Starting from ZERO

So... I went ahead and did it. I've zero'ed my account and I've decided to go from scratch and document my progress. My account never had much to begin with, but I have been playing the game for a few months now, and during this time I did have the opportunity to experience a few lucky pulls and also of making the mistake of not thinking long-term when it comes to the game as an invesment. Resetting my account means precisely a new start and this time I will be playing strategically and thinking long-term, as I should have done from the start.

Back to Zero

I remember when I first joined the game I signed up with a referral and because of doing that I received a free card from the Untamed edition set. I think it was the Phantasm, not really sure anymore. It wasn't much, but it was at least something. This time, and after all the changes the game has suffered since then, I guess I am in the same position of a new player that comes into the game after just purchasing the Summoner Book.

Initial $20 Investment

Now, since the changes to Bronze III and mostly due to the fact one now receives Credits instead of DEC as a reward from both chests and end of season rewards, and one does NOT receive DEC per won matches, it becomes increasingly obvious the way to go is to make another investment on top of the $10 that are the cost of the Summoner Book, in order to try and build up a Collection Power of 1000 and thus be able to access Bronze II to at least begin getting the sweet DEC rewards per won match, and consequently a true shot at the play-to-earn experience.

This in mind, I went ahead and converted $20 of that useless thing we know as Fiat money and turned it into roughly 2,300 DEC. I've then hopped in the market and made a few targeted purchases. For now only cards from the Reward set currently in place; they are at the moment of this writing the ones that offer the best value in terms of Collection Power, considering the somewhat steep prices of other editions.

These are the cards I've purchased so far. I went for the epics and I got a couple golden foil Pelacor Deceiver, but as you can see I've also picked up a normal foil one that's already levelled up to 3. I did this because I think this card was very cheap at the moment I was purchasing and I felt the golden foils could be a great flip in a couple of months time when the current set goes out of print. But the normal foil I'm going to keep levelling up and will stay on my deck for a long long time.

Unfortunately, I was left with only 80 DEC after the buys, and my Collection Power is at 850 with them. I'm therefore missing 150 Collection Power to be able to access Bronze II without relying on anything else other than my collection. To solve this problem, I've rented a Soulstorm for 20 days at the price of 50 DEC, and I am therefore left with 30 DEC in my account.

ROADMAP for the bumpy road ahead:

I'm thinking I need to self impose some rules in order to not repeat some mistakes from the past. Ladies and gentlemen, I greet with you the boring fine-print:

1. I am disallowed from selling any cards on the market until I at least reach a Collection Power that will allow me access to Silver III without the need to resort to rentals
2. As an exception to the rule above, if an opportunity presents on the market that allows me to sell a card and then purchase another at a lower price BUT with the same Collection Power OR higher, then I will be allowed to sell a given card. However, all DEC obtained from said purchase MUST be converted back into Collection Power during the course of the same season.
3. Collection Power can be increased by any means possible, as long as said means does not conflict with the Terms of Service of the game.

That's it. Simple rules. But you have no idea how tempting it is to sell a Legendary card when you get one from a pack if you don't really have the habit of playing its class, or when its value hits three figure numbers. These rules are here to ensure we're going to think long-term.

Now, to the GRIND!

That's right. Not much to do more now than to start pressing that BATTLE button and get to grinding. Hopefully, with a bit of luck I will be able to fill-in that 150 Collection Power by the end of season with the rewards. Meanwhile, I will have to think if I want to rent my way up to Silver for better rewards until I build up my collection to be that powerful, or if I just stick to Bronze and get flooded with Credits and little more limited rewards.

My presentation on HIVE: https://ecency.com/introduceyourself/@sp3ktraline/print-hello-world
I am also on noise.cash: https://noise.cash/u/sp3ktraline
If you are not on Splinterlands yet, you can join using this link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=sp3ktraline