Hello to any of my readers and "Dear (weekly) Diary" 😜

It's that day of the week in which I find the most interesting Splinterlands experience I've had over the past week to share! That fits in perfectly with the theme of the weekly Splinterlands Social Media Challenge too!

But first, a quick look at what happened this week in the world of crypto.

I think this past week is best characterized by Bitcoin’s tug-of-war between new highs and profit-taking. BTC opened June above $105K, flirting with $107K on ETF inflows and upbeat U.S. crypto policy chatter—but every time it looked set to break out, fresh trade-deal jitters knocked it back below $104K. It’s the same old “sky’s the limit until the next headline” dance.

Meanwhile, Ethereum has been treading water around $2,600, showing a sluggish recovery even as DeFi activity on its chain climbed to record levels last month. Classic case of “ETH leads altseason,” but right now it feels stuck in neutral. 😱📉💸

What about HIVE? True to form, HIVE has barely flinched—holding steady in range despite the broader turbulence. That resilience says plenty: projects with real-world utility and active communities aren’t at the mercy of meme mania or headline swings. With Splinterlands’ Conclave Arcana on the horizon and a free Wild season which just concluded, HIVE’s quiet stability might be the most compelling narrative of all.

Is this the last chance to buy BTC (and HIVE 🤑) on the cheap? Who knows?

Of course, I could be completely wrong too, so, please do not heed my advice for your own investment purposes! 😜📈🚀

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A brief introduction before I start though...

Good Day to all Splinterlands players! (and people of HIVE! 😜) I've made it a point to blog about my weekly progress and experiences in Splinterlands/HIVE in my "weekly diary". Splinterlands & HIVE are what I'd consider to be my entry point into the World of Crypto, and I intend to use this as a means to look back on the path I've taken in the years ahead.⏳⏳⏳

This is now the 185th consecutive week writing in my Diary (of sorts) detailing my Splinterlands Journey ever since I started this game. I talk about what has gone on my personal Splinterlands playing experience, my weekly Guild Brawl Reports, and also any Splinterlands in-game news. 🎉🥳🎊

No week goes by in Splinterlands without some news event happening though. And here's my pick of some of the most interesting ones in my opinion. 📰📰📰

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🗺️🧳✈️Updates on my Splinterlands Journey🗺️🧳✈️

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This week's Social Media Challenge is all about sharing our remarkable Splinterlands moments. I'd have shared my daily and weekly activities in the past, BUT, usually, nothing really special really happens in my daily Splinterlands daily grind, so let's hope this is more interesting for reading?... let's get down to it! 🤣

The arcane tides are surging through Splinterlands as the Chaos Legion cards bow out and Conclave Arcana steps into the spotlight. My Arcana collection is still just a handful of teasers—no show‑stoppers yet—so rather than dwell on what I don’t have, let’s dive straight into the heart of the action: the new mechanics, art, and strategies that’ll redefine our battles!

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My quest for more Gold Foil Legendary cards from my rewards chests "The New Glint Shop" continues on ("Greed is Good!" 😈). It's STILL a 0.008% chance, at base level, ridiculously low chance to pull a legendary gold foil, in case you were wondering 😉. Here's to more jackpot strikes in the future (i hope) 🤞🏻🍀🤞🏻🍀🤞🏻🍀.

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⚔️🛡️My Battle Showcase🛡️⚔️

The removal of League Level limits in battles allowed some really interesting matchups. No longer are "low level" players protected by their league limits. This often leads to some very lopsided battles. However, there is also the opportunity here to punch above your weight and secure a David VS Goliath win. As always, let me once again showcase some really great underdog victories I have achieved this past week!

Let me present a battle (or some battles) I fought recently in which I managed, against all odds, to win these players who out levelled me on an order of magnitude that I couldn't imagine. Victory or defeat would lie in the small details. 😱

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LINK TO MY FIGHT

I would say this was a fight of epic lop-sidedness! 😱

If it wasn't bad enough that I was facing a MAXIMUM level RARE Summoner opponent VS myself at just a "puny" level 4 RARE Summoner, I was also using mostly level 1 units. That meant despite my "middling Summoner level", my team was actually a lot lower in level in reality. Simply put, it was more akin to a level 1 VS max levels! 😱

The opponent was using a max level deck with his MAXIMUM Level 8 RARE summoner Obsidian from the CHAOS LEGION edition while I was using a Level 6 RARE Eternan Brune from the REWARDS edition. And if that wasn't enough, his units were maxed out with far superior levels to mine! This opposing matchup battle of "Earth VS Fire" had me at the clear disadvantage as I was going to lose out to the opponent purely to sheer power and level.

At the end of the day, there were a few factors which resulted in my unexpected win.

• Firstly, the rulesets "BORN AGAIN, NOXIOUS FUMES, HEAVY METAL" meant that my opponent would be, in all likelihood, be restricted to armoured and some anti poison, healing, or high hp units in his team. 😱 This would also infer the probability that his unit choices would be restricted to said units and that I should focus on fielding the most advantageous strategies as possible in order to take advantage of such a ruleset.

• This inadvertently also benefitted my lineup as I could then just focus on just choosing the most suitable units I owned for my team, instead of trying to fight on multiple fronts, seeing as I would have suffered an overwhelming disadvantage just based off the difference in our levels.

• In fact, to throw the opponent off guard, I would completely defy his expectations by focusing on an army of "ARMOUR REPAIRING WITH SHATTER TOGETHER WITH BLOODLUST ABILITIES, ALONG WITH SOME MAGIC DPS WITH ANTI MELEE ABILITIES" lineup in a pure DPS glass cannon build (so to speak), along with a high armoured and high hp tank unit capable of surviving as many hits as possible, in order to throw him off guard to allow my plan to take effect.

• My strategy would be to depend purely on lasting as long as possible using the TANKING abilities of my frontline units. The FEROX DEFENDER & CHIMNEY WALLSTOP were lined up as my frontline tank units with their great abilities (high hp, armour and the reach and repair abilities), to absorb the brunt of the initial damage. More defence was also added in the form of a Taunt IIDRI FYRE in my backline, along with the Demoralize ability of the EMBERGUARD. To further improve my offensive ability, I also utilised a LEGENDARY DRYBONE RAIDER REWARDS card, which had the DOUBLESTRIKE, SHATTER AND DUAL ATTACK TYPE abilities. To further enhance my strategy, I would depend on the -2 ARMOR and CONSCRIPT abilities thanks to my Summoner, Eternan Brune, to give me the ability to debuff the ARMOR of my opponent's units AND also allow me the use of a powerful GLADIUS unit. This would be a risky move as a similar move by a higher level opponent with superior unit stats would have derailed my strategy completely.

• Next thing of note was the MANA COST RESTRICTION of 57 mana. This meant that my opponent would very likely be unable to unleash his full arsenal of heavy hitters with a vast array of abilities against me. I would thus be able to take advantage of this by fielding a leaner and more focused specialised lineup.

• Of course, this was not going to be a walk in the park as the opponent still had the obvious advantage of much superior levels.

• Fortunately, and surprisingly, the opponent played right into my hands by arrogantly deciding to field an entire army of ALL melee and ranged physical units, instead of anticipating all units to be armoured (and thus stronger against physical attacks) because of the ruleset ARMORED UP. He also failed to focus on protecting all vulnerable units because of the ruleset NOXIOUS FUMES. This meant that he would be completely open to all my attacks once his tank fell, and would leave his units open to hard hitting attacks from my Chimney Wallstop, which grew stronger with every kill thanks to BLOODLUST, thus putting him at a severe disadvantage. He was likely thinking that he would be able to blitz me through sheer force of his superior DPS, and ignoring the effects and implications of the ruleset.

• Making the most of such restrictions would turn out to be advantageous to me.

• This turned out to be my saving grace in the end as my hyper focused gambit succeeded in gaining an advantage against the opponent's superior levels, eventually wearing him down. Even though my units were seriously lacking in levels and stats compared to my opponent's, my unit choices managed to absorb the brunt of the damage as I had hoped for. This allowed my REPAIRING and BLOODLUST DPS units to destroy the entire army 1 unit at a time with their DPS capabilities, thus growing stronger with every kill, and then simply destroying him by letting the prevailing conditions and ruleset do the dirty work for me! I guess this was akin to a desperate roll of the dice hoping for that 1 in a million jackpot win! 🤣

In the end, all I can say is that luck was on my side. 😜

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Who would have guessed that my lowly teams would have been able to pull off such David VS Goliath upset wins? I guess nothing is impossible and sometimes, all you need is some luck and great strategy!

💭🧐💭Ending Thoughts💭🧐💭

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I definitely can appreciate how utilising the most of your deck's strengths can lead to unexpected outcomes. This is one of those situations in which Davids can beat Goliaths if surrounded with the proper team. The role every single carefully selected unit brings to the battlefield will give a player the edge in squeezing out every tiny advantage to get the win. 👍🏻

For any players who feel daunted with the new battle level changes, I hope this article has given you some insight into the potential of every single card regardless of it's level. 😉

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🤑💰🍕Added Bonus of PIZZA Token🤑💰🍕

_{I will use my staked 🍕PIZZA🍕 to share a slice of 🍕PIZZA🍕 with anyone in the comments who also FOLLOWS & REBLOGS my post in the interests of spreading the Word of Pizza 🤣🤣🤣
Just let me know if you've done that so I can easily keep track. 👍
Any fellow 🍕PIZZA🍕 connoisseurs who !PIZZA me will also receive 🍕PIZZA🍕 back from me. 😊}

📣🍕SHOUTOUT to HivePizza📣🍕

_{The guys over at PIZZA DISCORD have been very helpful throughout my Splinterlands journey. I strongly recommend that you guys check it out if you haven't already done so.
PIZZA is an active gaming and creative arts crypto community on the HIVE blockchain. Popular games on HIVE like SPLINTERLANDS, RISING STAR, EXODE, HASHKINGS, WOO, TERRACORE have their own PIZZA communities here.}

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_{Don't miss out more events that are always being organised. Join the PIZZA DISCORD. Even if you aren't interested in the 💰🍕🎁GIVEAWAYS & AIRDROPS💰🍕🎁, there is a vibrant and friendly community there awaiting you.}

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_{Here's to wishing everyone all the best for the upcoming week 🎉🍀.}

_{To any new players who wish to explore the world of Splinterlands, do feel free to sign up with my REFERRAL LINK😊.}