Beginner Guide
How a battle, a team and the economy fit together.
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A short, plain guide for someone starting Splinterlands: what a team is, what the numbers on a card mean, how ranked play and leagues work, where tokens fit in, and which free tool on this site answers which question. It describes the game's basics and links to live data instead of repeating numbers that change. Game overview: Splinterlands on CryptoGames.
1. A battle in one minute
Before each battle you build a team: one summoner and a line of monsters. Each card has a mana cost and the whole team must fit under the mana cap of that battle. A ruleset may change the fight, for example by limiting what attacks can do. After both players submit, the battle plays out automatically, so the preparation is the game.
Order matters. The monster in the first position takes the first hit, so tough or shielded monsters usually go in front. Open the Card Database to compare mana, health, speed and abilities.
2. Elements
Cards belong to Fire, Water, Earth, Life, Death or Dragon, or are Neutral. A summoner decides which elements you may field. The Element Guide measures each element from the live card file instead of repeating rumours.
Fire
Water
Earth
Life
Death
Dragon
Neutral
3. Levels and copies
Owning several copies of the same card lets you combine them into a higher level, which improves its stats. How many copies each level needs depends on rarity and on whether the card is gold foil. The Card Level Calculator reads the exact numbers from the game.
4. Ranked play, leagues and seasons
Ranked battles move your rating up or down. Rating decides your league, from Bronze up to Champion, and higher leagues also ask for more collection power. A season has an end date after which ratings reset and rewards are given. See the League and Reward Ladder and the Season and Tournament Calendar.
Wood
Bronze
Silver
Gold
Diamond
Champion
5. Cards and tokens as assets
Cards can be sold and rented on the market and the in-game currencies DEC and SPS have market prices. Before buying anything, check the live price and fee in the Market Scanner, how rare it is in the Scarcity and Burn Tracker, and token prices in the DEC and SPS Token Dashboard. Renting cards out is arithmetic you can try in the Rental and ROI Calculator. None of this is financial advice, and prices can fall as well as rise.
6. Looking at other players
Any account's public ratings, rank and balances are visible in the Player Lookup. Unknown words are explained in the Splinterlands Glossary.
Method and sources
This guide describes how the game works in general and links to tools that read live data. Figures change with game updates, so we point to the tool rather than print the number. Data from the public Splinterlands API and prices feed (plus Hive-Engine for the SPS market where noted), cached for a few minutes. Unofficial fan tool: not affiliated with or endorsed by Splinterlands.
FAQ
How does a Splinterlands battle work?
You build a team of one summoner and several monsters that fit the mana cap and ruleset, submit it, and the battle plays out automatically. Your team order matters because the first monster takes the first hit.
Do I need to buy cards to start?
The settings file lists a starter pack and booster pack price, so buying is the usual route. This site does not tell you to buy anything and the tools are read-only.
What are DEC and SPS?
DEC (Dark Energy Crystals) is the in-game currency, SPS (Splintershards) is the governance and reward token. Both have live prices on our token dashboard.
Where do I check a card before buying?
Use the card database for its stats, the market scanner for current prices after fees, and the scarcity tracker to see how many copies exist.
More Splinterlands tools
- Card Database Every card, filtered your way, with stats at each level.
- Market Scanner Floor prices per card and foil, with the seller's take after fees.
- Scarcity and Burn Tracker Copies in existence and copies burned, per edition and per card.
- Rental and ROI Calculator Type what a card costs and what it rents for; get payback and yield.
- DEC and SPS Token Dashboard DEC, SPS and Voucher prices, plus the SPS market and a converter.
- Player Lookup Type a username and see their public ratings, rank and balances.
- Season and Tournament Calendar Season and Brawl countdowns, then the upcoming tournaments.
- League and Reward Ladder Type your rating; see your league, the next step and the season reward.
- Card Level Calculator Copies needed per level, by rarity and foil, from the game settings.
- Element Guide What each element's cards actually look like, computed from the data.
- Splinterlands Glossary Plain definitions of the terms players use.
All Splinterlands tools About Splinterlands on CryptoGames Unofficial fan tools. Not affiliated with or endorsed by Splinterlands. Game data comes from the public Splinterlands API and is cached; card names belong to their owners. Not financial advice.
