One can think of a grail as the object of a difficult, extended quest, and in the digital world of NFTs, there are so many grails to chase. As a card collector in the Web3 TCG #Splinterlands, I've got a few grails I've been after ever since I started playing the game in December 2021.
At long last, I've finally accomplished one of these grails, collecting at least 1 Gold Foil BCX of each Legendary Gladiator -- ALL SEVEN of them! This is no easy feat since Gladiators are soulbound cards that you can't buy with funds or other crypto. The only way to earn these cards is by opening the Gladius Cases, which can be earned by spending soulbound Merits earned as rewards from Brawls and Loot Chests.
The Legendaries
Four-and-a-half years of opening Gladius Cases with Blood and Power stones on the hunt for premium Gold Foils to add to my brawling collection. The last GFL I needed, Fina Voxom, was on my hit list for over a year before I finally found her on Friday, March 15. Here she is alongside the other six legendaries.
I've also only opened 1 GFL BCX of the Death legend Xulax and the Dragon legend Larissa. I've combined 2 GFL BCX to make a Level 3 legend for the Water, Earth, and Neutral legends. I'm only 1 BCX away from a max Sola Ranjell, as I've opened the most GFL BCX of the Life legend. This got me thinking about how I'm doing with the Gold Foils at the other three card rarities.
The Epics
There are only five different epic gladiators since there isn't one for Dragon or Neutral, and we're all rooting for the same Gold Foil when we open the packs -- the all-powerful Earth Gladiator Quora Towershead! Of course, Quora is the epic I've opened the least of in Gold Foil.
I've only opened 3 GFE BCX of Quora, as well as the Life epic Marisol, both stuck at Level 3. On the other hand, I've now opened a staggering EIGHT BCX of the lovable loser, Gorth, twice as many as any of the other epics.
Gorth is a constant reminder that he could have been a dang Quora! Gorth is ironically my only Level 5 epic, joined by Trapp and Edith as Level 4 Gold Foil epics.
The Rares
Looking at the 10 rares in the Gladiator card set, I've opened the most of the Water and Life units, with Level 7 cards for all four of the gladiators: Alfredo, Relenor, Ajax, and Katie. Thankfully, Katie is the best gladiator of the 10 rares, but I still need 6 more GFR BCX to max her out for that fifth point of magic damage.
I seem to have opened the fewest of the Earth rares, with only Level 5 versions of those units, as well as a Level 5 Liza in Death. The 1-mana Cutter Brieze can be handy in low-level range battles, so I'd love to level it up higher in Gold Foil. Both of my Fire rares, Orella and Sarius, along with K.Rayne in Death, are combined to Level 6, which makes them the ideal level to use in my Advanced Gold Foil brawl fray.
The Commons
Well, would you look at that. Over 4.5 years, I've managed to fully max out four of the common gladiators with a whopping 38 GFC BCX! Very thankfully, I've managed to max out both of the deadly Gobson melee units, the double-striking sneak attacker Katrelba, and the opportunistic Bertrol.
Unnecessarily, I've opened 8 extra GFC BCX of Whistling Damon, 46 in total. If just 3 of those had been the powerful Water common, Isgald Vorst, then I would have her maxed out as well, and wouldn't think twice about saving my merits for a new set of gladiators. But I'm such a fan of Isgald Vorst, I'm considering continuing my Gold Foil quest until I have the last 3 BCX I need to get to 38, so I can max her out for that 5th point of melee damage.
Finally, I'm 10 BCX away from a fully leveled Helmet Kharafax for the helpful Return Fire ability, as he is a very handy null attack unit to pair with Rage or Shiraza, but that seems so far away now that I've completed my Gold Foil Legendary grail. I just can't see myself continuing to chase Gold Foil BCX to max out commons and rares when I could instead be stacking Merits if we ever get a new set of Gladiator cards to collect.
The Next Grail
What's the next grail for me to collect? At this point, I'm not exactly sure. I've really enjoyed this quest for 1 BCX of each Gold Foil legendary Gladiator since it has been entirely based on my persistence to purchase and open Gladius Cases with my extra merits on the hunt for soulbound GFLs.
These are Gold Foil gladiators that money can't buy, which makes it even more special to achieve. I've long since completed a fully maxed regular foil set of Gladiators at all rarities, but as a Gold Foil collector, I badly wanted at least 1 BCX of all of the cards at my disposal, especially for Brawls and 
What grail are you working on? Let me know in the comments, and I'll see you around Praetoria. Until next time...
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