Hey Splinterfans! With the issue regarding bots slowly being fixed, a lot of new players are finding it harder to earn DEC. As collateral damage to the ranked battle reward updates, bronze players were the ones hit the most. Have you noticed that bronze players aren't earning as much as they used to be. In addition, have you noticed that over time you would earn less and less DEC as you played? This is because of the Energy Capture Rate [ECR] system currently in place. This is to prevent people from abusing the game and flooding the market with a lot of DEC. This is actually a wonderful system, but for new players, this system coupled with the lower DEC rewards is slightly problematic in the play to earn aspect. This leads us to our main problem.

The Problem

For newer players, no matter how much they play, the amount spent to earn even a few DEC isn't worth it. It gets even worse because of the ECR mechanism. There isn't enough rewards to incentivize new players to play more to earn more. Before the balance patch on the ranked battle rewards, bronze players could earn DEC in the 10s place, without investing in collection power. Now if you don't want to obtain collection power, your earnings are cut to 3-5 DEC per game. At least, these are the more common complaints I've seen about the new system. But there's actually a really simple fix for that.

The Problem isn't a Problem

You see, the new ranked battle reward changes are there to protect you, as a newcomer to the game. How you ask? It is there to incentivize you to play the game beyond just farming. It encourages you to test new strategies and build up your own deck. It encourages you literally play to earn.

But what about the bot issue? Bot accounts don't normally have the required collection power to enter higher leagues. The amount of DEC that they used to get from the daily DEC pool is now significantly less. Let's face it, if Bots are your problem, then you're going to have a problem with real players.

The Solutions

Treat Bronze League as a Training Ground
With all the bots in the bronze league, they are actually the perfect opponents for you to understand the game. You can take your time and learn the strategies. Once you can go on a winning streak in bronze, you know you're ready for the next challenge. The bots aren't worth your time anymore and are essentially free wins at this point.

Climb the Ranks
Once you've got a handle on all the basics you can start renting to climb the ranks. Start focusing on building your decks. I talked about it a bit on my last article: 5 Things I Wish I Knew When I First Started Playing Splinterlands

In that article, I discussed a few points on how to go about building your deck. Remember, focus on decks, not cards. You're after synergy and maximizing the card levels based on the league you're in. But how do you even begin to build your own deck without the money? Answer:

You Rent!
If you want to earn like this, you have to learn how to utilize the rental market.

This isn't even my max earnings possible as I am still only midway into Silver II.

For 286.532 DEC I was able to rent all the way to Silver 2. Considering that we have less than 4 days left until the season is over, the price I got wasn't too bad. I did 2 daily quests and profited 300 DEC. On a separate account, I was in gold 3 and profited around 800 DEC. You can see that the benefits of renting in higher ranks is clearly shown. It cost me more to rent to get there but by playing smart, it is worth it.

But you can do better than me! How?

You Rent Smart
Rent the Deck You Need
Log on to PeakMonsters Rental, and search for the cards you want using the filter tab. I like using @peakmonsters because it is so convenient and renting is so much easier since I use the favorite tab.

Under Only Favorites, you can easily click what you want to rent. Just add to cart, pay, then go on your merry way. It's as simple as that.

I tend to rent based on the current Daily Quest. That way, I hit two birds with one stone!

Rent the Power You Need

Now that you have your decks, check out how much power you still need to get to the desired league. Log on to PeakMonsters Rental, and look for the CP per DEC/day tab. Click on it so it starts to get sorted so you get the best deals. This is how you rent if you want to look for the best DEC to Power ratio.

My favorite part about randomly buying the cards just for the power is I get to see some new cards I've never played with before. On another account as I was getting enough cards to reach Gold 3, I found this!

For 34650, it only cost me 69 DEC. That's pretty awesome in my book! Now I just need to rent a good dragon summoner so I can play with him in gold 3!

Remember, collection power doesn't have to come only from Gold Foil Cards. It just let peakmonster.com do all the sorting for you. You just need to focus on the game.

Conclusion

Get used to the game as fast as possible and don't be afraid to rent new cards. Use those cards to climb even higher. Don't try to overextend yourself though. Slowly build your knowledge on the game and the earnings will follow. Don't be afraid to try out everything the game has to offer and let peakmonsters.com make your renting process hassle free.

P.S. I was not paid by peakmonsters.com to make this article. I just believe that a good site like peakmonsters.com deserves

Bonus

Proof of the beauty of rental. This was in Gold 3 so you can imagine how it is in higher leagues.