Introduction

Hello welcome to Ace's fire starting guide for the upcoming Modern Formats
It has been so long since I have posted and if you were looking forward to my posts (You were definitely not!) I'm sorry!
But honestly my past few Splinter Guides are really Back / Out dated ever since the team is gonna implement the new MODERN FORMAT.

I do believe that a new guide needs to be made for all the beginners, so I'll pretty much be covering basic card info and recommendations for Novice, Bronze and Silver leagues since I do not have the summoners up to level for Gold myself.

The new MODERN FORMAT pretty much removes all the old cards from Alpha, Beta as well as their respective Reward Counterparts from play while the WILD FORMAT is pretty much what we are currently playing!

The team is planning to change how the you can earn by playing such as Phantom cards earning way less than people who owns / rents cards and boosting the dec earning bonus cards %.
They will also be removing the daily quests in the future and change it to Focus Points which increases your rewards the more you play.
This will definitely incentivize people to own / rent cards in order to maximise their gameplay as well as earning so its best to start preparing now!

I am planning to make a blog for each splinter in order to help everyone, this is just a part of it!
You can always follow me to see my posts at @qxacexp or if you are still new feel free to use my referral code: qxACExp.
|| Your comments, follows and upvotes are very much appreciated ||

The Summoners

Pyre: The recent changes in the Phantom cards sacrificed quite a few free speedy monsters you can play in exchange for slightly Tankier cards, but with this lower mana cost summoner you can play more monsters in lower mana games while compensating the Speed that they lack.
Tarsa: The Summoner that replaced Malric providing the same buff along with health increase while requiring 1 extra mana cost to play. This is one of the few summoners that I totally enjoy playing on my sub account due to the fact that it is really Value For Mana.

The Monsters

1. Tanks

Living Lava: One of the best tanks in game, basically due to it's high DPS and "Shield" ability (50% less Damage from Melee and Range attacks). It is however very vulnerable to Magic Attacks! 7 Mana
Antoid Platoon: A lower mana archetype of the Living Lava with the sole purpose of just protecting the back-row using its Shield ability. As it lacks in Damage and Health, it is really weak to Magic, but you can use Tarsa to to compensate for its weakness in those two stats. 4 Mana

2. Key Players

Serpentine Spy: Combo with Tarsa for Massive Damage and Extra Survivability or Combo with Pyre to Blitz their Backrows using the "Opportunity" ability (Strikes the monster with the lowest health). 3 Mana
Fire Elemental: High Speed, and decent ranged attack, with the "Blast" ability, which means his attacks will always deal 1 dmg to the adjacent monster! 5 mana
Spark Pixies: Similar to the Fire Elemental, but with insane speed and "flying" ability (+25% evasion rate) which makes him very hard to hit (play when you feel your luck is good). 4 Mana
Tenyu Striker: Good health and Decent Damage! He has the "Sneak" ability so it will strike the monster on the last row (Note this for your Daily Missions). You can either play this monster on the last row to tank other Sneak monsters or just in front of Serpentine Spy in order to protect it. 5 Mana
Radiated Brute: A lower mana version of my favourite Fineas Rage monster. With its decent health and damage along with its "Reach" ability, this monster is an excellent card to play on the second row. He does lack in speed so you can consider compensating with Pyre, or just make sure to increase its health with Tarsa and try to land at least one massive hit. 5 Mana

3. Gap fillers

Lava Spider: The Chaos Legion Version of the Alpha/Beta Fire Beetle. Very nice health and "snipe" is a useful ability that strikes the first monster who has range or magic attack (Note this for your Daily Missions). 3 Mana
Scavo Chemist: While this card does not have any attacks, do not look down on it as it is an awesome support card in the "Noxious Fumes" Rulesets. It has decent health and speed to almost guarantee at least activating a "Cleanse" per game which removes all negative effects on your first row monster like poison permanently. 2 Mana
Djinn Apprentice: At lower leagues, cards with 2 magic cards are pretty hard to find and are pretty strong. If the games allow only Fire Splinters, you can consider playing this card as they are generally weak to magic. This card do cost slightly more but it has pretty good stats and survivability 5 Mana

Upgrading Your Deck

Here I am going to recommend you different cards you could rent / buy depending on your budget! (Moving from the cheapest options to the more expensive ones).

I would avoid recommending the really expensive ones like Yodin Zaku and Magnor as I want to really recommend cheap card that complements really well with one another especially in certain Rule-Sets!

Fire Cards	Reasoning	Combo
Exploding Rats	This card has incredible attack and speed which makes it an insane glass cannon along with its "blast" ability. You would definitely want to play the card in "Super Sneak", "Equaliser" or "Equal Opportunity" Rule-Sets.	To be played with Tarsa and only in the Rule-Sets mentioned. You would want to protect this card or allow it to survive as long as possible to land more hits
Lava Spider	You want to have more options other than just melee and this card will help a lot with the *"Snipe" Daily Quest*.	Relatively Cheap card you can play with either summoner (Pyre or Tarsa), I personally just use it for the Quests.
Scavo Chemist	The "Noxious Fumes" Rule-Set is generally the most annoying and difficult to deal with. Monsters with the "Cleanse" Ability are great support cards that removes the poison status on your first position monster, bringing you a massive advantage in your fights. Plus at only 2 mana its a really cheap support card to play.	To be played with Tarsa, Living Lava and higher health monsters (Tenyu Striker, Fineas Rage, Radiated Brute) along with it at the back in Noxious Fumes Battles.
Antoid Platoon	Very cheap and awesome Tank with its "Shield" Ability, do be careful of Magic Monsters as it is very vulnerable to it.	To be played in really cheap battles, you can do Tarsa, Antoid Platoon, Serpentine Spy and Battering Ram / Uraeus for 13/14 mana battles.
Radiated Brute	With relatively decent health with nice attack along with its "Reach" Ability, you'd want to play it on your second row. Cheaper alternative to the Fineas Rage, would play it in "Reverse Speed" Rule-Set over Fineas though.	Would play it as a secondary tank, along with the other melee monsters when using Tarsa.
Djinn Apprentice	A nice card to have just in case you are forced to play Fire Splinter in "Keep Your Distance" Rule-Set or you know your opponent only plays Fire.	Can be played with either Pyre or Tarsa as long as you know that your opponent plays teams weaker to magic.
Lava Launcher	A pretty expensive card to play at 9 mana but a really good tank and would help a lot in "Keep Your Distance" and "Target Practice" Rule-Sets. Its ability "Close Range" will come really handy in those Rule-Sets and protect your backrow.	To be played with Pyre along with other weaker monsters at the back with the Rule-Sets mentioned.
Tenyu Striker	A really strong and balanced card, not only does it hit hard, it has really decent speed and health, coming at the cost of 5 mana. This card will be a staple in Fire decks and will definitely make the "Sneak" Quests really easy to accomplish.	Best to combo with Tarsa, Antoid Platoon / Living Lava as well as Radiated Brute / Fineas Rage if you have enough mana!
Fire Elemental	Pretty fun card to play in "Target practice" Rule-Set making full use of the rule and its "Blast" Ability, do make sure to defend it using another Range / magic monster as it is pretty fragile. You can also play it in "Holy protection" Rule-Set to remove the Divine Shields as quickly as possible.	Best to place it behind tankier range / magic monsters like Lava Launcher perhaps to protect it, but in general Fire elemental will almost always land at least one hit with its insane speed.
Serpentine Spy	My personal favourite monster to play in the Fire Splinter. Although fragile, it hits fast and hard especially when paired with the right summoner and monsters. Its ability "Opportunity" ensures that it always hit where it hurts.	To be played with Tarsa to boost its health and damage. You would definitely want a Scorch Fiend in front of it to tank other "Opportunity" monsters.
Fineas Rage	An upgrade to the Radiated Brute, with way higher health and insane speed, but would cost 3 mana more to play. You would play it the same way as the Radiated Brute, placing it on the second row that allows him to attack thanks to the "Reach" Ability.	Only play when you have enough mana to spare, when played with Tarsa, this monster is hard to beat. Its high speed makes it harder to hit as well.
Pyromancer	A tankier but slower version of the Fire Elemental while costing 1 extra mana, you can consider playing it in front of the Fire Elemental to protect it.	Best played with Pyre in "Holy Protection"Bold and "Target practice" Rule-Set
Forgotten One	With Immunity, this is another card you can consider playing in "Noxious Fumes" Rule-Sets. However the card does cost 9 mana to play, in return of its high attack and defensive capabilities.	To be played with Tarsa or you can also play it in Rule-Sets like "Super Sneak", "Equal opportunity" and "Melee mayhem" as long as you have the mana.
Living Lava	One of the best tanks you can play ever since Untamed came out, its strong defensive and offensive abilities has always stood out among other tanks. Even though it is slow, it truly became an advantage in the "Reverse Speed" Rule-Set. His "Shield" Ability makes him so hard to kill but just like the "Antoid Platoon" it is very vulnerable to Magic.	You would definitely want to play it with Tarsa at the front row along with your more fragile monsters at the back.
Scorch Fiend	The Modern Format version of the Furious Chicken, with only 0 mana as cost you can play it as a Meat-Shield without any worries.	To be played in front of your more fragile monsters like Serpentine Spy or Fire Elemental so it can tank one hit from "Opportunity" Monsters.
Grum Flamblade	Currently the only monster in playable in rank with the "Bloodlust" Ability making it a Beast. However, coming in with a cost of 11 mana, it won't be easy to implement him in your team without taking your full team composition or mana cost into consideration. I would say this is the only monster that really counters Magic in the Fire Splinter with its "Void Armor" Ability so check the opponent's previous teams!	To be played with Tarsa, with slightly cheaper monsters at the back, always check your opponent's previous teams to see if they play magic more.

Conclusion

I Generally play fire Splinters in really cheap mana games as they have load of options and Tarsa is a superb summoner that boosts most of the options you can play.
However, you will need to lookout for players who plays Magic Teams as the Fire Splinters are generally weak in that aspect.

While I did not cover any Neutral monsters in this guide I would like to recommend you some:
1.Parasitic Growth
2.War Chaang
3.Battering Ram
4.Sand Worm
5.Uraeus
These cards are generally really cheap to play and would be really consistent options for any of your Splinter Teams, but Tarsa brings out a lot of their potential!
P.S Make sure you have a Brighton Bloom in your summoner option so to have an edge over other players in the "Earthquake" Rule-Sets by providing your team with the "Flying" Ability.