Survival Mode in splinterlands is no joke. Every match you play comes with real consequences - lose, and your defeated cards enter cooldown, locking them out for the rest of the season (or until their cooldown expires).
Last week, I wrote about my first few fights at Survival Mode, where I only won one match and ended up with a miserable rating of 20. This week, I changed things up by experimenting with different cards and strategies. The result? I climbed to a rating of 220 and won eleven matches. It is not much, but it's honest work. So, after lots of trial and painful errors, here are some tips I have for Survival Mode that I am using.
Tips I found Useful To Clinch A Few More Victories
The first tip is do not just stick to your go-to lineups. Survival Mode forces you to think outside the box, and being adaptable is key. I started mixing things testing different monster and summoner combos and this improved my win rate. And to be honest, I had no choice -- I started running out of the usual monsters I play with.
The second tip is to sacrifice against overpowered opponents. If you get matched against a high-ranking opponent with fully maxed-out cards and legendary summoners, sometimes it is better to strategically throw the match. Therefore, instead of fighting a dead rubber battle, I submit a level 1 summoner and a single level 1 monster. With this approach, I control which cards I lose.
You need to approach Survivor Mode strategically. In Modern and Wild League, you always submit your strongest lineups, but in Survival Mode, you need to think long-term. Think about it like this: A glass cannon team might win you one big match, but if you burn through your best cards too quickly, you will run out of options later. By strategically sacrificing matches, I can target more opponents that are winnable with well-balanced, mid-tier teams.
The third tip is if you are also playing Modern or Wild, make sure you do not accidentally burn your best cards in Survival Mode. Use the custom set feature to create a custom set and unflag it from Survival Mode. This way, you will not risk losing key cards that you need elsewhere.
The final tip, and while it is early days, I am already seeing patterns emerging in Survival Mode. Certain summoners especially legendary ones like Yodin Zaku are dominating. Players who have access to them will have a massive advantage. And for those that do not, well start to learn the meta and rent those cards that are dominating the Survivor Mode leaderboards. While I cannot speak to Survivor Mode rewards as I have barely won 1 SPS, others are capitalizing and finding Survivor Mode rewards very juicy.
Concluding Thoughts
My first attempt at Survival Mode was a disaster. But after switching up my strategy and thinking long-term instead of just match-to-match, I finally started seeing progress. If you are jumping into Survival Mode, taper your expectations as this mode is hardcore. Survival Mode requires you to make smart decisions and manage your deck efficiently.
How is your Survival Mode experience going?
Are you new to splinterlands and want to learn to play the game? Check out my Ultimate Guide to Splinterlands: A Collection of Articles and Guides. If you enjoy reading my splinterlands content, please follow and support me by signing up to playing splinterlands through my affiliate link: https://splinterlands.com?ref=mercurial9.
Thank you for reading and hope you have a good rest of the day!
Follow me on these other platforms where I also post my content: Publish0x || Hive || Medium || Twitter
Posted Using INLEO
I totally agree and do the same. It's a bit sad that you have to play against those overpowered opponents, but sadly we can't change this.