I've analyzed the dynamics of Splinterlands for years, looking for signs that it's a great idea to invest in the game, but unfortunately I always come to the same conclusion: the game's mechanic is broken. Investing in cards is supposed to give you greater chances of winning, which is false and even to the point that it can almost be considered a scam.
I totally agree with you that strategy and tactics are very important in the game but not to the point that they are the only thing that should count. That is exactly the problem with bots, the algorithms have discovered the combinations with the fewest number of cards to win the greatest number of battles and therefore it is not necessary to invest almost anything at all to extract money from the game.
Take, for example, this battle in which my opponent uses at least 720 cards, while I only use 7 to beat him. It's crazy. Or this other battle with the same result.Hello @beelzael. Thanks for comment.
The order of preponderance should be investment first, strategy and tactics second, and luck last. That is, if the players have the same level of investment in the game, then the strategy is what should decide the battle, if not investment should always have an advantage when it comes to battle.
This is the only thing Splinterlands requires to foster a real in-game economy.
Greetings and again thank you very much for commenting.
Those are some crazy battles! But analyzing:
Game 1: You won bc you focussed on magic in a thorns game set. The only good choice your opponent made was the tide biter. Even his summoner was counting on you choosing melee or range, but not magic.
Game 2: It's an all magic game - why on earth would your opponent choose something other than +1 magic damage or void? Using void, silence, taunt + 2 healers is the best strategy there is for a game like that.
And though I get what you're saying - I actually like that it's not only pay2win, but that you have to understand the game as well, and be able to pull of crazy tactical battles like you did there. I invested in a more or less silver league deck up to now, plus 20k of SPS, and I'm happy playing tournaments and all that and having a bot do the "daily work". I don't make any money with the bot, probably even negative, but I'm getting the glint to boost my soulbounds - I wouldn't have time to play all those games myself anyway, and I love the tournaments because I don't get beaten up by max lvl cards all the time, and I learn a lot from better players. So, I come out at around 0$, but I'm having a ton of fun.
Yet, there's much to improve. The game is off balance in many ways. But still, I think that the card system is not the way to tackle it.
Fun fact - I didn't upgrade my martyr cards for quite a while since it made more sense to have them die as fast as possible, so they'd boost the other cards right away.