Splinterlands Card Population Spotlight - Episode 3 07.02.22-15.02.22

In this series I am going to drop 5 Random cards into the spotlight to analyse population decline over the course of the week or period of time. The aim of these posts are to hopefully get people to identify the deflationary pressure rate on certain cards relative to their price and popularity and hopefully help you determine which cards you may need to make a move on (before they become out of reach financially). This week I am have a look at a range of regular foil cards i the $5-$20 range. My analysis is primarily focussed on what I see of each card in bronze and silver level leagues. I hope you enjoy!

Pit Ogre

Pit Ogre - Alpha/Beta Series - Fire - Rare
Abilities: Stun (lvl 1), Enrage (lvl 4), Void (lvl 7)
The Pit Ogre is a medium fire tank that starts with the stun ability. Slow to attack it is better suited for reverse speed battles.

Thoughts - Pit Ogre is an interesting card as a tank because it competes for popularity with Living Lava as starting tank with no real advantage because many would choose Living Lava with the added armour and Shield ability over the Stun ability. But it does gain +1 attack at Level 2 and the Enrage ability at Level 4. At this point it becomes a formidable tank in reverse speed when used with Tarsa or Marlic. It has seen some price movement to the up and it's nearly under the 10k population mark. I rarely see it in battle and for this reason it is clear to me that it is a card that is not popular with better options on the table for fire decks. I am not bullish long term on deflationary pressure even if the price has nearly doubled in a week. But I am happy to be proven wrong.

Weekly Price Change: $2.25-$5.00

Weekly Regular Foil Population Change: 10,105-10,087

Kobald Miner

Kobald Miner - Alpha/Beta Series - Fire - Common
Abilities: Sneak (lvl 1)
The Sneak ability makes the Kobald an impressive backline monster. Add in the 2 summoning points and 2 attack at Level 3 makes this Miner worth it's wait in gold. You can find a use for Kobald in most battle conditions,

Thoughts - Now this is a card I like and am bullish on. Although only 12 were combined in the last week, I put that down to price limitations. A card that is popular and is incredible once upgraded beyond level 2 and used with Tarsa. I believe this card is not only still popular but also has enough use case to demand deflationary pressure and hence positive investment value. I would not be surprised if this card reaches $20 by years end. As it closes in on 16k cards remaining, I do think time is running out for many to ever own one.

Weekly Price Change: $8.00-$11.10
Weekly Regular Foil Population Change: 16,400-16,388

Coral Wraith

Coral Wraith- Untamed Series - Water - Epic
Abilities: Sneak (lvl 1), Rust (lvl 4)
The Coral Wraith is a Magic Sneak that costs 4 summoning points. This makes the Coral Wraith a dangerous weapon in any backline.

Thoughts - There is not much you can say wrong about the Coral Wraith. It's almost impossible to deal with in any strategy and this makes this card highly sort after. It recently was recently as high as $50 prior to the release of Chaos! If that's not enough to give you confidence about it's potential, just wait until your opponent deploys it on the battlefield! But wait, you already have so you know how formidable this card can be and is why I can not only see this going back up in price, I believe this card to have potential of reaching $100 investment in the near future, such is the value of it's use case verses it's less than 7k population. In fact, the proof is in the 36 that were combined and burnt in just 1 week. At $16.80, I think if your looking to get it cheaper, you may want to re-consider your thought process. I wish I owned one, so much so in fact stuff it, I might just go buy one now! 😆

Weekly Price Change:$14.00-$16.80
Weekly Regular Foil Population Change: 6,870-6,834

Hero Of Beyond

Hero Of Beyond - Untamed Series - Life - Epic
Abilities: Close Range (lvl 1), Last Stand (lvl 3), Shield (lvl 6)
The Hero Of Beyond is a Ranged Tank with Close Range ability to boot. Use case is huge and varied with General Sloan adding +1 to the range attack but not limited to many strategies that can accommodate a 7 summoning point tank.

Thoughts - I haven't given the Hero much thought beyond before this but there was a small moment in time where I wanted one. Now that I have had a chance to revisit this and realise how Sloan can pump up it's attack, I now feel I've overlooked this cards potential. With just over 6,500 remaining in circulation, this card could be quite the hidden gem. The recent price movement and 17 burns in the last week suggest this card is on someone's radar but I haven't seen it used in ages. So I am torn on whether I would invest or not. For use case yes, for investment hangs a big ? But one thing is for sure, the use case for this card is improved post Chaos release and I can't help but think if I added the Last Stand feature in at Level 3 that it would be a very useful tank at the back with Spirit Hoarder the option to heal any damage it might take at the back.

Weekly Price Change: $14.83-$16.80
Weekly Regular Foil Population Change: 6,611-6,593

Haunted Spirit

Haunted Spirit - Alpha/Beta Series - Death - Rare
Abilities: heal (lvl 1), Magic Reflect (lvl 4), Void (lvl 7)
A strong but rather cheap tank with starting Heal ability. The Haunted Spirit is a force to be reckoned with in many battle conditions. Magic Reflect coming in at level 4 adds a new level of hurt for any opponent.

Thoughts - Is this card still popular? Before Chaos it was arguably one of the most sort after cards in all of Spliterlands. I think I even remember seeing it at $60 at one point. But now I think the Cursed Windeku has taken over as the new Death cheapy tank. I cannot foresee Haunted Spirit reclaiming that mantle. The ship has sailed for any ROI on this card and if you are left holding one as it currently stands. Your decision to hold will likely be purely for event modes and the Wild Format. But having said that, the new format split might allow the Haunted Spirit to 'rise' once again to spook opponents.

Weekly Price Change: $15.57-$18.69
Weekly Regular Foil Population Change: 9,975-9,973

Well this wraps up episode 3 of 'Splinterlands Card Population Spotlight' I hope you found some value in this post and hope that you follow to see future posts like this! Feel free to shill your cards you want me to follow for future blogs! Feel free to check out previous episodes and my my streaming channel on twitch (links below)

Episode 1 Splinterlands Card Population Spotlight
Episode 2 Splinterlands Card Population Spotlight

Feel free to check out other super cool Splinterlands twitch community streamers:
https://www.twitchmetrics.net/channels/follower?game=Splinterlands