SteemMonsters speedrun #2 - from 3400 to top40 with 35 STEEM in the pocket (only 90 battles!) + rental market observation

I decided to repeat my experiment from the previous season:

• SteemMonsters speedrun - from 0 to top30 with 30 STEEM in the pocket + rental market observations
  

and the last day of the season try to enter the top50 using only rented cards. I used @pomocnik account for this expreriment.

The main differences in comparison to the previous season:

• I started from 3400 points (reset from Champion III) and not from 0
• I wanted to get to top50 with the smallest number of the battles
• I rented only 2 splinters: Green and Red (I gave up the Blue splinter which I rented last time)
• I wanted to rent the smallest subset of cards and still be competitive in Champion
• I rented Prince Rennyn
• The experiment lasted only about 3 hours

What I achieved

• 45st position on the leaderboard with only 89 battles played (I hit top50 after 83 battles but played a couple more just to be sure that I stay in top50)

• top50 = 10 beta packs (worth about $12)
• champion I = 150 reward cards for season (worth about $10)
• 0 x quest = 0 reward cards ;-) Quest was for the splinters that I didn't have, no luck here
• 7.5k DEC = $7.5

Balance:

• rental costs: $14
• value of rewards: $12 + $10 + $7.5 = $29.5
• result: +$15.5

It could be more if I didn't lose 2 possible quests.

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Renting cards was more expensive this time for three reasons:

• more people rent cards, so the best contracts are taken
• the average escrow fee was higher than last time (most part of the total cost was just escrow fees, not a daily fees, but the next day I was breaking the contracts, so I had to pay it fully ;-))
• I rented Prince Rennyn which costs me $3.7 alone ($2.5 escrow fee + $1.2 daily costs, that is a lot, but I wanted this card to minimize the number of played battles)

Cards

I rented only Green and Red splinter + some neutrals + Selenia.

Green:

Actually, I could have given up the Stonesplitter Orc, I rented him during the game due to the fact that in one of the battles the Red splinter was disabled on the Up Close & Personal rules and this card seemed useful.

Card	Usage
Flesh Golem	Taking Sides, Broken Arrows
Goblin Sorcerer	Most rules, esp. Back to Basics, Keep Distance, Reverse Speed
Minotaur Warrior	Little League
Wood Nymph	Most rules
Elemental Earth	Most rules
Stone Golem	Aim True
Stonesplitter Orc	Up Close & Personal
Mushroom Seer	Most rules, esp. Keep Distance, Reverse Speed, Fog of War
Javelin Thrower	Most rules
Magi of the Forest	Most rules, esp. Back To Basics
Swamp Thing	Most rules
Xander Foxwood	Silenced Summoners
Brownie	Most rules
Spirit of the Forest	Most rules
Prince Rennyn	Most rules

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Red:

For me, the Red splinter is very strong in Champion, just not suitable for some rules (Keep Distance, Fog of War, Reverse Speed).

Card	Usage
Goblin Shaman	Most rules
Giant Roc	Most rules, esp Taking Sides, Broken Arrows
Kobold Miner	Most rules
Fire Beetle	Back to Basics
Serpentine Soldier	Most rules
Cerberus	Most rules
Flame Imp	Most rules
Fire Deamon	Most rules
Talia Firestorm	Silenced summoners
Imp Bowman	Most rules
Elemental Phoenix	Most rules
Plado Emberstorm	Most rules

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I could limit the number of cards and give up

• Fire Beetle, Imp Bownam, but then I could not play Back to Basics with Red Splinter
• Giant Roc

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Neutral:

Card	Usage
Peaceful Giant	Back to Basics
Elven Cutthroat	Most rules
Centaur	Most rules
Highland Archer	Most rules
Creeping Ooze	Most rules
Cocatrice	Most rules
Hobgoblin	Melee Mayhem
Prismatic Energy	Rise of Commons, Lost Legendaries
Lord Arianthus	Most rules

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I could limit the number of cards and give up

• Hobgoblin - used only for Melee Mayhem and Super Sneak Rule
• Prismatic Energy - used only for Rise of Commons and Lost Legendaries on high mana cap battles

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Dragon:

Card	Usage
Selenia Sky	Back to Basics, Keep Distance, Reverse Speed, Fog of War

Gameplay

Most of the time I played Green splinter with Prince Rennyn summoner (this configuration is strong in Champion).

I also played quite a lot Red splinter + Plado Emberstorm mainly on rules:

• Melee Mayhem
• Super Sneak
• Up Close & Personal
• Rise of Commons (Green without Brownie, Swamp Thing and Spirit of the Forest is not that strong)
• Broken Arrows
• Taking Sides (Green without Cocatrice, Lord Ariantus is not that strong as usual)

Delegation market observation

• more and more people are renting cards
• I managed to rent all the cards I needed, but 6 of them below the maximum level
• escrow fees were higher than the last time
• it is difficult to rent neutral cards and legendary summoners maxed
• at the end of the season, the demand for card rental is certainly greater

Summary

• you can enter champion I, even up to the top 50 without having any own cards, only by renting from the market
• you don't need to rent all splinters, Green splinter is essential, Red splinter is a complement
• the whole experiment brought about $15 profit and lasts 3 hours
• the experiment was done mainly for fun and to see how fast you can get to top50 with only 2 splinters rented and limited time and money

What next?

I'm thinking about two options:

• top10 with only rented cards (2 splinters + neutrals) and one day of play
• top50 with only Green splinter