What are the hardest Battle “Rules” to master in Splinterlands? (Ability Rules)

Best regards Splinterlovers 💚

About 4 days ago, I wrote a post about the Splinterlands abilities that are hardest to master. In that first part, I specifically discussed the “Mana Rules,” a type of modifier that affects either the mana required to play cards or, failing that, the cards’ health points. In that post, I shared the rules (Equalizer, Even Stevens, and Odd Ones Out), which work as I mentioned earlier. However, if you really want to know why these abilities are difficult to master despite being among the oldest in the game, click HERE to read the post.

Now, it’s time to analyze and explain why the “Category” of Skill Rules is also one of the most complicated to handle in the game. However, people tend to think these are extremely complicated skills with brand-new effects, when in reality that’s not the case. In fact, just as we saw in the first post, the rules in this category are also among the oldest in the game. But to understand why they’re difficult to play, you’ll have to stick around and read through this post.

So if you want to know what these modifiers are—which can be tricky to formulate and make decisions about for one reason or another—stick around until the end of this post:

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Abilities Rules – Reverse Speed

This is one of the oldest rules in the game, but many players—especially those who are new to the ecosystem—get confused when using a strategy, since this rule is usually combined with another one. As a result, many tend to focus on the other modifiers instead of “Reverse Speed,” However, this rule disrupts the normal way of lining up our monsters on the field, since speed is an essential requirement in the game.

Reverse Speed Details

• Because it presents a challenge: As I mentioned earlier, speed is one of the most important aspects of the game, in fact, I can say with complete confidence that speed wins battles, but having “Reverse Speed” on the field completely changes the natural power hierarchy, and many players don’t pay attention to this—not to mention that if you have a very advanced deck, your cards generally have high speed points, so in this context, these units become the weakest.

• How it affects tactics: How we respond to this rule is extremely important, especially because we must carefully consider which cards to play. Although it may sound simple—we should only play cards with a maximum speed of 2 points, though 1 point is ideal—this is complicated, not to mention that we must completely discard those “Archons” that grant speed points.

• What’s the most effective way to play it: Ideally, in these kinds of situations, you should play with “heavy” cards—by that I mean units with a lot of health and shield, but that are very slow— This will significantly boost your defense because they’ll be slow enough to dodge attacks. The same goes for the rest of your lineup—the idea is to play those cards we often discard because they’re slow. However, we shouldn’t overlook abilities, and we mustn’t make the mistake of playing cards with the “Slow” ability, which slows down your opponent’s monsters, because that would actually be working in their favor.

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NOTE: While some players find it easier to apply this rule because they already have experience, the reality is that most players—especially newer ones—get carried away by the other modifiers without paying much attention to “Reverse Speed,” or worse yet, focus on their best cards, prioritizing their strength rather than adapting to the conditions the battle demands.

Abilities Rule – Silenced Archons

This is one of the most underrated rules in the game; while it may seem simple at first glance, for many it isn’t—and in fact, even if you have some experience, it’s a bit frustrating not to be able to take full advantage of the power and synergy that the “Summoner/Archon” offers with your entire team. This is a disadvantage, because the reality is that it wouldn’t really contribute anything in a meaningful way—although there are strategies you can use to take advantage of an “Archon’s” versatility even if it doesn’t provide a power bonus or special effect.

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Details about Silenced Archons

• Because it poses a challenge: The main reason is quite obvious and is what I mentioned earlier: it nullifies the primary strategic advantage that an Archon offers in the game before the battle even begins. Furthermore, the vast majority of combinations and/or strategies in the game depend on that synergy between “Summoner and Monster,” rather than solely on the intrinsic stats of one or more cards. Since this is a major obstacle to any player’s plans—and while there are ways to work around it—the odds of winning in a certain way are reduced.

• How it affects Tacticians: Here, the rule itself requires you to prioritize your units over your Archon. This means that, in a way, your strategy will depend more on the types of cards you use rather than on the summoner. That’s why you should prioritize several factors here, primarily the Splinter or Element, as well as the cards’ lineage and, additionally, their abilities and stats.

• What’s the most effective way to play it: To use this modifier correctly, we need to focus our gameplay on the units we use, however, that’s not to say Archons aren’t important—this is where your knowledge of your deck comes into play. Even if you don’t have that usual bonus, you can choose an Archon with an element and lineage that allow you to play very powerful cards that don’t rely entirely on the Archon, and try to combine them internally. For example, using cards that grant each other power or speed could be a great addition to your team.

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Conclusion

Although these rules may sound really basic, they are some of the most difficult to master simply because they completely change the usual strategies used in the game. One completely changes the way speed is supposed to work, reducing the power of the strongest cards and empowering the weakest ones in terms of speed, while the other focuses solely on internal synergies without taking the summoner into account.

I hope this post is helpful. We haven't finished this series of posts yet; we still have more complicated "Rules" that are difficult to tackle for all types of players. Stay tuned.