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When the soulbound rewards was first talked about, I was in on it. I like the idea since it wouldn't tip off the balance of the game. While people would have less way to earn in a "play2earn" game, I think it's a healthy change for the game.
The Conscript ability, which allows the player to use a Gladiator card is a good addition. It increases the playability of Guild which is, before, just an extra in the game. I've played for a year in Splinterlands without joining a single brawl and it didn't gave me a problem since the gladiators, before, were not usable in Ranked Modern or Wild. Gladiators and brawl, were just, a good extra earning and you can take it as a game mode within Splinterlands... Until now.
What are Soulbound Reward Cards?
Photo from Splinterlands.
If a card is soulbound, it is unable to be transferred, rented/delegated, burned, bought or sold until the cards go out of print. It is tied to the account that has earned it through gameplay/chests. Gladiator cards are also Soulbound.
However, there is difference between a big normal soulbound card vs a gladiator card.
Ordinary Soulbound cards can be obtained in daily chests and end of season rewards. A gladiator card, even though they are soulbound, can only be obtained by purchasing in Guild Stores costing 2000 Merits each pack.
Photo from Splinterlands.
The 512 is a guild currency called CROWN. The 828 is a guild currency called MERITS. Each Gladius Case costs 2000 MERITS.
Merits are an in-game currency that can you can obtain in rewards chests and joining brawls. However, Guild stores are only open to guild members. Therefore, you can only get gladiator cards if you are a member of a guild by purchasing Gladius Case worth 2000 merits each. You can get Soulbound rewards card by playing and grinding games everyday.
What is Conscript?
Photo from Splinterlands.
Conscripts are abilities that allow you to use a Gladiator card in a Ranked battle. Since Gladiators are a not included as sub of any set is a set on his own, you may be able to use it even after the changes in Rebellion. This makes Gladiators very strong and flexible as long as you are able to use a summoner that has conscript ability.
Are you not Entertained Rule of combat
Conscript are not the only one you can seek for to use Gladiators. This rule of combat has the same effect as Conscript, which means you can still use any Gladiators despite using normal summoners. Using a summoner with Conscript ability in this rule of combat allows you to use 2 Gladiators instead.
Why Talking About this is Important and its Relation with Rebellion set?
This is actually something I missed when I did my first two posts for Rebellion:
@konaqua/what-s-next-after-rebellion
@konaqua/apparently-buying-packs-now-is
I also don't think a lot of people realized this but the soulbound rewards summoners are Chaos Legion cards that can be used when the Rebellion set is released. Gladius set or the Gladiators, would also be most likely usable since they are considered their own set and isn't part of Untamed, Beta or other sets that is only usable in Wild.
In other words, the use of Gladiators will have high impact in the upcoming change especially since the new abilities would also support them. Imagine Quora Towershead attacking on 2nd position because of a Rebellion monster with Flank on 1st position. Not only Quora would be safe but she'll be able to accumulate Bloodlust before turning on the 1st position.
Things like these would certainly affect the game a lot.
Some Combos with Gladiators using Rebellion Monsters
1. Quora Towershead + Flank Actually, this combo works with any Gladiator with two attacks such as Quora Towershead or Tatiana Blayde. The reason is pretty simple. This allows the Gladiators to be in a safer place while they try to accumulate Bloodlust stacks until they become out of control. It works best with Gladiators with dual attacks as they have the higher chance of killing the enemy instead of those with single attacks.
2. Jini Guise (Protect) + Armored Strike Jini Guise is an Earth Gladiator with Protect. Armored Strike gains damage the more armor he has. So, this combination works really well.
3. Witch of Warwick + Lookout The main problem of Witch of Warwick is her low health. with low health, she is always threatened by opponent's Opportunity. A Sneak or Snipe would probably instantly kill her as well. Partnering Witch of Warwick with a Lookout ability, that reduces any incoming damage made by Sneak, Snipe, and Opportunity abilities, increases her survivability and gives her time to increase health with Bloodlust and Life Leech. Once you get to that point, she's virtually unkillable and can carry the game on her own thanks to the initial defense given by Lookout ability.
The effect of Rebellion would be really big, if not, bigger than I ever imagined. Right now, if you visit my account in Splinterlands, you can see that I've been practicing a lot of new combos with the Gladiators. I am really glad that I was able to accumulate enough Gladiator monsters before the Rebellion and this means I have a good advantage against people coming in as new players.
Whether this is good or not, I cannot tell yet because we haven't seen the new summoners and monsters from Rebellion except the two.
I also saw a clause for Soulbound cards that it may be available for trading in the future, in which I really don't agree. While I can earn for it, it also doesn't change the fact that I grinded for these cards so I hope soulbound just stay soulbounded. That way, I kept my advantage, even though tiny, against other players. I'm really waiting for the release of Rebellion and see if my predictions were true and hope that Splinterlands give us more details about what's happening behind the scene such as some teaser about the other monsters that may change the game for the future.
- This post is an entry for Splinterlands Social Media Contest.
- Other sources that I do not own are cited under their respective photos. Photos and drawings without cited sources are mine and made for this post.
- Animated Banners and Dividers are edited in Canva Pro.
- Some of the fonts used are from instafonts.io
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