"Splinterlands" + "Drug Wars" -- Power Strategy Tips #49

As I have now been playing "Splinterlands" and "Drug Wars" for over a year, I've wanted to contribute something of ACTIONABLE value to my fellow players (and FUTURE players) - but NOT just fill my Steemit and Hive feeds with daily images of quest reward - or battle - SPAM (no offense to those doing so). Ultimately, Steemit is about ADDING VALUE to the social experience - that is the magic of blockchain social media technology. So, after some serious pondering, I decided that a weekly "Splinterlands + "Drugs Wars" player strategy diary" type series, with CONCISE and ACTIONABLE tips, would be of most value to my audience. Please let me know your thoughts (good and/or bad), and I hope that readers (now and into the future) will benefit from this series. If you gain a better understanding of blockchain, gaming, "blockchain gaming", marketing, psychology, forensics, philosophy, ethics, cybersecurity and/or any other area(s) of knowledge I end up exploring (voluntarily or involuntarily) as this series naturally progresses, then I will have done my "good deed" (of providing value) for the week, and be rewarded with some JUICY new cards purchased with the procedes of this post. It's the free market at it's finest. Also, feel free to hit me up on the battlefield.

@transcript-junky

[ DISCLAIMER : Oh, friends. It's been a rough one. Another week of HELL, with islands of NON-hell sporadically popping through the clouds. The good news is that my daily playing has been consistent, but the main issue is the inability to FOCUS enough to actually finish writing this post. The irony of it all is that it required me to SUCK down half a case of Amstel (a decent brew available out here in Vietnam, as an import, by the way) to finally "squelch the demons" enough to PUMP this out. So this is what you've got. I'm doing to best I can, people. Thanks for your understanding. I think I may start to get back to my creative writing here on the platform (for instance, one creative writing piece per week, along with my three other ongoing weekly series posts). I need to get into the flow of "writing as an outlet" as I was doing here 2-3 years ago (you can look back at the history of my Steemit posts for some examples of that). I honestly don't know if I'm going to make it through this current chaos without some sort of an outlet, and some medicinal aids to take the edge off" to a manageable level.
[/ DISCLAIMER ]

1 ) After receiving the JUICY airdrop of four non-gold and one gold "Yodin Zaku" cards last week, and doing a basic adjustment in my projection of the ultimate value of ALL of the 14 airdrops combined, I decided that it would be BEST to err on the side of OPTIMISM if/when any additional #Splinterlands promotions come along. Well, it turns out that the @splinterlands crew introduced the "Halvening" promotion by which it become possible to get one airdropped "Halfling Alchemist" card per purchase of five additional Untamed packs. And although I have been HODLing as much Bitcoin as possible for YEARS now, I decided that going in for another 100 ( + 10 free ) Untamed pack batch would NOT ONLY increase the chance of getting MORE of the JUICY remaining NINE (9) airdropped Untamed cards (I now have 988 packs applied to each remaining airdrop - up from 878), but my purchase ALSO helps #Splinterlands raise additional funding to develop the game, AND enable me to add this JUICY promo card to my arsenal (which has turnd out to be a GOOD move - more below) I decided to sell ~ 0.02 BTC ( ~ $181.00 USD ) to cover the 100 ( + 10 free Untamed "Halvening" promo batch - with a little bit of DEC left over to buy some more cards). Well, that turned out to be a good move overall, as through daily play of the "Halfening Alchemist" (non-gold) card I have grown to REALLY like this card - so much so that I am now buying up ONE gold version of the card per week using my Steem power-down funds (converted to DEC). The original 22 cards I got for the 110 Untamed packs 110/5 = 22 (but one gold card) got my non-gold combined card up to Level 4 (with "+2" health), and while "+2" health for that card is at least playable, "+3" is better, and so I worked towards buying one additional card per day (with my daily DEC earnings) to get this card up to Level 5 as soon as possible, and am now just NINE (9) cards away from max on this non-gold card. My goal now is to max BOTH the non-gold AND gold versions of this card. Since this is a limited edition card I want to focus on maxing both non-gold and gold versions ASAP. The non-gold will be easy to do, within the next two weeks, but for the gold version my plan is to use part of the weekly Steem power-down, and then initiate some Hive power-down payouts (perhaps full power-down) to continue the momentum. At one gold card per week that will take me roughly eight more weeks to max the gold version. Since this card is so scarce I think it is safe to say that it will only go UP in value in the long-term, IN ADDITION to the fact that you earn a 20% bonus ( 10% gold card bonus, plus 10% promo card bonus) for each battle you win using this card, and so over time this card pays for itself.

2 ) Well, it turns out that my "magical power of intuition" was pretty much spot on, in that at the time of the #SteemHostileTakeover I had done the necessary fundamentals research into #JustinSun and his #Tron "shitcoin", as well as witnessing the corrupt cascade of events taking place, that in that first week I decided to do a full power-down of my Steem Power as a hedge against EXACTLY what has now occurred - which is Steem conducting ANOTHER hard fork (as soon as it was possible) to literally take some users' funds:

Steem network to seize $5 million from its own users
https://decrypt.co/29416/steem-network-to-seize-5-million-from-its-own-users

In fact, although I got my full 193 SP power-down on the same day as the hard fork, and converted it into DEC and moved that IMMEDIATELY into my Splinterlands wallet, what DID happen to me was that the new hard forks seems to have RESET the power-down process of my remaining ~ 233 Steem Power, which means that it will take ANOTHER 13 weeks to power down that amount. I also had ~ 133 Steem Power delegated to @steem-plus (which has also now abandoned "Good Ship Steemit"), and so I figured out how to undelegate that 133 SP, and will now need to wait a week for that SP to become available as SP, and I then intend to initiate the final 13-week power-down of that ~ 50 USD worth of Steem. In addition, while I am waiting the week for that SP to become available to power-down I INDEED decided to go ahead and power-down all of my Hive as well. The main reason for this is to keep my weekly power-down income flowing in to buy some of the more expensive cards I want (like one "Halfling Alchemist" (Gold) per week), and the other reason is because the value and power of Hive power on Hive is really just stagnating. I don't see any major upward price move any time soon (as EVEN STEEM had been stagnant for almost two years before this fiasco), and so I am thinking that powering all of the Hive down and simply using Hive to earn Hive (and Steemit, Steem) through my posts (which I will then ALSO convert to DEC) is really the best use of that crypto value right now. So that is my plan. I went ahead and initiated the Hive power-down on the same day as the last SP power-down payout. Next week I will attempt to power-down the remaining Steem Power, and if I lose it it is not the end of the world. I earned a nice amount of value from the Hive fork off of Steem.

3 ) On the #DrugWars front it turns out that I managed to QUICKLY work my way up to be able to COMFORTABLY do both the Level 7 and Level 8 gang jobs, and although they don't payout as much resources to ME PERSONALLY, they do help contribute to the group income, and since one of the other main gang members who does the Level 9 and Level 10 gang jobs has been consistently providing me with a nice additional daily boost in resources, I felt it is only polite to help with that effort to help the many other gang members. Based on the number of units I lose from the gang jobs (which is basically equivalent to what I lose by doing the Level 10 solo jobs) I am now able to COMFORTABLY do ONE Level 10 solo job, and ONE Level 7 or Level 8 gang job per day. The other guy is also doing the Level 9 and 10 gang jobs consistently now, and so there is a sense of teamwork. Since, as I have explained in the past, the support of the gang has prevented me from quitting playing Drug Wars on several occasions in the past, I feel that paying these "gang dues" through doing the daily gang job is justified. This is another argument for the importance of community in these games. In fact, the day before publishing this post, the same active gang member mentioned above expressed some serious doubts about his ability to continue playing the game, and thus contributing to the gang effort. He mentioned the Hive vs. Steem war as a main reason for his concerns. I suggested that he do exactly what I did two months ago - when I was faced with the same dilemma - which is to wait a week to "cool off", think about things, and adjust your strategy with a cool head and some perspective. I will write about the outcome of his issue in the next post, as if he stops playing I will also have to adjust my strategy (likely down to ONLY the daily solo jobs, or perhaps stopping playing the game completely, but continue withdrawing DWD to convert to DEC to buy more cards very few weeks).

4 ) Since the recent Bitcoin halving has NOT lead to any significantly noticeable upward trend in price (something I was considering would be the case) I am starting to become less BULLISH on Bitcoin in the long term - that is, not DEPENDING on the price of Bitcoin going substantially higher in the long-term COMPARED to the value I can get (in the more IMMEDIATE term) from continuing to sell off small portions of Bitcoin (for instance, the 0.02 Bitcoin I sold two weeks ago to buy another 100 (+10) Untamed packs during the "Halfling Alchemist" promotion) to be used for my DAILY activity in Splinterlands. This goes the same for my DrugWars activity. My main focus right now is developing addition crypto "income streams" (like the DWD (Drug Wars Dollars) I earn in Drug Wars and then convert to DEC to buy more Splinterlands cards) to use to increase the value and power of my Splinterlands decks. I see Splinterlands being the MOST high-potential, and time-viable Dapp which I am using daily right now, and as long as I am building value in the game, and they continue developing it, I will focus my efforts on earning crypto and allocating it into Splinterlands, until which time I decide that is no longer viable, and then I COULD sell my cards and put the value into other blockchain-based applications as I see fit. This is my core goal at this time. As you can see, my Peakmonsters account shows that the total estimated value of my collection is currently ~ $3,802 USD (using market prices of the cards). That's equivalent to ( ~ $9,200/BTC / $3,802 USD = 0.413 Bitcoin. So if I sold my entire collection RIGHT NOW I would be up in the grand scheme of things.

Also, related to this is the fact that Splinterlands has now enabled tournaments where we can earn Bitcoin, so this may be the IDEAL time to launch the plan I started thinking about several months ago (and wrote about in past posts of this series), which is to start re-buying up a small amount of Bitcoin each month, using PART of my monthly DEC earnings in the game. Especially since it seems like Bitcoin will remain relatively stable (not making serious upward jumps) for what I predict to be a while, then RE-buying $5.00 USD of Bitcoin per month is a SOUND strategy as it will start to gradually replenish some of the total amount I've spend on cards in the past year, and create a sense of forward momentum, compared to just watching the price of Bitcoin stay relatively stable.

5 ) Okay. As is standard in this series, the highly-detailed "diary" of my daily #steemmonsters / #splinterlands activity is laid out in the last part of this post, for those of you who are inclined to follow, more closely, what I am doing. It occurred to me that this "diary" section is JUST THAT - a highly detailed record of my daily activity in the game, with some JUICY "play-by-play" analysis notes, and commentary, on what works, what doesn't, and some suggestions for further tweaking and experimentation. So, with this in mind, I hope some/any of you will enjoy this information. If not, you are under no pressure to read it fully, and are free to SKIM, or even IGNORE, any parts, or ALL parts, completely - at your discretion. I lay this out because it also HELPS ME to document my progress in the game over time, and may help some people NOW, and into the perpetual future...

May 5th, 2020

Starting DEC : 6,712 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 90.00%
Ending DEC - 7,925 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 85.00%
Balance = DEC Earning = 1,213 DEC = ~ 5.77 Steem ~ $0.180 USD/Steem = ~ $1.038 USD

Spent :

2 x "Goblin Thief" (Gold - Level 3 - 1,202 DEC -- one more card remaining to reach Level 7)

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack)
keepers -

• 80 DEC

Daily Quest (today's "earth" quest)
keepers -

• 10 DEC
  nonkeepers - 40 DEC
  potions - +5 legendary potions, +2 alchemy/gold potions
  DEC - 389 DEC

367 - 110 (Untamed pack batch - Bitcoin Unhalving)

21 x "Halfling Alchemist" (non-gold - Level 1 - $1.74 = $36.54 USD
1 x "Halfling Alchemist" (Gold - Level 3 - $33.99 USD - 30,000 DEC)
Total = $36.54 USD (non-gold airdropped cards) + $33.99 USD (gold airdropped cards) = $70.53 USD for all "Halfling Alchemist" airdropped cards, PLUS I now have 988 packs applied to the next airdrop (up from 878)

won 350 DEC for placing 27th in "Untamed Silversheild Knights are Recruiting" tournament:
https://steemmonsters.com/?p=tournament&id=bb043aa5bca26e8765ee97baa9f6cb22f7487c0f

May 6th, 2020

Starting DEC : 6,723 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 91.70%
Ending DEC - 26,312 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 66.74%
Balance = DEC Earning = 19,589 DEC = ~ 85.359 Steem ~ $0.181 USD/Steem = ~ $15.46 USD

Spent :

2 x "Halfling Alchemist" (non-gold - Level 1 - 4,704 DEC -- bumped up to Level 5 (to increase health from "+2" to "+3"). I played this card all day, and at "+2" mana this is very useful to throw into many battles, and the "redemption" ability (especially at the "+2+ mana is very good). This is a "promo" (very limited edition) card, and since (once the initial 10,000 are given away with pack purchases there will be another 2,000 airdropped randomly to active players) AND since I think this card is worth maxing out (for BOTH non-gold and gold versions) I have set the plan of trying to buy ONE additional non-gold card per day (for the next 23 days - to max), with the hope that I get a few airdropped cards over the next few weeks. Once I max this card out I may try to work as far as I can towards maxing out the gold version - although even getting the gold version to Level 4 (two more cards) would be good enough. I will keep a daily eye on the price of the gold version (now at $42.00 SD (up from $34.00 USD when I got my first Level 3 card yesterday)), and may sell one of my extra "gold promo" cards to get this one to Level 4, since at that level the card is "usable enough" in battles, in addition to earning extra DEC (10% for "gold" + 10% for "promo" --> so 20% DEC bonus per battle for "gold promo').

14,855

8 x "Goblin Thief" (Gold - Level 3 - 7,082 DEC -- bumped up to Level 9 (to increase health from "+4" to "+5" and speed from "+4" to "+5)

7,803

10 x "Biceratops" (Gold - Level 3 - 6,514 DEC -- bumped up to Level 8 (to increase "armor" from "+2" to "+3" and to increase health from "+4" to "+5"). This is a strong "tank" (first position) card that I use often, and intend to max out soon.

1,289

1 x "Nectar Queen" (Gold - Level 3 - $0.84 USD - 1,129 DEC --

160 DEC

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack --> (pack 1/10 of the 10 free packs which came with yesterday's 100 ( +10 free ) Untamed pack "Bitcoin Halvening" promo batch)
keepers -
"Biceratops" (Gold - Level 3 - $0.46 USD - 500 DEC)
230 DEC

had 18,445 DEC remaining from the sell of 0.02 BTC for the promo batch yesterday, so I transferred that into the game today, and will use all of it to buy cards at the end of the day

Daily Quest (today's "death" quest)
keepers -
"Nectar Queen" (Gold - Level 3 - $0.84 USD - 500 DEC)
30 DEC
nonkeepers - 95 DEC
potions - 0 legendary potions, 3 alchemy/gold potions
DEC - 147 DEC

May 7th, 2020

Starting DEC : 6,872 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 79.59%
Ending DEC - 69,789 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 70.22%
Balance = DEC Earning = 62,917 DEC = ~ 259.538 Steem ~ $0.178 USD/Steem = ~ $45.20 USD

Spent :

2 x "Cornealus" (non-gold (legendary) - Level 1 - 15,064 DEC -- bumped up to Level 3 to add "return fire" ability)

32,799

2 x "Halfling Alchemist" (non-gold - Level 1 - 4,343 DEC -- 21 more cards to go to max. I decided to buy 1-2 of these cards per day, since the promo sale will finish within two days, and then they will start airdropping the remaining 2,000 cards to random players who play daily. Since I can't use this card at max level right now, because my summoners are too low, there is not a super rush to max this one, although the price of this very limited edition card may go up significantly, and fast, so I want to try to max it as soon as possible. Also, once I max the non-gold version I will try to upgrade the gold version, at least up to Level 3).

28,456

1 x "Furious Chicken" (Gold - Level 3 - $3.63 USD - 5,255 DEC -- five more cards to go to max this one out).

23,201

4 x "Nectar Queen" (Gold - Level 3 - 4,285 DEC -- bumped up to Level 8 to increase "melee" tfrom "+4 to "+5")

18,916

7 x "Soul Storm" (non-gold - Level 1 - 6,598 DEC --bumped up to Level 4 to unlock the "headwinds" ability)

12,327

207 x "Spineback Wolf" - (non-gold - Level 1 - 12,196 DEC -- bumed up to Level 9 to increase "melee" from "+2" to "+3" and maintain health at "+5")

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack --> (pack 2/10 of the 10 free packs which came with the recent 100 ( +10 free ) Untamed pack "Bitcoin Halvening" promo batch I bought on May 6th, 2020)
keepers -

• 80 DEC

placed 23rd to win 350 DEC
https://steemmonsters.com/?p=tournament&id=ea641f7cc28ae156661ce601e445aa7b11861824

placed

converted 193.00 weekly Steem power-down into 46,715 DEC to buy cards

Daily Quest (today's "death" quest)
keepers -
90 DEC
nonkeepers -
30 DEC
potions - 1 legendary potions, 4 alchemy/gold potions
DEC - 111 DEC

May 8th, 2020

Starting DEC : 6,938 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 88.24%
Ending DEC - 10,136 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 78.45%
Balance = DEC Earning = 3,198 DEC = ~ 13.274 Steem ~ $0.181 USD/Steem = ~ $2.40 USD

Spent :

1 x "Halfling Alchemist" (non-gold - Level 1 - 2,170 DEC)

1,028 DEC leftover

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack --> (pack 3/10 of the 10 free packs which came with the recent 100 ( +10 free ) Untamed pack "Bitcoin Halvening" promo batch I bought on May 6th, 2020)
keepers -
140 DEC

Daily Quest (today's "death" quest)
keepers -

• 70 DEC
  nonkeepers - 60 DEC
  potions - +4 legendary potions, +6 alchemy/gold potions
  DEC - 47 DEC

converted 1.300 Steem (payout from previous "blockchain gaming news" weekly series post) to 316.667 DEC
converted ~ 2.00 HIve (payout from previous "blockchain gaming news" weekly series post) into ~ 2033 DEC

May 9th, 2020

Starting DEC : 7,956 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 87.17%
Ending DEC - 7,531 DEC (+ 1,028 ) = 8,559 (+ 1,028 DEC leftover from yesterday)
Ending Capture rate : ~ 81.65%
Balance = DEC Earning = 603 DEC

Spent :

1 x "Halfling Achemist" (non-gold - Level 1 - $1.25 USD - 1,736 DEC - 19 cards remaining to max)

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack --> (pack 4/10 of the 10 free packs which came with the recent 100 ( +10 free ) Untamed pack "Bitcoin Halvening" promo batch I bought on May 6th, 2020)
keepers -

• 270 DEC

Daily Quest (today's "earth" quest)
keepers -
"Naga Windmaster" (Gold - Level 3 - $2.49 USD - 3,000 DEC)

• 160 DEC
  nonkeepers - 870 DEC
  potions - +4 legendary potions, +2 alchemy/gold potions
  Orbs - +1 pack
  DEC - 113 DEC

May 10th, 2020

Starting DEC : 7,531 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 90.40%
Ending DEC - 8,482 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 74.89%
Balance = DEC Earning = 951 DEC = ~ 3.489 Steem ~ $0.168 USD/Steem = ~ $0.586 USD

Spent :

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack --> (pack 5/10 of the 10 free packs which came with the recent 100 ( +10 free ) Untamed pack "Bitcoin Halvening" promo batch I bought on May 6th, 2020)
keepers -

• 140 DEC

Daily Quest (today's "earth" quest)
keepers -

• 210 DEC
  nonkeepers - 30 DEC
  potions - +2 legendary potions, +7 alchemy/gold potions
  Orbs - + pack
  DEC - 179 - DEC

May 11th, 2020

Starting DEC : 8,482 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 87.00%
Ending DEC - 18,906 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 92.57%
Balance = DEC Earning = 10,424 DEC = ~ 40.003 Steem ~ $0.165 USD/Steem = ~ $6.60 USD

Spent :

4 x "Halfling Alchemist" (non-gold - level 1 - 9177 DEC - 14 non-gold cards remaining to max)

1,247 DEC leftover

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack --> (pack 6/10 of the 10 free packs which came with the recent 100 ( +10 free ) Untamed pack "Bitcoin Halvening" promo batch I bought on May 6th, 2020, PLUS celebration pack for reaching "Champion III" season level --> + 20 loot chests --> +80 total season loot chests)
keepers -

• 110 DEC

placed 64th in the "Win Mimosa Nightshade Summoner" tournament - won 200 DEC
https://steemmonsters.com/?p=tournament&id=3c0d0daac8c50ebd7fb7cf7aeff13b7759dc923d

Daily Quest (today's "win three battles without neutral cards" quest)
keepers -

• 30 DEC
  nonkeepers - 15 DEC
  potions - +4 legendary potions, +2 alchemy/gold potions
  Orbs - +1 pack
  DEC - 330 - DEC

converted SBD payout from previous Steem post (of this series) to 12,919 Steem, and then to 3,448 DEC to buy cards.
coverted ~ 10 HVP (Hive Power) from previous post (of this series) to ~ 6,000 DEC to buy cards

got 1 x "Halfling Alchemist (non-gold - Level 1 - $1.40 USD -- nice to see that actually got one of the 2,000 airdropped cards (which are supposed to be airdropped over the next two weeks to active players. Each of these airdropped cards that I get alleviates the need for me to actually spend DEC on the remaining 18 non-gold cards remaining to max this card out). For instance, the DEC I earned from yesterday's play was NOT ENOUGH to buy the one daily card, and so this airdropped card fulfilled the buy for yesterday, and I will now by at least one more card for today (plus a few more with the payout from the previous post in this series. I want to try to max this non-gold card out ASAP, and then work on the gold version as the price of the gold version hopefully comes down a bit in price in the coming weeks.

May 12th, 2020

Starting DEC : 9,117 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 95.00%
Ending DEC - 10,725 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 81.24%
Balance = DEC Earning = 1,608 DEC = ~ 6.605 Steem ~ $0.166 USD/Steem = ~ $1.096 USD

1,608 +
1,247 DEC leftover from yesterday

---

2,855 DEC

Spent :

1 x "Halfening Alchemist" (non-gold - Level 1 - 1,994.7 DEC -- 13 non-gold cards remaining to max)

861 DEC leftover

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack --> (pack 7/10 of the 10 free packs which came with the recent 100 ( +10 free ) Untamed pack "Bitcoin Halvening" promo batch I bought on May 6th, 2020)
keepers -

• 110 DEC

Daily Quest (today's "dragon" quest)
keepers -
"Furious Chicken" (Gold - Level 3 - $3.60 USD - 3,000 DEC)

• 90 DEC
  nonkeepers - 105 DEC
  potions - +6 legendary potions, +4 alchemy/gold potions
  Orbs - +0 pack
  DEC - 400 - DEC

May 13th, 2020

Starting DEC : 8,730 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 89.99%
Ending DEC - 9,090 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 81.69%
Balance = DEC Earning = 360 DEC = ~ 1.455 Steem ~ $0.167 USD/Steem = ~ $0.242 USD

Spent :

861 DEC leftover + 360 DEC = 1,221 DEC leftover (from past two days)

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack --> (pack 7/10 of the 10 free packs which came with the recent 100 ( +10 free ) Untamed pack "Bitcoin Halvening" promo batch I bought on May 6th, 2020)
keepers -

• 80 DEC

Daily Quest (today's "dragon" quest)
keepers -
"Undead Rexx" (Gold - Level 3 - $0.37 USD - 500 DEC)

• 85 DEC
  nonkeepers - 45 DEC
  potions - +3 legendary potions, +3 alchemy/gold potions
  Orbs - +0 pack
  DEC - 53 DEC

May 14th, 2020

Starting DEC : 9,090 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 94.75%
Ending DEC - 58,595 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 82.57%
Balance = DEC Earning = 49,505 DEC = ~ 193.719 Steem ~ $0.1668 USD/Steem = ~ $32.31 USD

Spent :

861 DEC leftover + 360 DEC = 1,221 DEC leftover (from past two days)

3 x "Halfling Alchemist" (non-gold - Level 1 - 3,948.7 + 2,287.7 DEC -- 10 non-gold cards remaining to max)

1 x "Halfling Alchemist" (Gold - Level 3 - $27.49 USD - 44,288 DEC -- one more to

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack --> (pack 8/10 of the 10 free packs which came with the recent 100 ( +10 free ) Untamed pack "Bitcoin Halvening" promo batch I bought on May 6th, 2020)
keepers -

• 80 DEC

Converted 193 SP weekly power-down to 48,900 DEC to buy cards. Two more Steem power-downs remaining.

Daily Quest (today's "water" quest)
keepers -

• 20 DEC
  nonkeepers - 280 DEC
  potions - +2 legendary potions, +2 alchemy/gold potions
  Orbs - +0 pack
  DEC - 114 DEC

May 15th, 2020

Starting DEC : 8,350 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 90.33%
Ending DEC - 9,763 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 87.00%
Balance = DEC Earning = 1,413 DEC = ~ 5.237 Steem ~ $0.177 USD/Steem = ~ $00.926 USD

Spent :

1 x "Halfling Alchemist" (non-gold - Level 1 - 1,953 DEC -- overspent by a few hundred DEC, but that's okay as I wanted to keep the pace of buying "one card per day). Nine (9) more cards to go to max out non-gold version of this card). What I may likely do after that is continue purchasing one (1) gold version of this card, until max, using the power-down Steem (and then potentially HIVE) weekly payouts.

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack --> (pack 9/10 of the 10 free packs which came with the recent 100 ( +10 free ) Untamed pack "Bitcoin Halvening" promo batch I bought on May 6th, 2020)
keepers -

• 80 DEC

Daily Quest (today's "fire" quest + celebration for reaching season level "Diamond III" --> + 40 loot chests)
keepers -
"The Kraken" (non-gold (legendary) - Level 1 - $1.75 USD - 1,500 DEC)

• 20 10 10 DEC
  nonkeepers - 340 DEC
  potions - +4 legendary potions, +4 alchemy/gold potions
  Orbs - +1 pack
  DEC - 113 DEC

Season Rewards ("Champion III" Level - 80 loot chests)
keepers -
"Screeching Vulture" (Gold - Level 4 - $0.57 USD - 750 DEC)

• 510 DEC
  nonkeepers - 180 DEC
  potions - +12 legendary potions, +12 alchemy/gold potions
  Orbs - +0 pack
  DEC - 478 DEC

May 16th, 2020

Starting DEC : 7,809 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 100.00%
Ending DEC - 8,638 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 98.00%
Balance = DEC Earning = 829 DEC = ~ 2.924 Steem ~ $0.176 USD/Steem = ~ $00.514 USD

Spent :

( I overspent yesterday, so this makes up for that)

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack --> (pack 10/10 of the 10 free packs which came with the recent 100 ( +10 free ) Untamed pack "Bitcoin Halvening" promo batch I bought on May 6th, 2020, PLUS celebration pack for new season start at "Diamond III" level ( + 40 loot chests))
keepers -

• 80 DEC

Daily Quest (today's "water" quest)
keepers -

• 0 DEC
  nonkeepers - 70 DEC
  potions - +2 legendary potions, +4 alchemy/gold potions
  Orbs - + pack
  DEC - 97 DEC

May 17th, 2020

Starting DEC : 8,638 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 100.00%
Ending DEC - 8,638 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 98.00%
Balance = DEC Earning = 829 DEC = ~ 2.924 Steem ~ $0.176 USD/Steem = ~ $00.514 USD

Spent :

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack))
keepers -

• 140 DEC

Daily Quest (today's "EARTH" quest)
keepers -

• 10 DEC
  nonkeepers - 30 DEC
  potions - +2 legendary potions, +2 alchemy/gold potions
  Orbs - +0 pack
  DEC - 351- DEC

May 18th, 2020

Starting DEC : 9,447 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 99.00%
Ending DEC - [had a crisis for a few days, so some of the info is incomplete - but enough is here]
Ending Capture rate : ~ [had a crisis for a few days, so some of the info is incomplete - but enough is here]
Balance = DEC Earning = [had a crisis for a few days, so some of the info is incomplete - but enough is here]

Spent :

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack))
keepers -

• 80 DEC

Daily Quest (today's "dragon" quest)
keepers -

• 130 DEC
  nonkeepers -
  "Fallen Specter" (non-gold (legendary) - Level 1 - $1.22 USD - 1,500 DEC - converted to 1,500 DEC to buy more cards, because this card is already maxed out)
• 90 DEC
  potions - +0 legendary potions, +3 alchemy/gold potions
  Orbs - +0 pack
  DEC - 85 - DEC

May 19th, 2020

Starting DEC : 9,638 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 99.00%
Ending DEC - [had a crisis for a few days, so some of the info is incomplete - but enough is here]
Ending Capture rate : ~ [had a crisis for a few days, so some of the info is incomplete - but enough is here]
Balance = DEC Earning = [had a crisis for a few days, so some of the info is incomplete - but enough is here]

Spent :

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack))
keepers -

• 110 DEC

Daily Quest (today's "win three battles with no neutral cards" quest)
keepers -

• 25 DEC
  nonkeepers -
• 930 DEC
  potions - +1 legendary potions, +2 alchemy/gold potions
  Orbs - +1 pack
  DEC - 138 DEC

May 20th, 2020

Starting DEC : 9,689 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 97.21%
Ending DEC - , DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ .00%
Balance = DEC Earning = DEC = ~ 197.49 Steem ~ $0.204 USD/Steem = ~ $40.29 USD

Spent :

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack))
keepers -

• 80 DEC

Daily Quest - [had a crisis for a few days, so some of the info is incomplete - but enough is here. Missed today's quest. Not the end of the world.]

May 21st, 2020

Starting DEC : 10,099 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 100.00%
Ending DEC - 65,471 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ 100.00%
Balance = DEC Earning = 55,372 DEC = ~ x.xx Steem ~ $0.xxx USD/Steem = ~ $00.xx USD

Spent :

1 x "Halfling Alchemist" (Gold - Level 3 - $26.95 - 38,777 DEC - bumped up to Level 4 to add the "redemption" power)

16,595

9 x "Halfling Alchemist" (non-gold - Level 1 - 14,383 DEC - max this non-gold card)

• 1,386 - Oops! Overspent by 1,386 DEC, but I wanted to max out the non-gold card. It's okay.

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack))
keepers -

• 80 DEC

converted weekly Steem payout of 193.400 to 52,536 DEC to buy cards.

Daily Quest (today's "fire" quest)
keepers -

• 145 DEC
  nonkeepers -
• 120 DEC
  potions - +2 legendary potions, +4 alchemy/gold potions
  Orbs - +0 pack
  DEC - 50 DEC

May 22nd, 2020

Starting DEC : 11,885 DEC
Starting Capture Rate : ~ 100.00%
Ending DEC - 12,400 DEC
Ending Capture rate : ~ xx.00%
Balance = DEC Earning = 515 DEC = ~ 1.814 Steem ~ $0.204 USD/Steem = ~ $00.37 USD

Spent :

"Goblin Thief" (Gold - Level 3 - $0.40 USD - 574 DEC - ten (10) more cards remaining to Level 10 (max). This is a GREAT card! Also, now that I've maxed the "Halfling Alchemist" non-gold card, and am buying one GOLD version of that card per week, using the newly initiated Hive power-down, I can get back to focusing on buying these individual cards that I want to continue upgrading. As I mentioned, since the "Halfling Alchemist" is a limited edition card I wanted to focus on that as priority while the cards are still relatively cheap. In the long term I am convinced that that is a good strategy, and worth taking the detour in the past two weeks to focus on that card.

Untamed (Pack #1 : today's daily pack))
keepers -

• DEC

May 23rd, 2020

Okay, the daily record continued getting less accurate because I have been distracted. So I have decided that, for the sake of just getting this damn post PUBLISHED, that I would temporarily stop keeping the record and start fresh with the next update. It's not the end of the world. Sometimes we have to compromise and be flexible.

Whew! These posts are growing dense - but that's okay. Take what resonates with you,and leave the rest. I hope you find some/any of these tips useful in increasing your understanding and/or skill level in the SteemMonsters (Splinterlands) and/or Drug Wars, and/or "Prospectors, and/or any other game(s) - and the " blockchain gaming " industry as whole - which I end up exploring as this series evolves. More JUICY tips to come with each weekly update, as I dig deeper into this whole REVOLUTIONARY PHENOMENON, and become more experienced and successful in the game(s).

See you on the battlefield...

@transcript-junky