Not Just a Comeback, but an Evolution
Hello, Splinterlands warriors.
This February feels like the rainy season—not just a downpour of new cards, but a flood of features that force us to rethink how we play. One announcement that really made me raise an eyebrow—and honestly sparked some nostalgia—was the news that Survival Mode officially returns on February 15.
When I first read the announcement, my reaction was simple: “Wait, isn’t this that mode where cards would be unusable for days?” Back then, I didn’t play it much because once a card lost a battle, it couldn’t be used again for a while. But it turns out Survival Mode is back with a new face. It’s not just returning—it’s returning as a core game mode, funded directly by the SPS DAO. It’s also free. As long as our card collection fits the bracket, we can play without spending a single cent.
The biggest immediate change is summed up in one magic sentence:
Survival Mode cooldown no longer affects other modes.
This is huge. In the past, after playing Survival, cards would go on cooldown and couldn’t be used in Ranked, Tournaments, or even Brawls. Now? Cooldowns apply only within Survival Mode itself. That means we can keep grinding Ranked or Brawls while our cards “rest” in Survival. It finally feels like being allowed to take a day off without skipping work.
The real challenge now comes from the new system: the Bracket System. There are 11 brackets, from Novice to Champion, with different variables—Human Only or Bots Allowed, minimum Archon level, even bot difficulty. And the most crucial rule: we must choose one bracket per season, and we’re locked into it. No switching if we make a bad choice. This is no longer about being reckless; it’s about knowing yourself and your card collection.
Survival Mode is also split into two worlds: Active Brackets and Automated Brackets.
Active Brackets are pure PvP—no bots, no automation. Full thinking, full emotions.
Automated Brackets allow services like Archmage or Xbot, perfect for players who want consistency without sitting in front of the screen every hour.
Personally, I plan to try an Active Bracket, mainly because all opponents are human and my card collection is still incomplete. Of course, this mode will be tiring since it requires real thinking, unlike Automated Brackets that can be left running in the background.
Cooldowns are also more humane now. In lower brackets like Novice, they’re only 10% of the standard cooldown. Silver is 25%, Gold 50%, and so on. There’s even talk of Phoenix Ash Potions in the future to shorten cooldowns, though they won’t be available at launch. Overall, it feels like a harsh mode that still gives players room to breathe.
What interests me most is the reward system. A total of 850,000 SPS per season, but it’s not distributed evenly per bracket. Everything uses a participation-based percentage model. The more players in a bracket, the larger that bracket’s SPS share. So it’s no longer about “enter bracket X for guaranteed profit,” but about where the community is truly active.
Survival Mode is no longer just a place to farm SPS—it’s a place to learn the meta without fearing the loss of access to other modes. We can experiment, misplace units, mess up formations, without sacrificing Ranked or Brawls.
Survival Mode is no longer about keeping cards alive, but about surviving as a player—knowing the limits of your collection, choosing a realistic bracket, and accepting that sometimes losing is part of progress.
Advice for Survival Mode?
Don’t rush into the higher brackets. Start where your ability fits, feel the flow, understand the cooldowns, then climb slowly. In Survival Mode, the one who survives isn’t the strongest—but the most patient.
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