Hey everyone!
To begin with, I'm writing this post not to brag nor show off, but to express my joy and appreciation for coming such a long way from my first spellbook purchase and the days when earning 0.3 dec in bronze is already pretty awesome for me. I am writing this to let you all know that with continuous effort, you can also make your splinterlands journey meaningful.
The Beginning
I began playing on July 2021 with no expectations and my pockets were empty after my first NFT game before Splinterlands went downhill. It was even during August when I actually began being active. All I could afford is the 10$ and all that 10$ could afford is a Splinterlands spellbook so I took the shot XD.
Joining Splinterlands back in July is when Mylor meta is still pretty big (renting him for a day reaches 50 dec o.o). The previous reward cards are still pretty cheap and almost around 80-90% printed. Daily quest potions can still be purchased with credits. End-of-season rewards are still on the highest rank reached basis. I spent my first days grinding in bronze happy with the minuscule amount of dec that I can manage. BUT I believe I finished my season in Silver 1 spamming water and life splinters lmao.
An Awesome Community
What made me hooked on Splinterlands isn't the gameplay or earning potential. I'd like to believe that I reason I fell in love with it is the AMAZING community that everybody built. It was a community with less fud than any crypto servers that I've been. There are older players actively helping out the new ones. 
That is why right now, I am moderating 4 splinterlands-related servers namely: Splinterlore, Splinterlabs, Deciphers Clan (The Filipino server), and Cornavirus pool. I am more active in the Filipino server, but I do check in with others from time to time.
It is also in this community where I've met awesome mates like Sketchygamerguy, 
Sketchy's projects always mean well and I'll always try to support him. Corna and kira has been awesome friends and now my fellow rivals in the silver leaderboards. Schwarz, hanam, kram, and albee are tight with me since not only are we all playing competitively, we hang out a lot in the Filipino server and talk about all kinds of stuff aside from strats. Simplymike's one of the most approachable mavs/mods that I've encountered And sperare sigh he's sadly the vice guild leader of our guild... (sarcasm)
I entered the game with the idea of immersing myself in NFT games in mind, but I never really expected that I'll meet really awesome people.
Finding the Perfect Guild
Having an awesome gaming community is better, but finding a great guild like the Dalai Llamas is a different feeling. Sperare invited me in a month or two after I joined the game. 
Recently, we expanded and opened a sibling guild named Alpaca Punch It's still new but I have high hopes since we managed to have members like hanam1 and 
I am always looking towards the best interest of the guild and I will definitely see to help it grow further. Today, we're holding the first-ever guild tournament and I'm proud of the progress that we've made for ourselves.
Unit gave Sperare and I the honor of being the first guild officers and I'll certainly try to bring us to a higher level. Maybe even be one of the best guilds out there someday.
Playing Competitive
Leaderboards and tournament playing never crossed my mind. It was only by chance that I figured to try and it was never a smooth start.
I had to loan dec from cornavirus just to fund my rentals because I don't even have 1000 dec in my pockets. My first climb only got me to 11th rank in silver (My rents are around 6.5k dec while leaderboard prizes for top 11-25 is only 4k). My second climb only made me finish in 26th place since I only managed to play for a day two days before EOS (Yet more losses). I almost quit since I'm losing too much DEC, but I took another risk.
Who would've thought that after those losses would come--
- Top 6 in Silver
- Top 4 in Silver
- Top 3 in Silver
- Top 7 in Silver (Just last season)
- Top 6 in Bronze (Just last season on my Solokyu account)
- Power Outtage Qualifiers Champion
- Power Outtage Main Tournament 4th Place (playing as jekyll-02)
- Silvershield Knights Are Recruiting 4th Place (Not on my Hyde-20 account)
- Kobold Mining Expedition Champion (Not on my Hyde-20 account)
- And others more..
The photo above is not an official lb result, but it's during that season when I finished in 3rd (I have no screenshots oof)
Sometimes, I would wonder what if my doubts got the best of me? Looking back made me thankful that I took the risk and chose to keep on climbing instead of giving up. The risk is indeed worth it.
Final Thoughts
I never expected that all of those things would come from a 10$ investment. It has been a really amazing ride and I do plan on making the most of it further. I've met awesome people, been part of a great community, and managed to keep on playing at a competitive level. Maybe if there is one last thing that I could say before finishing this article, I'd just like to say that--
Some of us joined in for the game. Some joined in for the profit. But ultimately, I believe that there are more opportunities in it than just the game and the profit. The responsibility falls to us on how we can use those opportunities to make our time in it meaningful. I'm sure that I made mine meaningful and I do hope you will as well.
That'll be all. Have a great day ahead everyone!