HELLO to all Splinterlands readers of my humble blog.👋🏻👋🏻👋🏻 Welcome to yet another week of the "new" iteration of the Splinterlands Weekly Challenges 😜. The "old" Battle Challenges are now a thing of the past (at least for now?) and they have been replaced with this week's "Splinterlands Community Engagement Challenge: Tutorials and Tips from the Community".

For any old Hivers/Splinterlands players who've just come back and are confused, fret not! Even with the name and format tweaks, right at it's core, battles are still the foundation of these posts.

In this week's edition of my Splinterlands Community Engagement Challenge: Tutorials and Tips from the Community, I will do something drastically different from my usual battle showcases. Instead of war, I will become a peaceful teacher showing all new players how to most effectively navigate the topic of "Tutorials and Tips from the Community".

The Foundations set is live, Frontier mode is rocking, and the “start from scratch and earn as you go” (as I myself term it, albeit in a long winded way 🤣) dream finally feels real. Today I’m sharing a focused tutorial together a pile of tips for anyone diving into Foundations cards and Frontier format.

How to unlock it quickly, how to build a winning day-one deck, how to pace your energy and quests, and how to turn those daily tasks into steady progress (and spicy variants). Yes, that's a crap ton of "HOWS" 😜 but bear with me as I’ll try to keep it friendly, practical, and a little cheeky, because if we can’t laugh at our Bronze (yup, everyone is starting back from right at the bottom 😱) misplays, what even are we doing here?

That being said, here's some tips and tricks from Yours Truly which will hopefully help any new player who comes across this guide. Read on to find out more! 😜

No matter! I present to you — Tutorials and Tips from the Community.

So without further ado, let me introduce how best to navigate this seemingly impossible task to you! 🎉

⚔️🛡️ Tips To Build Your Frontier Foundations: From Free to Fierce 🛡️⚔️

With all that being said, here is how I would advice ALL players on how you can capitalize on some of these simple strategies!

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🔧 Frontier + Foundations: What To Do First (and Why It Works)

• Unlock Frontier fast (Campaign vs. Spellbook).

You can access Frontier after completing Book 1 of the Campaign or by purchasing the Summoner’s Spellbook. These are literally two clean routes for brand new and returning accounts. If you like learning by doing, blitz (pun intended on my own nick 🤣) Book 1 to earn a functional Foundations starter spread; if you’re itching to rank ASAP, Spellbook opens the gate immediately and also upgrades your account for trading and broader game access. I’ve done both on fresh accounts: the Campaign is a great teaching tool, while the Spellbook path is a straight line to ranked grinds.

• Know what Foundations are (and what they aren’t).

Foundations replaced “starter” cards: they’re your Frontier legal pool and they also work in Modern, but not in Wild/Survival. Campaign earned Foundations are soulbound to your account, while other Foundations can be traded, delegated, and combined, and none of them count toward Collection Power or Land production. Strategically, this means your day 1 economy is about play power, not CP farming. So, prioritize battle impact upgrades over hoarding.

• Quest cadence means steady growth (and weekly draw shots).

Frontier progression is tied to a predictable loop: daily quests leads to advancement chests which leads to entries for the weekly Frontier Draw! What's that? It's basically a big multi week prize pool of Foundations rarities and variants. Practically, plan to finish your daily even on off days; entries burn if unawarded and don’t roll, so consistency beats streaky play. Think of it like compound interest in card form! Small daily inputs, big long-term surprises! 🤑

• Energy management is a real edge.

Frontier advancement chests can drop Frontier Energy, so smart pacing lets you spike playtime exactly when you’re on a hot run or near a chest threshold. My routine is a morning set to scope the day’s rulesets, then a focused evening push if I’ve banked energy. Momentum matters, and extra energy shines when matchmaking is in your favour. Treat energy like a tactical resource, not a timer you passively obey.

• Progression perks: potions and claim timing.

You can use Alchemy and Legendary potions when claiming your daily Frontier card rewards and chests, thus juicing your chance at Gold and higher-rarity pulls. I like batching claims when I have both potion types on hand; it’s not superstition but maths! Multipliers matter over many rolls, especially when you’re hunting early upgrades that swing Bronze/Silver fights. It’s the tiny EV edges that turn into a better deck by the weekend.

• Leaderboard & EOS awareness = extra entries.

Frontier entries also feed in via leaderboard results, and your end of season rating flow follows the usual reset logic tied to highest league achieved. Translation: if you’re close to a tier up near season end, make that last push! It feels sweaty, but the carry over implications plus entries gained can justify a short burst of focused play. Play the calendar as much as you play your lineup.

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🧭 Step-By-Step: A Simple Frontier Gameplan

• Step 1 — Finish Book 1 or get the Spellbook.

Campaign teaches fundamentals and hands you usable cards; Spellbook is your fast pass if you’re comfortable jumping straight into ranked. I recommend new players do the Campaign anyway. You’ll absorb rulesets and unit roles naturally, which saves rating swings later.

• Step 2 — Build a “Core lineup” per Splinter.

For each element you plan to use, aim for: (1) a real tank, (2) a Reach/Bruiser, (3) an off-tank (Shield or Heal), (4) a speed tool (Swiftness or Slow), (5) backline pressure (Sneak/Snipe), and (6) one utility (Cleanse/Dispel/Repair). Frontier is "low to mid" stat ball; lineups that mix durability and targeted pressure win more mirrors than glass cannon memes.

• Step 3 — Combine toward Silver caps (selectively).

Because Foundations combine up to Silver and don’t grant CP, spend merges where the stat/ability breakpoint matters (e.g., hitting a speed tie breaker or unlocking an extra point of armour or damage for a common backbone unit). Campaign soulbound copies fill gaps; tradeable Foundations are the ones you’ll buy or swap to finish your plan. Think “ranked impact per DEC spent,” not collector’s completionism.

• Step 4 — Daily quest discipline > bingeing.

Complete the daily, secure your advancement chest, and don’t get baited into aimless queues when the rulesets are hard countering your collection. I keep a “no queue” rule on some off days if I seem to just be off form and on a losing streak. Play fewer matches, win more of them, keep MMR healthy, and farm entries without tilt.

• Step 5 — Claim with potions when possible.

Legendary potions double Epic/Legendary odds; Alchemy doubles Gold foil odds on eligible pulls. Over a month of Frontier claims, this compounds into a noticeably better stack of upgrades; it’s the calm, boring optimization that quietly outperforms YOLO queue spam.

• Step 6 — Ride momentum and bank Frontier Energy.

If your chest drops Frontier Energy, don’t instantly blow it, but save it for bursts to break through that certain league cap, or to get that extra chest reward for the day. Frontier is generous to consistent players who also time their sprints; your future self will thank you when you chain wins on a perfect ruleset block.

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🧪 Practical Tips From the (Frontier) Trenches

• Draft to the ruleset, not the splinter you “feel.”

Foundations fights are tight; a single wrong archetype into Noxious Fumes or Earthquake can throw a whole day. I keep a tiny checklist: Do I have sustain vs Fumes? Flight vs Quake? If not, I pivot splinter instead of forcing “my main deck.” Your rating graph will thank you.

• Speed is king (but don’t forget armour math).

Early Frontier pools produce tons of 1–3 damage bands where First Strike via speed wins coin flips, yet defensive abilities can blank entire backlines. When in doubt, add one more source of defensive abilities, then layer light armour to dodge chip outs. It’s less “fancy combo,” more “stop bleeding damage.”

• Backline pressure wins mirror matches.

Because everyone has access to similar Commons/Rares, Sneak/Snipe chains often decide mirrors, especially when you can stress enemies to split targets. If your default lineup has zero backline reach, expect to stall out at the lower league tiers.

• Play around potion economics.

Since Frontier daily/advancement claims can use potions, prioritize acquiring a small buffer before big claim batches. The EV uptick on Gold/Epic/Legendary hits is subtle short term but quickly snowballs. Your collection quality curve steepens without any rating gamble.

• Pick a “season story” and commit.

You won’t master everything in two weeks. Declare a focus (e.g., “Water type or Mastering Sneak/Opportunity Attacks”) and tune your combines and buys for that arc. Frontier rewards coherent development way more than scattered experiments.

• End of season bursts are worth it.

If you’re a handful of rating from the next tier on the final day, that push affects reset position and leaderboard entries you bank. I keep a tiny stash of Frontier Energy for exactly that moment; it’s like saving a spell slot for the boss fight instead of blowing it on trash mobs.

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🧰 Foundations Economy: What To Expect (and how to think about it)

• Account bound VS tradable clarity.

"Campaign earned" Foundation cards are soulbound but other Foundation cards can be traded, delegated, and combined (to Silver), but none of them count as Collection Power or produce on Land, so value is firmly utility driven. This design steers new value toward winning games and climbing rather than CP inflation. Plan your wallet around battle ROI, not passive CP goals.

• Frontier chests: know the odds, plan the grind.

Advancement chests currently roll 40% cards / 20% potions / 20% Frontier Energy / 20% Frontier Draw entries. That mix essentially funds more play (energy), better claims (potions), and occasional spikes (draw entries). This is a loop that rewards daily engagement without requiring a whale bankroll. It’s the first time in a while I’ve felt like the ladder feeds itself if you show up consistently everyday.

• Weekly Frontier Draws = long tail upside.

Those entries from quests and leaderboards go into weekly draws across 105 weeks with a 7,982 card prize pool, including rarer foils/variants. It’s a clever carrot: consistent players get a lottery of “collection defining” hits without turning the grind into a second job. Don’t chase it, but earn it passively while doing the fundamentals right.

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🎬 Teach, Triumph, and Tame the Frontier

Frontier + Foundations is Splinterlands on hard mode and easy mode at the same time. Easy to enter, hard to master. If you unlock cleanly, build a Core lineup for each splinter you actually play, pace your energy, and claim with potions on hand, you’ll find Bronze into Silver surprisingly smooth, and you’ll stack a base that scales for Modern later. That said, I'm sure I'll see some of you readers on the ladder during the course of my daily play. So, bring snacks, bring potions, and bring that end ofseason sprint energy. 😉

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💭🧐💭Ending Thoughts💭🧐💭

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I definitely can appreciate Tutorials and Tips from the Community and how it changes the dynamics of usual gameplay. This is one of those situations which can be turned into a huge advantage if surrounded with the proper strategies. The role it brings to the battlefield will give a player the edge in squeezing out every tiny advantage to get the win. 👍🏻

I hope this article has given you some insight into its potential. 😉

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

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