Splinterlands 2026: Starting My Journey - First Week in Ranked Battle 'Modern' (Bronze III League)

Humbled..

Quite a harsh realization this week, having forked out for a shiny new Spellbook was very excited about taking on some Ranked 'Modern' battles and attempting to earn some $SPS and GLint. Clearly there was quite a bit of naivety at play, as I was quickly humbled lol.

In hindsight rocking up to Modern Ranked battle with a set of Foundation Cards, and a light sprinkling of Conclave Arcana set cards only, was always going to be a big ask, but I think if nothing else it was a good fact finding mission to enable me to work out what cards I need to think about adding to my Collection to help me actually be competitive and win more.

First Victory.. woohoo!

Did not think I would be adding this section to this post, as mentioned I was quite heavily humbled in 'Modern'.. but then the clouds parted (or the battle matching algorithm took pity on me) and I'll take it because a win is a win ha!!

It was a high Mana match, so my heart immediately sank as I was expecting a full load out of Water Splinter cards from my opponent with high magic damage which would alpha me right off the park.. but then then I noticed the magic reflect rule and dared to hope, as Magic no longer held an advantage!

The strategy was simple, go for max health, max damage, with everything I had at my disposal, basically throw everything at it including the kitchen sink lol!

• Fenmoor Wood Troll played to use the 'Blind' ability, and partial meat shield
• Kicking Roc & Husk The Hunter both played for damage (praying my opponent had no one with 'Sneak')
• Everything else, best I had at hand for meat shield lol

• Once I saw the opponents Ulundin Overseer & Endless Ape didn't have much hope, that's a serious meat shield but hey ho, fingers crossed.

• Opponent shot themselves in the foot really, by the time we reached round 2 both of their 'magic' units had been wiped off the board but mostly due to the 'magic reflect' rule. After that point it was really about who could do the most damage and stay standing!

• Husk of the Hunter was the real asset in this battle here, using it's 'sneak' ability it stripped the damage off my opponent, and after that the match was all but over #legend

Full Battle: https://splinterlands.com/battle/sl_b3e1b548ba068730e85b2d6da6f155a6

Winnings!

Ok ok, nobody got insanely rich during this battle, but that wasn't really the point, the victory was far sweeter than any potential $SPS & Glint. That being said, some $SPS was won, and I then went on to stake it to give myself a bit of incentive to keep plugging away! :)

Future Plans?

As mentioned before bashing your head against Modern Ranked Battle with a meagre collection of cards isn't clever. Next week I plan to make a few shrewd purchases of cheap cards to bolster out my collection, and also size up a few rentals, most likely summoners and pick a specific strategy to push in one of the Splinter elements.. watch this space!