With all of the new players joining Splinterlands these days it can really help to have a good strategy to battle. I myself played up through bronze before rentals became available in game and so I ended up playing with the starter cards quite a lot. As such I thought I would go through a number of strategies that helped me fight through Bronze league as well as into silver.

Death Splinter

First up is the Death Splinter with a strategy that focuses heavily on Sniping. This is a great one for if you need to complete a snipe quest. It works best at low mana battles which happen more often in bronze league. The lowest mana this is effective at is 12 mana with the highest I would use it at being 20 mana. At any higher level this strategy tends to taper off in effectiveness quickly.

Core Team

Summoner: Zintar Mortalis

It is importan to use Zintar as opposed to Contessa L'ament since the snipers will concentrate fire upon non-melee first and this will alow the team to survive longer if the opponent does concentrate on higher melee damage which is common in fire or earth splinters.

Tank: Haunted Spirit

This is a fairly cheap mana costing card for a tank at 5 mana but since the haunted spirit has both 7 health as well as healing, when you combine this with zintar's debuff haunted spirit should be able to survive long enough for the snipers to take out the back line. The damage from haunted spirit can help but I usually expect it to not play a relevant role to the battle.

Back Line 1: Twisted Jester

At only 4 mana for 2 ranged damage, 3 speed and 4 health twisted jester is a great sniper and solid card. The twisted jester along with haunted spirit are the only two cards that go in this build with every type of mana cost. This card can take a couple hits from enemy snipers if the opponent uses them and hopefully you will be able finish them off first since that is the main concentration of this strategy.

Back Line 2: Mantoid

This is the second sniper of the team with just as much ranged damage and more health than twisted jester. Mantoid costs 6 mana though so it only comes into play at 18 mana really. I would generally place mantoid behind the twisted jester to be a sort of rear tank to defend against sneak attacks since the 1 extra health can usually mean the mantoid will last 1 round longer than the twisted jester would. Since both of them are snipers they will be targetting any monsters on the other team with snipe first which is why it is less urgent to have mantoid be taking those shots.

Secondary Cards

These are cards that also work well to support this build and fit in depending on the exact mana count of the match.

Undead Priest

This card is very effective for helping to speed up the snipers by reducing the health of all enemy monsters by one. This is also the card that really lets this strategy work at 20 mana as well. If you are using the undead priest it should go directly behind the haunted spirit to act sort of as a secondary tank. It has 3 health so it won't immediately die and will also attract the enemy snipers before they would target your twisted jester.

Cursed Slimeball

This really is just a placeholder monster, but since death is the only splinter starting with a 1 mana monster it should always be used when you have the chance. It can make your team last a little longer so that the snipers can hopefully pick off the enemy team as well as be bait for if the opponent is using a monster with opportunity.

Death Elemental

At 3 mana this is an alternative sniper to use and can still attack if it reaches the front line so I would usually put this in front of the twisted jester. However, it often does not actually synergize that well with the twisted jester since the death elemental will attack first and it is common to leave the enemy at 1 health where the jester then finishes it off. This would mean that no extra damage was done at all.

All of these cards are starter cards meant for someone just starting out in Splinterlands. There are alternatives and other cards that could make this strategy stronger, for instance creeping ooze would be far superior to the cursed slimeball however it is not a starting card and so you would need to get it yourself.

Card Lineup at different mana Costs

12 Mana

Front: Haunted Spirit
Second: Twisted Jester

13 Mana

Front: Haunted Spirit
Second: Cursed Slimeball
Third: Twisted Jester

14 Mana

Front: Haunted Spirit
Second: Undead Priest
Third: Twisted Jester

15 Mana

Front: Haunted Spirit
Second: Cursed Slimeball
Third: Undead Priest
Fourth: Twisted Jester

Alternative:
Front: Haunted Spirit
Second: Death Elemental
Third: Twisted Jester

16 Mana

Front: Haunted Spirit
Second: Cursed Slimeball
Third: Death Elemental
Fourth: Twisted Jester

17 Mana

Front: Haunted Spirit
Second: Undead Priest
Third: Death Elemental
Fourth: Twisted Jester

18 Mana

Front: Haunted Spirit
Second: Twisted Jester
Third: Mantoid

19 Mana

Front: Haunted Spirit
Second: Cursed Slimeball
Third: Twisted Jester
Fourth: Mantoid

20 Mana

Front: Haunted Spirit
Second: Undead Priest
Third: Twisted Jester
Fourth: Mantoid

I cannot suggest using this strategy above 20 though it can be done using death elemental and/or centaur. It just doesn't have the same strength as other builds once the mana count builds up though. I feel that this build works best at 12, 14, 18 and 20 mana though. There are always other strategies to try and that is one of the things that is the best about Splinterlands.

I hope this has been helpful for your journey into Splinterlands and you might give the death splinter a try. It seems that it is not the most popular but there are effective strategies for every splinter waiting to be used.

If you haven't tried out Splinterlands yet feel free here and I hope to see you on the battlefield.