It's been quite some time since I did a Splinterlands post, so I thought I would throw something together today. Splinterlands is kind of the OG game here on Hive. It's pretty close to my heart as I was part of the original kickstarter before it was even playable. Sadly, I only have a couple of those Alpha cards left, but I have continued to invest in the game over there years.
I won't pretend that I am as invested in the game as some folks out there, but I'd still like to think that I have a pretty decent stake. I was able to buy a validator node (what's going on with those by the way?), about seven plots of land, and enough cards that my account was about halfway to six figures during the last bull run.
That being said, I won't be the first to admit that I have been a bit disappointed in the game lately. While some of the changes the team has made might be good business moves for them, I really feel like the "fun" in the game has slowly drained out of it. I enjoy brawls, but that's really about the only thing I play anymore.
I have one account that is solely dedicated to rentals. Unfortunately, I've watched my earnings from that account dwindle from 2000 DEC per day down to 200 DEC per day if I am lucky. It's pretty sad. I have a couple other accounts that I bot with, but even that isn't as satisfying as it used to be with the introduction of Glint.
I have some conversations with some of the bigger account holders from time to time and they have expressed similar dismay. It's hard to admit, but I think we are going to see a bit of a mass exodus from Splinterlands should the next bull run shine favorably on HIVE and the HIVE associated projects.
I'm not ashamed to admit I've got a couple of other accounts that I bot with. I wanted to find a way to make use of those cards that no one wanted to rent anymore. It just made sense to shift them over to a different account and see how it did in the season. All of my accounts end up solidly in the Diamond level, so it hasn't been a total waste.
Like I said though, I enjoy brawls. I noticed in my guild that gold foil frays were not being filled up. It made me realize that a lot of people must not have solid GF decks, so I started focusing on building a decent gold foil deck.
Besides the new soulbound reward cards, my main account is all gold foil cards. It's been about two months now and Clockwork Aide popped onto my radar. I hadn't really noticed this card before as it sits at the bottom of my deck in the neutral splinter. It is fast becoming my new favorite card though.
Don't let that 1 health stat fool you. It's got a hefty shield and paired with one of the other speed increase summoners, you can become virtually untouchable. I've had battles where a card with no attack suddenly has 8 speed at the beginning of a battle and no one can hit them. It's like the anti-tank tank.
As you can see, my Clockwork Aide is only sitting at level 2. I have a regular foil CA that is sitting at level 3, but I am curious to know what he looks like at higher levels than that. I can't seem to find where to see that as it is a soulbound card, so higher levels are not available on the market.
If anyone knows where I can find out what a max level Clockwork Aide looks like, please let me know. Even if you just have to share a photo of yours, I would greatly appreciate it.
This card has been pretty game changing for me and I have been using it quite a bit lately. Of course it doesn't help with those reverse speed battles, the ones where you can't use neutral cards, or the battles where you can't use a speed boost summoner.
It kind of reminds me of the old Brownie card. That was a really powerful card and I made a lot of money maxing a couple of those out and renting them out back in the day. I'd argue it was one of the best epic cards out there at one time.
I'm sure others might contest that. I'll be the first to admit that I have never been very good at strategy, I squeak by, but it's not something that I excel at.
Have you used Clockwork Aide lately? Are you a fan? Let's talk about it in the comments!
All pictures/screenshots taken by myself or 
