Ruffling My Splinterlands' Feathers

They say the first thing in addressing a problem is recognizing that there a problem. I have a problem, and that is that I am hooked on playing SPLINTERLANDS. There, I said it so let the healing process begin.

First off, I wish I had kept a well documented journal of my trek into the SPLINTERLANDS, so that other who chose to follow would have an easier time of it. The SPLINTERLANDS is a vast game that will take time to learn and understand, but with some guidance and patience, the journey into this game-land will be fun and rewarding.

The more I learn about myself, I do realize I have an addictive nature, especially when it comes to puzzles and challenges. The SPLINTERLANDS provides a bit of both, which is most likely what has triggered my new found fascination with playing this game.

I have never played any type of card game until now. I always saw kids playing these games with real decks and cards, and never really understood their fascination with playing these games until now. My perspective to playing SPLINTERLANDS comes from a complete novice, but since I was kindly helped along by @slobberchops I figured I would return the favor by posting what I learn along the way.

Getting started is free, and when you login and join, your account is granted a "Free" playing setting of cards that will allow you to play against others. These cards are not yours but belong to the game, yet when playing, if you win, the winnings of Dark crystals (DEC), which is the (crypto)-currency of the SPLINTERLANDS are yours, and if you lose you lose nothing but game time.

While playing SPLINTERLANDS you are also given an occasional quest to complete that is rewarded with a new playing card when completed. The new playing card prize for completing the quest is yours to keep, trade, sell or lease. How cool is that! At this point I am keeping all of mine, and even acquiring some.

As you start your journey battling other SPLINTERLANDS' card holders, it is important to note that there are 6 player levels called Leagues starting with Novice and ending with the Champion level. You must start at Novice and battle your way up to Champion's League, which most definitely will not be easy, as I have learned. The higher league you reach, the more rewards and quests you unlock.

When you click on the "Battle Sword" you will notice a timer clock on the Battling page. This is important because it lets you know how much time before the SPLINTERLANDS "Season" ends, and the next one starts. When the season ends, everyone is dropped down to a lower league based on their ratings, having to "battle" their way back up in rank. This is where help and guidance can go a long way for those that are new to this game and are finding it difficult to break into the higher leagues.

This is where keeping a journal would have been ideal in keeping exact track of what I did at what particular point in the game. Luckily my journey into the SPLINTERLANDS is only about one and a half months old, so still pretty new. I do have 845 battles with 404 wins to show for it, which I think is decent for a rookie.

As I battled my way out of Novice League, which only has one tier, I stepped into the 3 tiered Bronze level. Then the battles began to get seriously harder as I tried to climb the Silver League tiers. It was around this time that @slobberchops stepped in a graciously donated a very important playing card to my deck. Slobberchops sent over a Furious Chicken, which at first look doesn't seem all that powerful or important.

The Furious Chicken can currently be had for about $0.06 U.S. Cents or 63.5 Dark Crystals (DEC) or 0.4 STEEM. The more powerful a playing card, the more Mana it has. The Level 1 Furious Chicken has 0 Mana, 0 Attack, 0 Armor, and the lowest rating of Speed and Health of 1 each, so why is this weak sounding card powerful, important and worth anything at all?

Knowing what I now know, I would have easily spent the DEC or STEEM needed to have one in my arsenal from the beginning. The FURIOUS CHICKEN derives its usefulness and power from actually using up 0 Mana. When battling, each battle has a set of varying battle rules and Mana amount allowed, with a max of 7 seven cards allowed to battle. 1 slot is for the Summoner card and the other 6 are for the actual battling cards "summoned" by that particular Summoner card chosen. Sometimes, when there is a battle with a low Mana requirement of say 13, then you will definitely not be filling up all six empty battle slots. A Summoner in its slot takes 3 Mana, leaving 10 left. This is easily used up by 2 or 3 playing cards, leaving several empty slots where the Furious Chicken with 0 Mana can come into play.

The Furious Chicken serves as a distraction tool to buy "time" or an extra battle round. The level 1 Furious Chicken works great in the Bronze and early Silver Leagues as what I think of as a distraction tool. When placed properly, the Furious Chicken will take the hit first or buy you an extra battle round in order to defeat your opponent, especially when battling another player with the exact same setup and the only winning difference being that Chicken.

So in my book that Furious Chicken is worth the price and is an important piece to level up as you climb the ranks. I have ranked up my Summoners and the Furious Chicken to a Level 3. I recommend doing that to at least one Summoner and at least the Chicken if you want to reach the higher Silver tiers, but more on that in another post.

Thank you @slobberchops for gifting out the knowledge and support!!

Good luck and happy battling in the SPLINTERLANDS!

+++ @streetstyle

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