Returning to Splinterlands Amidst a Busy Schedule: An Experience Opening Gladius Packs

Due to the various demands of daily life, work pressure, and personal commitments, I hadn't been able to dedicate regular time to my favorite game, Splinterlands, for quite a while. Regular players surely know that there is a unique feeling associated with returning to the game after a break. Finally, I managed to carve out some free time today and logged into my account. It felt great to step back into the game's interface after such a long time. Upon logging in, I noticed that I had accumulated a significant amount of Merits through my participation in Guild Brawls.

Being part of a guild in Splinterlands offers various benefits; the most appealing among them is participating in Guild Brawls and using the earned Merits to purchase Gladius cases from the Guild Store. I had approximately 19,123 Merits accumulated in my account. Since I hadn't collected any new cards in a long time, I decided to put these Merits to use and open some packs. Checking the Guild Store, I saw that each pack cost 2,000 Merits. I decided to buy a total of five Gladius cases, which cost me 10,000 Merits in total.

However, simply buying the packs isn't enough; using boosters is crucial to increase the chances of pulling high-quality cards. Therefore, I decided to purchase Blood Stones and Power Stones from the Guild Store. Blood Stones essentially double the probability of obtaining Legendary cards from the Gladiator set. Since each pack contains five cards, I needed 25 charges to cover the 25 cards across the five packs. Thanks to the 8% discount benefit at our guild lodge, purchasing 25 Blood Stones cost me 1,375 Merits. Next, I purchased another 25 Power Stones—at a total cost of 1,850 Merits—to double the chances of getting gold foil cards. Even after completing all these purchases, I still had 7,748 Merits remaining in my account for future use.

Then came the most thrilling moment—opening the packs. The excitement of revealing the cards one by one is truly fantastic. Below, I share the details of the cards I pulled from my five packs:

I got a wonderful surprise right away upon opening the first pack. I pulled a magnificent Epic card named ‘Edith Emberstar’—a powerful, long-range Archer card belonging to the Life element. This pack also contained a Rare card, ‘Kotriphus Bayne’, and three Common cards: ‘Helmet Kharafax’, ‘Krash Wanderford’, and ‘Whistling Damon’. Getting an Epic card in the very first pack made for a highly satisfying start.

Although I didn't pull any Epic or Legendary cards from the second pack, I did get two excellent Rare cards: ‘Cutter Brieze’ (Water element) and ‘Sarius’ (Fire element). The remaining three cards were Common: ‘Chimney Wallstop’, ‘Whistling Damon’, and ‘Bertrol Gobson’. I am particularly fond of ‘Chimney Wallstop’ and ‘Bertrol Gobson’ because they are incredibly effective in Brawl battles.

Upon opening the third pack, I found a Rare card named ‘Palidon Rakk’. It is a powerful Earth element card with impressive health and attack stats. The other four cards in this pack were Common: ‘Krash Wanderford’, ‘Isgald Vorst’, ‘Hugo Strongsword’, and ‘Helmet Kharafax’. I was also pleased to get ‘Isgald Vorst’, as it plays a very effective role in Water-element teams.

In the fourth pack, just as before, I secured at least one guaranteed Rare card: ‘Sarius’. Alongside it, the remaining four were Common cards—‘Whistling Damon’, ‘Krash Wanderford’, ‘Bertrol Gobson’, and the Death element magic card ‘Witch of Warwick’. Since these cards match those from previous packs, they will be instrumental in leveling up my existing cards.

The final—fifth—pack was quite rewarding. I pulled two Rare cards from this one: the heavily armored Life element unit ‘Relenor Cleaver’ and the Water element unit ‘Cutter Brieze’. The other three Common cards were ‘Isgald Vorst’, ‘Krash Wanderford’, and ‘Witch of Warwick’.

Analyzing the overall results of the pack openings, the outcome was quite promising, even though I didn't land any Legendary or Gold Foil cards this time—despite having Blood Stones and Power Stones active. Out of a total of 25 cards, I obtained one powerful Epic card and several significant Rare cards. Since Gladiator cards are "Soulbound"—meaning they cannot be traded or transferred—opening packs like this is essential for expanding one's collection and leveling up the cards. Every Gladiator card possesses a special ability called ‘Bloodlust’, which boosts the card's power whenever it defeats an opponent. Consequently, these cards play a pivotal role in securing victories during Guild Brawls and standard battles with specific rulesets.

Returning to the game after a long hiatus and engaging in a pack-opening session like this was truly refreshing. I plan to quickly combine and level up the cards I acquired so I can perform even better for my guild in the next Guild Brawl. There is a unique joy in spending time on a favorite game amidst a busy schedule.