I decided to repeat my experiment from the previous season:
and the last day of the season try to enter the top50 using only rented cards. I used 
The main differences in comparison to the previous season:
- I started from 3400 points (reset from Champion III) and not from 0
- I wanted to get to top50 with the smallest number of the battles
- I rented only 2 splinters: Green and Red (I gave up the Blue splinter which I rented last time)
- I wanted to rent the smallest subset of cards and still be competitive in Champion
- I rented Prince Rennyn
- The experiment lasted only about 3 hours
What I achieved
- 45st position on the leaderboard with only 89 battles played (I hit top50 after 83 battles but played a couple more just to be sure that I stay in top50)
- top50 = 10 beta packs (worth about $12)
- champion I = 150 reward cards for season (worth about $10)
- 0 x quest = 0 reward cards ;-) Quest was for the splinters that I didn't have, no luck here
- 7.5k DEC = $7.5
Balance:
- rental costs: $14
- value of rewards: $12 + $10 + $7.5 = $29.5
- result: +$15.5
It could be more if I didn't lose 2 possible quests.
Renting cards was more expensive this time for three reasons:
- more people rent cards, so the best contracts are taken
- the average escrow fee was higher than last time (most part of the total cost was just escrow fees, not a daily fees, but the next day I was breaking the contracts, so I had to pay it fully ;-))
- I rented Prince Rennyn which costs me $3.7 alone ($2.5 escrow fee + $1.2 daily costs, that is a lot, but I wanted this card to minimize the number of played battles)
Cards
I rented only Green and Red splinter + some neutrals + Selenia.
Green:
Actually, I could have given up the Stonesplitter Orc, I rented him during the game due to the fact that in one of the battles the Red splinter was disabled on the Up Close & Personal rules and this card seemed useful.
| Card | Usage |
|---|---|
| Flesh Golem | Taking Sides, Broken Arrows |
| Goblin Sorcerer | Most rules, esp. Back to Basics, Keep Distance, Reverse Speed |
| Minotaur Warrior | Little League |
| Wood Nymph | Most rules |
| Elemental Earth | Most rules |
| Stone Golem | Aim True |
| Stonesplitter Orc | Up Close & Personal |
| Mushroom Seer | Most rules, esp. Keep Distance, Reverse Speed, Fog of War |
| Javelin Thrower | Most rules |
| Magi of the Forest | Most rules, esp. Back To Basics |
| Swamp Thing | Most rules |
| Xander Foxwood | Silenced Summoners |
| Brownie | Most rules |
| Spirit of the Forest | Most rules |
| Prince Rennyn | Most rules |
Red:
For me, the Red splinter is very strong in Champion, just not suitable for some rules (Keep Distance, Fog of War, Reverse Speed).
| Card | Usage |
|---|---|
| Goblin Shaman | Most rules |
| Giant Roc | Most rules, esp Taking Sides, Broken Arrows |
| Kobold Miner | Most rules |
| Fire Beetle | Back to Basics |
| Serpentine Soldier | Most rules |
| Cerberus | Most rules |
| Flame Imp | Most rules |
| Fire Deamon | Most rules |
| Talia Firestorm | Silenced summoners |
| Imp Bowman | Most rules |
| Elemental Phoenix | Most rules |
| Plado Emberstorm | Most rules |
I could limit the number of cards and give up
- Fire Beetle, Imp Bownam, but then I could not play Back to Basics with Red Splinter
- Giant Roc
Neutral:
| Card | Usage |
|---|---|
| Peaceful Giant | Back to Basics |
| Elven Cutthroat | Most rules |
| Centaur | Most rules |
| Highland Archer | Most rules |
| Creeping Ooze | Most rules |
| Cocatrice | Most rules |
| Hobgoblin | Melee Mayhem |
| Prismatic Energy | Rise of Commons, Lost Legendaries |
| Lord Arianthus | Most rules |
I could limit the number of cards and give up
- Hobgoblin - used only for Melee Mayhem and Super Sneak Rule
- Prismatic Energy - used only for Rise of Commons and Lost Legendaries on high mana cap battles
Dragon:
| Card | Usage |
|---|---|
| Selenia Sky | Back to Basics, Keep Distance, Reverse Speed, Fog of War |
Gameplay
Most of the time I played Green splinter with Prince Rennyn summoner (this configuration is strong in Champion).
I also played quite a lot Red splinter + Plado Emberstorm mainly on rules:
- Melee Mayhem
- Super Sneak
- Up Close & Personal
- Rise of Commons (Green without Brownie, Swamp Thing and Spirit of the Forest is not that strong)
- Broken Arrows
- Taking Sides (Green without Cocatrice, Lord Ariantus is not that strong as usual)
Delegation market observation
- more and more people are renting cards
- I managed to rent all the cards I needed, but 6 of them below the maximum level
- escrow fees were higher than the last time
- it is difficult to rent neutral cards and legendary summoners maxed
- at the end of the season, the demand for card rental is certainly greater
Summary
- you can enter champion I, even up to the top 50 without having any own cards, only by renting from the market
- you don't need to rent all splinters, Green splinter is essential, Red splinter is a complement
- the whole experiment brought about $15 profit and lasts 3 hours
- the experiment was done mainly for fun and to see how fast you can get to top50 with only 2 splinters rented and limited time and money
What next?
I'm thinking about two options:
- top10 with only rented cards (2 splinters + neutrals) and one day of play
- top50 with only Green splinter