Novice/Bronze

## Introduction

Starting out in Splinterlands is fairly complicated. Make sure you understand how league limits work before you start to try and learn card strategies. Here you will find the basic information you will need to get started in Novice and Bronze. You'll also need to know about 'Ghost Cards' when you are starting out.

We've also detailed some cards that will help you out in the early game. There are some we recommend to purchase early on and other we recommend renting.

## Basic Strategy

* At this stage of the game you shouldn't be focusing on leveling up monsters. You want to be accumulating level 1 monsters and focusing in leveling up your summoners.
* A good initial purchase is the Epic rarity Untamed set monster cards. Along with the ghost cards that you start with, these are all that you need to have all legal cards for the bi-weekly Kobold Mining Novice tournaments.
* Basic lineup formation. Some rulesets will change this position.
	+ Melee monsters in Front positions
		- The first position monster should ideally have high health and armor, or some defensive ability.
		- Melee monsters with Reach can attack from the second position.
	+ Magic monsters in Middle positions, as they may attack from any position..
	+ Ranged monsters in Back position, as they may only attack when NOT in the first position under normal rules.
* Melee and Ranged monsters can miss. This can happen if a slower monster attacks a faster monster, non-flying monster attacks a Flying monster, or the monster being attacked has Evade.
* Magic always hits, unless a monster has the Phase ability.
* Heal, Tank Heal, and Life Leech abilities are very strong in Novice/Bronze.
* The Furious Chicken card is a must have in the early game. Put him in the front position to take a hit for your tank or keep him as snipe bait in the back row.
* Creeping Ooze is also a great card to pick up for every deck, as it is a cheap Neutral monster that reduces the speed of your opponent's monsters.

## Fire Strategy

**Novice:**

* Fire is the strongest Splinter at the Novice/Bronze III level when you are matched up with other players that only have ghost cards.
* In the early game you will most frequently get the Standard Ruleset. This is done to ease players in without over complicating the early experience.
* Your speed boost with Pyre will allow your monsters with Opportunity and Snipe get out early attacks and is always beneficial.
* Starting out your Living Lava is an excellent Tank option in the first position.

**Bronze:**

* Fire is still strong in Bronze league, but is not as overpowering when opponents have cards outside the initial ghost cards.
* The legendary Fire summoner, Yodin Zaku, is one of the strongest summoners for Bronze, but also one of the most expensive cards.
* A more common Fire deck for Bronze is an all Melee monster layout using the rare Beta summoner, Malric Inferno, who gives +1 Melee damage.
* Non-Ghost Common and rare monsters that may be useful: Fineas Rage, Kobold Miner, Molten Ogre, and Cerebrus.
* Don't play Pyre in matches with the Reverse Speed rule set.
* Don't try to beat Earth's Llama Kron Combo at 17 mana. You won't win.

Battle Links

## Water Strategy

**Novice:**

* Water is pretty weak at Novice and Bronze III. Your Bortus ghost card summoner is a good defense for magic but there are not a lot of magic cards in the pool just yet playing against you.
* Recommend rerolling Water daily quests if you are playing with ghost cards. You may get a death quest though which is way harder to do at the start.

**Bronze:**

* A common deck seen in Bronze is a heavy Magic deck using the Beta summoner, Alric Stormbringer, who gives +1 Magic damage.
* Non-Ghost Common and rare monsters that may be useful: Sea Monster, Crustacean King, Wave Runner, Demented Shark, Sea Genie, and Medusa.
* Water is typically not ideal to play in the Lost Magic rule set, as neither Bortus or Alric Stormbringer provide any bonus.

Battle Links

## Earth Strategy

**Novice:**

* Earth is arguably one of the strongest starting Splinters. With the addition of Epic rarity cards, it can beat Fire on occasion.

**Bronze:**

* Checkout the Battle Link Llama Kron FTW for one of the strongest combos starting out in Splinterlands. You will see this build over and over again.
* As above, the Legendary Earth summoner, Scarred Llama, is one of the strongest in Bronze league play.
* The rare Dice summoner, Mylor Crowling, is also very strong in Bronze league. He counters Melee decks more often than not.
* The rare Beta summoner, Lyanna Natura, is often used as her +1 Health is always beneficial.
* Non-Ghost Common and rare monsters that may be useful: Flesh Golem, Wood Nymph, Screeching Vulture, and Goblin Sorcerer.
* Wizard Of Eastwood is not the ideal Earth summoner in the Unprotected rule set.

Battle Links

## Life Strategy

**Novice**:

* "Life is sneak + heal + armor focused." -The Handsome Genius Cornavirus

**Bronze**:

* Life is fairly versatile, as it boasts a wide variety of card abilities.
* Shieldbearer is useful for defending your back line from Snipe and Opportunity, and he does not need to be in the first position to Taunt those attacks.
* It can be extremely strong in the Lost Magic rules set due to cards with high armor, or the Armorsmith's Repair ability.
* Non-Ghost Common and rare monsters that may be useful: Armorsmith, Crystal Werewolf, Divine Healer, Feral Spirit, Silvershield Assassin, Silvershield Knight, Silvershield Paladin, and Silvershield Sherriff.

Battle Links

## Death Strategy

**Novice**:

* Very weak at the start since almost no monsters have debuffs.
* Recommend re-rolling daily quest if Death comes up.

**Bronze**:

* "Death is debuff focused." -The Wise and Powerful Cornavirus
* Death is most useful if you know what your opponent is going to be playing. It's 3 rare summoners help to counter Melee, Magic, or Ranged damage.
* Death has a lot of slow speed cards, which can be good for the Reverse Speed rule set.
* Death has a lot of low life cards that become much better under the Equaliser rule set.
* Non-Ghost Common and rare monsters that may be useful: Haunted Spirit, Undead Rexx, Grim Reaper, Octospider, Boogeyman, Undead Archer, Twisted Jester, and Skeleton Assassin.
* Contessa L'ament is not the ideal in the Broken Arrows rule set.
* Zintar Mortalis is not the ideal summoner in the Keep Your Distance rule set.
* Owster Rotwell is not the ideal summoner in the Lost Magic rule set.

Battle Links

## Dragon Strategy

**Novice:**

* With just the ghost cards, playing Drake of Arnak for Dragon/Fire can beat an opponent playing just Fire, if your cards don't miss due to the speed difference.

**Bronze**:

* Dragons can do it all. They are versatile and can give you some extra flexibility. They also have some very strong cards in the early game meta in Fire Spitter and Manticore.
* All Epic rarity summoners allow you to use level 3 rares in Bronze. The reward set summoner, Daria Dragonscale, is the only one that provides a bonus as well.
* The only common summoner is the promo Dragon summoner, Delwyn Dragonscale. His +1 Magic damage can be quite useful as well.
* The rare Dice summoner, Brighton Bloom, is great for the Earthquake rule set.
* Non-Ghost Common and rare monsters that may be useful: Serpentine Mystic and Gloridax Soldier.

Battle Links

## Buying Cards\*

* These are card recommendations that will help you flush out your collection to win Bronze III matches.
* It is recommended to upgrade your summoners before you purchase monster cards above level 1.
* These cards are from all editions and may not be available to use in low level Bronze tournaments.

\*You can purchase at https://monstermarket.io/ for a discount.

## Renting Cards

These are the cards that will dramatically improve your win rates in the early game. They are expensive cards to buy but very affordable to rent. If you are new to rending check out Clove71's guide, How to Rent Splinterlands Cards On Peakmonsters Remember that you are limited by your league level. Don't spend more renting high level cards that you won't be able to effectively use. In Bronze Remember your Summoner level limits. 3 Common, 2 Rare, 2 Epic, 1 Legendary. You don't need monsters or summoners higher than these levels when fighting in Bronze League.