Throughout this ranked season, the Splinterlands team has been running a Survival mode event with a prize pool ranging from 100k to 250k Glint. The goal is to test the Bracket mode and gather player feedback throughout the event. If you haven't participated yet, there are still nearly five days left; if you really grind—playing around 50 matches a day—it is still quite possible to join in and submit your feedback via the form on the Splinterlands Discord.
One point players frequently mention in the feedback chats is that the bots in Survival mode become nearly unbeatable once you reach a certain level. As you approach a rating of 1000 to 1300, the "SLBB" prefix bots—which are the easiest to defeat—stop appearing as often, and "named" bots start showing up—such as Valeris, Aldrak, Saryth, and Findulas, among others. And it was precisely against these bots that I gained some major insights! Check it out! VONAK!
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How Can ESCALATION Cards Upgrade Your Deck?
One piece of information that has been revealed is that these bots possess a much greater capacity for choosing cards and strategies—something that becomes evident as they form a veritable barrier for players once they reach a rating of 1200 points. Furthermore, they have other unique characteristics, such as the ability to "mirror" the cards you own, but with a twist: they use max-level versions, whereas you might only have the card at level 1.
Now, an interesting detail—and one that gave me a major insight regarding the Conclave Arcana Escalation collection—is that bots actually use these cards in certain matches. In the Survival mode's Bracket IV, once you reach the Silver tier, matches begin to feature much higher mana limits. Consequently, bots start using decks with higher-level cards to take advantage of the increased mana cap; on several occasions, they deployed massive units from the Escalation collection that completely destroyed my team.
The first card from the Conclave Arcana Escalation collection that caught my eye was the Doomshield Warden. When the mana cap was 60, 80, or even 99, the 14 mana required to use this tank became negligible. Even though there are many strong tanks, they usually occupy the first slot—meaning subsequent tanks often go unused—yet they are frequently the most powerful cards in a lineup.
During several matches under these conditions, the Survival mode bots were using the Doomshield in the first position—specifically at Level 5, while I didn't even own a Level 1 copy. This meant the bot wasn't just mirroring my cards; it was using cards I didn't possess. This made matches extremely difficult, as the opponent could use anything, simply choosing a harder or easier difficulty based on my rating.
In this specific match, the bot used a somewhat odd lineup featuring the Uludin Overseer—even though the unit in the second slot also had the Flank ability. Regardless, the bot won despite this mistake because it had many high-attack cards, whereas my options were limited during these high-mana battles.
Powerful & Cheap ESCALATION Card!
These battles gave me valuable insight. After observing the cards the bot was using, I checked the Doomshield Warden's collection—the Escalation set—and was surprised to find that several common cards in it had extremely high attack stats, which addressed a specific weakness in my deck. Consequently, I picked up a Level 1 Doomshield for about 8 cents, along with a few other Level 1 monsters that caught my eye. Among the chosen monsters is the Magnificent Mollusk; it cost just a little over 1 cent and will massively boost my Death deck's firepower in high-mana matches, as it boasts an incredible 6 ranged damage—a devastating amount for any card. Its high mana cost isn't really an issue, since it was selected specifically for these kinds of battles.
I think it's worth going into a bit more detail about the other cards, as there are several interesting ones. Some others I added to my deck—also at Level 1 and costing around 1 cent—include Living Berm, Silver Shield Sentry, Godsnot Sorceress, and Steelshield Arbalest. The last three all feature ranged attacks and could pair perfectly with my General Sloan, who grants a +1 ranged attack bonus.
All of these cards are capable of dealing significant damage even at Level 1. Since there aren't as many copies of them in circulation, there isn't a huge risk of them losing value the way Chaos Legion cards did. They are cheap, strong, and have a controlled supply—overall, they are great cards in my opinion; some may be better than others, but they are all interesting choices.
