I embarked on my first ever @Splinterlands quest in late October 2018 - recorded in block 27, 239, 400, it was the 37th transaction in that particular block, you can check it out on [Hive Blocks here](https://hiveblocks.com/tx/2a4987a6aad131ee460483067b6c585f1c2274f0). 

![First Monsters.JPG](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/revisesociology/UoilTnbQ-First20Monsters.JPG)

I fail to remember whether this first ever battle was a victory or not, probably not as I would have had precious little idea what I was doing back then in late October 2018. 

### Fast forward to today and here are my stats....

![SP.JPG](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/revisesociology/Ntv7vV16-SP.JPG)

#### Based on the last few battles...

![Battle.JPG](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/revisesociology/fEY49cE6-Battle.JPG)

I guess a win rate of almost 64% isn't too bad, for a guy who doesn't have a maxed deck, although I could probably do better! 

Anyways, this is my Splinterlands story, in response to this week's @bdcommunity [weekly challenge](https://peakd.com/hive-190212/@bdcommunity/bdcommunity-presents-splinterlands-quidditch-year-3). 

### My route into Splinterlands
I remember I bought a few Alpha packs with pre-Hive, I think that was throughout the summer of 2018, and then I spent around $200 on some sort of 100 beta pack deal around the time I went pre-Hive Fest 3 in Krakow 2018, I wouldn't have posted about it back then, as I wasn't feeling like writing about much, but I do know I was playing - I definitely played a few matches and had chats about monsters with a few people in Poland, and I definitely didn't get a free monsters T shirt, they'd all been nabbed just before I got around to heading over to see @aggroed.   

NB I don't really regard myself as a gamer, I much rather prefer writing, in fact I probably enjoy writing about the game more than I do playing it, but the daily quest has become part of my daily life and it does break the day up!  

### February 2019 - My first post about Splinterlands 

I remember pre-Hive Fest 3 getting me enthusiastic about pre-Hive, and I must have started buying into Splinterlands during that time, as I made my first Splinterlands Post in Feb 2019: [The Cheapest Cards to Level up and Max Out](https://peakd.com/@revisesociology/the-cheapest-steemmonsters-cards-to-level-up-and-max-out-my-imperfectly-rational-approach-to-levelling-up-my-steemmonsters-deck), the title giving away the fact that I've always been a bit of a tightwad, although it served me well - on the basis of that post, I made the decision to level up this bad boy to Level 3:

https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/reward/Lord%20Arianthus_lv3.png

At a cost of.... $1.20 per card. Back then we were receiving cards as every single reward for a daily quest, I guess this is what kept the price suppressed. I've still got that same card, and still use it more than any other tank. The current cheapest single card price is $7.77, even with the maxed premium they're around $3.50. 

Hindsight is a wonderful thing, if only then I'd had known I'd be looking at a 200% gain on Lord A I might have bought more. Here's a cost analysis of some of the other Life Splinter cards I did back then if yer interested:

![CARDS.JPG](https://files.peakd.com/file/peakd-hive/revisesociology/M8yvhFtG-CARDS.JPG)


The prices have mostly gone up, if temporarily suppressed by the Whale sell-off. 

### The giveaway phase
I went through a short phase in spring of 2018 doing [giveaways with my alt-account self-track](https://peakd.com/@revisesociology/an-economic-analysis-of-57-steemmonsters-giveaway-posts-) - not really wanting short form content on this blog - I actually earned more in upvotes than the value of the cards I gave away.

### March 2019 - First Maxed Level Summoner
I must have been gradually playing more and more through Summer - Autumn 2018 into 2019, as [this post](https://peakd.com/@revisesociology/steemonsters-settling-for-diamond-ii) outlines how I was about to gain my first ever maxed out Life summoner. 

https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/beta/Tyrus%20Paladium_lv8.png

I don't know what made me opt for Life, it's one of my favourite splinters, if not the most powerful! 

### May 2019 - Splinterland's Review...
I took part in a Review a Dapp competition in May 2019 - and [wrote this review of Splinterlands](https://medium.com/@realsociology/steem-monsters-review-a-fun-and-engaging-blockchain-game-5ca17dbc3279) - it's probably my best post on the game, it earned >$50 so it's also one of my highest paid out posts. 

### pre-Hive PD - I bought in quite big! 
Quite a lot of my pre-Hive went on DEC and cards during April - June, if only I'd had held out a bit longer for the whale sale, then again, hindsight! 

### Best seasons have been the last two...
I've reached Champions one twice, both of those in the last two seasons, and I don't think either time has been particularly difficult, but I do seem to be capped at around 4800 - I just seem to get Yodins too often when I'm up there, and there's no point lesser accounts like me playing against those, so I just surrender. 

I actually have 8 Yodins myself, so I could just max mine out easily enough, the problem is I don't have a decent Fire deck - I sacrificed it to build the others! 

### Currently enjoying the weekly challenges
I do the @splinterlands and now @bdcommunity challenges every week, I find these very enjoyable I must say! Especially when we get something amusing to write about, like the Cube - one of my favorite cards - I even invented the concept of being cubed....'[Have you been cubed](https://peakd.com/@revisesociology/have-you-been-cubed-splinterlands-challenge-of-the-week)'... ?

https://d36mxiodymuqjm.cloudfront.net/cards_by_level/reward/Gelatinous%20Cube_lv10.png


### Closing thoughts - I'm open to guild offers

As I mentioned above, I'm more of a writer than a gamer, but I'll carry on playing @Splinterlands into the foreseeable future. I imagine I'll see in block 100 000 000 with a battle or two! 

I'm still not a member of a guild, so if there are any openings in a suitably levelled one - I seem to be making C1 pretty easily these days - then drop me a line!