What a Load of Cock

in Hive Gaming3 years ago

After talking myself up the other day about how awesome I am at Splinterlands and that for the first time ever I made it into Champions League 3 -

I got cocky

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Well, not exactly cocky, but I thought that I would give it a tumble and see if I could make it into C2 - Champion 2 is far more valuable than Champion 3, not because of the DEC that can be earned (my Capture Rate sucks), but because the ending League determines the next season's starting point. While getting into Champions guarantees starting in Diamond, what it doesn't guarantee is a first round win - which means with even a tiny loss, you will suddenly find yourself back in Gold 1 without all those beautifully buffed cards. But, getting into Champion 2 means starting from Diamond 2, giving a whole league tier of wiggle room if falling down into Diamond 3.

This is obviously relevant for all leagues though, so if for example you have a gold-level deck, having to play silver sucks as the card abilities get trimmed and if used to playing up a league, it can be a challenge, plus, you have to struggle through all of the other players who might be quite adept at playing Silver level.

So - guess what.

A few days ago I rolled the DICE (my cards are predominantly DICE cards) in an attempt to climb up into C2 and after getting about 3/4 of the way there, I soon found myself knocked back to D1. Damn. No worries, I will have a rest and pick it up the next night.

So, last night, rested and fresh, I dived back in and an hour later... I found myself half way down Diamond 2!!

Faaaaaaaaaaaack.

I gots smashed. Should have quit while I was ahead. But, I don't want to bloody well start in Gold 2, so I went back in tonight to discover that - nearly all of my rented cards had been cancelled so now I would have to pay the EOS prices, with some not even available in MAX format. Determined to get back into D1,

Rent, I did.

But, it was tough going early on and I was struggling in a bit of a loop but one thing happened that regardless of where I finished, I could treasure. While only recently have I really been paying much attention, as I haven't had to meet them in battle earlier, there are some players who are considered good, and there are some players who are considered exceptional.

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Link to Round

Sorry @jacekw

And thanks to the magic of the blockchain, it will forever be remembered that this season, Taraz batted well above his average (just like with my wife) and took a large scalp for the second time this week as the extreme underdog. The points were low on this as Jacekw has just started playing this season (it ends in less than two days) and is slicing through the field - but still, I was happy with the win.

And fifty minutes later....

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I am done.

So while I was going to only get 18 championship points before, after 3 days, 150 rounds and about 5000 DEC for rentals later, I will now get.... 24 points.

Totally worth it.

Note: Percentagewise and even though it is almost valueless, that is a 33% gain. Score!!!

I am not going to tempt fate and keep playing, so will now hang up my Battle gloves and retire Champion until next season, from where I will start from Diamond again. However, next season everything changes again, because the CHAOS LEGION General Sale goes live on the 17th, which is less than 4 days from now.

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This means that there are going to be a lot more players coming into the game with far higher level decks than they had earlier. This includes me, as I am hoping to max (or come close) a CL deck by buying another 2000+400 packs to go onto my current 1500. This is a massive investment for me but,

You only live once, right?

And if after my death I am up at the pearly gates and they won't let me in because of all the NFTs I bought, I will still have my Splinterlands assets that should be able to buy me through the doors of hell with little trouble. I tend to play the role of Devil's Advocate often enough so;

Better to reign in Hell, than serve in Heaven

Also, these packs will count toward all future airdropped cards, of which three have already been dropped. After buying more packs last night to round up to a factor of 300 to get the drops, I got the bare minimum 5 of each and no golds for my 1500 packs so far, but, everyone else I have talked to got extras. My "pack luck" is incredibly bad and I feel like I am being punished.

If I am hell-bound, I may as well get used to the punishment.

So, after being pretty much back to where I was a few days ago, a little financially lighter and down several hours, I guess I have learned my lesson and will play a little safer....

Who am I kidding - No I won't.

See you next season.

Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]

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I read somewhere that you were guaranteed an airdropped card for every 300 CL packs you've purchased but then on the tool tips and info as I was claiming my airdropped cards it didn't say anything anywhere that anything was guaranteed... so maybe your 5 is still really good luck? It's also most of the way to maxing out both cards.

Ah, you absolutely trounced me yesterday. I was so excited to play you that I actually picked the wrong summoner... but I think you would have destroyed me anyway. You were too smart for my magic heavy shenanigans.

I've been in your exact situation but haven't made it back into Champ III by the end of the timer, so you did really well.

I didn't even think about all the really good decks we'll be facing in 3 days and 18 hours.... um, maybe I should start getting used to Diamond.

Nah, it was 1 per 300. It was in one of the announcements at least. Supposedly, the next drops will require more packs - still, I am okay with it :)

Ah, you absolutely trounced me yesterday.

I am glad you brought this up.
That is all. ;D

I was so excited to play you that I actually picked the wrong summoner... but I think you would have destroyed me anyway. You were too smart for my magic heavy shenanigans.

I get lucky most of the time with "picking the right team" but slowly, I am learning what people are more likely to play. Magic has been heavy for so long, but there are some decent defenses against it now, especially with amplify in the mix.

I've been in your exact situation but haven't made it back into Champ III by the end of the timer, so you did really well.

I am pretty happy to have made it back - but also a bit lucky. I think I got a small run of easier rounds at the end to push me through. There is still 1.5 days left for you ;D

um, maybe I should start getting used to Diamond.

One good thing with all of this is, prices are coming down on buying and on renting. I rented a lot this season t get up there. The most I ever have.

Yeah, I don't actually rent any cards. I've basically been biding my time and saving my DEC for the SPS airdrop and then I'll work towards getting a really strong collection and start playing in the tournaments.

At the moment I'm really just finishing my daily quests and trying to get into Champ III.

At that level, I can't get close to finishing the quests unless they are in my "easy splinters". I had a water quest. It just sat there for days :D

You can just cheat like I do. Split your decks into 2 halves, finish in D1 (60 chests) x 2 and voila.. CH2 rewards :)

I don't do it for the rewards, it is the challenge of playing up there. It is fun!

Speaking of rewards, they are getting quite tasty now.., price-wise.

But you won't be a Champion, eh?

It all sounds far too stressful!

totally worth it.

Like beating jace above like taraz did! totally worth it!

Maybe one day, for now... I prefer idle earning and I don't have max level cards (yet).

Are NFTs cursed by some religious man? 😁 A few days ago, I read a comment that if one has two accounts on HIVE, they will have ill-gotten gain. This sounded me funny.

Why are two accounts bad? wEll, depending how they are getting used of course :)

Wow, that's amazing. I'm in my own silver/gold loop season after season. At some point I might make the leap to rent and play around higher leagues, but I'm having a good enough time with what I have. And darn, I'm always under the cut line for guaranteed airdrops not being willing enough to jump in and buy a large number of packs. Ah well.

(unrelated... lol at not realizing EOS = end of season for a bit)

At the current rent prices (EOS excluded) it is worth renting some cards to level up or, have a bit of fun testing them :)

I had to ask about EOS when I first heard it!

I am aiming for diamond 3 as usual, still thinking from an investor point, i think. I still play, but after I opened 1400 packs on Christmas because I was bored, I tend to stay away from the packs and try to keep them for later.

you got the max levelthe airdrop 2 and 3? I let them only up to level 3 for now, and rent others like level 1. not a lot of benefit from level 3 to 4. what do you think?