How to Play

* Splinterlands is a one on one, skill-based battling game. If you want to battle against another player, you can click the "Battle!" menu option at the top of the screen and then choose the Ranked or Practice battle options.
* Playing Ranked battles will allow you to increase your rating as you win and reach higher leagues to earn increasing amounts of rewards at the end of the season.
* When you are just starting out and are below 100 rating, you will not lose any rating points for a loss in ranked play, so there is no downside to playing ranked battles even when you're just starting out.
* Once you have chosen the game mode you would like, you will be matched up with an opponent of similar rating, and you will be given a randomly chosen set of battle parameters or rules.
* You will both then have a limited amount of time to create a "team" of cards, consisting of one Summoner card and between one and six Monster cards based on the given battle parameters.
* Once each player has chosen their team, the battle will begin and will play out automatically based on the predefined game rules, and the first team to destroy all of the Monsters on the opposing team is the winner! It is also possible for battles to end in a draw.

### Game Modes

There are 5 Game Modes. (Only 4 on the app. Tournaments not yet included.)

* **How to Play** - New to the game? Start here to learn all you need to know. Experienced veteran? Perhaps a refresher can give that extra edge in battle.
* **Practice** - Sharpen your skills & test new strategies in practice matches without worrying about losing your place on the Leaderboard.
* **Ranked** - Play ranked matches to increase your Rating, complete Daily Quests, and compete for Season Rewards on the Leaderboard.
* **Challenge** - Challenge a friend to win bragging rights & prove yourself the better player! Does not impact your place on the Leaderboard.
* **Tournament** - Splinterlands sponsors multiple tournaments every day, but tournaments are open for anyone to run and put up any type of prizes they want.

### The Battlefield

* There are two teams on either side of the battlefield. Your team can appear in either the red or blue position.
* There are two rows in battle.
	+ The front row. - Monsters can only attack each other in row 1. Unless they have extra abilities. Ranged attacks do not work in position 1. Unless you have extra abilities.
	+ The back row. - Monsters can attack anywhere their abilities allow them. Melee attack monsters can't attack from back row unless they have extra abilities.
* You can have up to 6 monsters on the battlefield and 1 summoner.
* Summoners do not attack.
* When the health of all your monsters reaches zero you lose.
* When a monster dies, the monsters behind it all move up one position to fill in the vacant spot. Think carefully about how your monsters will be positioned if one dies. There can be no holes in formation.
* Certain abilities affect adjacent positions, so what does it mean to be adjacent? Notice positions 1, 2, and 3. Position 2 is adjacent to both positions 1 and 3. Position 1 is only adjacent to position 2. Likewise, position 6 is only adjacent to position 5. Think of the formation in terms of a line and not a grid.

### Team Building

* **Step 1**: Review the Rules of Combat, Mana Cap and Splinter Pool. Different rulesets can cancel out the abilities of your Summoners and Monsters. Understanding what Summoners and Monsters work best under what conditions is essential to your teams success.
* **Step 2**: Choose your summoner. The team building screen will display all the Summoners in your Collection. Your choice of Summoner will determine which Monsters you can use. NOTE: The level of your Summoner determines the level of the Monsters that can be added to the team. To see the capabilities of your Summoner, click on the Summoner card from your Collection screen, then select the STATS tab.
* **Step 3**: Now that you’ve chosen a Summoner, the Monsters from the Summoner’s splinter will be made available for selection. You may also choose any Neutral monsters, which are monsters that hold no particular allegiance. You’ve already spent a few Mana when you selected your Summoner. Keep an eye on the Mana counter. It will indicate how close you are to reaching the limit. Do not drag and drop monsters from right part of screen into your queue. Just use a single click when adding monsters to your queue. Dragging and dropping will cause your game to require a refresh to make additional adjustments.
* **Step 4**: Review the position of your monsters. The first Monster on the list will be in the front row once combat begins. Remember the three forms of Attack? Melee and Magic attackers may hit from the front row, however Ranged attackers require distance from their foe. Keep this in mind when you organize who goes where. When the Monster in the front row (tank position) dies, the next Monster moves up to take the first spot. This continues until there are no Monsters left. To move a Monster to a different slot, simply drag a Monster to the slot you wish it to occupy. You are able to drag and drop to reposition monsters in your queue.

### Rules of Combat

* Every battle has new rules of combat. This keeps the game fresh and interesting and prevents the same cards from always being played.
* There can be a maximum of two rules applied to a game.
* Sometimes rule sets will cancel each other out.
* View entire rule set here.