Steem Monsters – Some tips to get you into the Silver League

I have been playing this ridiculously addictive game for only a few days now despite telling myself, ‘it’s a bad idea’ and ‘you will get addicted’.

Source

When someone like @steevc who is not a gamer starts playing and is clearly getting something out of it, then it must be good.

@steevc is struggling to get out of the Bronze league but I have managed to get into the lower echelons of the Silver league where I’m happy to stay for the moment.

There are good reasons to be in ‘Silver’, the first being that the new daily reward is 5 cards, and not 1 in the Bronze, and the second is more cards at the end of season.

My first ever daily reward was a Beta pack, but since then it’s been one card which frankly is a bit crap. So what do we do? Get into Silver which gives essentially what I was getting before.

I don’t see too many strategy articles about Steem Monsters, perhaps everyone wants to keep the info to themselves? I don’t have much to share, but what I can tell you may be enough to get you into Silver thus making the daily quests worthwhile again.

Play the Death Splinter

Getting into Silver was the result of a ridiculous winning streak that I had when it dawned on me that this Splinter is overpowered, mostly due to the Haunted Spirit tank. A two-point Self-Heal every turn as well as hitting for two is madness.

If you don’t have a Twisted Jester then buy one from the marketplace, they are currently 13c each. It makes a difference having him in your team.

Watch the matches that you lose.

This is important for your learning development. The game is no Magic the Gathering when it comes to strategy but the placement of your monsters makes the difference between winning and losing.

Don’t skip watching the games; make a mental note of why you lost and how the enemy places his monsters.

Play the Water Splinter (for quests)

I noticed that when playing against Water Splinter decks, some enemies were placing the Water Elemental in the last slot. This is because he soaks up the Sneak monsters and then heals himself.

Water Elemental is a must have card if using the Water Splinter. He hits for 2 and Self-Heals.

Healing is key in Steem Monsters and don’t forget to use Crustacean King if you are allocated a lot of mana for your game (greater than 22).

Avoid placing ‘King’ in the last slot as he will get sniped out quickly.

If you have a Daria Dragonscale use her when playing the Water Splinter.

Alric Stormbringer is OK but many starter decks don’t have creatures with Magic Attacks. For one extra mana, Daria will give your tank an edge with that 1 Melee to power.

Play the Fire Splinter (for quests)

Which tank for Fire? I used to use Pit Ogre. He’s mean looking, packs a bigger punch and has more health than Giant Roc, yet I have noticed many decks using the Roc as the tank and for good reason; Flying.

Flying means evasion. If your enemies keep missing, then the tank will stick around longer and absorb the damage or miss in this case.

The Roc is also faster at '4' than the slow Ogre. Hitting first can make all the difference between life and death.

Get hold of a Fire Demon; he’s a great ranged fighter, not expensive in terms of mana and has some health.

He does costs a little more at 67c from the marketplace.

Cerberus is also a decent tank as he has the Self-Heal just like Haunted Spirit but is a rare card and only 13c on the marketplace. I have lost against Fire decks with a Cerberus tank so I can attest to his usability.

Make full use of the Conditions

So many players quit the game if they don’t like the conditions placed.

‘You can’t use neutral cards’
‘All melee cards can attack from any position’

Adapt to the conditions, don’t bail. So many players use the same old decks and lose because they don’t do this. Use the conditions to your advantage.

Sometimes use a Backup tank.

Sometimes I play Grumpy Dwarf in slot TWO but only if it‘s a high mana game (22 or over). He’s redundant until the main tank dies, but if your slot two card is a ranged one then you may as well skip to the end as you're likely to lose.

Make use of the Neutral cards.

I use Grumpy Dwarf, Centaur and Cocatrice all the time, the latter in the last slot as it has Flying (Evasion).

Spend a little but not a lot.

It’s cheaper to get the cards you want from the marketplace. Make sure you have some STEEM in your wallet. I did buy 5 BETA boosters but probably shouldn’t have.

If you want to get into the big leagues, then you will need to buy them.

I hope this has been some use to you. I’m still a novice player, but am very experienced in playing other similar games such as Magic the Gathering.

There are some similarities and I can see that @aggroed and @yabapmatt have gained at least some ideas from the granddaddy of trading card games. I applaud them both for creating this fantastic product for the STEEM blockchain.

You can give support to both @aggroed and @yabapmatt in the form of your witness vote at https://steemit.com/~witnesses