Photo Credits to @splinterlands

Introduction

The Splinterlands developers have recently issued new cards. About 21 cards, or 3 cards for each Splinter. A lot of these cards are very affordable at the moment because the supply is 20x more compared to previous cards. Applying the basic economic principle when there is more supply than demand, products usually come cheap. Besides, the new meta with the addition of these cards is not yet known so no one is hoarding cards just yet.

The arrival of the new set of cards offers opportunities for new players to build their decks since a lot of these are yet to be printed.

For new players like me, I ask myself, "How do I look for the next epic and game-changing card?"

In this blog, I have compiled some tips I heard from watching youtube channels and my personal experience in buying cards.

Tip #1: Look for new cards with almost similar ability as the old ones

If you closely look at the abilities of the new cards, you will see that some cards have similar abilities to the existing ones. The best examples here are Flesh Golem and Pelacor Mercenary. These two cards are Earth-based cards. The Earth-based cards are versatile. They also have high damage, anti-magic abilities, and high survivability because their monsters have healing and self-heal abilities.

One of the most valued cards at Bronze level is the Flesh Golem. The Flesh Golem is a great tank because at Level 3 it has good melee damage, high hit points and self-heal abilities. But this card is very expensive. Currently, 1 Flesh Golem costs $29.00. That's a price too steep for a common card.

Now, I turn your attention to the Pelacor Mercenary. The Pelacor Mercenary share a lot of things with Flesh Golem. Both are common card, melee units, and they function as tanks in the game. The stats are almost identical and they have one special ability that they share which is self-heal.

The price of 1 Pelacor Mercenary on the other hand is miles apart; the price of 1 card ranges from $.14 to $.26. Considering that the Pelacor Mercenary has same stats, same self-heal ability, and the same role in-game with Flesh Golem, the former is severely undervalued and a gem waiting to be discovered.

Tip #2: Low mana cards have lots of utility

There are only 6 monster card slots in the game. In high mana games, where the mana requirement is 30 mana and above, it is easy to fill the 6 card slots. Sometimes, some battles require low mana. Usually, the ability to fill all the card slots is a major factor whether a player can win the battle or not. Of course, the quality of card matter but all things being equal, the one with more cards will usually emerge victorious.

Currently, there are a lot of cards available with low mana and at very cheap prices.
For illustration purposes, I will just focus on the Pelacor Conjurer.

The Pelacor Conjurer costs 2 Mana to summon. At 2 mana, it offers a lot of utility. It can serve as tank if fighting against Mylor. Its full power as tank is unleashed when it reaches level 8 where it gains 3 extra powerful abilities like magic reflect, divine shield, and phase. Combine this card with Lorna Shine, it will be absorbing a lot of melee, range, and magic damage. It almost functions like Torhilo, with its anti-magic abilities less the physical melee attack. A Torhilo at Max level costs $460 but a Pelacor Conjurer costs $40 at current prices.

The comparison with Torhilo might be inappropriate, so let us compare the Pelacor Conjurer with this card with the same utility: Failed Summoner

The Failed Summoner, for the same cost of mana as the Pelacor Conjurer, provides support role as anti-magic and anti-physical damage. At max level, it gains strengthen ability which gives extra health to all allied units. In a lot of aspects, the Failed Summoner is similar to the Pelacor Conjurer. Currently, max level Failed Summoner costs $422 while a max level Pelacor Conjurer costs $40.

Even if we compare the max level Pelacor Conjurer with max level Furious Chicken ($1,258) and Creeping Ooze ($990), as meat shield, Pelacor Conjuer offers more support and utility than these two combined.

Tip #3: Look for Cheap Cards that counter uber and very expensive cards

Are you tired of Llama + Kron or Llama + Flesh Golem Combo?
Worry no more, a new card that counters the last stand ability is now available at a very cheap price.

When I saw this new ability from this card, I immediately bought one and leveled it up to level 6.

I am referring to the Gargoya Devil which has Flying, Close Range, and Death Blow ability. The last ability allows this unit to deal double damage when the enemy has only 1 monster on the battlefield; a direct counter to the last stand!

What makes this card really stand out is it is a neutral card. Any splinter can use this! So anyone can counter Llama-Kron or Llama-Flesh Golem combo. The cost of a max level card is only $31 while a Llama-Kron or Llama-Flesh Golem costs hundreds if not thousands of dollars.

Tip #4: Cards that work like a summoner

Removing the summoner level which grants the user the ability to summon higher-level units, summoners are just like any other monster card. They provide buffs or debuffs to allied or enemy units.

Any card that gives the same benefits or disadvantages to your units or enemies' units, that card is definitely a gem.

My example is Venari Heathsmith. This common card from the Fire splinter deck does not have any attack ability but what it lacks, it compensates the lineup with its support abilities. At level 6, it has Amplify ability which increases the Magic Reflect, Return Fire, and Thorn damage, all abilities excellent counter to Magic, Range, and Melee Units. Except for the Thorn, the other 2 abilities are applied to all units with Magic Reflect and Return Fire.

The Venari Heathsmith is not having the love it deserves because Magic Reflect and Return Fire abilities of Fire monsters and Neutral Monsters (yes, it applies to neutral monsters in your line-up) appear only at the higher levels.

If you have goals of reaching higher leagues, this card is a valuable asset for the Fire Splinters.

Tip #5 Look for a card that synergizes with the deck you are building

If you are playing in a budget-conscious mode, it would be very expensive to build a line-up for all types of Splinters. At the start, you can only build a 1 to 2 strong Splinter card line-up.

When choosing a card, look for a card that synergizes well with your existing card decks.

Let's take a look at Djinn Renova.

At Level 1, it has strengthen ability which makes it like a Summoner. On top of this, at level 4, it gains Triage which allows this card to heal the backline unit which is usually, a healer if you play Light Splinter.

I have a lot of Light Splinters and I find this deck flexible and easy to use so the addition of Djinn Renevoa bolsters my Light deck further.

I can put this card in second position and my healer at the last position and there you have a line-up that has super healing abilities.

If you want to try the game, I would appreciate it if you use my referral link.

Disclaimer

This blog was first posted in read.cash/@cryptoph.

References:
https://www.splintertalk.io/@splinterlands/announcing-21-new-reward-cards