It must have been a year ago that I entered my first Splinterlands tournament and after all this time I have made it to the massive milestone of entering my second.
It is the League of Champions event and at one point, I had to take a screenshot in the first round, because it is unlikely to ever happen again. I missed the next shot where it was 8 wins and 0 losses,
But I ended up finishing round one in 24th, after losing my last three matches. Damn, it doesn't take much to fall a long way down!
The first 37 places out of 125 entrants progressed, so I made it through to the second round, for the first time ever - which also gives me a 50% strike rate, which is not too bad.
And, I wanted to show this round, because it is not only pretty good, but 
And the battle where I was decimated yesterday is a great example of the power of Rathe and also a brilliant example of how wrong I get some lineups. It was a shambles. Still, even if I had chosen better, I don't think I would have put together something to defend against that in the blind.
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_a980108cc20eda67dc4f828f0d489a81&ref=tarazkp
Round two started a couple hours ago, and I have recently just entered all of my teams. I don't think this round is going to be as successful as the last and just for some fun, I have to play 
But, isn't this incredible?
So far, Splinterlands tournaments have distributed over six million in prize money (crypto, not "real" money), which is amazing. And remember, that is at the time of event creation, not necessarily what it is actually worth today, as there are ups and down, but there have been plenty of downs over the last years also - more so than ups. But, while the down times are long, the up times are strong, so I would imagine that much of that prize value is worth more now, especially since a lot of it probably went back into Splinterlands assets.
And, that is where the real value is - the assets that people own.
I had a funny thought whilst pulling apart the old kitchen with one of our part-time helpers. He was cutting some masonite boards to protect the floors with a cordless circular saw and I had the feeling of I would like one of those too. But, the weird thing was that my feelings went through the process of like when I am beaten by a particular card, where I feel I need one, then go to the market to check the price - normally not purchasing it, as this happens a lot.
It is the "tool" of it that is interesting with this investment, as I do the same thing with the tools I have, still not liking to borrow from neighbors unless I must, I tend to want to own. And then, when I look to buy, I want to get it at a deal and of course, I want something decent. I am far more patient buying the tools I need for the house than the cards I need to play Splinterlands - but isn't that insane?
A half-decent DeWalt cordless circular saw is under 300€
That doesn't get me much of what I need to play in Champions League!!
But, perhaps I should one day start building up a "real-world" toolkit too, you know, just in case I decide to renovate an old house or something like that.
A lot of the older players of course have been able to build their toolkits early, under the "early adopter discount scheme" - which crypto is full of. Even if someone only played to earn and didn't put in a penny, it still takes a lot of balls to hold through the crypto thins, in the hope for phat thicks. And because none of this can be held in the hand like a drill it feels somehow less real, more surreal and far easier to justify eyewatering expenditures that would never be made IRL.
One difference between the cards and the tools though, is it is far easier to use Splinterlands assets than power tools and, a lot less chance of doing more damage than they are worth and chopping off fingers or limbs in the process. Rather than participating in tournaments, I would be applicating tourniquets.
Less cleaning too.
And speaking of cleaning - it is time to drop tools for the night and head to bed, because it is a normal working Monday tomorrow, followed by a few more hours of kitchen demolition in the hope to get it ready for those who do know how to use their tools, to come in and get the job done - while I play games on the internet.
Have a good week ahead!
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]