A brand new game mode format has been added to ranked play. In addition to Wild and Modern, there is now a third format known as Survival Mode. Just like in Wild, cards from all sets are allowed and both bots and human players are welcome. What sets this format apart is that there is no energy. Instead cards get placed on cooldown if they are defeated in battle.
So far, I have played six battles and won all of them. However, I did loose three cards in the process. All three of my defeated cards came in a single battle. I did pretty well. In five of my matches I managed to not loose a single card.
Under the battle button it shows the number of available cards as well as the ones in cooldown which is 3 for me.
In the battle log, there is a red circle in the cards that were defeated in a battle. You can see that in one of my battles there are 3 red circles.
Implications of this new Format
I had never fully thought about all the implication of Survival Mode prior to its release.
1) Victories
Victories can still be costly. Prior to Survival Mode a win was a win. Yes it cost a little bit of energy, but it never felt like you were sacrificing something in the process. Now you really have to think about whether or not it is worth it to include a monster. So it adds a new layer of strategy to the game.
2) Summoners
In recent days, I have noticed many summoners are for sale at twice what they were a month ago. This is because you need a summoner in each battle. So if you loose a battle, the summoner used will be on cooldown. Whereas if a monster dies there are still countless other monsters in the game to choose from.
3) Cooldown Period
The cooldown time for a specific card will be based on the card's rarity, level, and foil. Below you can see that my max level Khazi Conjurer has a cooldown of about 2 days and has a red logo next to it. I still have a single copy that is green and not in cooldown. My other two defeated cards are in cooldown for 5 and 7 days.
4) Low Health Monsters
Beasty high health monsters are less likely to die in battle. Whereas low health monsters can easily be killed even in battles that you end up winning. So low health cards particularly 0 and 1 mana monsters should be in higher demand on the markets.
Number of players
It did seem like the volume was a bit low on this first day. Some of my battle wait times were near instantaneous while other times I had to wait for a minute or two. XBOT is planning on releasing automated battling for Survival Mode in the next 1 - 2 days. So probably many players have not started playing and there not very many bots yet.
Renting Cards for Survival Mode
As far as renting cards for Survival Mode, only season rentals are allowed. I was surprised that season rentals for most cards were not really much more expensive than daily rentals, but I would expect that to change in the next few days as more people learn about the mode. I think eventually looking for season rentals at the right times could be an important strategy . For example, searching the markets right after the midway point of a season in order to get the card for the next season and a half.
My Thoughts and Plan
I will continue to play Survival Mode if the season rental costs remain low enough. There has been some talk about eliminating daily rentals and having only season ones. Personally, I am in favor of this. It would simplify renting and eliminate any exploits. It could also make rentals more affordable in Survival Mode. It would also benefit land owners since only season rentals can be staked on land plots.
Overall it is exciting to see a new play mode added to the game. l I think Survival Mode has a chance to be beneficial for the game because it makes cards feel more in demand. For a while now cards have been viewed as inflationary assets that decrease in value over time. If Survival Mode takes off it has the ability to suck up a lot of cards.
I will conclude with a view of the latest Bronze leaderboard where I am #23. At the end of a season, the top 100 players in each league above Wood will receive Glint rewards.
Keep Battling
If you have not played Splinterlands yet, you can join using my referral link:
https://splinterlands.com/register?ref=ninjamike
Header image made using Canva. All other images are screenshots from the Splinterlands website.