Here is some strategy to easily get to around 600+ trophies. It only requires the base cards, so if you have better cards feel free to mix and match.
Before I begin, I wanted to say I am by no means a Splinterlands expert. However, I tend to get to around 1100 trophies each season using only the base cards.
To begin, basic info about movement speed. The higher the movement speed, the earlier a character will attack. If two characters have the same movement speed, then magic attacks first followed by ranged and then melee.
So a melee card with 4 speed will attack before a magic card with 3 speed. However, a ranged card with 4 speed would attack before the melee card with 4 speed.
Speed also impacts how often your cards will miss. The odds of missing can vary from 0% to 100%, and are dependent on speed, flying, and dodge. Flying = 25% chance of missing for non flying characters; dodge = 25% chance of missing; and each difference in speed is an additional 10% chance of missing.
Ex: Living Lava (speed 1) attacks Cockatrice (speed 3 with flying). Odds of it missing are 25% (because of flying) + (3 - 1) * 10% = 45%.
Ex 2: Spark Pixies (speed 5 with flying) attacks Serpent of Eld (speed 4). Odds of it missing are 25% (because of flying). Because the speed value is negative—(4 - 5)*10% = -10%—it is ignored.
Formula: 25% * flying + 25% * dodge + 10% * (speed attacker - speed defender)
In the above formula, all values must be positive. Missing does not happen for magic (at least with basic cards).
Keep all these rules in mind when setting up your troops.
Alright I will now move on to my guide for troop placement with specific mana. To my knowledge, all games are played with a range of mana, from 12-30 and then 99 as well. For now, I will go over 12-18. This is not a perfect guide, but it should do well enough (>50% win rate at low trophies).
IMPORTANT: Order does in fact matter. The order is: summoner, 1st position, 2nd position, etc. Please emulate this with your placement.
12 mana: 3 cost Zintar Mortaus, 5 cost Haunted Spirit, 1 cost Cursed Slimeball, 3 cost Skeleton Assassin
13 mana: 4 cost Drake of Arnak, 4 cost Cerberus, 5 cost Fire Elemental
Or
13 mana: 3 cost Zintar Mortaus, 5 cost Haunted Spirit, 2 cost Undead Badger, 3 cost Skeleton Assassin
14 mana: 3 cost Zintar Mortaus, 5 cost Haunted Spirit, 4 cost Twisted Jester, 2 cost Undead Priest
15 mana: 3 cost Zintar Mortaus, 5 cost Haunted Spirit, 3 cost Skeleton Assassin, 2 cost Undead Badger, 2 cost Undead Priest
16 mana: 3 cost Zintar Mortaus, 5 cost Haunted Spirit, 2 cost Undead Badger, 4 cost Twisted Jesper, 2 cost Undead Priest
17 mana: 3 cost Zintar Mortaus, 2 cost Undead Priest, 2 cost Undead Badger, 3 cost Skeleton Assassin, 3 cost Death Elemental, 4 cost Twisted Jesper
18 mana: 3 cost Zintar Mortaus, 5 cost Haunted Spirit, 3 cost Skeleton Assassin, 3 cost Elven Cutthroat, 2 cost Undead Badger, 2 cost Undead Priest
Let me know if you have any questions and good luck to all you new players! Also like and subscribe please!