The Baron's Bounty, The Henchlin Enforcer And Halving Lessons with Daarg Deadblast
We will remember 2024 as Splinterlands players for the Rebellion launch, conflicts, ranked battle upgrades and the Bitcoin halving! Wait a minute? Why Bitcoin halving? The Splinterlands team prepared an remarkable promotional event to celebrate the Bitcoin halving!
The event started on the 16th of April and lasted for 15 days. The battle mages had the opportunity to purchase two new limited-edition promo cards for DEC tokens or Credits, with the option to reduce the price (by half) using Vouchers! What an amazing way to mark this rare blockchain event.
Did you claimed the ... Baron's Bounty? Was an unique chance to get cards with the Halving ability, so far held only by the 2020 Halfling Alchemist promo card. I am a poor Splinterlands player but I wanted to take advantage of the celebration.
The rebellion is getting out of hand, but Baron Fyatt has a plan! The Lord High Treasurer in charge of the Chaos Empire's fiscal policies prepared a 50% tax levied against all sales, income, and net worth! The rebels and their sympathizers will find themselves unable to fund their little uprising, and it will fizzle out in no time.
Ladies and gentleman.... I present you Baron Fyatt and the Henchling Enforcer. The legendary Baron dual-elements are Fire and Death, while the rare Henchling dual-elements are Life and Water.
As limited-edition promo cards, these cards were only available for purchase during this event, and will not be found in packs. Once the event ended, the cards will only be available on the peer-to-peer marketplace from other players.
Baron Fyatt was expensive, and 31,250 DEC/Credits were above my standards. I focused on the Henchling Enforcer, swapping and selling to gather 3,125 DEC, and used even more as I reduced the price with vouchers. Each Voucher token reduced the price of the purchase by 50 DEC/Credits with a max Voucher discount of roughly 50%... halving... obviously!
The cost was meant to commemorate the new Bitcoin block reward after the halving of 3.125 BTC. Players will also be able to cut the price of both cards in half by burning Voucher tokens along with their purchase! Each Voucher token will reduce the price of the purchase by 50 DEC/Credits with a max Voucher discount of roughly 50%.
Every card purchased had a 4% chance of being Gold Foil, and players were guaranteed to receive at least one Gold Foil version of the card for each 25 cards purchased in a single transaction. This was again something for big players, not for a small fish in a big pond!
The Baron's stats and abilities are ... legendary! He starts with six health, two speed, one spell damage, plus Halving and Scattershot. He will reduce the damage by 50% to random targets! He will gain Ambush and Blind as he is leveling, being able to half the damage of one unit even before the battle starts!
The Baron's tax will be enforced by the henchlings, the once that are in charge with extracting it! From the lowliest of hovels to the grandest of castles, these pint-size provocateurs go door to door, making sure the price is paid.
The pay is good, and henchlings have a proclivity for celebrating their wages at local taverns. The Enforcer starts with three health, two ranged damage, and the halving ablitity... not a bad mix for six mana. It gets deadly as it gets higher levels, gaining True Aim and Camouflage!
The Baron's Bounty had a secondary challenge, as every DEC or credit spent purchasing the promo cards gave points. Every 10,000 points earned by a player was one chance for winning one of the available prizes. The first day gave 3x points, and the multiplier decreased evenly until the last day.
This system was put in place to encourage players to participate earlier on in the event and reduce the ability for players to snipe leaderboard spots at the end. The Splinterlands team provided prizes at nearly $100k worth at current market prices:
500 PLOT tokens
100 Alpha packs
250 Beta packs
500 Untamed Packs
50 Essence Orb Packs
100 Azmare Dice Packs
20 Runi NFTs
While the prizes listed above will be awarded randomly to players who participate with each 10,000 worth of points counting as one chance to win, there will also be prizes and titles for the players who accumulate the most points in total over the course of the event. The players in the top 20 leaderboard spots will receive guaranteed promo cards in addition to the ones they purchased during the event and the primary leaderboard prizes will be the following in-game titles:
1-10 - "The Burninator" Legendary Title
11-60 - "The Incinerator" Epic Title
61-200 - "The Scorcher" Rare Title
THE RULE OF HALVES! A smug smile spread across Baron Fyatt’s lips as he peered out the window of his office. His legion of henchlings scurried to and fro, collecting the fruits of his brilliance! Coins clinked, filling the empire’s coffers, soon to be reminted into Chaos marks. This will be a year to remember!
The rebels? Starved of funds, they would surely crumble. He could take half a loaf of bread from the baker, half of pint of milk from a cow, and even half of the rewards a gladiator gets! The Chaos Empire had never been more prosperous and the Baron's tale will be told for generations to come.
Let's move on to present days, and get ready to see the Henchling Enforcer in action! Wasn't the best battle to use it, with the Fire & Regret rule being active, but I wanted so much to play my new card. The Briar Patch and Taking Sides battle-rules added more issues, with no neutrals available and all units gaining Thornes at the start of the battle!
Kelya Frendul: +1 Speed & +1 Armor
Daigendark Surveyor: Support Card with Magic Reflect
Daarg Deadblast: Caster with Swiftness and Weaponry Traning
Merdaali Guardian: Support with Heal
Djinn Oshannus: Caster with Void
Henchling Enforcer: Ranged with Halving
Venari Wavesmith: Caster with Protect
I used two support cards without attack only to power them with spell power. Thank you Daarg for your halving and weaponry training seminar! You are a great teacher!
I was facing Lobb but without Gladiator cards, school-boy error! Thane Newsong had only one melee to inspire, which was behind him and couldn't attack, and the rest were puny units. My opponent clearly made some wrong choices! Sarcastically, Thane Newsong had his zero attack halved... then rounded-up! He was dead before the first round ended, and the Terraceous Grunt took his place!
It headed towards a "flawless victory", after the Terraceous Grunt was oblitarated. The Henchling Enforcer had the chance to deal some damage, and I wonder how he missed a massive tree-like creature!
I laughed as I was fighting against a fun guy... and another fun guy! The Fungus Flinger died and his Martyr boosted the Madcap Magus, but that single mushroom wasn't able to hold the fury of my army. We feasted with creamy mushroom soup after the battle!
To be fair... the puny fungi made it into the third round, where Djinn Oshannus pressed the "Fatality" button! The Henchling Enforcer made his debut with a win! See the full battle here!
The previous halving card was the Halfling Alchemist, back from the 2020 Bitcoin Halving! I seen him only once in three years, and this one will always be... the original! I was ready to battle and had no clue that this encounter will be unique!
How would you approach a battle with Born Again but no healing, and only 20-mana for team selection? I went for a weird combination, focusing on magic and ... Last Stand! The Venari was just the decoy, and the best way to delay the fight!
Tarsa: +1 Melee & +1 Health
Venari Marksrat: Decoy Tank with Martyr
Djinn Inferni: Caster with Giant-Killer
Scorched Fiend: Melee Decoy
Efreet Elder: Caster with Last Stand
I wasn't affected by the summoner's melee damage reduction but I was going to be annoyed by the Halfling Alchemist. He will cut in half the attack of the units he hits, and this will be painful to watch.
The Venari Marksrat died for the first time, boosting Djinn Inferni with his Martyr, then again by the hands of the Halfling Alchemist. Told you this guy will be annoying! On the flip side... Djinn Inferni was pumped up and ready to create havoc!
Naga Fire Wizard down twice, once by Djinn Inferni and then by the Efreet Elder. It was going well... until the Halfling Alchemist hit! Djinn Inferni got his attack cut in half, then rounded-up. It went from five magic power to only two! What a game-changing ability. This makes me want even more the 2024 Bitcoin Halving promo cards.
Carnage and drama for the next rounds! Fineas Rage fought bravely against the my djinn, and was good to learn that the halving resets after the resurrection. It didn't matter, because the Halfling Alchemist took care of the reanimated unit.
The Scorched Fiend done his job, delaying the game and absorbing two hits. All this was part of the plan... which took us to this singular moment in time... the LAST STAND!
I marched towards victory from here! Fineas Rage down, unlucky Halfling with his missed attack, then reanimated Fineas down again. Halfling down twice and game over! See the full remarkable battle here!
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