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’d say this past week was all about Bitcoin smashing through yet another all-time high, cruising past the $118,000 mark before a modest pullback. What pushed it over the edge? A massive short squeeze coupled with over $1 billion in spot ETF inflows — classic fuel for a breakout. But in typical crypto fashion, volatility followed closely behind as traders took profits. All those bullish ETF inflows and a fresh short squeeze pushed BTC into record territory. But whenever you see that kind of momentum, expect some profit-taking soon after. It’s like watching a rocket launch — you either ride it or get burned. 😱📉💸

ETH had one of its strongest weeks in a while, bouncing off the $2.7K psychological barrier. Meanwhile, tokens like XRP are catching radars again, hinting that an altseason could be brewing if sentiment stays hot. The Trump‑themed crypto saga refuses to fade. While $TRUMP had its moment, its hype‑driven volatility remains unpredictable. Meanwhile, Trump Media’s filing for a “Blue Chip Crypto ETF” signals more moves, politically motivated or not.

And what about HIVE? Despite the meme chaos and macro noise, HIVE has held steady. The token weathered the $TRUMP liquidity drain and bounced back — quite impressive considering how many left the room chasing quick gains elsewhere. That kind of resilience speaks volumes for its position in the Hive and Splinterlands ecosystem. 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 190th 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 someone DOUBLE my level (Level 2 RARE Summoner opponent VS myself at just a "puny" level 1 RARE Summoner), I was also using mostly level 1 Foundation units together with "downgraded" level 1 Reward units. That meant that not only was I fighting an uphill battle with my lower Summoner level, even the quality and level of my units were equally as affected. Simply put, it was more akin to a level 1 VS max level! 😱

The opponent was using a higher level deck with his HIGHER Level 2 RARE summoner Bella Ratajowlski from the CONCLAVE ARENA edition while I was using a Level 1 RARE AURELIA from the "free" FOUNDATION edition. And if that wasn't enough, his units were definitely much stronger with far superior levels to mine! This OPPOSING matchup battle of "LIFE VS EARTH" 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 "BROKEN ARROWS & ARE YOU NOT ENTERTAINED" meant that my opponent would be, in all likelihood, be restricted to physical melee dps or magic dps 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 "LOW HP DPS UNITS who could focus fire on the tank, AND A TANKY SELF HEAL GLADIUS UNIT" lineup in a pure DPS glass cannon build (so to speak). This lineup, combined with a tank unit capable of surviving as many hits as possible, would throw him off guard and 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 QUORA TOWERSHEAD was lined up as my frontline tank units with their great abilities (good hp, magic/melee dps and the HEAL & BLOODLUST abilities), to absorb the brunt of the initial damage. To further improve my offensive ability, I also utilised an RARE HALARAN HUNTRESS REWARDS card, which had A GOOD 2 MELEE DPS & CHARGE abilities. To further enhance my strategy, I would depend on the +1 HEALTH ability thanks to my Summoner, AURELIA, to give me the ability to buff the HEALTH of my units. 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 23 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 physical melee dps units, instead of anticipating that my units would be solely focused on being able to land as many hits as possible on the tank unit (and thus take advantage of the lack of any real abilities granted from the ruleset). 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 hard hitting focused dps-ers, 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, thereby 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 FOCUSED 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😊.}