The new ranked rewards payment calculation has been implemented. Most seasoned/active players are seeing higher rewards due to the changes in the ranked reward calculation.
Reward Reductions
In this post by 
@splinterlands/splinterlands-ranked-rewards-update
Standard Cards
One change that I appreciate is now if you do not own or rent one of the standard cards, an "S" will show up at the top of the card when you are in the process of selecting your lineup.
This will help you to know that you will be playing with one of the standard (free) cards and will receive a reduction in your ranked reward earnings. I find it very helpful so that I can substitute a different card in the lineup if I so choose. However I have found that if I change one of the cards in my lineups, the possibility of winning will be changed as well.
Reduction Calculation
In the above post, the following calculation was provided with an associated chart for reference purposes.
See % reduction on Battle
After you have completed and won a battle in which you used standard cards, you can see how much the reduction was by clicking on the small icon next to the amount of DEC that was awarded. If this screenshot, this battle had a 29% reduction.
Slight difference in actual calculation
Based on the calculation, I was expecting a reduction of 16.67% if I used one standard (free) card in my lineup and a 33.33% if I used two standard cards. However I am seeing a slight difference in the calculation that I am unable to explain.
Since the reduction result was different, I paid more attention the next time that I used two free cards in my lineup.
Here is another example:
My reduction was still 29% for using two standard (free) cards. Don't get me wrong, I am very happy that my reduction is less than expected but I need to work on replacing my standard cards with owned or rented cards.
Reduce Your Reduction
Since the penalty is the same no matter the price of the cards, I am evaluating my lineups and identifying which standard cards I use the most. There are some that I use rarely or not at all.
These cards I am putting at the bottom of my priority list and convinced myself that if I use those cards that I am fine with the reduction in rewards.
The easiest way to reduce your reduction is by renting cards. I have rented a few of the untamed cards for which the purchase price is way above my available funds.
Most of the Chaos Legion standard cards, I plan to add to my holdings since there should be an ample supply of them for many months. I am starting out by purchasing the lowest priced cards and renting ones that are more expensive. As my funds increase, I will replace rented cards with purchased ones.
If you have not started playing this exciting Play2Earn game, you should start. Here is my link to sign up:
https://splinterlands.com?ref=darmstrong
Posted using Splintertalk