This week’s Splinterlands community engagement challenge is all about battle breakthroughs, and honestly, what's better to talk about that than the Frontier mode?

I’ve written about it before 🤣, but I can’t help myself.

This mode is quickly becoming my absolute favorite part of the game. To be real, I probably spend more time in Frontier right now than in any other mode. Even land, which usually gets a big chunk of my focus, has been pushed to the side. Blogging itself has been delayed a little because I’m grinding Frontier matches with a smile on my face. That’s a very good sign if you ask me.

I see myself as a casual player, not someone who is pushing for leaderboards dominance.

Because of that, a mode like Frontier hits the sweet spot. You can play, progress, collect, and grind without the pressure of investing thousands of dollars into every new set. I love hunting down the cards, and of course I enjoy earning them too. When the prices dip on certain cards, I can’t stop myself from scooping up a few extras.

The real challenge for me has been the Archons – those are not cheap at all, and I really want to collect them by playing rather than buying them outright.

What makes Frontier so interesting for me isn’t even the value of the cards. If I’m being honest, I expect prices to drop significantly in the coming months.

The reason is simple: as big players complete their decks, all the extra copies are going to hit the market. For some, that might feel discouraging, but I see it differently. To me, this is supposed to be an entry-level mode, and cheap cards actually make it more accessible. I don’t mind at all. These foundation cards are not strong enough to compete at higher league levels in ranked, so their place is clearly in this format. And for that purpose, they’re perfect. So really, great job to the team for pulling this mode together in such a fun way.

Strategy talk – pushing into silver

Now let’s move into the strategy side of things. I’ve managed to level up two Archons to level two, and that’s allowed me to start pushing into Silver.

That alone feels like a breakthrough because the rewards jump up to three cards a day instead of two. It may not sound like much, but over a season, that adds up.

Early on, I leaned heavily on spamming the Death element. In fact, my last blog post about Frontier basically boiled down to “play Death and profit.”

But as I’ve moved into Silver, things are changing. One reason is that elements are not always available. You’ll find yourself in battles where only a limited selection of splinters can be chosen, and that forces more creativity.

Even though I still prefer playing Death, I have to be a lot more thoughtful about how I use it.

A big example is the Spellmonger. At first, Spellmonger plus Vengeful Monk was a reliable setup. But now, players are learning how to counter it. Many simply don’t play Vengeful Monk at all, which takes away the synergy and makes Spellmonger much easier to deal with. The meta is shifting, and you have to ask yourself if Spellmonger is even worth playing in some matchups.

When I do run it, I’ve started experimenting with different placements. Sometimes I’ll drop Spellmonger in the front as a tank. That can work surprisingly well.

click on the image to re-watch

But you need to be careful. Cards like Sorrow Harvester (or many other magic units) can take it out in a single hit.

The trick is that Sorrow Harvester has lower health and therefore often attacks later, which means Spellmonger can still get value if you time things right. It’s these little decisions that make the Frontier mode feel so dynamic.

A meta in motion

What I enjoy most right now is that the meta is still moving. Counters are developing. Players are trying new ideas. The foundation cards are simple, but that simplicity means small choices make a big difference. Positioning, timing, and predicting what the opponent is going to do feels much more impactful here than in some of the other formats where battles can be decided just by having the strongest cards at the right levels.

For me personally, my match history shows that I still rely a lot on Spellmonger, but I’m no longer locked into a single approach.

I feel like I’m learning to adapt, and that’s really satisfying. My current win-to-loss ratio this season is already better than last, and I’m hoping I can keep that trend going.

Wrapping up

Frontier is keeping me hooked, teaching me new tricks, and giving me reasons to keep grinding. I’m still hunting those Archons, still refining my strategies, and still having fun every single day. Whether the card values crash or not doesn’t matter too much to me.

The mode is fun, rewarding, and feels fresh.

If you haven’t tried Frontier yet, I’d really recommend giving it a shot. It might just surprise you the same way it surprised me.

See you all on the battlefield

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