In Splinterlands, you can battle 10 thousand times (many of our players do, or more) and never see the same battle twice. There are simply too many variables in play with each battle, too many opponents with different perspectives collections, too many strategies to choose from. Even though the popular drafting card game is carefully structured and easy to learn, each battle always presents some kind of new challenge to keep players on the edge of their seats. One of the most exciting ways that this is accomplished is through the use of rulesets.

Keeping Splinterlands Fresh!

There are several variables designed to make sure that each battle is different than the last. For a consistently winning player, they must all be considered while time is also maximized. While Splinterlands does not require your attention for long to play a battle, to do so effectively demands about two minutes of extremely dedicated focus.

Mana Cap - Each battle is given a unique mana cap, which can be anywhere between 12 (low) and 99 (high). 99 mana battles cannot (yet) be filled by a team of six, but who knows what the future may hold. Every monster and summoner card has an associated mana cost, and the total mana cost of the final team must fall at or below the battle's mana cap. 

Opponent Recent Teams - It is always a good idea to check out the recent plays of your opponent, of which the last five are presented to you on the "Enemy Found" popup. You are able to quickly ascertain valuable info about their recent activity that often helps you predict how they will behave across the arena floor from your team in this battle.

Splinters in Play - All six Splinters (Earth, Life, Death, Fire, Water, Dragon) are not always in play for a given battle. There may be 2, 3 or 4 playable Splinters. One reason for this is to encourage players to collect with variety, rather than focusing all their energy on a single Splinter, which is far better as a long term strategy. 

Like all these variables, Available Splinters are not presented to the players until the enemies have been found and the clock is already ticking!

Rulesets - Rulesets are the most important of the keeping it fresh battle variables. They are literally sets of rules that are applied to the battle. There can be 0, 1 or 2 of them in play for each battle. We're now going to dig into a list of these 30 different rulesets with icons and descriptions. 

Let's begin with the new rulesets that were announced yesterday (January 15th)! These new rules will be added to the game on January 21st!

Stampede

The coming of this ruleset has been teased for months now, and our players are thrilled that its addition is finally here. Stampede is a buff for the Trample ability that will be commonly referred to as Infinite Trample. In the early days of the game, when Trample was activated, the trampling monster never stopped. After Trample allowed them to plow through a second monster after they had dispatched the first, they continued attacking every subsequent monster until they were stopped or killed. This made for some serious battle mayhem, often with a single trampler destroying the entire opposing team. With this ruleset, those days will be back again. Rejoice for the monsters with Trample, for this is their time to shine!

Noxious Fumes

This simple but powerful new ruleset will raise the pressure on every Splinterlands player by adding the Poison effect to every monster from the outset of the battle. This means that 2 damage are dealt to the Health points of every monster at the beginning of each round. Players will adjust their rosters accordingly and have to make difficult choices on how to defeat their opponents quickly or to stay alive longer.

Equal Opportunity

It is ironic that this ruleset is called "equal opportunity" because it will unleash relentless and hellish fury upon the weakest monsters on the battlefield. Monsters with the Opportunity ability always aim for the monster on the opposing side with the lowest Health, regardless of position. When every monster on both sides is attacking with Opportunity, imagine how quickly the weaklings will be taken out! Only the strongest survive is even more true in the madness of this new ruleset!

The Classic Rulesets

Standard - No special rules apply. It's Splinterlands in all its original, standard glory.

Back to Basics - Monsters lose all abilities.

Healed Out - All healing abilities are removed from Monsters and Summoners.

Heavy Hitters - All Monsters have the Knockout ability.

Silenced Summoners - Summoners do not give any stat buffs or debuffs or grant/use any abilities.

Aim True - Melee and Ranged attacks always hit their target.

Super Sneak - All Melee attack Monsters have the Sneak ability.

Melee Mayhem - Melee attack Monsters can attack from any position.

Keep Your Distance - Monsters with Melee attack may not be used in battles.

Weak Magic - Magic attacks hit Armor before reducing Health.

Up Close and Personal - Only Monsters with Melee attack may be used in battles.

Lost Magic - Monsters with Magic attack may not be used in battles.

Unprotected - Monsters do not have any armor and do not get armor from Abilities or Summoner Buffs.

Target Practice - All Ranged and Magic attack Monsters have the Snipe ability.

Fog of War - Monsters lose the Sneak and Snipe abilities.

Armored Up - All Monsters have 2 Armor in addition to their normal Armor stat.

Earthquake - Non-flying Monsters take 2 Melee damage at the end of each round.

Reverse Speed - Monsters with the lowest Speed attack first and have the highest chance of evading attacks.

Close Range - Ranged attacks may be used in the first position in battles.

Broken Arrows - Ranged attack Monsters may not be used in battles.

Equalizer - The initial Health of all Monsters is equal to that of the Monster on either team with the highest base Health.

Lost Legendaries - Legendary Monsters may not be used in battles.

Taking Sides - Neutral Monsters may not be used in battles.

Rise of the Commons - Only Common and Rare Monsters may be used in battles.

Little League - Only Monsters & Summoners that cost 4 Mana or less may be used in battles.

Even Stevens - Only Monsters with even Mana costs may be used in battles.

Odd Ones Out - Only Monsters with odd Mana costs may be used in battles.

That's all of the rulesets currently in play! For a previous list with the old icons, check out THIS POST!

Keep on the lookout for new updates from SPLINTERLANDS!

See you on the battlefield!

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