Every year I like to set concrete goals for Splinterlands and Hive. Not vague “do better” goals, but numbers that force discipline and give me something to measure against when the year is over. 2025 was no different, except in hindsight, it turned out to be one of the most productive years I have had in this ecosystem since I started back in August 2021.
Some goals were ambitious. Some I blew straight through. And that contrast is exactly why reviewing them matters.
Status: Absolutely crushed
When I set this goal, it felt bold but realistic, here is the image from my last year's post on December 29th:
At the time, my SPS balance sat at 424,102.299 SPS. I had been stacking SPS steadily for years through staking, rewards, and opportunistic buys. The plan was not flashy, it was practical. Stake daily, compound consistently, and take advantage of market inefficiencies when HIVE pumps or SPS dips.
The logic behind 500,000 SPS was simple:
SPS gets more and more utility in the game as time passes
SPS staking is the backbone of long term Splinterlands participation, this is one of the most liquid assets and if Splinterlands has a bull run it will be reflected in the price of SPS
If you believe in the game, you should own a meaningful piece of it
Fast forward to the end of 2025, and the final number tells a much bigger story:
Current SPS balance: 623,538 SPS
Not only did I reach my goal, I overshot it by more than 123,000 SPS. That did not happen by accident.
What we also see is that despite the brutal bear market in most of the altcoins my SPS is actually worth more than it was last year by over two hundred dollars. We also see that the APR for staked SPS dropped from almost eleven percent to under eight percent. That makes acquiring SPS much harder.
Status: Mission accomplished (mostly...) Reward cards have always been important to my Splinterlands strategy. They are powerful, and if you approach them correctly one of the best things to focus on in the game as you build a stronger deck that brings you more wins and therefore more SPS.
Going into 2025, my plan was clear:
Let Commons and Rares fill out naturally through chests
Aggressively target Epic reward cards every season
Deprioritize Legendaries until the end
At the start of the year, progress looked like this:
Commons: 87% maxed
Rares: 71% maxed
Epics: 61% maxed
Legendaries: 14% maxed
Epic cards were the real challenge. Based on previous reward sets, I knew they would be the bottleneck and that assumption turned out to be 100% correct.
End of 2025 Results:
Commons: 100% maxed
Rares: 100% maxed
Epics: 100% maxed
Legendaries: 80% maxed
Yes, I didn't manage to max out all of the legendary cards, but part of that was bad luck and you cannot control luck... But consistent effort every season got me there in all other reward card rarities.
Since August 2021, the same lesson keeps proving itself: patience beats timing. Consistency beats cleverness. Splinterlands is not static. The rules change. The meta shifts. Token incentives evolve. The only players who stay ahead long-term are the ones who:
Stay informed
Keep capital working
Align gameplay and assets
The real revelation for me has been treating SPS staking and card progression as one strategy, not two separate ones. Reward efficiency, and deck strength reinforce each other.
My Hive goal for 2025 was straightforward: Reach 10,000 Hive Power On January 1, 2025, I had 6,265 HP, by the end of the year?
27,112 Hive Power.
That result still makes me pause. What changed was not just numbers, it was mindset. For me Hive stopped being “the chain Splinterlands runs on” and became something I actively wanted exposure to:
For curation
For influence
For long-term potential
I will say this bluntly: Too many Splinterlands players are wildly underexposed to Hive.
If you’re staking hundreds of thousands of SPS but barely holding HP, you’re missing half the picture. This is my Hive Power growth since 2021, as you can see I was missing half of the picture until late 2024:
After a year like 2025, it would be easy to get complacent. That is exactly why 2026 goals matter.
2026 Goal #1: Reach 850,000 Staked SPS.
This is a continuation of the same conviction: SPS remains undervalued relative to its role. Staked SPS is long-term positioning, not speculation
2026 Goal #2: Reach 40,000 Hive Power
Hive has earned a larger place in my portfolio. The more Hive you have staked the stronger curation impact on your Hive Power Growth. More meaningful voting power
This goal is aggressive and that is intentional.
2026 Goal #3: Max Out the New Reward Cards
If 2025 proved anything, it is that early, disciplined accumulation wins. Prioritize Epics again unless the meta proves otherwise, once again I will let Commons and Rares fill naturally and I will be patient with Legendaries
The playbook works. No reason to reinvent it.
Looking back, 2025 wasn’t just a year of hitting goals it was a year of confirmation. Confirmation that long-term thinking still works. Confirmation that Splinterlands rewards consistency. Confirmation that Hive exposure is not optional if you actually believe in this ecosystem.
2026 is not about starting something new, it is about scaling what already works. And honestly? That is the best place to be.
If you have some staked SPS please vote for my SPS Validator Node here: https://monstermarket.io/validators?validator=seattlea
I am also a Hive Witness and would really appreciate your vote for me as a witness: https://vote.hive.uno/@seattlea
