The Road to Phousi Moutain

A lot of photographers swear by taking pictures during that “Magic Hollywood Hour” when the sun is setting so you’ll get the best light, but the light rapidly changes and it gets dark so fast you’ll only get a few pictures. It’s not so hot so there will be lots of people ruining your shots with their selfies, but if you go at noon when it’s super hot you’ll have fantastic light and you’ll be alone.

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The temperature was 35 C (95 F if you’re American like me) and I wanted to get to the top fast so a jogged up skipping a step to save time. I thought I had developed myocarditis or irregular heartbeats from the virus and I’ve been super lazy and low on energy for years, but I feel good again after running to the top without getting out of breath or feeling dizzy. The negative effects were thankfully temporary. My dog can totally do this sprint up to the top, but he won’t even try when it’s hot so I left him at home.

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I wanted to paint the pagoda on top of the hill so I gathered up what art supplies I could find. I only had black paint so it will have to be a dark painting. I can see it from my door, but it’s very small. I did line up the painting with the actual direction and view of the pagado so anyone who sees the painting will also get their bearings.

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I’m not happy with it so I tried photoshopping it. They both are OK, but not what I envisioned. Maybe I’ll ask the landlord for the purple paint and touch it up after it’s dried for a few days. What do you think?

CRYPTO-SHOTS: KilliNG DRoNeS and EarNiNg DOOM

How are all of you fellow HiVe GaMeRs doing? Today I’d like to share with you the only game I’ve enjoyed on HiVe so far other than @SplinterLandsCrypto-Shots. It feels like we’re about to leave this long-ass bear market and see some crypto gains this year. Then again this could be the worst year ever for crypto. You can never know. What I do know is that some of the coins I’ve been holding on hive-engine have gone from being worth a few hundred dollars in 2021 to only a few dollars today, so I’m hoping the opposite is true in the future, and have been scooping up as many cheap coins as I can. It’s fun looking at all the random shit-coins available on hive-engine and sometimes you’ll come across interesting projects like Crypto-Shots here.

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Crypto-Shots is both free-to-play and play-to-earn. If you go to https://play.crypto-shots.com/ You can jump right into the game and try it out for free and without messing around with any blockchain logins, but you won’t earn anything. It’s a great feature that more games should have. Imagine if @Splinterlands let you play-for-free, but you got access to EVERY card in the game. Of course, you couldn’t make it play-to-earn, but it would show how fun the game can be for new players.

You can even get Crypto-Shots to play on your phone. I can never figure out how to get HiVe Keychain to work on my phone so I just play on my PC which is over ten years old but can play the game just fine in Firefox.

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If you are playing the free-to-play trial you’ll be invincible for the first three rounds, but if you log in with HiVe or WaX you’ll take damage when the drones shoot you. I’ve only beaten level 0 on medium one time and it was super difficult so I don’t even dare try playing on hard because I know it will be impossible. You probably won’t even clear the first level on easy until you’ve memorized the map.

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These are your enemies. The big drones take more ammunition to take out, but the smaller ones are harder to hit.

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If the game runs slowly on your PC or phone you can turn off shadows to make it run more smoothly. If you press the ESC button you will enter the pause menu.

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You have to have the gun both in your NFT inventory and find it in the game to use it. The starter pack gets you the pistol, grenade launcher, and shotgun. The shotgun works best but has limited ammunition.

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The radar shows the drones in red at the top of the screen, but it doesn’t work in medium or hard mode.gun.gif

I bought this gun on the HiVe NFT market, but since it’s level 2 and I’m still level 1 I can’t use it yet. I still don’t understand how to get to the next level in the game. In the Discord chat, they said I needed to stake 80 DOOM in the game. I did that, but I’m still stuck playing level 0.

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I think I need to purchase a level 2 character like one of these sexy cyber girls, but they are expensive.

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Crypto-Shots is still very alpha or beta at the moment, but I think it has a lot of potential. You’ll only earn about a penny for clearing the first round and you can only play about 22 minutes per day so don’t expect to get rich from this new play-to-earn game, but it is fun playing a Doom or Quake-like game again, especially on the HiVe blockchain.

WaX market:
https://wax.atomichub.io/market?collection_name=crypto4shots&order=desc&sort=created&symbol=WAX
play the game:
https://play.crypto-shots.com
whitepaper:
https://www.crypto-shots.com/whitepaper

If you only knew the joy of the DOG life

So many people tell me they want a dog, but their situation won’t allow it. If you don’t have a yard or a nice outdoor place then maybe it’s better not to put a dog into your human jail, but if you can and want a dog then I highly recommend it. They bring so much joy, companionship, security, and health benefits to your life. I love my lovely wife and children, but there is a special place in my heart for my dog, Rapper. It takes forever to see your human children grow up, but dogs get big so fast. Rapper went from a scared little puppy to an alpha male with many puppies from several different bitches in only one year.

If you already had or have a dog then I’m not writing this for you because you already know how great these little creatures are and how much happiness they can bring into your life. I’m writing this to convince those of you who are thinking of or have never thought of K9 parenthood.

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I don’t like cats at all, but they seem to like me for some reason. This alpha scrapper of a cat was named Trump because he was orange. I’m guessing his original owner was a Democrat. Well whoever she was, she abandoned Trump here in Laos when she went back home so he just stuck around the only house he ever knew. It took a long time for Trump and me to bond with his bad and aggressive attitude and my dislike for his species, but it got to the point where he would go on walks with me and scratch at my door to be let in. I totally forgot that there was a person named Trump so I was confused a few times as to why the news was talking about my cat.

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Trump was not happy at all when we adopted Rapper. I had to keep my eye on him because I was really afraid he was going to murder my new puppy, but I learned something interesting from his hatred: All dogs are scared of hissing cats swiping their claws so I tried it on big dogs who were aggressive towards my baby Rapper. I even got a pitbull to tuck tail and run when I cat hissed and pretended to scratch at it.

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Sometimes animals are shocked or confused the first time they see their reflections, but Rapper didn’t seem to care at all.

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Even though I give Rapper a bath every few days, never get the warm water or shampoo in his eyes or nose, and blow dry him, he still acts as if it’s the greatest injustice in the world. If I ask him, “Do you wanna take a bath?”, he’ll run away.

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Even though I love Rapper with all of my heart, trained him, taught him two languages, feed him, and spend a lot of time with him, he still loves Mom more than me. Maybe it’s because she only gave him a bath a few times. I don’t blame him. I would choose her over me too if I were him.

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I promise you that owning a dog will improve your physical and mental health. Recent studies have found that owning a dog has been linked to improved cardiovascular health, increased levels of physical activity, and lower stress levels. I would never in a million years go on three walks a day if it weren’t for my little buddy.

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This is one of the first pictures I took of Rapper. I imagine he was missing his real mom and wondering why these humans kidnapped him. I brought him back to see her at six months and one year old and he remembered both his real mom and dad and they him, but he still choose to walk back home with me.

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Puppy photography can be a real challenge because they never stay still and if you try to get close for a good shot, they get all excited and try to lick you. You should take as many pictures as you can while they are small because they will get big and not so cute super fast.

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Have you ever seen a puppy watching puppies on YouTube under the pale moonlight? After doing a YouTube search for: “TV for dogs”, I was surprised that he actually was interested in watching it. Most of the videos are like eight hours long so if you do have to leave your dog alone at least they have something to look at while you’re gone. They’ll still most likely destroy at least one thing though.

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Rapper is your typical deadbeat dad. He’s all lovey-dovey with the girls until they get pregnant then he’ll completely ignore them. He must know that these are his kids because of their scent, but he always seems freaked out and afraid anytime he sees his own offspring. I’m pretty sure that memories or at least familiar scents are passed down from the parent dogs to their puppies because Rapper has gotten about 7 bitches pregnant and has dozens of kids and they all seem to remember me and run up to me even the first time we meet. Has anyone else noticed this too?

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I’ve found it is a lot easier to get dogs used to cats than cats used to dogs. Cats just hate dogs deep in their soul. If cats were bigger than dogs they’d surely kill them all. This is one reason why I love dogs more than cats. Imagine if your dog woke up tomorrow ten times their size. They would still love you the same. Now, what would you get if your cat was super big? You’d have a tiger or a lion and we know that is not an animal you could trust.

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Take your dog to the beach or let them see snow for the first time and it’s like their inner wolf is released like a kid going to Disneyland.

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Thanks for reading about my dog Rapper who can’t rap. If you are a dog lover like me please share some stories, pictures, or parenting tips. If you are thinking of adopting one of these wonderful creatures I hope that my words here may have convinced you to do it. I promise you will be a different person after you do.

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Luang Prabang: The secret gem of Asia

I’ve been to about twenty countries, but Luang Prabang, Laos is my favorite spot so far. I’ve been lucky enough to call it home for the last four years and I’d like to share my best photos of it with you today.

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Even though it’s a small town it has a very diverse amount of visitors. I’ve met tourists from almost every country, even ones I’ve never heard of before. They love watching Thai shows and listening to Thai music and Lao is very similar to Thai so they can understand Thai, but most people can speak English. Laos was once a French colony so some people can speak French. A lot of people can speak Chinese as well.

Vietnam

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Not a lot of people have heard or know about Luang Prabang or even the country of Laos, but everyone knows Vietnam which is next door. Laos is a landlocked country that also borders Cambodia, Thailand, Burma, and China. It’s about a 45-minute flight from Bangkok, but you can also take their new high-speed train from China or Thailand.

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When my old Navy buddy invited me to visit him in Hanoi, Vietnam, I had to take him up on the offer so we could talk about our time in Vietnam when we are old men. These guys invited us to drink beers with them. They were some of the best beer drinkers I’ve ever met. When they’d pour a drink they’d always say, “Gombai”, which means buttoms up. When I puked in the street and said, “No more Gombai”, they all laughed heartily.

Kuang Si Waterfall

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The first thing we did after arriving in Luang Prabang was visit this fantastic waterfall. If the Garden of Eden were real I imagine it would look a lot like Kuang Si. I recently made a HIVE post and a Youtube video about it.

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I’ve spent most of my life as a teacher but realized how much I like working in hospitality after I got a job at Pullman Hotel. It’s an expensive five-star hotel on the way to the waterfall, but there are also many nice guest houses in town that will only cost about $10 a night.

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Temples and the King’s House

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This beautiful house that looks like a temple was once the king’s home but is a museum today.

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You can’t miss Phousi because it’s on top of a hill downtown and can be seen from almost anywhere in Luang Prabang. It also serves as a good marker if you get lost.

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La Pistoche Pool and Bar is a great place to bring the kids, have some food and drinks, or just get out of the sun.

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They take a lot of pride in their local beer, Beerlao, and rightfully so because it tastes great and usually costs less than a dollar.

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Thanks for checking out Luang Prabang today. If you are planning on visiting South East Asia it’s really worth a visit.

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Another day in Paradise at Kuang Si Waterfall:
https://peakd.com/hive-184437/@jeremiahcustis/another-day-in-paradise-at-kuang-si-waterfall

Kuang Si Waterfall:
https://www.tourismluangprabang.org/things-to-do/nature/kuang-si-waterfall/

Pullman Hotel:
https://www.pullman-luangprabang.com/

La Pistoche Pool and Bar:
https://lapistochepool.wordpress.com/

Why did Maul let Obi-Wan cut him in half?

Star Wars on Disney+

The first time I saw Star Wars: The Phantom Menace in 1999 (which should be named, The Rise of Skywalker and vice versa) I felt the lightsaber battle where Obi-Wan cuts Darth Maul in half looked like a lame scene because the Sith apprentice was just standing there and didn’t defend himself for like a whole second, but what if it was because Qui-Gon Jinn’s force ghost was slowing him down?

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Master Qui-Gon was the first Jedi in a long time to be able to preserve his consciousness as a force ghost, but he seemed to work in audio mode only, but maybe he could touch and move stuff like Yoda and Luke did when they were ghosts. It probably looks that way because George Lucas may have rushed the filming, but I prefer to think it was Qui-Gon. Either way, it’s still my favorite lightsaber fight in all of Star Wars. What do you think? May the Force be with you.

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eVeN $TeVeN$ 2,4,6

The village folk always say that Tarsa was born with fire in her blood, which is true in many ways. Her burning rage and quick temper are amplified by her powers to summon and control fire. While her parents and teachers tried to instill patience for such dangerous magic, Tarsa had little time. She used her abilities to bully and threaten those in her way.

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Tarsa wasn’t used in my battle today, but she inspired my favorite Splinterlands art this week by @kojart and is a strong summoner that is very cheap right now. Handing out free soul-bound summoners has wrecked the value of these older Chaos Legion core summoners, but I’m a Splinterlands player before a collector or investor so I’m happy to see I can maybe MAX a few summoners for cheap and hope the prices go down even further. I feel leveling up all Chaos Legion core summoner cards to MAX level is a good idea because they only use up 4 mana and all have decent buffs and will stay relevant for a long time because they will remain in the Modern League for one more cycle. I currently have all of my summoners at level 6 so I’m good to go in the Gold League, but then I have to rely on my MAX-level Quix Dragon summoner or have to rent Lux Vega when in the Diamond League. I’ve MAX leveled most of the Chaos common core cards and a few rare and above, but I just get smashed in the Diamond League and don’t see myself in Champion for a while even though I have the cards and collection power to make it possible. I lack the strategy and skill to beat the best bots and players in this game, but I will grow my card stats and hopefully get better.

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It’s hard to say what is the best thing to do when the rules only allow you to use even-numbered cards, but I promise that you will memorize which of your cards are even and which are odd because these rulesets come up so often. At first, you may run out of time unselecting summoners (which are not affected by even or odd rulesets) and rushing to select a new lineup, but you’ll remember who is who soon enough. I usually choose the card that is self-healing, but I could see my enemy was probably going to go with Death so I used mostly Dragon cards to give the battle some variety. I feel my dragons are the most winning team so I’ll lean that way often. I think that the dragon splinter has always been the strongest team even back in the Alpha/Beta days of 2018/2019. What about you? What do you think is the best team?

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Even though my tank wasn’t getting any healing he was able to kill their Cursed Windeku and then plow through the rest of his enemy’s cards for the win. They put some money into Gold foil cards, but at this point, they should sell those for more powerful standard foil cards. Who cares if you got gold cards if you lose?

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Are you ready to play Genesis League Goals? I have no idea what I’m doing. At first, I started buying players that were a quarter and were handsome. Then I started to make sure I had a few of each position and a coach. I’ve opened a few packs and have got as many guys with level-10 stats as I can afford. Am I doing this right? Will my team be ready to play? Thanks for reading about my battle and Genesis League Goals MLS line-up today. How many DEC are you planning to burn next month?

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Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_8d742cd1df16d1e62a8fe70453460a85&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-5-24-2023

Splinterlands 5-Year Anniversary Event:
https://peakd.com/splinterlands/@splinterlands/splinterlands-5-year-anniversary-event

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-242

@kojart.jpegby @kojart

They can’t kill my ants!

An Antoid Platoon typically consists of five to seven Fire Ants, each approximately the size of a man’s fist. They are well-armored and wield shields and spears that, while tiny, provide a formidable defense and offense against the antoid’s foes. Operating through a shared hive mind, the Antoid Platoon is employed to defend Ant Miners, other workers, the colony, and its queen. They are also known to become aggressive when invaders encroach upon their homes and surrounding territory.

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I sure love my Antoid Platoon. It was one of the first cards that I MAXed out. I’m not willing to pay $5 a month to SplinterCoach to see my personal stats, but I have no doubt that the Antoid Platoon would be one of my MVP most-winning of cards because they seem to never die. Once you get the Antoid Platoon leveled up to level six, they’ll have the ability to eat up life points from both the dead enemy and friendly cards. I’ve seen the ants have up to 23 life points before. Whenever there is a little league battle that only allows cards with 4 mana or less to be played, I always choose my Exploding Rats followed up with the Antoid Platoon.Cursed Windeku.png

Cursed Windeku are nightmarish creatures that live in the deepest and darkest woods. They hunt at night, stalking their prey before attacking with their claws, while their thorn-like horns and natural healing ability provide an excellent defense. They exude a pungent pheromone that reduces the reaction time of their victims, often allowing the Windeku to begin devouring them before they are dead. While these lifeless creatures may appear animalistic, they are highly intelligent. They have heeded the call put forth by the Lord of Darkness. Their thirst for blood is now focused on the Chaos Legion.

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My battle today was against one of my favorite death cards, Cursed Windeku. You must level it up to at least level 5 where it gets the self-heal ability if you want to win with this card. I’m surprised I haven’t MAXed out my Cursed Windeku because it’s one of my favorite cards, but I’m doing fine with a level 6 version. The self-heal ability is awesome, but the Cursed Windeku has thrones from level one.

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My battle today only had the opportunity ruleset with 13 mana so I went with my usual red team low-level card lineup. My enemy would have done a lot better sticking the Cursed Windeku in the middle or rear. They thought they could self-heal through the fight, but they were wrong because my ants’ ability to gain power from the dead did better.

When there is an opportunity battle your enemy will go after your weakest cards so it’s good to set up some bait for your enemy while you smash them with strong cards, but with only 13 mana I could only afford one bait card. Fiends take up 0 mana so you should have all of them because they can really make the difference between victory and defeat. They may be weak, but they can waste a powerful monster’s turn which can give you the battle advantage.

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Thanks for reading about my battle today. What do you like to do when it’s an opportunity match?

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Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_8522332e613b2386a3ba29032ada816e&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-may-18-2023

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-241

@alexa.art.jpegby @alexa.art

Release The Floating Eyeball of Death!

The large, floating eyeball monster known as Cornealus has strange magical powers and can see anything for miles in any direction. No one knows from whence it came.

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Have you seen this scary-looking eyeball in battle? I used to have a MAX copy, but I stupidly thought Splinterlands wasn’t going anywhere in the spring of 2021 and sold all my cards. I re-bought this card at level one during the peak for about $100 only to see it worth a third of its value today, but it still kicks ass at level one because it has a lot of life and self-heals by 4 points each round. If you can afford a MAX copy then you’ll have an almost indestructible wall for your enemy to pass because it will reflect magic and arrows as well as stick them with thorns causing 2 points of damage anytime a melee monster strikes.SLiNe.png1.png

This was an equalizer battle which means all monsters will have the same amount of health as the strongest card on either team and in this case, it was Cornealus with 12 health. It was also an archers-only battle so both my enemy and I chose archers that can fire while in the front position.

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I always put Cornealus in the rear because most sneak attacks aren’t that strong so Cornealus will usually survive, but this was my wife playing and she put Cornealus as the second card which I told her was a mistake, but I was wrong because it worked as a great wall for a few rounds which made the difference and led to victory.

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I like to use the fire team whenever the rules only allow for archers, but the death team will work too. What about you? What do you like to do when it’s only bows and arrows allowed?

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Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_bd724f51396d77eb05e9ace75f0d473f&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-may-10-2023

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-240

@yanes94.jpegby @yanes94

EaRTH-QuaKE

He has been known by many names: Eater of Death, Lord of Ruin, The Pestilent. Usut is all these things, but more than anything else, he is the Undying. Only those that have lived with death and walked its halls can truly know the joys of life. Usut knows this all too well… so who better to torment and persecute the living. Three hundred years dead, Usut was made revenant by the Lord of Darkness himself. Lagfael found the red dragon’s corpse on a mound of bones and treasure in his lair within the Black Glacier on Mortis, preserved within a frozen tomb of ice. There was something about the dragon that pleased him, so he breathed an ancient spell, and life once again found purchase in the great drake. Usut now soars the skies of the Splinterlands. His haunting cries are a proclamation to all: death is coming, and it is only a matter of time until it finds you. He is Lagfael’s personal reaper and a creature that fears nothing. It is said that to look upon his terrifying visage is to welcome death into your heart. There are records of those brave enough, or foolish enough, to seek to slay the Undying. Their bones lay with all the rest, scattered across Usut’s pyre of death. Never before has the undead become such a living nightmare.

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Usut is a great new reward card that I’m glad to own and was afraid to see in my enemy’s lineup because if it can kill then the bloodlust ability kicks in and all stats increase by one each time it kills an enemy. Usut can just start devouring your monsters if it gets going so you have to kill it first if you can. I like to distract my enemy with a taunt so Usut can get to work. Once he’s MAXed out he’s a very OP card, but I doubt if I’m lucky enough to win 10 more of these cards. Whenever soulbound reward cards can get unlocked and sold, I’m sure Usut will sell for a pretty penny because few players will want to part with it.

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My battle today was exciting because it wasn’t clear who was going to win until the 7th round. I knew my front-line monsters would die in this earthquake battle from enemy attacks so I didn’t care if they could fly or not. The self-healing eyeball of death never seems to die so I put it in the back and Uriel in the middle so he would be fresh when it was time to fight the other flying monsters that I was sure my enemy would choose. I think I won just because I had a stronger summoner. (If all stats are the same, then the player with the higher-leveled summoner goes first.)

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Are you ready for land? I’m so excited! I’ve saved up some DEC and have 5 MAXed 🌳Earth🌳 cards ready to work on cutting down trees on my forest plot. Am I doing it right? 🌳Earth🌳 cards will work best in a forest right? I can’t wait to start chopping down some of those digital trees!

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Thanks for reading about my earthquake battle with Usut today. I didn’t realize it was a dragon-like creature with its mouth open until just now. I always thought that he had a helmet on with one glowing eye.

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Check out my BaTTLE with Usut:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_cfec5d982219dfea45a6fe381df722e1&ref=jeremiahcustis

BaTTLE MaGE SECRETS:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-5-3-2023

Amazing Splinterlands ART:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-239


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by @kojart

You can reflect magic and there’s poisonous gas? REVEALER doesn’t care!

One of the most dangerous warlocks to fight within the Chaos Legion ranks, the Revealers are often released within the first waves of attack. Almost like casting a stone into a pool and watching the ripples unsettle the surface before the small waves break over the edges, the Revealers spread terror amongst their foe, indiscriminately casting their magic with dire effect whilst almost immune to the damage and enchantments thrown back at them. It is said that even their own allies fear them and it’s not unusual for a Revealer to turn upon their own in the name of their goddess, Kuktune, being as they are, so obsessed with death and destruction.

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Last week it took days for the week’s Battle Mage Secrets ruleset to show up, but I got two battles back to back this time. My first battle was against an enemy who only leveled up a few of their splinters so when they were forced to use one of the splinters they’ve neglected, Life, they were no match for someone like me who believes in spreading the power evenly across the splinters. They also put out the armorer as the tank. I’ve never seen anybody do this before. I understand what they were thinking. It’s unlikely I was going to use magic attacks because of the magic reflect rule so they thought they could armor up themselves while their sneak attack monsters destroyed me from behind, but their meat shield in the front was taken out in the first round. They did take out my rear card and an archer, but he wasn’t doing anything other than absorbing attacks as a meat shield.

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I was sure I had lost this battle because my daughter was crying loudly as the clock was running out so I just clicked on some cards before the time ran out and I still had 10 mana left before I hit the battle button at zero seconds. It was a magic reflect and poisonous gas battle so I chose Harklaw and Revealer because they are immune to the gas. In the end, it came down to just my Revealer and their Caladuun, but the Revealer won because he wasn’t hurt when his own magic attacks were sent back at him.

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I didn’t realize how powerful Revealer was until I maxed him out. It’s fun shopping for cards on the market, but I’m especially proud of cards like this which I’ve maxed out simply by combining my daily and seasonal rewards.

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Speaking of rewards, how is your collection of the new reward cards going? I just opened a gold foil summoner. I don’t think I’ve ever owned a gold summoner before so it’s a welcome reward. He looks really cool too. Thanks for reading about my battles and Splinterjourney today. Have a great week. May the secret of Pratoria be with you!

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Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_c44e4b01d804def0f98c57245e896d87&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-4-26-23

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-238brataka.jpeg
by @brataka

Blasted with Arrows in Your Face

Yodin Zaku was a War Demon of the times before the Splintering so long ago. He was a hybrid child born of two warring races, the Efreet and the Bulludae, the Demons of War. But he never perished. His being was imprisoned in an ancient artifact that preserved his life, and now, nearly a thousand years after the Splintering, Yodin has opened his eyes and risen from his bondage.

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🔥Yodin🔥 is a beast. I wish this were a post where I smashed him with a brilliant counter or more robust and faster cards, but sadly, this was another victory for the war demon.

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Getting a MAX copy of 🔥Yodin🔥 would cost almost as much as my entire deck. I would much rather have a Lux Vega to use with any splinter, but if money were no object I’d surely have 🔥Yodin Zaku🔥 in my lineup. I’m glad that he’s an UNTAMED card and will get phased out to the Wild League soon. I would block him from being used by my enemy brawlers, but he’s rare enough of a card that it would be a waste. After asking everyone in the guild which card we should block, most chose 🌳Kron the Undying🌳. Which card do you or would you like to block from your enemy to use?

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It’s good to follow the rulesets and choose cards from your hopefully diverse deck of cards that will do best in that situation. Since this was a 🎯Close Range🎯 battle any archers will be able to shoot while in the front line so I chose the life summoner because the hippo increases ranged attack power. Even though I used mostly MAX-level cards and a strong lineup that has won many times in the past, it was no match for getting blasted with strong ranged attacks from the mighty 🔥Yodin🔥.

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Uriel the Purifier is a tough tank that can take serious punishment with his shields, life, and self heal, but there were just too many arrows falling from the sky today.

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I’m not really sure what to do when you know you’re up against 🔥Yodin🔥. If I had to do this battle again I would have tried going with 🌳Obsidian🌳 and just magic spamming, but I doubt that would’ve worked either. How do you defeat the war demon?

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Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_4fc9098c5473d74fa30cd03f82616646&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-4-20-2023

Land 1.0 – The Secret of Praetoria:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/land-10-the-secret-of-praetoria

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-237@brataka.jpeg
by @brataka

SPLINTERLANDS: No Arrows, No Problem

Many centuries ago, the Pelacor followed the prophet, Edalus, on what has become known as the ‘Exile.’ They followed him into the Mountains of Fire surrounding Mount Praetorous. For generations, they lived alone in these mountains, hidden away. They were taught to worship the sun and moon gods, Solaki and Lunaki, deities dreamt into existence from the bones of Edalus’ dead parents and his zealous mind. The scriptures read that the two Gods were carried into the heavens upon pieces of consecrated land, torn from the World to raise them high so that their worshipers would always look up to them and forever be beneath their great heavenly power.

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The Pelacor Mercenary must be my favorite card because it’s the only one I have three fully maxed-out copies of. I love cards that can heal themselves because healers are usually of low health and are easily taken out by opportunity strikes. Flying comes in handy for earthquakes and retaliating is a huge ability too. Your card may be taken out but, at least they get in one last strike of revenge before they go to Splinterheaven.

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The Pelacor Mercenary is just a pretty clone of the old-school Flesh Golem, but there are only 14,000 of these golems left so this once just a penny card is selling for a dollar per card making a MAX copy out of reach for me, and most other players so I’m glad I can get a cheaper more handsome version that can fly.

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I don’t care how I win I just want to win and often times that means having to revert to the cowardly and thoughtless strategy of just going all magic attack.

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I’m like one of those annoying kids who couldn’t actually compete in Street Fighter so they just sit back and release Ryu’s Hadoukens over and over again sometimes at different speeds to through off your timing.

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I did want to have at least one melee attack for this battle after my Mycelic Slipspawn bit the dust. I usually put the Mycelic Slipspawn in the rear and heal him with a back healer, but I had to put him out front this time to use up all of my mana.

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My enemy had a decent strategy, but the magic spamming was just too much for them.

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Thanks for reading about my magic spam victory today. It used to make me so mad whenever the enemy bots or players would revert to this thoughtless way of winning battles, but you got to do what you got to do to win that precious SPS!

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Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_c12e079830385e0b8f458bb9214bcfc1&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge!:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-4-12-23

Land 1.0 – The Secret of Praetoria:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/land-10-the-secret-of-praetoria

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-237sephiwolf.png
by @sephiwolf

ThoRnS -vs- DiEMonShArK

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Diemonsharks travel alone throughout the stars searching for prey and territory. They are fearsome beasts with lightning-fast reflexes. Diemonsharks are extremely territorial and attack any creature that encroaches on their land. The Chaos Legion trains them as transports for equipment. Since they can travel by air, ground, or sea, they are ideally suited for the task.

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Howdy fellow Splinterlanders! Today I’m sharing my 🐉 -vs- 🦈 battle with the Briar Patch ruleset that gives everybody thorns that cause 2 damage points whenever an enemy melee strikes.

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The 🦈DiEMonShArK🦈 is a card I’d love to MAX, but I’d MAX a few summoners first. I’ve only managed to level mine up to level 4, but it is battling well in the 🥇Gold🥇 and 💎Diamond💎 Leagues. It works well in many situations because of its shields, speed, attack, and ability to trample the next opponent in the same round.

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I’d love an AI bot that tracks my most used and winning cards, but I have no doubt that 🐉DjiNN ChWaLa🐉 would be my number one go-to card. I’m not sure why it wins so much even at lower levels. I guess it’s the good mix of life, shields, attack, and of course those pesky thorns. 🐉DjiNN ChWaLa🐉 has thorns already so the ruleset of giving everybody thorns kinda nerfed it, but it still smashed through that 🦈.

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I’ve finally collected enough cards to enter the 🏆Champion🏆 League, but I don’t know if I have the strategy or skill to win that far without my wife. She’s lost interest in playing so now that I’m playing alone I realize how much I suck. At least I’m better than the bot. I let it play in the Wild version of the game every 90 minutes so I can still play in Modern.

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They resurrected the 🦈 once which was annoying, but my healer also repairs armor so we smashed right through them without losing a single soldier. My team also healed the rear in case they used any sneak attacks.

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I’ve finally surveyed my land plot and it is a common forest with trees. Does this mean that 🌳Earth🌳 cards will work best here?forest.png

I originally bought three land plots when they first came out for dirt cheap but had to sell two or the police would’ve put me in jail and deported me for visa overstay once the pandemic forgiveness period had ended. I wonder if they were castles or keeps. I guess I could check at HiVe-EnGinE, but I’d rather not know.

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I’m by a mountain so at least I’ll have a nice view. I have a bunch of 🌳Earth🌳 cards I never use so I’ll put them to work on my land soon.

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I’m still crushing it at the new reward cards. Some of the Legendary cards are way too powerful so I’m glad they’re mine and hard to get.sbt.gif

My journey to collect three million three hundred and thirty-three thousand three hundred and thirty-three SBT continues, but I’ve been trying to get three of every coin on HiVe-EnGiNe so I’ve been distracted. I’m very happy to be winning great cards from the Discord giveaway often though. Thanks for reading about my SplinterJourney and battle today.

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Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_bba5d313c5c16902efc7973efe80aeba&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge!:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-4-5-23

Land 1.0 – The Secret of Praetoria:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/land-10-the-secret-of-praetoria

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-235alexa.art.jpeg
by @alexa.art