Splinterlands Card Population Spotlight - Episode 2 29.01.22-08.02.22
In this series I am going to drop 5 Random cards into the spotlight to analyse population decline over the course of the week or period of time. The aim of these posts are to hopefully get people to identify the deflationary pressure rate on certain cards relative to their price and popularity and hopefully help you determine which cards you may need to make a move on (before they become out of reach financially). This week I am have a look at a range of cards that were/are under $10. My analysis is primarily focussed on what I see of each card in bronze and silver level leagues. I hope you enjoy!Flame Monkey
Flame Monkey - Reward Series - Fire - Common
Flame Monkey is a low manna card that doesn't pack too much punch but is used in low manna battles or to fill in a 1 manna slot. When it reaches level 5 it does gain the repair ability which increases use case.
Thoughts - Flame Monkey continues to see a large volume of combining with over 500 combined in the last 10 days. It has held it's value well during the Chaos release period given that the are 94k cards still in circulation. I think this card has good deflationary pressure that will see price pressure in time but I do not think this card will be a go-to card in the future as much as I like to use it due to 0 summoning point cards being all the rage in Chaos. Having said that, it would not surprise me to see this card reach $3 or $4 over the next year or 2 as it's use case increases greatly at level 5 when it receives the repair ability and this could go well with a Scavo Hireling and Living Lava, Grum in a reverse speed battle or with any battle using armour strategy.
Weekly Price Change: $.62-$.76
Weekly Regular Foil Population Change: 94,884-94,332
Feasting Seaweed
Feasting Seaweed - Untamed Series - Water - Common
Starting with 2 attack and the opportunity ability, the Feasting Seaweed is a great water card to use in tandem with Demented Shark which we covered last episode and reverse speed. For 4 manna this card is optionally handy at level 5 with 3 attack and at lvl 6 gains the scavenger ability.
Thoughts - Not a card that is played often in the lower levels but can definitely pack a punch if used under the right game conditions. With 31k cards still in circulation and a relatively cheap end price, it's one of those cards people don't expect to see in a reverse speed battle making this card a handy gem. We have seen just 150 burnt in the last 10 days, but all things considered, in just a few months from now, the population of this card will be under 30k and hitting that zone where scarcity starts to impact price. But is it popular in use case enough to demand a premium? I would think not. I think long term price will be stable and slow to increase. At under $1 at time of writing, I believe you could flip a profit investing, but it is way down the list of cards that I would bank my investment on and not a card I would lay on the line to win me battles under most game conditions.
Weekly Price Change: $.1.10-$.98
Weekly Regular Foil Population Change: 31,573-31,250
Silvershield Knight
Silvershield Knight- Alpha/Beta Series - Life - Common
The Silvershield Knight starts as a mid level tank for 6 summoning points and starts with Inspire ability. This give 2 attack and fast 4 speed with some armour and health to make it a good all round melee unit.
Thoughts - One of my favourite cards in Splinterlands and with good reason. It's a decent tank with good speed and in a mellee only strategy gives you a devastating edge with damage. I often like to use this with Lorna Shine and go for an all out charge on my opponents. Not only is this card popular now, I cannot see it losing popularity. Recently it was in the $2.24 range and at that price was an absolute steal! And people saw that and it quickly jumped back up. Under 20k of these remaining in circulation and at lvl 4 gains the piercing ability. This is why I not only think this card is a great asset to any deck, but a sound investment for those looking to HODL as whales and players alike continue to want this card for added benefits that come later on including trample at lvl 8.
Weekly Price Change:$2.24-$3.95
Weekly Regular Foil Population Change: 18,915-18,899
Death Elemental
Death Elemental - Untamed Series - Death - RareThe Death Elemental comes packed with the Snipe Ability and is a great backline magic card to annoy the enemy ranged and magic units. Gaining Silence ability at lvl 4, this definitely adds to it's capability in the field.
Thoughts - I don't think this card is good, I know it and so do you. In combination with Delwyn or even without, you will find the Death Elemental is vital to many strategies to ruffle the enemy flanks. It has seen more than 100 burns from the population over the last 10 days and is definitely gaining popularity once again nearly doubling in value in this time after the price took a massive hit. It's now one of the cards that are getting out of reach for many with a population of just 13.5k. Given it's popularity, I think wouldn't be surprised if this hits $10 very soon as deflationary mechanisms and demand drive up the price. Long term I am bullish on this card and I think if you don't already own one, the ship may be already sailing.
Weekly Price Change: $3.52-$6.16
Weekly Regular Foil Population Change: 13,704-13,590
Unicorn Mustang
Unicorn Mustang - Untamed Series - Earth - RareA strong and brutally quick tank with health to burn. Starting with void, making it's one hard Horsey to take down, particularly with magic. At level 5 it gains the magic reflect and armour piercing at level 8.
Thoughts - Extremely popular, strong, fast, high HP, magic protection, you could argue that the Unicorn would rank in the top 10 most popular cards to use at this present time in the lower leagues. And boy is the deflationary pressure on this card high despite being over $7, we have seen nearly 100 burnt through combination (because who would be crazy enough to actually burn one of these) in the last 10 days. A highly effective anti magic card when used with Wood Nymph and Goblin Psychic aka 'Mini Kron' and can be used in just about every strategy you can think of. This is why I am not only bullish on this card, but I think once we move to the next series after Chaos and the next Spellbook removes Untamed cards, the demand for this card will skyrocket. I foresee this card being a highly valuable asset both in deck and for flipping your investment into future series. Price has remained stable for the last 2 weeks which is a great sign that the bottom is in post Chaos release. If you don't already own one, you might consider this before it takes off past $10 range.
Weekly Price Change: $7.70-$7.69
Weekly Regular Foil Population Change: 13,812-13,728
Well this wraps up episode 2 of 'Splinterlands Card Population Spotlight' I hope you found some value in this post and hope that you follow to see future posts like this! Feel free to shill your cards you want me to follow for future blogs! Feel free to check out previous episodes and my my streaming channel on twitch (links below)
Week/Episode 1 Splinterlands Card Population Spotlight
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I thought about selling my level 1 Flame Monkey but when I had this 12 mana melee mayhem and equalizer ruleset, I found that it still has its use case together with the 0 mana and other 1 mana cards that arrived with chaos, as this composition of very low mana cards allowed me to fill all six slots in that 12 mana battle against only 3 that my opponent was able to put and gave me huge advantage in that battle. Its niche and the use-case is very dependent on rulesets like this but a level 1 Flame Monkey can still be handy so I decided to keep him.
Yeah I do like Flame Monkey, maybe I was being a bit harsh on it. ;)
Nice analysis! Interesting card choices.