Catotune's Top Battles Rundown: Gold league, Modern format - Jan 30, 2025

In this series, I analyze the top battles of the day to reveal which summoners and monsters are most successful for a given league and format. What better way to improve our Splinterlands skills than to study what the best players are doing?

For those of us who buy, rent, or rent out cards, I'm also hoping that this series can inform us of which cards to acquire for maximum effectivenes.

Stay tuned for a new report to be published daily, each covering the top battles for a different league and format!

For simplicity I threw out matches ending in draws and surrender - all data is compiled from wins and losses. Here are the results from 122 of the top Gold league (modern format) battles from Thursday, January 30, 2025:

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Thanks for hearing me out, and now back to our regularly scheduled program:

Monsters with highest win rate

1. Chaos Dragon - Dragon splinter
   Win rate: 100.00% [4/4]
   

   
   
   Chaos Dragon is a Legendary monster card from the Chaos Legion edition.
   In today's top Gold league (modern) battles, the card at level 2 was most successful, finding itself on the victorious team for all 4 games in which Chaos Dragon appeared.
   • If you want to learn from an elite player, watch @torki's previous battle, where they won using this card ^[1].
   • The lowest price for a Chaos Legion edition Chaos Dragon card is $0.74 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

2. Pelacor Arbalest - Life splinter
   Win rate: 100.00% [4/4]
   

   
   
   Pelacor Arbalest is a Rare monster card from the Chaos Legion edition.
   In today's top Gold league (modern) battles, the card at level 6 achieved the most success, finding itself on the winning team for 2 games.
   • Pelacor Arbalest did best when placed at the rear of the team, where it saw 3 wins.
   • If you want to learn from one of the best, take a look at @zoltett's previous battle, where they beat their opponent with this card ^[1].
   • When used in combination with the Going the Distance ruleset, Pelacor Arbalest earned 2 wins.
   • The lowest price for a Chaos Legion edition Pelacor Arbalest card is $0.03 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

3. Mycelic Morphoid - Earth splinter
   Win rate: 100.00% [4/4]
   

   
   
   Mycelic Morphoid is a Common monster card from the Chaos Legion edition.
   In today's top Gold league (modern) battles, the card at level 3 was most successful, finding itself on the winning team for all 4 games in which Mycelic Morphoid appeared.
   • Mycelic Morphoid did best when used as the secondary tank (2nd slot) in the team lineup, where it saw 2 wins.
   • If you want to learn from one of the best, observe @monterq's previous battle, where they beat their opponent using this card ^[1].
   • The lowest price for a Chaos Legion edition Mycelic Morphoid card is $0.01 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

Most winning monsters with at least 10 battles

(Excluding any monsters already featured in the "highest win rate" section above)

1. Pelacor Mercenary - Earth splinter
   Win rate: 80.00% [8/10]
   

   
   
   Pelacor Mercenary is a Common monster card from the Reward edition.
   In today's top Gold league (modern) battles, the card at level 6 achieved the most success, finding itself on the winning team for 4 games.
   • Pelacor Mercenary performed ideally when positioned as the team's tank (first spot), where it saw 6 wins.
   • You could watch @mrben10's battle history to see how they pulled off 2 wins with this card ^{[1, 2]}.
   • When paired with the Super Sneak ruleset, Pelacor Mercenary earned 2 wins.
   • The lowest price for a Reward edition Pelacor Mercenary card is $0.01 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

2. Venari Marksrat - Neutral splinter
   Win rate: 68.18% [15/22]
   

   
   
   Venari Marksrat is a Rare monster card from the Soulbound Rewards edition.
   In today's top Gold league (modern) battles, the card at level 4 achieved the most success, finding itself on the victorious team for 5 games.
   • Venari Marksrat did best when placed in the team's number two spot, where it saw 8 wins.
   • To understand the strategy of a top player, take a moment to watch @mrben10's battles, where they won 2 games with this card ^{[1, 2]}.
   • The lowest price for a Soulbound Rewards edition Venari Marksrat card is $0.31 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

3. Pelacor Bandit - Water splinter
   Win rate: 66.67% [8/12]
   

   
   
   Pelacor Bandit is a Common monster card from the Reward edition.
   In today's top Gold league (modern) battles, the card at level 10 achieved the most success, finding itself on the winning team for 4 games.
   • You could observe @zoltett's previous battle to see how they defeated their foe with Pelacor Bandit ^[1].
   • The lowest price for a Reward edition Pelacor Bandit card is $0.01 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

Summoners with highest win rate

1. Franz Ruffmane - Life splinter
   Win rate: 87.50% [7/8]
   

   
   
   Franz Ruffmane is a Rare summoner card from the Soulbound Rewards edition.
   The card at level 4 achieved the most success during the top Gold league (modern) battles today, winning 4 games.
   • It could be enlightening to see @nmx's previous battles, where they beat their opponent 2 times with Franz Ruffmane ^{[1, 2]}.
   • When paired with the Broken Arrows ruleset, Franz Ruffmane won twice.
   • The lowest price for a Soulbound Rewards edition Franz Ruffmane card is $0.35 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

2. General Sloan - Life splinter
   Win rate: 83.33% [5/6]
   

   
   
   General Sloan is a Rare summoner card from the Chaos Legion edition.
   The card at level 6 achieved the most success in today's top Gold league (modern) battles, winning 3 games.
   • You could study @zoltett's previous battle to see how they beat their foe using General Sloan ^[1].
   • When used in combination with the Going the Distance ruleset, General Sloan won twice.
   • The lowest price for a Chaos Legion edition General Sloan card is $0.11 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

3. Lobb Lowland - Earth splinter
   Win rate: 75.00% [6/8]
   

   
   
   Lobb Lowland is a Rare summoner card from the Soulbound Rewards edition.
   In today's top Gold league (modern) battles, the card at level 5 achieved the most success, winning 3 games.
   • If you want to learn from one of the best, watch @mrben10's battle history, where they won 2 games using Lobb Lowland ^{[1, 2]}.
   • The lowest price for a Soulbound Rewards edition Lobb Lowland card is $0.35 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

Most winning summoners with at least 10 battles

(Excluding any summoners already featured in the "highest win rate" section above)

1. Quix the Devious - Dragon splinter
   Win rate: 62.50% [10/16]
   

   
   
   Quix the Devious is a Legendary summoner card from the Chaos Legion edition.
   In today's top Gold league (modern) battles, the card at level 4 achieved the most success, winning 5 games.
   • To understand the strategy of a top player, observe @yu-gi-ow's battle history, where they defeated their opponent 2 times using Quix the Devious ^{[1, 2]}.
   • The lowest price for a Chaos Legion edition Quix the Devious card is $1.75 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

2. Thaddius Brood - Death splinter
   Win rate: 54.84% [17/31]
   

   
   
   Thaddius Brood is a Rare summoner card from the Chaos Legion edition.
   The card at level 6 achieved the most success during the top Gold league (modern) battles today, winning 5 games.
   • If you want to learn from one of the best, watch @lutramagic's battles, where they won 2 games with Thaddius Brood ^{[1, 2]}.
   • When used in combination with the Reverse Speed ruleset, Thaddius Brood won twice.
   • The lowest price for a Chaos Legion edition Thaddius Brood card is $0.14 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

3. Helios Matriarch - Dragon splinter
   Win rate: 50.00% [6/12]
   

   
   
   Helios Matriarch is a Rare summoner card from the Soulbound Rewards edition.
   In today's top Gold league (modern) battles, the card at level 4 achieved the most success, winning 3 games.
   • If you want to learn from one of the best, take a moment to watch @im-camping's battle history, where they defeated their opponent 2 times with Helios Matriarch ^{[1, 2]}.
   • The lowest price for a Soulbound Rewards edition Helios Matriarch card is $0.42 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

Splinters with highest win rate

1. Life
   Win rate: 70.00% [14/20]
   

   
   
   Life splinter had the most success against Fire, defeating that element 5 times in today's top Gold league (modern) battles.
   • This splinter performed well with the Broken Arrows ruleset, where Life emerged victorious 2 times.
     
     

2. Neutral
   Win rate: 66.67% [2/3]
   

   
   
   Neutral splinter was successful against Water, defeating that element 1 time in today's top Gold league (modern) battles.
   
   

3. Dragon
   Win rate: 58.33% [21/36]
   

   
   
   Dragon splinter had the most success against Water, besting that element 9 times in today's top Gold league (modern) battles.

   • This splinter matched well with the Aimless ruleset, where Dragon emerged victorious 2 times.

   • Dragon splinter was useful in high mana cap battles (greater than 56 mana), winning 5 of those matchups.
     
     

Final thoughts

Please feel free to leave me feedback in the comments. If you are new to Splinterlands, then please consider using my referral link to get started! It is a ton of fun to play, and you can earn SPS and win NFT cards every day!

If you want to know where to buy or rent any of the cards listed in this report, I personally like Monster Market (not a referral link), a 3rd party marketplace that has a great user interface and pays you DEC back on purchases.

- Catotune