Splinterlands was to not get discouraged when I lost to someone with a much higher CP (Collection Power) than I had. It was disheartening at the beginning to feel as though I had no chance to play a meaningful match where my card choice had a direct impact on the gameplay outcome. Have you ever heard the adage “you have to crawl before you walk”? I feel it is very relevant in this context. For those of you who wish to make a commitment to this game and enjoy it for many years to come there is a lot to learn before you can destroy the leaderboards!

If you read to the end of post and comment with your IGN (in game name) I will be selecting a winner for a 2500 CP (collection power) delegation to help you progress through Bronze! To enter for a chance to win leave your IGN, how long you have been playing, and if there is anything you would like to discuss in my next installment of New Players Corner.

Today’s topic is how to build a bronze deck and what you should be focusing on early. This is applicable to gameplay and not as an investment strategy (this is NOT FINANCIAL ADVICE). I can only tell you what worked for me and to please apply a strategy that works for you after doing your own research.

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Building A Bronze Deck:

The starter cards provided in Chaos Legion are relatively strong and prices at the time of this post are quite affordable. If you were not aware there is a mechanism by which you can level up cards to increase their stats, utility, and power in order to advance in the ranks! Many times I have struggled internally on whether I should just use the starter level 1 card or buy my own and level it up. This brings me to my first point:

  1. At low ratings (Novice/Bronze) pick two splinters you like and build around that! Don’t overextend yourself trying to build a deck with every single splinter. You will even see that players at higher ratings tend to focus on 2-3 decks/splinters and will rent out their unused card assets for recurring DEC income.

  2. A card purchased is an asset gained! If you purchase several cards with the intent to level them up your money has NOT been wasted. Your cards value will fluctuate with the market but you OWN it, it is your asset and has value. Even if you decide at a later time you no longer need that card you can resell it on the market for a potential gain or at a loss. This is a very good reason you should make it a point to be intimately aware of current price action and keep an eye on what the market is doing.

  3. The cards you play with are deflationary assets. Every time cards are combined there are less and less of them available. Traditionally the price of deflationary assets rises over time. This means that holding your cards over the long term can potentially provide you a higher return on your investment!

Start Small! Don’t rush out and buy expensive cards if you can’t pinpoint exactly how they are going to fit into your deck. Some cards have amazing utility but don’t become essential until higher brackets. If you have already done this don’t fret! As you progress in your journey you will discover more strategies and as you level up your deck your cards will gain added utility. So, all is not lost.

  1. Once you have picked the splinters which appeal to you, I would HIGHLY recommend investing in a level 2 summoner for your selected splinter. This will allow you to play higher level monsters (commons, rare, epic). Even if you don’t have any rare or epic cards you will notice even the common cards gain increased attributes relatively early and will help you progress through the Bronze tier.
  2. I’d like to offer a real-life example on how I was able to help my 10 yr. old son progress from novice to Bronze 1 in his first season of play. Obviously, he had a little help. I showed him the ropes and did quite a bit of one-on-one time with him. After a little instruction and explanation, I turned him loose and he was perfectly content to win some and lose some, but he mostly maintained a static rating. When I explained to him the DEC rewards system and the rating requirements, he became more serious about wanting to win. He enjoyed the water splinter and so I delegated him level 3 common cards (average cost of about $1 USD), and a level 2 water summoner (Kelya Frendul with a rough estimate of $20 USD). I also provided him with a pivotal card with which to build around, a Djinn Oshannus (approx. $9.60 at the time of this post). With just this little bit of help and some instruction and research he was able to advance to Bronze 1 in approx. 8 days. The approximate dollar value of assets required to make this was under $50 USD.
  3. His standard setup would look like this:

Summoner:

kelya-not-backwards-for-some-reason.PNG

Positions 1 through 4:
Positions1-4.PNG

The basic strategy here is to put a fast tank up front. This is followed with a high health monster capable of attacking from the second position (in this case the opportunity strike) but this position is typically filled with a monster with the "Reach" ability. A Healer in the middle provides tank support for longevity and finally a fast flying monster capable of attacking from the back row is added. You’ll notice that the Pelacor Bandit is a rewards card and is currently .05 USD per BCX.

Pack Purchases:
Purchasing packs is a viable strategy if you have a modest budget with which to work. The purchasing of packs will not assist you in targeting the specific splinters you are focusing on in order to advance. I will not sit here and deny that opening packs is fun, and if you are new I would highly recommend you open a couple. There is a gamble associated with opening the packs, you are only guaranteed 4 common cards and 1 rare per pack. You could hit the jackpot and pull out a gold foil legendary card, or you could get 4 commons that don't line up with your splinter and a rare that is less than stellar. At the time of this post it is generally accepted among the community that direct purchases outweigh potential rewards of pack purchases when attempting to directly increase the effectiveness of a deck. Below you can find a chart which depicts the average Chaos Legion pack value at the time of this post (source splintercards.com).

EST-PACK-VALUE-1-2-22.PNG

Renting:
The rental market can provide you key cards you may be missing in order to build a strong starter deck for the Bronze league. I would caution against renting entire decks or using the rental market as your one-stop-shop for picking up collection power. However, if you have achieved the rating required for advancement and are only lacking collection power to get you over the hill then it is a viable short-term option. I cannot provide you financial advice, what I can say is that my goal walking into Splinterlands was to be rewarded for my time and monetary investment. Rental fees are an additional overhead expense I did not wish to incur. I found it much more satisfying to build my own deck via purchases. Once purchased, you own the asset in perpetuity and once leveled may earn YOU a passive income on the rental market once you have advanced your deck.

Last But Not Least:
There are resources out there to help you! The Splinterlands community is amazing. The generosity of active members has astounded me over my time here. Don’t be afraid to ask for help. If you are struggling there are mechanisms that are native to the game which can be leveraged to help. If you are short a bit of power for the next tier there are active discords, guilds, streamers, and content creators which do hundreds of giveaways and delegations per year. Don’t get discourage, get your grind on, and become an active member of this amazing community. The rating will come!

Warmest Regards,
Phoenix

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7 comments
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Hello Phoenix!
Again a good read from your side!
At the moment I have a little motivation hole but I'm trying everyday. Guides like your's help me to get motivated and try stuff!

I'm playing since December 21 and my first Season was pretty good! If I've had the power at this time, I would have been in Bronze 1.
At the moment I feel like a playball in Bronze 3/2. I have the feeling that every opponent is reading me 24/7 even when I change Summoners on every Match.

What I would like you to Discuss in next installments is "Budget" Card picks for every Splinter and something like "Standart Cardsetups" in Bronze. What I mean with Setups is:
On wich position to put Meatshields and in wich Situation. Standart Strategies you use, if this are existent.

Maybe it helps somebody else where we are at Strategy already!
I was so angry because I often lost to Sneak so I took the Death Splinter when I expected Red.
Just put the "Cursed Windeku" to the last position and see them cry :).

Thank you for helping!

IGN:
@h3llrais3r

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Hi there h3llrais3r!

I understand the frustration! I often feel like I'm being read like a book when it comes to standard match setups. Honestly, if you spam a single setup too often its very easy for an opponent to counter you. If you are focusing on 1 or 2 splinters you can try different approaches within the same splinter as well. For instance if you were to focus on a sneak setup with one match, a magic setup the next match, and a snipe + ranged setup the next it would be much more difficult to anticipate what you are going to be doing. Thank you for your suggestion on the next topic!

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Hey @phoenixd68, I really appreciated this post. I'm going to post a link to article in my guild's discord to help the newer players out who are having a rough time. Cheers. !PIZZA

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Thanks Allani545 :) appreciate it. I'm going to be doing about 1 of these a week if time permits. Taking recommendations from new player comments on what they would like to talk about.

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