![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmUfQcJoo9XpwawR65nJuvguCWGHZToMW44bbLhZ7rhFSc/chatgpt_image_may_18_2026_12_32_02_am.png) Rebuilding From Ashes --------------------- Part of the reason I’m writing these posts is simply to document the experience properly. Last year, my original Splinterlands journey more or less ended with me liquidating most of what I had. A lot of the old deck disappeared, SPS disappeared, and honestly I wasn’t even sure whether I’d properly come back to the game again. What I have now has basically been rebuilt from the ashes over the last six weeks. That’s why I’m enjoying this process so much. This isn’t some whale account. This isn’t huge investment money. And this isn’t someone dropping thousands into the game. This is me trying to build something sustainable through gameplay, optimised rentals, rewards, and consistency. And honestly, that’s what’s making the game enjoyable again. Six weeks ago, I was selling almost every 2-cent card I earned because every DEC mattered. Now I’m in a position where I can actually stockpile cards again instead of instantly liquidating them. That feels like real progress to me. The same applies to SPS. At the beginning, every SPS claim was converted immediately just to keep the rental engine alive. Every single DEC mattered because the entire system depended on keeping enough rented SPS active to maintain reward levels. Now things are starting to shift. I’m still converting part of my SPS claims into DEC through Liquid SPS, but I’m no longer converting all of it. At the moment I’m staking roughly 35% of my SPS claims and using the remainder to support rentals and growth. At the time of writing, I’m sitting at around **335 SPS staked**. ![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmSRaaxWfPoLm2TSyyDzuuZypziTo8muMuLACWvMHco4uJ/screenshot_2026_05_18_004228.png) That’s not a huge number by Splinterlands standards, but for me it represents six weeks of rebuilding through gameplay and consistency alone. And more importantly, every SPS I stake now permanently reduces future rental pressure. That’s the long-term goal. ![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmRAP43EkTJ3TSPXQzU783Q3rHh2YDHVx9DEkc44Cb1Yg1/image.png) ## Understanding My Break-Even Point One of the things I have been trying to understand properly over the last six weeks is where my actual break-even point sits each season. At the moment, my baseline rental strategy sits around **20,000 SPS rented** at roughly **0.002 DEC per SPS**. That works out at around: * **40 DEC per day** * roughly **280 DEC per week** * and approximately **560–600 DEC** across a full season before any EOS sprinting. At the end of the season, I usually increase aggressively into an EOS sprint. Previously this sat around **29k SPS**, but this season I may test pushing toward **35k SPS rented** depending on ranking and reward pace. That changes the maths quite a bit. ### Rough seasonal rental pressure: * **20k baseline** → ~560–600 DEC season cost * **29k EOS sprint** → ~800+ DEC seasonal pace * **35k EOS sprint test** → potentially ~950–1,000 DEC seasonal pace That sounds expensive initially, but the important thing is understanding what those numbers actually mean in gameplay terms. Because I operate on roughly a **65/35 split**, where: * around **65% of earned SPS** gets converted back into DEC * and around **35% gets staked long term** …I can estimate fairly accurately where profitability begins. ### Current rough break-even targets: * **20k rental level** → around **6–7 SPS/day** * **29k EOS sprint** → around **9–10 SPS/day** * **35k EOS sprint test** → likely around **11–12 SPS/day** And honestly, that is where things have started becoming interesting. Yesterday I claimed around **16 SPS**. ![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmU5gCUh6JcwgXRSFjLGaYz49SUkGTPM5ELvaAVsCnVuVt/screenshot_2026_05_18_003848.png) Today I’m already climbing again toward another strong claim while still staking part of it instead of fully liquidating everything back into DEC. A few weeks ago every SPS had to be sold immediately just to keep the system alive. Now is is finally starting to breathe on its own. That is probably the biggest difference I feel compared to the start of this rebuild. That’s the balancing act I’m constantly trying to work out: * How much SPS is enough? * At what point do rentals stop being profitable? * And how aggressively should I push during EOS? At the moment, things are actually working surprisingly well. ![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmRAP43EkTJ3TSPXQzU783Q3rHh2YDHVx9DEkc44Cb1Yg1/image.png)

Already Profitable After Two Days

Here’s an example from today’s matches.

That’s the part that completely changes the feeling of the game. Six weeks ago I was fighting just to keep rentals active. Now I’m at the stage where the account is starting to feed itself. The SPS claims are climbing again, the reserves are rebuilt, and I’m no longer forced to instantly liquidate every single reward card I pull. That changes the game massively. This season has actually started stronger than expected. At the start of the season I used reserve DEC to activate my rental setup again. The reserve exists specifically for this purpose. I currently keep: * roughly **2,000 DEC** sitting inside SplTrader This is in part an emergency fund as much as it is long term saving toward a large card or an expansion of my deck / account.

This is in part an emergency fund as much as it is long term saving toward a large card or an expansion of my deck / account.

* plus another **500 DEC reserve** immediately available

The idea is simple: the 500 reserve keeps the rentals stable even during weak periods or early season resets. This covers the immediate week or season rentals. Typically this would be 20k baseline and 29k sprint which are paid upfront. What’s important though is that the reserve gets refilled as quickly as possible once profits start coming in again. And this season that happened very quickly. Within the first two days of the season: * I had already claimed over **16 SPS** * daily SPS earnings had already climbed back toward the **7–8 SPS per day range** with plenty of energy remaining * and I sold two copies of **Dark Hellion** earned from last season’s rewards ![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmRN9X1rDBDM45FBLDZBaSovDZrqecp8zMJ4igzuotwpgD/screenshot_2026_05_18_005343.png) Those sales alone completely changed the pressure level for this season. Instead of scrambling just to maintain rentals, the season effectively became self-funded almost immediately. That was a really satisfying moment because it showed the system actually working. Not perfectly. Not massively profitably. But sustainably. The End of Season Sprint is where I tend to make as much SPS as possible for staking and account growth. This is where my profit tends to be. Last season I outperformed my rental expenditure once again. ![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmRAP43EkTJ3TSPXQzU783Q3rHh2YDHVx9DEkc44Cb1Yg1/image.png) The Difference Between Then And Now ----------------------------------- The biggest difference between six weeks ago and now honestly comes down to mindset. At the start, every card was liquidity. Every spare reward card got sold instantly. A 2-cent sale mattered because it directly helped keep the rental engine alive another day. Now I’m able to think longer term. If I pull something useful, I keep it. If I pull a gold foil, I usually want to hold it because the reward multiplier matters more to me now than the immediate DEC. If I already own a max-level copy, then I might either: * sell the duplicate * or move it across to my secondary account later A good example recently was the **Saltwater Mage**. One of my favourite cards in the Foundation cards.

One of my favourite cards in the Foundation cards.

I already have a max-level version, so selling the extra copy for around 10 cents actually made sense because that single card represented a decent percentage of a day’s rental cost. Six weeks ago, I would have had to sell everything. Now I get to choose. That feels like progress. ![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmRAP43EkTJ3TSPXQzU783Q3rHh2YDHVx9DEkc44Cb1Yg1/image.png) Climbing Back Into Modern And Survival -------------------------------------- Most of my deck now consists of Frontier cards, many of which are already maxed or close to maxed for the level I’m competing at. My summoners are entirely Frontier based at the moment, and I also have a few gold foil cards mixed into the deck helping boost my SPS multiplier. ![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmYUHhn281eDfcQgxoBVB5JJ9KNS8HK56QU2SBPxLJmQF5/screenshot_2026_05_18_004823.png) The results are gradually improving. Last season I played more than 100 Survival battles and managed to reach the leaderboard. That alone felt like a massive achievement considering where the account started from. At the same time, I’ve consistently been climbing back into Gold league in Modern over the last few seasons. ![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmZRBdJu3dk8nN3b58DcrvNuCL5ELmXJDuZDrUW7UFQwNY/screenshot_2026_05_18_005129.png) Yes, we’re talking Gold III rather than Champion-level gameplay, but honestly I’m fine with that. At this level the SPS earnings already feel respectable relative to the amount I’ve invested into rebuilding the account. And more importantly: I’m enjoying the game again. ![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmRAP43EkTJ3TSPXQzU783Q3rHh2YDHVx9DEkc44Cb1Yg1/image.png) The Immediate Goal: 500 SPS --------------------------- My immediate focus now is reaching 500 SPS staked. That’s the next major milestone for me. Not because 500 SPS is some huge flex, but because every bit of owned SPS permanently reduces rental dependence. Every season that passes should theoretically become easier to maintain than the previous one. That’s the part I enjoy most about this rebuild. The system slowly feeds itself. The rentals generate SPS. The SPS builds reserves. The reserves fund stronger EOS pushes. The stronger pushes generate better rewards. The rewards improve the deck. And then the cycle repeats again. 500 is the goal because SPS rentals are in multiples of 500. That’s why this account finally feels sustainable to me. ![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmRAP43EkTJ3TSPXQzU783Q3rHh2YDHVx9DEkc44Cb1Yg1/image.png) The Weaknesses Still Exist -------------------------- The deck definitely still has weaknesses though. Because I’m heavily Frontier-focused, particularly with Archons, I currently struggle badly in Little League rulesets. At the moment I don’t own a summoner below 6 mana, which means certain matches become extremely awkward or outright unwinnable depending on available splinters. That’s probably my next real deck upgrade target. Not necessarily expensive cards. Just smart cards. Cards that improve flexibility and stop auto-loss situations. That’s where most of my remaining liquid DEC will probably go. ![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmRAP43EkTJ3TSPXQzU783Q3rHh2YDHVx9DEkc44Cb1Yg1/image.png) Why I’m Recording All Of This ----------------------------- This post is partly a Power Up post on Hive, but more than that, it’s simply a record of the journey itself. The real value I’m getting from this isn’t just DEC or SPS. It’s the enjoyment of playing again and feeling like I’m genuinely building something. And honestly, I didn’t expect that feeling to come back after liquidating most of my original collection last year. But it has. And that’s why I’m documenting this properly. Not because I think I’ve mastered the game. Not because I think this is the perfect strategy. But because I think it’s interesting seeing what happens when someone tries to rebuild sustainably from almost nothing. And if anyone has questions about: * the rental strategy * the SPS numbers * profitability * reserves * mistakes * Survival mode * or anything else I’m more than happy to answer openly and transparently. Because honestly… I’m still learning too. ![](https://i.ecency.com/DQmRAP43EkTJ3TSPXQzU783Q3rHh2YDHVx9DEkc44Cb1Yg1/image.png) See you on the battlefield AI was used to create a header image and it was used for some editing at different stages.

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