Introduction
This week, we dive into the latest update for Splinterlands! The team has rolled out a series of exciting changes, including the addition of five brand-new rulesets that will shake up the battlefield.
For the full list of updates, check out the official release notes here.
In this post, I'll explore each of the new rulesets and share my thoughts on how they'll impact gameplay:
| Ruleset | Name | Description |
|---|---|---|
 | Heavy Metal | You can only summon armored units. |
 | Might Makes Right | You can only summon units with 3 or more ranged, magic, or melee power. |
 | Need for Speed | You can only summon units with 3 or more speed. |
 | Deflection Field | All units have the Reflection Shield ability. |
 | Beefcakes | You can only summon units with 5 or more health. |
My thoughts about the new rulesets
Four out of the five new rulesets are restrictive, which can make lower leagues and players with smaller collections face more challenges, especially when multiple restrictive rulesets are combined in a match.
I’ve already experienced this firsthand with my alt account during a brawl, where I could only select eight cards for a low-mana battle due to these restrictions. It got so tight that I ended up fielding just two cards! 🤣
Furthermore i like the team implementing changes in the game to keep it fun and fresh. Previously the team did a ruleset every month for a while now they waited a bit and released 5 in one time.
Heavy metal
In this ruleset, you can only summon units that have armor by default, without relying on buffs. It's a straightforward rule: if a unit has armor, it’s eligible, and if not, it’s not.
| Possible | Not Possible |
|---|---|
 |  |
Abilities like 
Rust will be extra valuable here, as all units will come equipped with armor, making it crucial to lower your opponent’s defenses.
Might Makes Right
Only units with 3 or more attack power (ranged, magic, or melee) can be selected in this ruleset. Here are some examples of units that will be allowed:
| Possible | Not Possible | Remark |
|---|---|---|
 |  | Specially interesting where a higher level (10) is not possible to select where a level 9 is possible |
 |  | |
 |  | |
 | No attack units will also not possible to select |
This ruleset could also boost the effectiveness of abilities like 
Forcefield, since there's a higher likelihood of facing units that deal 5 or more damage.
Need of speed
As the name suggests, only units with 3 or more speed are allowed.
| Possible | Not Possible |
|---|---|
|  |
Since you'll know your opponents will likely field high-speed units, abilities like 
Swiftness can further amplify your team’s speed advantage, or you can 
slow them down with abilities like Slow.
Deflection Field
This ruleset is unique in this release because it doesn't restrict your unit selection. Instead, every unit gains the 
Reflection Shield ability, making them immune to return damage from 
Blast, 
Magic Reflect, 
Return Fire, and 
Thorns.
This will likely lead to fewer players selecting units with these abilities, as their value is diminished in this scenario.
Beefcakes
In this ruleset, only units with 5 or more health can be summoned. Many of these units tend to have a higher mana cost, so this can be particularly challenging for players in lower leagues with limited card collections.
| Possible | Not Possible |
|---|---|
 |  |
Abilities like 
Tank Heal, 
Triage, and 
Self Heal will shine here, as you'll likely be dealing with higher-health units that can benefit from sustained healing.
Closing notes
The game continues to evolve, keeping things fresh and exciting with every update. However, with more rulesets being introduced, the learning curve for newer players might become steeper. I think it’s worth considering a cap on the number of rulesets that appear in Bronze and Silver leagues, where players might not have access to the full range of cards. Thankfully, the Novice league remains a place for simpler, standard ruleset only battles!
That's all for this week hope you enjoyed reading this post. See you all on the battlefield
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Always good to get the perspective on these rulesets from lower leagues as well. So far I think we only restrict the amount of rulesets per battle you can get in the lower leagues, but other than that, all rulesets can appear. Maybe it would indeed make sense to have some limits on that and keep some of the most constraining rulesets for Gold and above...
Thanks for sharing!
Thanks for the response.
That is indeed true they restrict the number of ruleset in the leagues:
Novice: 0 rulesets (only Standard gameplay)
Bronze: 75% chance of 1 ruleset / 25% chance of “Standard” ruleset
Silver- 75% chance of 2 rulesets / 20% chance of 1 ruleset / 5% chance of “Standard” ruleset
Gold+ / Tournament / Brawl- 75% chance of 3 rulesets / 15% chance of 2 rulesets / 8% chance of 1 ruleset / 2% chance of “Standard” ruleset
Maybe only low tier brawls and low league tournaments needs to be adjusted then 😁
Thanks for sharing! - @zallin
Good Work, thanks for sharing!