SteemMonsters speedrun #2 - from 3400 to top40 with 35 STEEM in the pocket (only 90 battles!) + rental market observation
I decided to repeat my experiment from the previous season:
and the last day of the season try to enter the top50 using only rented cards. I used @pomocnik account for this expreriment.
The main differences in comparison to the previous season:
- I started from 3400 points (reset from Champion III) and not from 0
- I wanted to get to top50 with the smallest number of the battles
- I rented only 2 splinters: Green and Red (I gave up the Blue splinter which I rented last time)
- I wanted to rent the smallest subset of cards and still be competitive in Champion
- I rented Prince Rennyn
- The experiment lasted only about 3 hours
What I achieved
- 45st position on the leaderboard with only 89 battles played (I hit top50 after 83 battles but played a couple more just to be sure that I stay in top50)
- top50 = 10 beta packs (worth about $12)
- champion I = 150 reward cards for season (worth about $10)
- 0 x quest = 0 reward cards ;-) Quest was for the splinters that I didn't have, no luck here
- 7.5k DEC = $7.5
Balance:
- rental costs: $14
- value of rewards: $12 + $10 + $7.5 = $29.5
- result: +$15.5
It could be more if I didn't lose 2 possible quests.
Renting cards was more expensive this time for three reasons:
- more people rent cards, so the best contracts are taken
- the average escrow fee was higher than last time (most part of the total cost was just escrow fees, not a daily fees, but the next day I was breaking the contracts, so I had to pay it fully ;-))
- I rented Prince Rennyn which costs me $3.7 alone ($2.5 escrow fee + $1.2 daily costs, that is a lot, but I wanted this card to minimize the number of played battles)
Cards
I rented only Green and Red splinter + some neutrals + Selenia.
Green:
Actually, I could have given up the Stonesplitter Orc, I rented him during the game due to the fact that in one of the battles the Red splinter was disabled on the Up Close & Personal rules and this card seemed useful.
| Card | Usage |
|---|---|
| Flesh Golem | Taking Sides, Broken Arrows |
| Goblin Sorcerer | Most rules, esp. Back to Basics, Keep Distance, Reverse Speed |
| Minotaur Warrior | Little League |
| Wood Nymph | Most rules |
| Elemental Earth | Most rules |
| Stone Golem | Aim True |
| Stonesplitter Orc | Up Close & Personal |
| Mushroom Seer | Most rules, esp. Keep Distance, Reverse Speed, Fog of War |
| Javelin Thrower | Most rules |
| Magi of the Forest | Most rules, esp. Back To Basics |
| Swamp Thing | Most rules |
| Xander Foxwood | Silenced Summoners |
| Brownie | Most rules |
| Spirit of the Forest | Most rules |
| Prince Rennyn | Most rules |
Red:
For me, the Red splinter is very strong in Champion, just not suitable for some rules (Keep Distance, Fog of War, Reverse Speed).
| Card | Usage |
|---|---|
| Goblin Shaman | Most rules |
| Giant Roc | Most rules, esp Taking Sides, Broken Arrows |
| Kobold Miner | Most rules |
| Fire Beetle | Back to Basics |
| Serpentine Soldier | Most rules |
| Cerberus | Most rules |
| Flame Imp | Most rules |
| Fire Deamon | Most rules |
| Talia Firestorm | Silenced summoners |
| Imp Bowman | Most rules |
| Elemental Phoenix | Most rules |
| Plado Emberstorm | Most rules |
I could limit the number of cards and give up
- Fire Beetle, Imp Bownam, but then I could not play Back to Basics with Red Splinter
- Giant Roc
Neutral:
| Card | Usage |
|---|---|
| Peaceful Giant | Back to Basics |
| Elven Cutthroat | Most rules |
| Centaur | Most rules |
| Highland Archer | Most rules |
| Creeping Ooze | Most rules |
| Cocatrice | Most rules |
| Hobgoblin | Melee Mayhem |
| Prismatic Energy | Rise of Commons, Lost Legendaries |
| Lord Arianthus | Most rules |
I could limit the number of cards and give up
- Hobgoblin - used only for Melee Mayhem and Super Sneak Rule
- Prismatic Energy - used only for Rise of Commons and Lost Legendaries on high mana cap battles
Dragon:
| Card | Usage |
|---|---|
| Selenia Sky | Back to Basics, Keep Distance, Reverse Speed, Fog of War |
Gameplay
Most of the time I played Green splinter with Prince Rennyn summoner (this configuration is strong in Champion).
I also played quite a lot Red splinter + Plado Emberstorm mainly on rules:
- Melee Mayhem
- Super Sneak
- Up Close & Personal
- Rise of Commons (Green without Brownie, Swamp Thing and Spirit of the Forest is not that strong)
- Broken Arrows
- Taking Sides (Green without Cocatrice, Lord Ariantus is not that strong as usual)
Delegation market observation
- more and more people are renting cards
- I managed to rent all the cards I needed, but 6 of them below the maximum level
- escrow fees were higher than the last time
- it is difficult to rent neutral cards and legendary summoners maxed
- at the end of the season, the demand for card rental is certainly greater
Summary
- you can enter champion I, even up to the top 50 without having any own cards, only by renting from the market
- you don't need to rent all splinters, Green splinter is essential, Red splinter is a complement
- the whole experiment brought about $15 profit and lasts 3 hours
- the experiment was done mainly for fun and to see how fast you can get to top50 with only 2 splinters rented and limited time and money
What next?
I'm thinking about two options:
- top10 with only rented cards (2 splinters + neutrals) and one day of play
- top50 with only Green splinter
Fantastic writeup. What this says to me is that rental prices need to go up. Making 100% on your rented cards in 3 hours is bananas!
Next time I will write that I lost $50 during Speedrun to get you to lower your rental prices!
@nealmcspadden please don't do that. Only @jacekw can achieve top 50 Leaderboard in 3 hours. we can't do that. If you are increasing rental fees it is hard to pay. because currently steem and sbd price fall and tournament prizes are not increasing.
Last three months we play same tournament schedule for same prizes. but rental prices are increasing often.
Great write up, very detailed! I think Selenia Sky, Prince Rennyn, and Lord Arianthus are busted. Lord + Healer in general is OP. Earth just takes advantage of it best with Selenia and Prince. How do you beat Lord + Healer with Fire?
I see you have another post with win rates per player and the cards they use. Do you have a script for all players in Champion league? Or just top 100 or top 50 would do. Card usage and win rates. I would bet Prince, Selenia, Lord, combined with Earth have the highest win rate and are by far the most popular.
Thanks in advance. Now off to look at your battlechain. :)
I only managed to beat this on low mana cap with:
Selenia + Lord Arianthus + Fire Beetle + Centaur + ...
or
Talia + Lord Arianthus + Fire Beetle + Centaur + ...
But it only works if you have some luck :) Prince / Selenia + Lord is definitely OP here.
I am going to make a post with usage / winratio of all cards for each league separately (last season).
I agree :)
Very interesting @jacekw but as I was reading it I kept thinking . . . I wonder what cards/splinters they'd use in the lower leagues.
Any chance you could do an experiment going from 0 to Gold I without the legendary summoners and with no higher than level 4 summoners and corresponding cards?
Not a lot of "money" in it for you but it would be nice to see some of this sort of stuff for the lower levels. I would have a go myself but I simply don't have your skill. It takes me all season to get to Gold I. Getting to Gold III is quick but then it's a grind to get to I with Level 3/4s.
Blue and green seem to be the bet splinters in the lower levels but I could be wrong! 😂
I think for Bronze and Silver, Blue splinter with heavy magic would be strong, but in Gold, there is too much Magic Reflect and Void. So I would go Green or maybe White. Funny thing is that for the first 2-3 month here my main splinter was Black (with Selenia). It was pretty strong but in Gold, Blue and Green gain Protect and it turned out that my favorite splinter became the weakest one ;-)
Does this ban Selenia too? :P
I will definitely try this challenge! Thanks for the idea :)
That's some interesting insights @jacekw and explains why I'm able to get my Level 3/4 accounts to Gold I by the end of the season. One has level 4 blue and white and the other has level 4 green and black. I didn't plan it but looks like it was a good way to do it.
I think so. I'd like to see what is possible without spending too much on the "big" cards. But I'd be interested to hear how much you miss it. 😁
Ok, challenge accepted :D
😁
You make this looks so easy :)
It is easy! You only need to... win battles :D
Just put some goals in the net .... :D
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Next try doing something with underleveled cards, like “Getting to Diamond with Silver level cards” or “Getting to Gold with only the starter pack”. I think that would be really helpful for people who want to own their cards but can’t get past certain leagues.
I am going to gry hit Diamond I with Silver level cards and no legendary summoners. Inspired by: https://steemit.com/steemmonsters/@gillianpearce/pu3vn1
Actually, I will probably do 3 x SpeedRun at the end of this season:
😱 😂
I'm so looking forward to the results of this.
and . . .
. . . when you've done that could you do one where you start at 0 with only a starter account. I'd love to see how far it's possible to get with only those cards. 😂 😂 😂
That would be hardcore haha :D
😂
What's your best guess?
To be honest I don't know. Probably there are a lot of bots in Bronze so maybe it would not be that hard to hit Silver III. But on the other hand "only cards from starter pack" is much harder than "only lvl1 cards". I didn't even remember which cards starter pack contains ;-)
I've just been playing with one and getting to Bronze III is easy peasy. Going out now though so not able to take it any further. 😂
Nice research, nice work, nice performance!
Also, I feel that "I became part" of this experience, as some of my cards were rented for it.
I think renting is really something unique in Splinterlands.
And extremely useful.
I must say Peakmonsters really helped in setting card renting easily. To view available card rentals, you must be logged in Peakmonsters, and then make your pick.
In my case, these cards are not duplicates. I have no replacement for them when I put them on rent. But as a player still building his collection, it's very good to have this option. It really helps.
Thank you for your initiative and for this great writeup!
Thanks! I remember that I rented Prince Rennyn from you. I admit that for a moment I hesitated whether I should rent it, because first it increased the cost by $3.7 (for just one day of playing), and secondly the next day I had to break the contract. But I think this is the purpose of the escrow fee so that the broken contracts would not be a problem for the owner :)
Excellent writing @jacekw it's difficult to play in champions league with just two splinter but we know your skills 😉 And you always do it well nice job.
Nice, you are quite a good player to play with, love playing you though I loose mostly yet love when I win. Great explanation and power of the rented cards. Not a bad deal at all. Such an opportunity to rent it if you cannot buy it.
I rent most of the cards on my main account too. Each season, I try to max out a few of them, so that I have to rent less :)
Beautiful article and amazing achievement. I wasn't able to get under the top 50 with my maxed out deck. I would love to read a strategy guide of yours.
That's some sick gaming dude.
I did my first Speedrun because I wanted to try something different. And I liked it so I am going to make a Speedrun at the end of each season. Maybe this time it will be "One splinter speedrun" haha :D