After playing Magic the Gathering many years ago, I discovered #Splinterlands and quickly got hooked. I'm not sure the #playtoearn thing is really going to happen soon... I think my husband is just hoping for the bleeding to slow 😁
Initially, I bought a lot of cards without any real strategy, but this has changed as I learnt more about the game. I quickly realised that I had to upgrade my summoners before realising that I couldn't afford the summoners I liked.
This list of summoners is not complete. The summoners I discuss here are ones I own (and one I rented).
Fire Splinter
As a new player, you start with Pyre (one of the phantom cards). For this reason, I quickly overlooked her in favour of the other fire summoners. It is easy to underestimate the advantage of the extra speed boost she brings, but it's tough to fight back if you're dead before it's your turn!
Malric Inferno is definitely the strongest fire summoner (IMHO) at the lower levels, but he is very expensive to upgrade, and I doubt I'll be buying the 6 extra cards to take him to L4. His GF counterpart is just ridiculously overpriced. He is also one of the phantom summoners available to new players.
I bought Qid Yuff because he was cheap. At higher levels, he is proving to be a better value card than Malric. The ability to damage health once the armour is gone is more valuable than I thought it would be.
Talia Firestorm has no special abilities but costs only 2 mana to play, which is very useful in 12 mana games. One should note that at L1, she can summon L2 common monsters, so I would have to upgrade her to make her useful for levels past the Bronze/Silver league.
Water Splinter
Bortus is one of the phantom cards you start with as a new player. He is much better than many people give him credit for. He was the first summoner I levelled up to L3. He is much cheaper than Alric, and incidentally, provides excellent defence against any magic-heavy player. Unfortunately, his power only works if the opponent team uses magic.
I think there is no doubt that Alric Stormbringer is the most powerful water summoner in the lower leagues. Although he is one of the phantom summoners, he is also the most expensive (money-wise) upgrade.
Vera Salacia was much cheaper to buy than either Alric or Bortus. The advantage of her ability (allowing friendly monsters to catch flying monsters) is not really obvious to a new player. However, the improved hit rate is quite effective - especially if the other team has a lot of flying monsters.
Like her counterpart, Talia Firestorm, Xia Seachan is an interesting option for low mana games because she only requires 2 mana to play but has no obvious special abilities. However, at L1, she can summon L2 common monsters, so I would have to upgrade her to make her useful for levels past the Bronze/Silver league.
Earth Splinter
As a new player, you start with a phantom version of Wizard of Eastwood. After receiving a copy in a reward chest, I decided to give him a go and upgrade him a bit since he is much cheaper to buy and upgrade than Mylor. He proved to be pretty useful against those pesky armoured Life teams!
You also get a phantom version of Lyanna Natura who grants an extra HP. I've never taken to her and have not upgraded the phantom card. Maybe she looks too chipper and happy and high-school cheerleader-ish... 🤣
I love Mylor Crowling. His thorns devastate any melee attack, and paired with Flesh Golem, Wood Nymph, Centauri Mage, Unicorn Mustang or a few of the new cards; he is still hard to beat.
Scarred Llama Mage is one of the strongest summoners in the game. However, he costs 7 Mana to play, so you can't use him all the time. The +2HP is great, and allowing any of your monsters to go "Last Stand" is awesome. As a Legendary summoner, he can summon L3 common and L2 rare and epic monsters, even at L1.
I don't own a Kron... Seeing him turn Kron the Undying into f@#$%g Kron the Immortal Killer is devastating!
Death Splinter
New players start with a phantom version of Contessa L'Ament. I elected to upgrade her because she was cheap... 😆 However, like with Bortus, her negative powers are only effective if the opposing team has many ranged players. Now that there are so many ranged players to counter Mylor, she has become more valuable.
You also start with a phantom version of Zintar Mortalis. As with Contessa and Bortus, his power is negative, relying on the opposing team to field a melee-heavy team. Since he is so expensive, I chose not to upgrade him from the phantom card.
Owster Rotwell is my go-to Death summoner. His "magic reflect" is quite effective against Alric and other magic users, particularly now that so many players are fielding magic decks to counter Mylor.
Jarlax the Undead is another summoner that costs only 2 mana to play for those low mana games. He can also summon L2 common monsters at L1, but I would have to upgrade him to make him useful for levels past the Bronze/Silver league.
Life Splinter
I have never enjoyed playing the Life splinter much.
Mother Khala is one of the phantom summoners you receive and has been my go-to Life summoner. She's much cheaper to level up than Tyrus (who looks like a spoilt brat 😹), and the extra HP at least helped my pretty Feral Spirit survive a bit longer.
After discovering how soul-destroying it is to fight against a Life team with Armorsmith, I discovered how useful Tyrus Paladium was. He is the other Life phantom card, but always significantly more expensive than the others. However, recently his price came down, and I decided to level him up a bit. I don't quite understand the price drop -- every bot I encounter seems to play him?
Lorna Shine is another summoner I bought because she was cheap. However, the divine shield can be very effective, especially if she has a large team of monsters who all manage to take their bit out of you while your first damage doesn't hurt them...
Dragon Splinter
Dragons are used in conjunction with one of the other splinters. The summoners are expensive to play (mana-wise), but choosing from more than one splinter has some advantages.
Brighton Bloom gives everyone "Flying", which is useful in the Earthquake quests. A flying Sandworm or Unicorn is pretty handy!
Delwin Dragonscale costs 5 mana to play compared to Alric Stormbringer's 3 mana but can be used for more splinters than just Water. He is also significantly cheaper to buy and level up!
Drake of Arnak is cheaper to upgrade than Tyrus and also provides the team with shields. He can be used with all splinters. However, he does cost 4 mana to play.
Kretch Tallevor is cheap to upgrade and costs only 3 mana to play - he is the low-mana equivalent of Talia, Xia and Jarlax. Even at L1, he can summon L2 common monsters.
Last but not least, the one summoner I rented.
Words can not describe how much I love Byzantine Kitty. She heals the tank, removes negative effects, and makes sure ranged monsters always hit their target while looking like an innocent kitten.
To understand just how powerful this (borrowed) L1 summoner is, look at how she murdered Llama-Kron...
Next Steps
Where to from here?
I have upgraded many of these to L3 (some only to L2), and Llama will have to stay L1 until I win the Lotto.
However, I feel that for many of these summoners, I've reached the end of their upgrade path and that it makes more sense to start to look at the more advanced summoners I start to meet in matches.
I know I want a Kitty, and I want a Yodin. But maybe there are more cost-effective intermediate solutions I'm missing?
Let me know in the comments!