* You can play the Campaign mode as a tutorial. You'll receive all the basic details for playing Splinterlands upon completing the chapters and earn Foundation cards to play in Ranked mode. After this, you can read this article as a supplement to fully understand how everything works.

Playing Splinterlands: QuickStart

Select Frontier format and click Battle

Mana - represents the max combined mana cost of each card you may spend on the battle.
Modifiers - represent the conditions of the battle. The given Modifier may impact your team selection.
Elements - represents which elements are available for play.

Select an archon - these units can buff (help) your team, debuff (hurt) your opponent's team, or a combination of both. Some archons require you to select individual units to buff or debuff prior to the first round.

The archon that you select determines which element(s) are available to you during the battle.

Select Units - these 6 units will comprise your lineup that will go head-to-head with your opponent’s team.

Melee Units may only attack in the first position UNLESS they have the Opportunity, Reach, Sneak, or Snipe abilities.
Magic Units may attack from any position.
Ranged Units are not able to attack in the first position UNLESS they have the Close Range ability.
Non-Attack may only attack if they are adjacent to a unit with Weapons Training. Based on the attack they are granted, they follow the same rules listed above. Please note, there are some untrainable units as well.

Note Abilities - abilities can be found by hovering over the small icons at the base of cards. In general, abilities impact targeting, positioning, buffs, and debuffs.

Use Filters - sort by mana cost, attack type, and ability. Use the sort by dropdown menu to order cards by by stats, element, rarity, and mana cost.

Watch and Learn - observing your units in action will help you to understand the various interactions and perfect your lineup. Questions about a battle? Request Clarification About a Battle from Tech Support? – Splinterlands

Note New Player Tips - Tooltips that give advice regrading gameplay will pop up during ranked play. These tips discuss abilities, positioning, and more! Be sure to review them, and manage them in your settings.

Use Practice Mode - Battle against opponents of varying difficulty before battling in ranked.

Playing Splinterlands: Full Guide

Overall Strategy

As an auto-battler, Splinterlands requires that you select a team and then watch the battle play out. There are many factors to take into consideration when selecting a team.

Refer to the How to Play guide and Campaign mode on the Official Splinterlands website. Depending on what modifiers are given per match, teams will contain some combination of melee, magic, or ranged units.

Mana Cap

Mana can be thought of as the cost to use a card in each battle. Mana caps range from 12-99.

The mana cost of your card can be found in the top left corner. Be sure to familiarize yourself with the other stats within the How to Play section of the game.

Using 0 or 1 mana cards to fill empty positions after choosing the rest of a team can be a useful strategy. Even if these units are not able to attack (same can, depending on level and rules), they can be useful as a sacrifice against units with sneak or opportunity, buying your tank more time to inflict maximum damage!

Analyzing Battle Rules

Analyzing the modifier within your battle is important to successful gameplay. Review this List of Splinterlands Modifiers for descriptions of the modifiers and gameplay tips.

Some abilities may override others in certain modifiers. Check the Battle Rules and Targeting Interactions article for more details.

Analyzing Your Opponent's Strategy

Splinterlands supplies the ability to view which teams your opponent played in the previous 5 matches. You can use this information to gain perspective on their preferred cards and strategies.

1. On the Match Begins screen, locate your opponent's Recently Played Teams:

2. Hover over each Element Icon to view that team:

As you review your opponent's previously played teams, it will become easier to see which cards and strategies they tend to favor. This will help you to develop counters to potential strategies in advance.

Tips:

Some players prefer melee teams, while others prefer magic and healing combinations. Others are complete wildcards, knowing that their previous teams will be analyzed by future opponents.
It is up to you to review these teams and the current modifier(s) and factor these into your strategy.
Just as you can see your opponent's previously played teams, they can see yours. Refrain from playing the same teams repeatedly, as they are likely to use that information against you.
Analysis of the previous teams your opponents have played is only a part of what should go into your strategy when selecting your team.

Active Elements

In Splinterlands, 6 active elements may be selected for battle in addition to the Neutral element. Those elements are fire, water, earth, life, death, and dragon. Each element has unique attributes and may be better suited to certain situations. You can also reference the Lore for more information regarding elements.

The Dragon Element allows players to select an element to play alongside the dragon element. After selecting a dragon archon, you will then be able to select an element to play alongside

Neutral units are playable alongside any other element. If the Taking Sides modifier is at play, however, no Neutral units may be used.

With the addition of Multi-Element archons, players may select one archon that grants access to two elements AND the neutral element.

Selecting an archon

Archons can buff (help) your team, debuff (hurt) your opponent's team, or a combination of both. Some archons require you to select individual units to buff or debuff prior to the first round.

The archon that you select determines which element(s) are available to you during the battle.
The archon you select determines the level of the units you may utilize.
- Archon Unit Restrictions

Selecting Units

Positioning Notes:

Melee Units may only attack in the first position UNLESS they have the Retaliate, Opportunity, Reach, Sneak, or Snipe abilities.

Ranged Units are not able to attack in the first position UNLESS they have the Close Range ability.

Magic Units may attack from any position.

Attack Order rules factor into which units attack first. Become familiar with the concepts in order to craft the ideal team per the modifier.

Note Abilities - Abilities can be found by hovering over the small icons at the base of the cards. In general, abilities impact targeting, positioning, buffs, and debuffs. Below, Captain Fellblade possesses the Sneak ability. From all positions except the first position, she will target the enemy unit in the last position.

Use Filters - Sort by mana cost, attack type, and ability. Use the sort by dropdown menu to sort by stats.
- Feeling overwhelmed by card selection? Limit the visible cards using the mana cost, attack type, and ability filters. Sorting using the dropdown menu will reorder all cards and not eliminate any from view.
- Multiple filters may be used simultaneously.

Watch and Learn

Observing your units in action will help you to understand the various interactions and perfect your lineup. You can also view top battles within a specified league and format to hone your strategy. Press the Season Activity button in the lobby, then select Top Battles. The higher the league, the more exciting the battle! Be sure to explore different formats too.

Questions? Request Clarification About a Battle from Tech Support

Further Information: