Greetings readers,
In my previous post I gave a short list of actionable tips and tricks for players starting out on their Splinterlands adventure. If you haven't already you can check it out here. As a follow-up I wanted to share my thoughts on the first cards you should aim getting in your first month of play. If you complete your daily quest consistently and you follow the tips in my previous article you should at least be able to get one of the cards listed here. With a bit of luck - say, if you get a golden drop - you can scratch all of these off the list in the first month. These are not cards that you are intended to buy with real money. You can completely get these while playing the game!
So let's crack on!
The game gives you access from the start to all splinters. In the beginning all splinters will look the same to you and you will not know when a certain splinter might do better depending on the ruleset or the enemy. This is normal! As you play and earn new cards some of your splinters will become stronger than the others depending on the drops you get. This is normal, too!
Brief overview of the splinters
- Fire: Good starting summoners in the form of Pyre (+1 speed) and Malric (+1 melee damage). Also, an incredibly good all round combo at low levels with Living Lava and Fire elemental as starter cards.
- Water: For me water is more magic damage oriented. Great in games where you expect heavily armored opponents as magic will cut right through the armor. Sensational starter summoner in the form of Alric Stormbringer who will boost your magic damage by +1. To be used in combination with 2-3 magic damage dealers at least.
- Earth: Elves, trees, centaurs and other creatures of the woods. I can't put my finger on a clear focus of this splinter other than outlasting enemies with high health monsters.
- Life: Strong individual monsters out of the gate with a good blend of healing and buffing.
- Death: Great starting summoner in the form of Zintar who reduces melee damage of enemies by 1 (cannot go below 1 damage though). Good mix of monsters out of the gate too with Skeleton Assassin and Twisted Jester.
- Dragon: This splinter would not see a lot of play early on as it does not have daily splinter quests attached to it (you could use it when getting the specific skill daily quest (snipe, sneak etc.). In short, you choose any of the available splinters when choosing your summoner. You then get access to the monsters of that specific splinter. This seems to me more geared towards using the summoner's ability to buff or counter an enemy's team.
- Neutral: No summoners, just monsters that can be used in any combination, provided that the rules of the game allow it.
Monsters to get early on
Furious chicken | Splinter: Neutral | Cost: ~620 DEC (0,62 USD) at time of writing this
Strengths:
- 0 mana cost card which means it can be used in any deck.
- Shock absorber - it swallows 1 attack from the enemy which may prove to be the difference between victory and defeat.
Downsides:
- High price. When I started 4 months ago the cost was around 100 DEC, 6 times less than now. This made it much more accessible.
- High mana battles: you should prioritize damage dealing monsters always!
Trivia:
- Most used monster in all leagues (see here the full ranking: https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@jacekw/usagewin-rate-of-monsters-and-summoners-for-each-league-or-season-60)
Sand Worm | Splinter: Neutral | Cost: ~84 DEC (0,084 USD) at time of writing this
Strengths:
- Great card for high mana battles.
- Highly effective at sniping targets behind the tank line.
Downsides:
- High mana cost so not usable in every battle.
- Low speed
Goblin Mech | Splinter: Neutral | Cost: ~350 DEC (0,35 USD) at time of writing this
Strengths:
- Very strong early game card with high armor and high damage. You will see it ruining you early so getting this will certainly improve your winning ratio.
- Works great in high mana games where you will be struggling with the early game roster.
Downsides:
- High mana cost: 10 mana means you will not be using this in every single game given the mana constraints
Based on the usage ratings this card is middle of the pack. So you will be using it mostly in the early game but as you gain better cards it will quickly become a situational card.
Efreet Elder | Splinter: Fire | Cost: ~200 DEC (0,2 USD) at time of writing this
Strengths:
- Can win games by itself if the ability Last Stand triggers.
- Great rare card that can be fitted to quite a few decks early game.
- With Pyre as summoner it is quite fast at 4 speed so it can apply damage consistently even before Last Stand triggers
- Not very expensive at the moment.
Downsides:
- Low damage if taken out before Last Stand triggers.
- Situational. Not seeing high usage in games so limited lifespan in your deck.
Captain's Ghost | Splinter: Water | Cost: ~85 DEC (0,085 USD) at time of writing this
Strengths:
- High magical damage dealer with Alric as summoner. Can easily chew through armored tanks like the Goblin Mech
- Inexpensive card
Downsides:
- High mana cost means it is not easily fitted in all decks.
- Typically cannot win battles by itself but rather needs a few supporting magic damage dealers and a good frontline.
- Situational since it needs Alric as summoner to shine.
Sea Monster | Splinter: Water | Cost: ~280 DEC (0,28 USD) at time of writing this
Strengths:
- Board stickiness with the self-heal.
- High damage output and high throughput via the self-heal
Downsides:
- High mana cost so not useable in all battles
- Good win ration in low leagues but drops off in higher leagues.
Wood Nymph | Splinter: Earth| Cost: ~250 DEC (0,25 USD) at time of writing this
Strengths:
- Tank healer. Works well with the high health monsters Earth splinter has.
- Magic damage dealers are not great in this splinter. This is at least useful when paired with a good tank.
Downsides:
- Low damage output.
- Susceptible to being sniped.
Earth Elemental | Splinter: Earth | Cost: ~560 DEC (0,56 USD)
Strengths:
- High health ranged attacker, low mana requirement. A highly flexible card in most match-ups and hard to snipe before it does its damage.
- Monster usage increases in higher leagues which means this is also a good candidate for upgrading.
Downsides:
- Not a game changer in early game, hence why not so high on the list.
This list has gone longer than expected so I will stop it here. Let me know what you think about the above suggestions in the comments below! Yay or Nay?!? Do you have better picks?
By the way, if you want to read more Splinterlands content check out these guys:
- @costanza: for example this article here - https://www.publish0x.com/costanza/splinterlands-accumulate-hodl-or-take-profit-xmknovj
- @Jrob6122: see this article - https://www.publish0x.com/splinterland-perspectives-of-a-noob/splinterlands-day-3-first-thoughts-on-the-game-itself-xwqqjgx
- @Frosttag: great article on tactics - https://www.publish0x.com/splinterlands-card-game/splinterlands-bronze-strategies-fire-strategy-with-malric-in-xjmzmnz
If you don't know what Splinterlands is and you want to give it a try, consider using my referral link and we both receive a random card. Good way to kickstart your collection!
Take care
Alex
