Here's the first update to the 500 DEC Challenge! So the first day of the season was focused on increasing my MMR as high as possible. My plan was to get out as fast as possible from the bronze league and get enough MMR to start farming silver.

My Cards (worth 1k power)

Delegated

These cards are from my main account. They were delegated when I first created the account a month ago and were part of the initial 1140 power.

Owned Cards

The remainder of the 1140 power comes from these cards.

Rentals

Cost of Rental: 128 DEC

Sniping these on @peakmonsters really makes a difference. For example, the Djinn Oshannus is currently going for 2x the price I got it for, but I was able to get it because it's a lot faster renting on peakmonsters.com than it is on the marketplace.

P.S. if your DEC doesn't get subtracted when you click rent, it means you didn't get the card. Just refresh and try again.
P.P.S. just rent one card a time. I have the highest success doing this.

Strategy

My win rate with just the water deck was over 90%.
The Djinn Oshannus + Venari Wavesmith is amazing in Bronze. You just put him as your real tank with a few meat shields in front and you're good to go.
The Coral Wreath was actually pretty strong. Never underestimate magic with sneak attack.
Bring in the Creeping Ooze as often as you can to take advantage of the slow. Going first gives you the edge.
I rented the Sea Genie and the Prismatic Energy later on because I wanted to reach bronze 1, and the cards rented should have some purpose. Matches were harder to win in the Bronze 1 Tier because I only focused on building a water deck, and the game somewhat knew that and excluded water a number of times.
With this strategy, climbing up is as easy as 1,2, Djinn.

Sample Battle #1

Sample Battle #2

Results of Day 1

DEC: 601.947 (UP 20.39%)
ECR: 63.46%

Final Rating:

Day 1 Verdict

Things started well today, and though I was busy with real life things, I managed to play a bit. To those that are following my challenge, you are what pushes me to stick with this challenge. The curiosity within me can only go so far in terms of motivation and I am glad I am sharing this with the community.

Tomorrow I will not be playing with this account. Instead I will be letting the ECR recover and go at it again on Day 3! This time I expect to earn more because I will be fighting in silver and above! Stay tuned for the next update!

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If you want to create a new account, feel free to use my referral link below! I'd be happy to delegate some cards to help you get started.
https://splinterlands.com?ref=pogier