Pro tip: Play A LOT the second day after a season ends. Rewards are great. Don't play too much day 1, because the rewards are terrible and you want to keep that energy capture rate up. Basically, it happens because the rewards are paid out based on yesterday's rankings. For the new season, we all drop, so we don't get very high rewards paid out day 1. However, day 2 our rewards are based on day 1 ranks when we were even lower, so now we get good rewards. This was confirmed by a dev on the discord, but unfortunately I didn't screenshot it, so you'll just have to take my word for it. If this is confusing, just ignore it and heed this advice: play a lot day 2.
Now you might be thinking "but day 2 is so much harder! How can I possibly win?" Honestly? It is so much harder, but you can definitely win. With the total cost of the cards I used equal to ~$86.39 (based on the lowest selling price on the market right now) and rentable at 13.87 DEC a day, I went on a 12 game win streak from 854 trophies to 1263 trophies. I ran into people whose cards were worth $100+, and was victorious every time.
Note: one game I did use a GF Malric, but it was with all lvl 1 monsters so this could have been accomplished with the ghost Malric, albeit with a 10% decrease in DEC rewards. This 10% decrease is factored into all calculations.
Note: these are all high estimates. You can likely get them all for less.
Mylor Crowling: cost $55, rentable for 10 DEC a day
Centauri Mage: cost $12.6, rentable for .25 DEC a day
Venari Wavesmith: cost $4, rentable for 2 DEC a day
Lava Launcher: cost $3.2, rentable for .5 DEC a day
Djinn Renova: cost $3.19, rentable for .42 DEC a day
Sand Worm: cost $2.05, rentable for .1 DEC a day
Battering Ram: cost $1.40, rentable for .1 DEC a day
Flamesmith: cost $1.134, rentable for .1 DEC a day
Frost Lion: cost $0.99, rentable for .1 DEC a day
Goblin Dartling: cost $0.904, rentable for .1 DEC a day
Venari Crystalsmith: cost $0.836, rentable for .1 DEC a day
Venari Seedsmith: cost $0.59, rentable for .1 DEC a day
Completely non-essential cards from this list include Goblin Dartling and Venari Seedsmith.
Essential cards are frost lion, venari wavesmith, battering ram, sand worm, and mylor crowling.
Note: For the deck cost comparison I ignore gold, so their decks were actually more expensive than the numbers reflect
DEC Earned: 5.957
A very weird game in which they somehow only used Alric. Definitely botting and the odds only ruleset threw them off. Automatic win.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_11e4cde6b3e81768e218ee42ff80d7ee&ref=cylcops-guardian
Rules: None
Mana: 18
Possible Splinters: All
Deck cost comparison: mine $56.494, theirs $55
DEC Earned: 6.61
Thought Process: I saw in their history that they were using Mylor and Unicorn Mustang to counter water. So, I used Mylor and Stone Golem to easily win.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_add90fdeaed0e127aae38a09a9702454&ref=cylcops-guardian
Rules: No melee
Mana: 17
Possible Splinters: Fire, Life, Dragon
Deck cost comparison: mine $4.026, theirs $25.5
DEC Earned: 7.78
Thought Process: I was torn between using Lava Launcher or a life heal deck. I decided on life heal in the end. It likely wouldn't have mattered though.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_f1f83067000326dfe0032b0e9879a0b7&ref=cylcops-guardian
Rules: None
Mana: 24
Possible Splinters: All besides dragon
Deck cost comparison: mine $2.304, theirs $93.37
DEC Earned: 9.324
Thought Process: I saw they had an Oshannus and Wavesmith, so I decided to take away their armor and go to work with my failed sorcerer, Unicorn Mustang, and Goblin Thief.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_41ed316d1a136e6e613ef048f808e8d7&ref=cylcops-guardian
Rules: Blast
Mana: 20
Possible Splinters: Fire or Water
Deck cost comparison: mine $5.49, theirs free
DEC Earned: 10.884
Thought Process: I assumed they would use water, so I prepared to face water. A frost lion in front often absorbs 3 water attacks, and the albatross would absorb one blast. However, they instead used fire and I destroyed them.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_f79978248dfb106155d0314e3566a351&ref=cylcops-guardian
Rules: Only Common and Rare
Mana: 24
Possible Splinters: NOT Earth or Death
Deck cost comparison: mine $2.23, theirs $516.27
DEC Earned: 11.314
Thought Process: I knew they would use water based on their battle history, so I prepared a healing life deck to beat them.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_aa39d7a0581261d5fa39223226bbb148&ref=cylcops-guardian
Rules: Blast and Equalizer
Mana: 26
Possible Splinters: Not life or dragon
Deck cost comparison: mine $4.60, theirs $94
DEC Earned: 14.447
Thought Process: I saw in their history they used Bortus, so water was out. I decided to overhwelm them by attacking first. Because it was equalizer, I decided to use many cheap troops.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_f25968034cc4fd8ba4fe69aecda1100c&ref=cylcops-guardian
Rules: Blast and No legendaries
Mana: 21
Possible Splinters: All
Deck cost comparison: mine $0.904, theirs $104.96
DEC Earned: 16.468
Thought Process: Their battle history showed water, so I thought they'd use water. They did not, and I was scared I'd be beaten by their superior cards, but fortunately I was not.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_8ab88888d2f756da06a5584f3c072f60&ref=cylcops-guardian
Rules: Heavy Hitters, Slow
Mana: 50
Possible Splinters: All but Death and Earth
Deck cost comparison: mine $7.783, theirs $46.26
DEC Earned: 18.162 (90% of 20.188 because I'm pretending my GF Malric was instead the free one. If you check, this would have no impact on the battle because all my cards were lvl 1)
Thought Process: I really wasn't sure what to do. I knew they had Bortus, so water was out of the question. I elected Fire because I have the best cards there.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_9f304695acb09e1f91140bf15a3b4a34&ref=cylcops-guardian
Rules: Melee Mayhem
Mana: 20
Possible Splinters: No Dragon
Deck cost comparison: mine $55, theirs $117.34
DEC Earned: 21.071
Thought Process: I knew they would use magic in the back based on their battle history, and decided to kill the back cards first with snipe. Them my stone golem would beat their Unicorn Mustang.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_acb0a792ee1cb89023f26607dafbf270&ref=cylcops-guardian
Rules: Odds Only
Mana: 52
Possible Splinters: Fire, Water, or Earth
Deck cost comparison: mine $70.485, theirs $62.049
DEC Earned: 23.571
Thought Process: I knew they had Torhillo, and just hoped that my Earth deck was good enough to win.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_718631b699a279bfe412f32c69fb0083&ref=cylcops-guardian
Rules: Close Range, Heavy Hitters
Mana: 12
Possible Splinters: Not Death or Dragon
Deck cost comparison: mine $56.4, theirs free
DEC Earned: 25.537
Thought Process: I assumed they'd use water, but prepared for melee as well.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_666192e4e71182ff10e23014c3a9d78e&ref=cylcops-guardian
My deck was worth more in just 4 battles of 12, and yet I won all 12 (though game 1 was odd, I'm still counting it as me paying more). In total, I earned 171.1322 DEC, enough to pay for the cards rentals for just over 12 days! The average cost of my cards was $29.16 per game, while my opponent was $101.34, meaning they spent $72 more on average. The median costs were $6.63 vs $77.71, meaning their median was $71 more than mine. Yes, I did get a bit lucky, but I still won 12 games in a row with a deck you can rent for under 14 DEC a day. Clearly, money is not all that matters, and skill plays a big part too. I hope your season's started well too! I wish you all the best of luck, and let me know if you have any questions!
