Following from my last post on how to Escape the Bronze 3 tier, we discussed and concluded that we have to fulfill the 2 requirements, namely

Rating of 400 and above (to do so, play and win more matches)
Have a Combined Power of at least 1000 (to do so, play the game for some time and obtain monsters from Loot Chests, buy/rent monsters from the market)

In case if you have missed that essential guide, the link to it is right here
@rayius/new-players-guide-to-splinterlands-how-to-escape-from-bronze-3

Now I am sure many of you are not facing as much difficulty fulfilling the first criteria, but stuck dead in the track to fulfill the second criteria of having at least 1000 power. And in the previous post it was mentioned in order to get this 1000 power, there are a couple of ways (more of strategy) to do so.

How to actually Increase your Power?

There are 2 ways thus far for you to increase your Power, namely

Rent Cards
Own Cards (both Monsters as well as Summoners)

Rent Cards

This is the easiest way for you to increase your Power, immediately. You can easily head over to the Market in your Splinterlands Homepage and browse through a collection of rentals. Yes, some cards are extremely pricey, but sometimes there is actually no need for the best Golden Foil Legendary Card to get to the next tier. Here is a picture for illustration purpose (credits to @shenan , @pkocjan and @nateaguila )

While this table is from 2020, I have been using it and it is absolutely useful! Supposedly you are at Bronze 3 now, you only need 1000 Power to get to Bronze 2. For that, you do not need to have a Golden Foil Legendary which provides you with 50,000 Power and priced around 100 DEC per day! To get that 1000 Power to reach Bronze 2, you only require 2 Golden Foil Common that are priced around less than 1 DEC per day, or a single normal Legendary card that are priced around 5 DEC per day. We are talking about a HUGE difference, so be wise when renting! A bit of strategizing can really help you save a huge amount of DEC!

Own Cards

Personally this is my preferred option, but it certainly isn't the easiest of option! Owning cards are extremely time consuming if you are not buying off the market, as you would have to depend solely on the Loot Chest from your Daily Quest as well as Season Rewards.

Every day, you will get a Daily Quest. Completing it will give you Loot Chest, and the amount of Loot Chest will depend on the tier you are at. The higher your tier, the more Loot Chest you will get

Similarly, every Season (15 days) you will be rewarded with Loot Chest depending on the Tier you are at, at the point when the Season ends. The amount of Loot Chest will depend on the tier you are at. The higher your tier, the more Loot Chest you will get

As you can see, the higher your tier, the more Loot Chest you may receive in both your Daily Quest and Season Rewards. And what is so special about these Loot Chest? Loot Chest allows you an opportunity to receive these rewards! (Percentage of these rewards are general ballpark figures)

Reward Cards - 33%
DEC - 33%
Legendary Potions - 16.5%
Alchemy Potions - 16.5%
Booster Pack - 1%

Other than the 2 Potions, any of the other 3 reward can literally guarantee you an immediate boost in your Power rating!

Receiving the rewards card will give you the power rating of the card.
Receiving DEC allows you liquidity to make Card Purchases or to Rent Cards (Option 1)
Booster Pack will contain 5 cards, within which every single card will give you an increase in your Power rating.

Although I have not had the luxury of ever opening a Booster Pack, but if you have a Booster Pack that is the time your Potions will come in handy. As I have never had the opportunity to open one, I will not be able to comment on it for now (sorry guys)

Conclusion

Yes, it is possible for you to play and earn without spending money in this game (other than purchasing the Spellbook). Personally, I have not spent a single cent on this game (other than the Spellbook), and am proud to be at Silver 1 now. Nevertheless, I have plenty of help along the way, which is what that inspired me to write these blogs so as to help more players in the community who are struggling and clueless. Today's post is dedicated to @bertrayo , who shared with me about the above topic!