Author: jeremiahcustis

Grum is known throughout his tribe as the strongest warrior. Born in the Sands of Draykh-Nahka, his hard upbringing made him a survivor. No weather was too extreme, no drought too long, and no enemy too cunning for Grum. He became well-respected within the region for his battle prowess and defended his tribe countless times against the creatures of the wastes. Tales were sung around the fires of Grum’s battle with the Great Wyrm of the Sands, the Earth-Shaking Titan, and Velissa the Sorceress. Grum’s tribe, known as the Desert Blood, honored tradition, strength, and courage. He grew to become a legend amongst his people.

Grum Flameblade is a badass you don’t want to see on the battlefield. Once he gets a taste for blood, he keeps getting more robust with each kill. I’ve only managed to level him up to level two, but with these super low prices these days, I’ll have to level him up to at least a level 3 card where he gets the giant killer ability. I’ve been able to use him effectively at levels one and two in the Silver and Gold Leagues, but now that I’m getting into Diamond and hopefully Champion, I’ll need him at MAX level where he’ll have an attack of 5 points and 15 life hearts. He will have even more attack power if used with Tarsa. I honestly haven’t put much thought into which cards I’ve been MAXing out other than going to the market and seeing who is the cheapest, but after looking at these stats, I’ve got my eye on him.

My battle against Grum today was very exciting because it was also an opportunity battle with plenty of mana. Once he got going I didn’t think I would make it, but he fell in the end. It was because my secondary tank has a blast shield and the new reward card, War Pegasus can shatter shields. I also chose a healer while my enemy went for a pure melee attack.

Thanks for reading about my blast battle against the mighty Grum Flameblade today. I think I have fallen in love with him. Just the artwork alone makes him a must-have card, not to mention his ability to smash the enemy. Speaking of art, make sure to appreciate some of the great art the Splinterlands community has created this week below. Have a good one fellow Splinterheads!

Check out my battle:
https://splinterlands.com?p=battle&id=sl_33f8c16606663cfcba6d3935de2fc5da&ref=jeremiahcustis

This week’s SPLINTERLANDS BATTLE MAGE SECRETS Challenge:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/battlemagesecrets-june-1-2023

Check out some amazing art by the Splinterlands community:
https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/splinterlands-art-contest-week-243by @yanes94

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.

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.

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?

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?

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?

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

by @kojart

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.

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 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.

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.

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.

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

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

by @alexa.art

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.

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.

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.

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.

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?

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

by @yanes94

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.

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.

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.

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.

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!

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-238
by @brataka

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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

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!

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-237
by @sephiwolf