Survival Mode Beta Test Brackets: A Framework for Testing

Survival Mode is one of the most exciting additions we’ve seen in Splinterlands in a long time — but it’s also clear the current structure isn’t working for the majority of players. If we want this format to succeed, we need to test something bold.

This post outlines a bracket-based Survival Mode aimed at creating meaningful competition for players across every level, while also giving the DAO a testing ground for new mechanics.

And to be clear: NONE of these reward payout numbers have been put through anything other than my own brain. This is a framework for discussion, not a finished product.

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The Proposed Brackets

• A total pool of 850,000 SPS per season for 3 months (~6 seasons) - set to serve as a Beta Test before making a DAO decision re: long-term parameters
  • Reduced pool for the Beta Test Bracket test; intended to bump to 1.5m per season (ie., in-line with Modern & Wild Ranked) with identical percentage allocations per bracket once approved for long-term
• 10 brackets ranging from Novice to Unlimited
• Bot restrictions based on bracket
• Summoner caps, card level floors & unique mechanics for specific brackets
• Cooldowns across brackets are adjusted to reflect archon caps:
  - See Splinterlands’ original post for Cooldown details: https://peakd.com/hive-13323/@splinterlands/introducing-splinterlands-survival-mode
  • Novice: 10% of max cooldowns
  • Silver: 25% of max cooldowns
  • Gold: 50% of max cooldowns

This mix is designed to cover the bulk of player type.

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The Fine Print

• Liquidity Bots: E = Easy; A = Average; H = Hard
• You play within the bracket you’ve selected for the entirety of a season

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EDIT: August 6

% Based Rewards: The Smarter Approach

I think the real answer actually lies in % based rewards. Instead of assigning fixed SPS payouts to each bracket, we treat the entire Survival Mode reward pool (say, 1M SPS) as a single pool shared across all brackets.

Here’s how it works:

Each bracket’s share of rewards would be determined by its total Bracket CP (Collection Power) relative to the Total Survival CP across all brackets.

Rewards would then be distributed retroactively within each bracket based on the same % formula, ensuring that payouts dynamically match actual participation and competition.

By “retroactively,” I mean that a player’s rshares (or another similar metric) would still be tracked for each win during the season as usual. Then, at the end of the season, the total reward pool for each bracket would be finalized, and each point or rshare would be assigned an exact value. Rewards would then be paid out in a single clean settlement.

For example:

Total Survival CP across all brackets: 500M CP

Bracket 8 CP: 100M CP (20% of total)

Bracket 8 would therefore receive 20% of the 1M SPS pool = 200K SPS to be distributed among its participants.

This model does a few things really well:

• Eliminates arbitrary bracket payouts – rewards scale automatically with participation.

• Encourages healthy competition – players know their share is tied to real engagement.

• Removes the guesswork – the DAO and community won’t need to micromanage reward pool allocations every season.

In short, this adjusted rewards structure creates a self-correcting rewards system that grows or contracts naturally with player behavior—without the need for constant manual adjustments.

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Next Steps

I’d love to hear the community’s thoughts:

• Are these bracket definitions fair?
• Are the payouts balanced?
• Which bracket would you play?
• If this were an official DAO proposal, where would you stand?

If we get this right, Survival Mode could evolve from a niche experiment into one of the most important pillars of Splinterlands.

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Until next time

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