@Kxlm here, with the second edition of my new "@Splinterlands Memoirs" series, where I document my thoughts and experiences of the game, throughout my journey.
We are just over halfway through the current season and have had some decent exposure to the new ranked rewards system. The response from the Splinterlands community has been largely positive, but as expected, several issues have cropped up as a result of the changes.
The one I have identified to be the biggest problem for me is the daily focus, so in this post, we will discuss the dilemma that I am currently facing, as well as a solution moving forward.
🤜Let’s get into it!🤛
"All good things..."
We are currently at Day 10 of the new ranked rewards system and I have hit a brick wall. After singing the praises of the new system on Days 1, 2 and 3, the honeymoon period has finally drawn to a close.
For the first 5 days of the season, I maintained a consistent 25% ECR usage and earned an average of 16 chests (Season and Focus combined) per day. By the end of my grind on Day 5, I was sitting at 48 Season Chests and 32 Focus Chests, which is amazing, however, the fat lady was about to sing, and I wasn't ready for her!
Chests Earned: Days 1 - 5
The number of Season chests started to taper off on Days 4 and 5, which was an indicator of things to come.
It could be worse... right?
It definitely could not be worse! Now, I'm usually a "glass half full" kind of guy, but I'll let the results speak for themselves. A moment of silence for Day 6, please...
Chests Earned: Day 6
So, what had gone wrong for me here? Well... To give some context to the results:
I started the day, battling at a 2,900 rating, which in the Silver League, is typically where the skill level and difficulty start to ramp up.
I received the Earth Splinter as my daily focus, which is my second worst deck.
I was already at 48 Season chests, making the next lot to earn much more tedious.
I was still using my owned cards only (no rentals).
While the first three points were significant contributors to my downfall, the biggest factor was my refusal to rent cards.
What became apparent to me, was that every single opponent I was facing was playing the most OP cards possible, in relation to their daily focus. It was rather obvious that all of their cards were being rented, as the price to own such cards would be astronomical.
As referenced in my previous post, I touched on 
Knowing which Splinter your opponent is going to play is one thing, but when they have 3 different Summoners for that Splinter, as well as every OP Monster and several combinations, it becomes very hard to compete with, let alone counter with owned cards only.
As the old saying goes, "If you can't beat them, join them" and that's exactly what I did!
Rise of the Pheonix
Day 6 was a complete write-off, so with my newly rented Life deck in tow, I set out to conquer my foes and reclaim my former glory of 16 daily chests. Feeling rather confident with the OP deck I had collated, I went against my own advice and proceeded on an all-out Life Splinter "spamfest"!
Chests Earned: Day 7
Safe to say, the rentals worked a treat, but, it wasn't all rainbows and butterflies.
The following day, I opened my 14 Focus Chests. After calculating the value of those chest rewards, in addition to the DEC earned from the ranked battles, I deducted it from the 350 DEC I spent on rentals and incurred a loss of 150 DEC. Not a significant amount, but a loss nonetheless. In saying that, the 9 Season Chests I had earned were still yet to be opened, so perhaps the loss could be made up.
Brick Wall Found
I continued on the same strategy for Day 8, with the Earth Splinter being my daily focus. Off I went to the rental market and like a kid in a candy store, I started reaching for all of the most desirable cards. What followed was complete shock and horror! The Scarred Llama Mage alone was 150 DEC to rent for the day and I still had the rest of my deck to fill out.
Being the cheapskate that I am, I made a firm ruling that I wasn't going to spend more than 350 DEC on rentals. In doing so, I rented a decent enough Earth deck, but it wasn't up to the same standard as the Life deck rented the previous day.
As expected, the number of chests earned was proportionate to the cards I had rented, by the level of competition I was facing. Just like the previous day, I opened my Daily Chests and incurred a loss, however, it was only 100 DEC this time. I also burnt my ECR down to 65%.
Chests Earned: Day 8
Day 9 was a similar result to Day 8. I received the Earth Splinter for my daily focus again (after opting for a new focus). Again, I refused to spend the required amount to rent a more competitive deck and garnered the same results. My ECR% was down to the 65% mark again.
Chests Earned: Day 9
Perhaps the RNG gods were not working in my favour or I needed to play better. Either way, I felt like I had hit a brick wall.
Dilemma - Present Day
At this point in the season, I have become rather numb to the prospect of earning more chests. I have reached the point where battles have become less enjoyable. What I have identified as being the culprit to the mundane and tedious grinding, on top of the necessity to rent cards is the daily focus mechanics. What makes it an issue, is the fact that this Splinter can be used in every single battle, and so it incentivises people to rent the most outrageously overpowered cards for that Splinter, for those 24 hours.
The dilemma for me is that I am a casual player. Although I can reach a respectable rating for the power of my deck, the work involved at this point in the season to earn anymore is just too much. Where I would typically play my ECR down to 75% and call it a day, I have found myself needing to push it as low as 65%. In addition to the process of finding rentals, the time required for all of this is just too much.
Chests Earned: Season Total
Target refers to the maximum number of chests that could be earned in a season from the old ranked rewards system. (Silver 1 League)
Now, it is not all doom and gloom. To put things into perspective; I am at 132 total chests for the season, which is 54 more than I would have had in the old rewards system. So, although I've reached the point of being burnt out, I could put my feet up for the rest of the season and all would be well still.
But, what if I don't want to rest?
The two main reasons for my burnout are:
Grinding against high-level competition, with OP decks.
Having to spend time finding rentals.
The only feasible solution that I see, is to start an alt account; Put my main account on holiday for the rest of the Season and delegate my deck to my alt. This way, I could avoid having to grind my ass off against tough opponents and wouldn't have to rent anything. Once I reach the point I'm at now with my main account, I can take a break until the next season. Granted, my alt will only be earning Bronze chests, but the number will be significantly more than I would earn in Silver chests.
Final Thoughts
All in all, the new rewards system is great. If anything, I think it has exposed the weaknesses in my deck, but also my inability to compete at the higher levels. Taking a step back and blocking out the noise of earning loads of chests every day, I am doing just fine for myself. I can afford to take my foot off the pedal and refocus on the next season, but the idea of an alt account is beckoning me and I feel the need to answer the call.
We'll just have to wait and see...
God Bless~
-Kxlm
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