Hello Readers,
The Splinterlands has finally updated its in-game shop page for the upcoming Conclave Arcana pack presale event and it seems the whole Hive community is getting pumped up and eagerly waiting for the upcoming sale. The clock is ticking by the way, because looking at the presale timer, the clock has 3 days and 19 hours remaining, until the Conclave Arcana Presale kicks off on April 22. Now I am sure many of you reading this post are preparing to partake in the presale and at least buy a handful of packs, and I am also preparing for this upcoming Presale and till now, i am with 4.55 million DEC in my pocket and plans to stretch up to 5 million DEC and in fact, I am also calling some of my friends if I can build a group and buy even bigger amount to strengthen our place higher in the presale reward leaderboards. I am so eager this time because I am gearing up to chase those ultra‑rare Black Foil and Arcane foil cards. In today’s post, I will be talking about my plan, the odds, while trying vaguely to picture how many Black Foils I can expect from my contribution in the presale. So, if you are interested, let us take a dive without any further ado.
What Makes Black Foils So Irresistible?
I am getting goosebumps since the first time I saw the upcoming black foil cards, thinking of their glowing black edges and one-of-a-kind designed print, rarity level, and possible price in the future. Black Foil cards are not just another shiny card in your arsenal, they are out-of-the-box max‑level, collectible cards well known for rarity, loaded with perks that even challenge Gold Foils head-on. As announced just recently in the official Splinterlands Discord, these Black Foil cards will hold 5x of the Production points than a Gold foil.
Production Points over Gold Foils
- Legendary BF and BFA - 262,500 CP & 25,000 PP
- Epic BF and BFA - 131,250 CP & 15,000 PP
- Rare BF and BFA - 57,750 CP & 10,000 PP
- Common BF and BFA - 24,935 CP & 5,000 PP
Not only are its PP and CP, but Black Foil cards also come with a few more perks as well, like -
- +20% rewards in ranked battles
- Half the cooldown than that of Gold Foils in Survival Mode
- 5× burn value, Collection Power, and Conflict contribution
- Can use them like Gold Foils in brawls and tournaments
Now, for all these reason above apart from being a ultra rare collectible card, Every time I picture a Black Foil in my mind, my pulse run like a Horse, as I think this is the first ever batch of some next phase evolution of Splinterlands card collecting and hopefully will cost a lot in market as well.
Presale Details
When the presale window finally opens on April 22, all of us will have three pack types to choose from:
Standard Packs - a total of Half a million of these are on the presale table, each costing 4,000 DEC. These are perfect if you want to open packs in volume, chasing every rarity card.
Alchemy Packs - Only 100,000 available at 12,000 DEC each, but these gives the best odds for capturing Black Foils. I see them as my primary target.
Legendary Packs - With just 50,000 in supply and a price tag of 24,000 DEC, these packs carry a premium chance for opening legendary and epic rarity cards, ideal if you want to mix in a higher‑stakes pull.
Please keep in mind that the Starter Packs won’t be part of this presale, and any packs left unclaimed by May 11 will be burned forever, ensuring scarcity and demand.
Odds for Black Foils
As I have finally decided to partake in the presale after a lot of thinking, I was thinking and measuring every possible scenario, so that I know exactly where my DEC goes when the sale goes live -
Standard Packs have a mere 0.025% chance per Black Foil card, about one Black Foil in every 4,000 cards, which translates to roughly 800 packs per Black Foil.
Alchemy Packs raise the bar to 0.25% per card, so we are looking at one Black Foil in every 400 cards, or about 80 packs, probably the best option so far.
Legendary Packs sit in the middle with a 0.125% chance per card, giving us one Black Foil in every 800 cards, or roughly 160 packs.
Starter Packs offer zero chance, they are simply to pull common and rare cards and not in the big boys play this time.
Now, pack-wise, undoubtedly Alchemy pack is the best option to go forward and I can almost see the spark of that first Black Foil glinting out of an Alchemy Pack in front of me.
How Many Black Foils Can I Expect?
If I take into account my entire 4.55 million DEC into one pack type (I am working on the rest amount to make it 5 million though), here’s how the math unfolds -
With the standard Packs (4,000 DEC each) option, I could open about 1,137 packs, which math tells me yields roughly 1.421 Black Foils on average, so it's a little more than one chance of getting even one with standard packs.
With Alchemy Packs (12,000 DEC each) option, this best possible option that fetches me 379 packs, translating into nearly 4.73 Black Foils, almost 4 guaranteed pulls if luck tips my way.
With the legendary Packs (24,000 DEC each) option, I would score 189 packs, amounting to around 1.18 Black Foils, a bit lower than Standard, but you would be getting more epics and legendary cards overall.
My Presale Plan
On surface level analysis, all signs point to Alchemy Packs as my best bet for that can grab me first Black Foil.
Now, not only from packs, but there are chances to get black foils from the presale rewards too, so I am definitely not leaving anything uncovered. Two sure‑shot options stand out in front of us to get BFs, by the way.
- Climbing the Presale Leaderboard - For every DEC I spend in presale, it sends me up the ranks. If I luckily get some presale buy buddies partners and break into the Top 6, I’ll co‑design a Legendary Archon and receive mint #1 as a Black Foil Legendary—no odds, just guaranteed glory and even top 7 to 20 position gets a max BF rare promo card.
- Entering the Presale Raffle - For every 1,000 DEC I spend, I earn one raffle ticket. After May 11, a draw awards Max BF Legendary and BF Arcane promo cards. It’s luck‑based, but with enough tickets, my chances grow intensely higher, possibly earning me one at least.
Last but not least, in the presale, I may prioritise buying Alchemy Packs to edge my expected Black Foil count close to one. I will also grind on my leaderboard climb, pushing hard to be in the Top 20 finish, but it's hardly possible for me. I may also mix in a few Legendary Packs for that slightly higher per‑pack edge and collection variety. But I haven't decided on my final move yet and still in research mode. Let's see how many times my plans get changed and what I do at the end.
