📜 Welcome, ye brave souls of Praetoria! 📜

Now, the time of proving hath come! By decree of the Grand Council, the Training Grounds of Praetoria now stand open to all who dare to hone their craft in the arcane art of battle!

No longer must fledgling spellcasters and seasoned warlords alike wander the realms untested—here, within these sacred grounds, may ye sharpen thy wits, master the call of Summoners, and temper thy strategies ‘gainst foes both cunning and fierce.

Steel thy mind, summon thy champions, and let the elements bend to thy will! The road to mastery is paved with trial, but only those who train shall rise to true greatness. Step forth, o Battlemages, and etch thy name into legend!

⚔ Enter the Training Grounds this day, and let skill, not fate, shape thy destiny! ⚔

Good morning and welcome back to my Splinterlands blog you fellow battle mages! It's time for another Splinterlands post for this weeks Community Engagement Challenge, it's about making another support article and that's great because after making it, I can add this to my Tutorial Overview that already contains lots of explaining posts about this awesome game!

The challenge for this week:

Write a Hive blog post that covers:

• How Training Mode works and how to access it.
• The benefits of playing against automated opponents at different difficulty levels
• Tips for using Training Mode effectively to improve gameplay.
• How to experiment with Ghost Cards and refine new strategies.

To find out how you can participate in this challenge yourself, check out the Splinterlands post here.

So, let's get started!

Training Mode?

So, Splinterlands already had a practice mode that now has been replaced for training mode, that's more customizable to your needs, some situations you can use this for:

• To test out new strategies to find out IF they work, without using them in ranked play and fall in rating by testing things out.

• To test out certain cards (with the Ghost Card option, more on this later) without having to rent them. This way you can test out cards you want before buying them.

• To keep on playing when you ran out of energy.

• Just for FUN, battle in higher leagues that are above your own level of play.

• And to sharpen your skills of course!

How Training Mode works and how to access it

Training Mode can be accessed from the battle page, when you're still on the main page you first have to click on the 'PLAY NOW' icon and then click on 'TRAINING' located in the top right of your screen under your In Game Name. All screenshots are made for PC but it should look similar on phone.

These battles are against bots and you can select how difficult the battles will be between Easy, Medium and Hard.

In the Allowed Cards menu, you can choose what type of cards are allowed to be used in battle:

• All Cards: This is basically Wild League, all of your cards are available to be chosen.
• Modern: This is basically Modern League, all of your MODERN cards are available to be chosen.
• Ghost Cards: This mode allows you to play with all available cards in the game in Wild League, so you're not playing with your own deck, this allows for fun and to test out cards you don't own.
• Ghost Modern: This mode allows you to play with all available MODERN cards in the game, so you're not playing with your own deck.

Next option is Summoner Level Caps, this allows you to choose what max level cards are allowed in the battle.

Novice: Novice League, All cards are level 1
Adept: Bronze League
Intermediate: Silver League
Advanced: Gold League
Expert: MAX level cards.

The benefits of playing against automated opponents at different difficulty levels.

Learning the Basics (Easy Bots)

Beginner-Friendly Environment: New players can experiment with the game’s mechanics without the pressure of facing real opponents.

Card Familiarization: Helps understand card abilities, synergies, and mana curve strategies in a risk-free setting.

Testing New Strategies: A low-risk way to try out different team compositions before using them in ranked or tournament matches.

Improving Deck Synergy (Medium Bots)

Optimizing Lineups: Allows you to refine team compositions and understand how different cards interact in real battles.

Adjusting to Different Rulesets: Bots can simulate various battle conditions, helping you adapt your strategies accordingly.

Mana and Counterplay Training: Helps in learning how to counter common team setups efficiently and adapt to the amount of mana that's available.

Mastering Advanced Tactics (Hard Bots)

**Challenging Decisions: **Advanced bots can mimic real players' strategies, pushing you to make better tactical decisions.

Refining Competitive Play: Prepares you for high-stakes battles in ranked matches, guild brawls, and tournaments.

Predicting Opponent Moves: Helps develop a better sense of what to expect from experienced players and how to counter them.

Experimenting with Meta and Off-Meta Strategies: Adapting to Meta Shifts, You can test out current meta teams and tweak them before using them in ranked battles.

Creating Off-Meta Counters: Try unconventional lineups to see if they can disrupt popular strategies.

Stress-Free Practice and No Rating Loss

No Pressure Training: You can practice as much as you want without worrying about losing rating points or battle energy, after testing out certain strategies you can return to the real battle grounds with full energy to use what you have learned.

Efficient Matchmaking: Immediate battle access without waiting for real opponents.

Tips for using Training Mode effectively to improve gameplay.

Training Mode is a great tool to sharpen your skills and improve your strategy. Here’s how you can make the most of it:

Play at Different Difficulty Levels

• Easy Bots – Great for learning card mechanics and trying out basic strategies.
• Medium Bots – Helps refine your lineup and improve adaptability to different rulesets.
• Hard Bots – Forces you to optimize your plays against strong AI, simulating real competitive matches.

Optimize Your Mana Usage

Play battles with different mana caps to practice building effective teams at low, mid, and high mana levels.
Learn which cards offer the best value in different mana ranges or use set-ups the bots used against you to see how they work, adapt and conquer!

Experiment with Positioning and Synergies

Try different tank placements and backline support to see what works best.
Adjust card positioning based on attack types and defensive abilities (e.g., Protect, Heal, and Tank Heal).
Test synergies between summoners and monsters to discover powerful combos.

Review Battle Results and Adjust

After each match, analyze why you won or lost.
Identify misplays, ineffective card choices, or poor positioning.
Adjust and repeat the match to refine your strategy further.

Use Bots to Test New Acquisitions

Before taking a newly purchased or rented card into ranked play, test it in Training Mode to learn its best use cases.
Try different levels of a card to see if upgrading is worth it with the Ghost Cards option.

Train for Guild Brawls and Tournaments

Practice with bot opponents that mimic high-level play to prepare for guild battles.
Test gladiator cards in brawl-specific lineups to find the strongest setups.

Track Your Progress

Keep a record of strategies that work well against certain rulesets and opponents.
Note down successful counters for popular meta teams.
Gradually increase the difficulty to keep improving.

How to experiment with Ghost Cards and refine new strategies.

The Ghost Cards feature is an incredible way to test every card in the game without owning them. Whether you want to discover new synergies, test counters to meta decks, or refine your gameplay, here’s how to maximize your time with Ghost Cards in Training Mode.

Experiment with Powerful Meta Lineups
🔹 Try Popular Team Compositions – Use meta teams used by top players and analyze their strengths.
🔹 Test Variations – Modify existing strong lineups to create personalized, optimized versions.
🔹 Play with Max-Level Cards – Experience how legendary summoners and fully leveled monsters perform.

Learn Counters to Common Strategies
🔹 Reverse Engineer Strong Teams – Face meta decks and experiment with different ways to beat them.
🔹 Practice Against Meta Summoners – Learn how to counter summoners like Immortalis, Yodin Zaku, or Lily Shieldpaw.
🔹 Adapt to High-Level Abilities – Face off against high-level cards to develop counter strategies before encountering them in ranked play.

Master Every Splinter
🔹 Try Unfamiliar Splinters – If you rarely play a certain faction, now is the time to experiment with its best cards.
🔹 Discover Each Splinter’s Strengths – Learn the core mechanics behind Life’s sustainability, Death’s debuffs, or Dragon’s adaptability.
🔹 Find New Favorite Cards – Experiment with cards you’ve never used before and find hidden gems.

Ghost cards, the pro's and cons

While it's cool to test out cards we don't own I like to 'know' my deck, it's why I own all my cards and don't rent, a rented deck is always changing. The ghost card feature is a great way to just have fun or test out cards you're interested in before buying them, especially the more expensive ones.

Thank you for reading!!!

If you haven't made an account already, please consider using my referral link to sign up, I'll happily send the amount I get for your signup back to you in DEC or SPS to help you start.

Also, when you require any help to get you started,let me know, I'm here to advice and guide new players and maybe I can help you with card delegations too!

Have a great day!