Documenting my Splinterlands Knowledge - Newbies guide to tournaments in October 2024

Hello there.

If you've seen a lot of my previous posts, you've probably seen me talk about tournaments a lot. Not only do they offer additional ways to get more earnings, but they also provide a different environment to learn and improve in the game. Since there are collection and card limits, you can face other players and find different strategies that you can use in your ranked battles.

The tournament scene has changed a lot throughout the years. When I first joined and started entering tournaments there was a small fee. After some time, they decided to make entries free. The latest iteration is they brought back the entry fees. That is why I decided to include the month and year just in case the tournaments change again and this article is no longer accurate. Since the challenge's prompt is for newbies, I'll write my post with that in mind.

Tournament Page

The Splinterlands interface has been changed recently. Before the changes, the button to the Tournaments page is immediately accessible in the top to top middle left of the page. You just click the Coliseum image [next to the sword and banner] and you will be taken to the tournament page. After the changes, one can go to the tournaments page by hovering over 'Play' and clicking 'Tournaments'.

The tournament page can seem daunting at first, with all the filters and buttons. The team made the relevant information available on the main page. You can see the time when tournaments happen, and what type it is [Anytime, Single Elimination, and Sit n Go], rules and restrictions [card limit, RF/GF, and available card sets], amount of prizes available, entry fee, and current number of entrants. You can change the filters to customize what is shown on the page.

If you leave it as is you can see all tournaments running, and upcoming [tournaments you have joined and currently in progress will be at the top]. From the image below, one can join the tournaments where the 'Enter' is available. If you click the 'View' of any tournament you can see more details about it.

For a tournament where one is ineligible, it can look something like this. The green shows I have enough SPS staked to join this tournament, but the red shows I am lacking in power. Power in this case is collection power, or basically cards. If I get more cards, I should increase my power and be able to join this tournament. The information under "Modern Event" shows a more detailed information of the tournament. Things like the number of participants to advance to the next round and the team select time, which are not included in the main page can be found here.

The Rewards show the possible rewards a player can get depending on how they perform in the tournament. A lot of the SPL sponsored tournaments rewards up to 128 players. This is something to keep in mind, since there are times when the number of participants are less than the limit for the rewards, which means the rewards are 'guaranteed'. For the example below, assuming that no one joins the tournament anymore, then only one player will not get a reward.

To make things easier in navigating the main page, you can alter the "All Rules" and change it 'Qualified' to only see the tournaments that you can enter. It isn't perfect, and some tournaments where you are close to entering might still show up.

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Tips and Tricks

I mentioned above how determining the number of participants in relation to the rewards can be good. You can put that to your advantage by trying to join a tournament closer to the deadline. This way you can make sure about your competition and how difficult it will be to get the rewards. Looking at the tournaments below, I have a higher chance of getting the rewards if I joined the Bronze tournament with 124 players, compared to the Novice and Silver tournaments that have 170+ players.

Once you start joining more and more tournaments, you can face and see a lot of familiar faces. You can view the tournament and view 'Battles' before it begins to scout out the competition. If you can see a lot of lower ranked players, and not a lot of the big hitters, then you can maybe place better in this one.

SPL sponsored tournaments aren't the only ones available. There are other players that set up their own tournaments as well. Some guilds and groups create private ones, and there are content creators that host them too. One great example is bunsbagsandcaps. He hosts ghost card tournaments so it is an even playing field among players. A lot of them are "free to play" [the entry fee is the minimum reward] and it can be a blast. It's unfortunate that the times he hosts them are too early for me so it's hard for me to join them.

Another good strategy is to time your rentals. In the tournament running example above, three tournaments that I am qualified for are happening in a span of 3-4 days [including round 2]. If I wanted to join them and rent cards to increase my odds of winning, I can try to rent for 4 days and enter all these tournaments. I can even play in bunsbagsandcaps' tournament with those cards as well. It isn't limited to cards, you can also rent SPS to get you over the requirement.

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Once you are able to win a lot of rewards, these can snowball your account. The increase in SPS can not only help you join more tournaments eventually, but it can also improve your rewards in ranked battles. You can also burn some SPS to get DEC and buy or rent cards, which can help you win more tournaments and ranked battles. The experience of playing more battles and seeing more strategies can also improve your team building. Playing tournaments have a lot of upside, and I hope newbies can dive right in early on.

That is it for my newbies' guide to tournaments. I hope it encourages new players to try tournaments they can reap the rewards. Don't hesitate to let me know what you think, and if you have suggestions for improvement.

And as always, these are Not Financial Advice, and Do Your Own Research.

If you want to start playing Splinterlands, you can use my link:
Splinterlands Referral Link