So, I'm far from a pro in Splinterlands. I always hover around a 50% win rate in bronze and I'm fine with that. I was basically playing with the starter deck exclusively up until the new cards were released.
One team I always struggled playing was Life. In bronze, you only see a few certain playstyles and it can be insanely tough to beat the Water all magic team, Death Team, or Fire Team.
I was lucky enough to pull all 3 of the new Life splinter cards and wanted to see if I could build a team around one or all of them.
New Life Cards
Let's talk about the new Life cards. I feel each of the new Life cards is pretty good, but the rare, Venari Crystalsmith, is my favorite so far. This card can replace the other healer on Life and provide some extra damage as well. For 1 point extra, this seems like a no-brainer to me.
Pelacor Conjurer
This common has 4 health and flying for only 2 mana. Unfortunately, he does no damage. While there may be some use for him in low mana battles, I would skip using life and just go and use Death or Fire for extremely low mana battles. Maybe he's more useful when you level him up but at level 1 he doesn't bring much to the table for Life.
Venari Crystalsmith
The rare reward card, Venari Crystalsmith, knocks it out of the park. This is one of my favorite cards so far from the new reward cards.
You get a 4 health, 1 ranged damaged card for 4 mana. She also provides tank heal which is going to be vital for this new team I've built for Bronze league play.
Djinn Renova
Finally, we have the epic loot reward, Djinn Renova. A 7 mana, 2 magic damage, 6 health, 2 speed card. Her special ability also grants 1 health to all team members.
Djinn Renova should be a pretty powerful card. Her high mana costs will, unfortunately, limit play in bronze league matches. I will be using her in high mana games and also testing her out in some other comps, but for this team, she will be sidelined for now.
Team Composition
It's been a real struggle to put together a decent life team together from the starter cards. I normally would skip any life quest that I received for my daily quest. Now that the new cards are coming in, I finally decided to spend some DEC and buy a few cards to see what I could put together.
This team is NOT free to play friendly, but if you have some DEC saved up or about $12-$16 you can grab the 2 cards needed for the team.
The goal of the team is to wipe out the backline and avoid the tank completely. For this, we'll use as many sneak cards as we can afford. Venari Crystalsmith will be in the last position as a tank healer.
It is extremely effective at wiping all-magic Water teams, the standard death team, all earth teams, all life teams, and most fire compositions. It will struggle against really fast fire teams from my experience. (I'm referring to Bronze decks with little to no extra cards).
This team works best for 20+ mana games. Games that have less than 20 mana, I would probably play another splinter still.
Summoner
While the team may work with Mother Khala as the summoner, Lorna Shine's Divine Shield gives your backline the time it needs to do some damage. Don't use Tyrus Paladium for this team. His +1 armor is useless against the magic teams that are filling up the bronze league.
Unfortunately, you will need to purchase Lorna. She is currently for sale for $8.90 in the market
The Tanks
The life team has no shortage of tanks but only two have been effective in this composition for me. All the tanks have armor which is nice. While it won't block magic damage, it will prevent the other tank from killing our tank.
Silvershield Knight should be your choice for matches between 20-27 mana. the +1 melee damage will help your sneak team decimate the other team. While he doesn't have a ton of health, divine shield and heals should keep him alive long enough to kill the other team
I've been using Shieldbreaker on 27+ mana games. Between the divine shield and his taunt ability, the other team will lose at least an entire round attacking him. Venari in the back will be constantly healing as well to keep him alive.
Sneak Assault Force
Playing as the life team, you have a few decent sneak cards available to you in the starter deck. There's also a new neutral reward epic that you can win from the new loot rewards. But if you have a few extra dollars, you should purchase Silvershield Assassin. I was lucky enough to buy one for $6.80!
Silvershield Assassin
This guy is badass and almost essential on the team. He basically takes the place of 2 other sneak cards. At 7 mana he's quite costly but still fits in this team's mana team budget. Silvershield Assassin performs 2 attacks for 1 damage each round. Add in +1 damage from Silvershield Knight and it's game over for the other team. His 5 health also makes him perfect for the 2nd spot on the team since he won't die to one attack.
Starter Card Options
Don't worry if you can't afford to purchase or rent a Silvershield Assassin. You still have access to two great sneak cards in the starter deck.
Feral Spirit is my first choice of the 2. This kitty is fast, and when combined with Silvershield Knight, packs a punch.
Elven Cutthroat is also a great sneak option with a little less health and less speed.
Reward Cards
With new reward cards come new sneak cards. The Neutral epic card Uraeus is a great option to fill out your sneak deck. Unfortunately, Uraeus is relatively slow compared to the other options and your sneak team needs all the speed it can get.
If you've been playing longer than one month, you probably have 10 sandworms sitting in your deck. Sandworm is incredibly deadly but SLOW. His high mana costs also make it difficult to fit him into this team. Maybe on 99+ battles, he will be viable.
Healer and Support
The new rare reward card is our healer. At 4 mana she is affordable, will keep the tank alive, and provide some damage to the enemy front position.
At 4 mana, Venari Crystalsmith is the best healer and support for this team. If you don't own one, she is available on the market for only .63 cents! Rentals are also extremely cheap.
Sneak Force Team Composition
The team is pretty easy to set up and won't change too much based on mana restrictions. As said earlier, this team is only effective at 20+ mana. I haven't had any luck using a similar team as sub-20 mana games.
Summoner: Lorna Shine
Tank: Under 28 mana use Silvershield Knight, over 28 use Shieldbreaker.
Sneak Order: Place your sneakers from highest health to lowest. Silvershield Assassin should be in the 2nd spot if you have him
If you have extra mana, add another card here if you have the room. Creeping Ooze is a great option for 1 mana that will help slow your opponent down.
Healer in the last position.
But, Does it Work?
I've been doing extremely well with this team in Bronze this week. It quickly defeats some of the most common meta teams you see in bronze. You won't win every match, but I've gone on quite a few long winning streaks over the past few days playing this team.
Here are some recent results using this team
Sneak Force vs Water Magic III
Does anyone have any advice?
I've only been playing Splinterlands for about 1 1/2 months and feel I'm starting to get a hang of how the cards interact and how to build a great team. But, I could always use advice from the pros out there. If you have any ideas on how to make this team better without spending $100, I'd love to hear them.
Also, if you think this team is great or trash, I'd like to know. Don't hesitate to guide me and help me make this team better.
I also recently pulled Djinn Chwala and am excited to build a dragon team around this card.
That's all for Today
If you made it this far I just wanted to say thanks for taking the time out of your day to read my post. I hope it was informative and helps you make better teams in Splinterlands!
A little about me...
Currently based in Siem Reap, Cambodia, I'm a solo-traveling digital nomad. Due to the pandemic, I've been living in Siem Reap for almost 2 years now. While I'm hoping to get back on the road soon, I'm not in a rush.
I'd love to connect with other travelers, digital nomads, gamers, or residents of Cambodia. Don't hesitate to say hi or send me an upvote!
You can learn more about me and my company at OneZen.me.
