There have been great many updates happening everything related to @splinterlands for the past few weeks and things are not going to slow down anytime soon. The best part is that these updates are happening during the best times in cryptosphere after a long time. There is some pointless FUD and connections with traditional finance impacting cryptocurrency markets lately. These will not be a big problem in the coming months as more people get comfortable with being a part of "Web 3" in their daily lives. 

__We don't need everyone to have a cryptocurrency wallet or throw their saving at their favorite Web 3 project. What we need is a clear and steady upward trend.__ The large blockchains are maintaining their user counts at least at a comparable level to the previous bull market we had. These are good fundamentals to keep in mind. The fundamentals are some of the best that has ever been and this applies to @splinterlands without doubt. All you need to do is keep track of the new developments to realize this fact.

# Survival Mode is Like Dark Souls
![](https://i.postimg.cc/026LqRzs/Survival-Mode-1.png)

I am making an imperfect analogy. What I intend to convey is the stark difference in what is at stake and the consequences of loosing compared to the typical blockchain gaming landscape. Survival is most certainly a very hardcore mode. Owning or renting a large number of Cards is a must to succeed in this game mode. I had some extra Cards including some I rarely use. I wanted to test things out I barely went anywhere far.

![](https://i.postimg.cc/8kXq3PP4/Survival-Mode-2.png)

There are only a handful of players that have managed to reach the higher Leagues. At the moment of writing, the 100th best Survival player is very much in the Bronze League. It goes to show how difficult and hardcore this particular mode is. 

![](https://i.postimg.cc/bwzTxWKn/Survival-Mode-3.png)

# Tips to Have a Better Survival Experience
There is a feature added to the game where players can specify the Cards they don't want to use in Survival mode. It is hard to miss when you check you Collection. It is possible to select multiple versions of the same Card through the UI for this task. 

![](https://i.postimg.cc/YCdQ79jn/Survivial-Mode-Cards-1.png)

The Cards gets into cooldown can be filtered out in the Collection and you can check the approximate cooldown time left. __Revival Potions will be eventually released allowing these Cards to be used without the waiting process.__ I expect this to be another good sink for DEC.  

![](https://i.postimg.cc/3JCgL9hH/Survivial-Mode-Cards-2.png)

As usual with @splinterlands asset management, @peakmonsters is there to make the lives better for us. It is possible to filter and select a large number of Cards and disable/enable them for Survival mode. __Creating a separate Set for Survival could be a good move, but it is not a must.__

![](https://i.postimg.cc/t4qF8PRn/Survivial-Mode-Cards-3.png)

# Vote for SPS Validators
We are seeing a major improvement to the decentralization of @splinterlands that has been in the works for many years. I participated in the Presale for Validator Node Licences and made back a significant part of my investment back throughout the very long period of collecting SPS + VOUCHER Rewards. One's SPS stake can be used to vote for SPS Validators and the process is very similar to [HIVE Witness](https://inleo.io/@leoglossary/leoglossary-witness-hive) voting. 

![](https://i.postimg.cc/d075gNGD/Validator-Votes-1.png)

Above is a screenshot taken not too long after Validator Nodes going live. The number of Validator soon shot up and currently there are 196 Validator Nodes running. We may see even more participation over time. 

### [Manage Your SPS Votes](https://thespsdao.github.io/SPS-Validator/account-votes/manage) 
There are many more things to explore and do on the website. The most important thing regular users could do is voting for Validators who can help @splinterlands prosper and bring us to the mainstream. Technical knowledge, skin in the game and community activity are all important. A maximum of 10 Validators can be voted for. Voting for more or less Validators do not change each individual vote. By today, I have used all 10 of my votes. 

![](https://i.postimg.cc/137WC1nL/Validator-Votes-2.png)

I made my choices based on the interactions I have had. Some of these are part of Steem Monsters Corp. that launched the game and still remain responsible for most of the development. I went through all 196 Validators and these are the ones I picked. 

- @splinterstats
- @thorlock
- @davemccoy
- @nate-sps
- @cryptomancer-sps
- @yabapmatt
- @peakmonsters.sps
- @aggroed
- @captaindingus
- @michealb

I may not have made perfect choices.  Feel free to make a case for a different set of votes. We have free speech on blockchain. I have a stake in SPS and I have been part of @splinterlands since before there was gameplay. I have been through a great many things and even HODLed my SPS through a very rough bear market. I have hardly bought any SPS and even almost all of what what I sold went into Presales, Promo Cards etc. I have a stake; therefore skin in the game.

Posted Using [INLEO](https://inleo.io/@vimukthi/how-to-vote-for-sps-validators-tips-to-manage-survival-mode-c3z)