T50 and Time to Land

And here we are again.

End of Season.

Last Season:

0.5 win percentage

Season Just Finished:

0.53 win percentage

That percentage change might not seem like a big difference, but what it meant was streaks and longer streaks, so I was able to climb up the ladder in larger chunks and, not lose ground quite as fast. And, what this resulted in was getting to about the same rating in Champion 1, with 177 less games than I had the previous season. This meant finishing for the season with 5 days to go and for the first time ever....

T50 DEC rewards!

A few months ago I broke into the top 100 for the first time ever and @azircon said that my next goal to hit was T50, so here I am. Just.

And then, this gave me a little bit of space to play some Wild Format too. For months now, I have only been playing in Modern because I just didn't have the space to play in Wild. My rating was at 1000, so Silver 3. In just under 50 rounds I was able to move into Gold 1 and if I have a chance in the new season, I will try to move another league up into Diamond.

And what is interesting, is that while last season in Modern everyone in the T100 at least made it into Champion 1, this season without bots there are only 56 accounts in the top league. This is because the bot and the battle helper users are largely not there, meaning they aren't taking slots, but it is also making it harder to climb, as there are fewer players vying for the final 50. There was quite a lot of movement in the last couple days and right up to the close of the season - and I was almost pushed out of the T50.

That would've made me sad.

And now, this coming season is going to maybe see the most disruptive thing happen in the history of playing Splinterlands, as Land 1.5 should be released, which will see staking of cards to plots. At full staked with max cards, this will take around 75% of all cards out of active circulation, though it isn't expected that will happen. But, what will likely happen is the accounts with a lot of cards currently renting, might also have a lot of plots to fill too, so rental scarcity might become an issue.

Similarly, some people with few extra cards but a couple of plots, will take some of their playing cards out of circulation too, which will have a profound effect on outcomes in Ranked Play and in Brawls, especially in Wild Formats, as Alpha and Beta cards get such good bonuses from staking on Land.

This all means that new dynamics are coming into play that are going to change the meta of game play, as well as the strategies around the economics. This is a good thing as it creates new and unoptimized gaps in the ecosystem for people to learn how to occupy and take advantage of, as when things are too stable for too long, opportunity disappears for many, whilst a few take the advantage.

This last season for me wasn't just a good season in terms of rewards and position - it was the best I have felt playing in a very long time. It is far more compelling playing against humans and I am hoping that now there is a little more action, there will also be a little more interaction on Hive, where people are not just dumping a battle report, but spending time talking about the gameplay, the economy, their strategies, and most importantly, their experiences. Looking through the Splinterlands community, the only ones with a lot of comments seem to be the giveaway posts - I hope that changes.

At least, that is what I am trying to do and perhaps some of the more senior players will drop by and add their thoughts from time to time and perhaps even, be inspired to write some posts themselves. I don't think people realize how valuable building the conversation around the game is, for the game to thrive. Discord is one thing, but Hive articles have external facing potential too and connects people who might not talk together otherwise. On-chain encourages a different kind of conversation than it does in Discord and I think that people would benefit from the discussion.