Introduction

Hello welcome to Ace's Water starting guide for the upcoming Modern Formats
I have decided to work on my thumbnails more so you will see that this post looks really different compared to my previous guides! (Do you like this better? 😁)
But honestly my past few Splinter Guides are really Back / Out dated ever since the team is gonna implement the new MODERN FORMAT.

As I have mentioned in my previous Modern Fire Spinter Guide, an updated blog is really necessary to help new players understand, learn and prepare for the new battle formats that would be coming relatively soon!

In my guides, I'll pretty much be covering basic card info and recommendations for Novice, Bronze and Silver leagues since I do not have the summoners up to level for Gold myself.

The new MODERN FORMAT pretty much removes all the old cards from Alpha, Beta as well as their respective Reward Counterparts from play while the WILD FORMAT is pretty much what we are currently playing!

The team is planning to change how the you can earn by playing such as Phantom cards earning way less than people who owns / rents cards and boosting the DEC earning bonus cards %.
They will also be removing the daily quests in the future and change it to Focus Points which increases your rewards the more you play.
This will definitely incentivize people to own / rent cards in order to maximise their gameplay as well as earning so its best to start preparing now!

I am planning to make a blog for each splinter in order to help everyone, this is just a part of it!
You can always follow me to see my posts at @qxacexp or if you are still new feel free to use my referral code: qxACExp.
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The Summoners

• Bortus: Not my favorite summoner to use but he can be devastating as he hard-counters most magic based decks and allow you to survive longer against the Unstoppable Llama-Kron. I always think that debuff summoners are a gamble as it the opponnent might not use magic but think of it as an insurance if your deck is weak to magic.

• Kelya Frendul: One of the best summoners from the Chaos Legion edition. Providing the same buff as Drake of Arnak and Pyre while costing only 4 mana. While this card has replaced Alric Stormbringer which complements really well with all the Magic Monsters the Water splinter, its actually an insanely good summoner to play as Chaos Legion has gave them a lot of strong water melee monsters too which will make the team composition with this team really even (Increased Speed with Armor buffed Melee and Magic Monster Combos).

The Monsters

1. Tanks

• Serpent Of Eld: Quite a decent tank honestly, while its stats aren't much to desire for, you must remember that he has a 25% bonus evasion rate with its "Dodge" Ability along with 4 speed. When paired with Kelya Frendul, you provide this monster with extra Armor and Speed which makes it harder to hit, although it will be much more vulnerable to magic. In Earthquake Rule-Sets you would want to use Brighton Bloom as the summoner to provide it the "Flying" Ability, it will be almost unhittable. 7 Mana
• Diemonshark: A really unique and viable monster, it is the first and only phantom card to ever have the "Trample" Ability which will prove to be beneficial in Stampede Rule-Sets (Trample allows you to hit the following up monster if you beat the one infront while with the Stampede allows you to continue the chain if the follow-up monster dies as well). While this monster does not have massive attack stats, it has really good defensive ability with 6 Armor and 7 Health at level 1 (You can make full use of his Armor with the Weak Magic Rule-Set which prevents Magic Attacks from bypassing Armor. 8 Mana

2. Key Players

• Flying Squid: Chaos Legion gave the water splinter an insane card to play, while this card costs quite a bit to play, the stats and contribution it brings to the game would be immense. You can think of this card as another Fineas Rage from the Fire Untamed Reward Edition providing the back-row extra protection as a secondary tank with its high Health, decent Speed and damage. Using its "Reach" Ability, this card will be able to strike at the second row despite having a Melee attack type. 7 Mana
• Deeplurker: This is my second favourite card which I personally address as the Serpentine Spy 2.0. The "Opportunity" Ability is really strong as it always strikes the monster with the lowest health. Plus this monster has 3 Damage to start off at level 1 along with its 6 health, it would have no problem surviving 2 or 3 rounds especially if you have the Flying Squid in front of it. 6 mana
• Sniping Narwhal: Very nice health and damage with the "Snipe" Ability that strikes the first monster who has range / magic or no Attack (Note this for your Daily Missions). 5 Mana
• River Nymph: One of the few monsters with the "Cleanse" Ability which you want to have in your team whenever you are playing the Noxious Fumes Rule-Sets in order to remove the Poison Status from your 1st position monster PERMANENTLY. It also provides your team with some magic attacks instead of fully depending on just melee damage (You would want to bypass Armor if possible). 4 Mana

3. Gap fillers

• Feasting Seaweed: You can think of this monster as the slower version of Sepertine Spy while costing 1 mana more. That does not mean that it is a bad card at all as you can use it in Reverse Speed Rule-Sets so that it will would be "faster" in that battle. Plus, you can never look down on the "Opportunity" Ability that strikes where it hurts most 4 Mana
• Merdaali Guardian: While this card does not have any attacks, it provides really good support to your tank with its "Tank Heal" Ability which heals about 1/3 of the first row monster on its turn. However, it is has really low health and would be a target for "Snipe" monsters so you would have to place it behind a strong range / Magic Monster like Djinn Oshannus while placing in front of a tankier backrow like Sniping Narwhal to avoid "Sneak" Monsters. 3 Mana
• Giant Squid: Not the best monster to play but it is good at the back to soak hits from "Sneak" Monsters or at the front to tank Attacks from "Snipe" Monsters with its health and 1 armour. You can also make use of its low speed in Reverse Speed Rule-Set in order to be "faster". 5 mana
• Kulu Swimhunter: A card which you will play more often than the Giant Squid as it is 1 mana cheaper and faster but without the Armor stat. 4 mana

Upgrading Your Deck

Here I am going to recommend you different cards you could rent / buy depending on your budget! (Moving from the cheapest options to the more expensive ones).

I would avoid recommending the really expensive ones like Lir Deepswimmer and Phantom Of The Abyss as I want to really recommend cheap card that complements really well with one another especially in certain Rule-Sets! (Although the Phantom Of The Abyss is a card I really enjoy playing!)

P.S: In the following recommendation reasonings, you will see me use the term BLITZ a lot, what it means is that you STRIKE FAST AND HARD, aiming to win the battle quickly before the opponent can do anything.

Water Cards	Reasoning	Combo
Pelacor Bandit	My personal favourite Common Chaos Legion Reward Card so far! It is a really cheap card that would totally help in your water splinter Sneak Daily Quest Completion if required as the water splinter does not have any monster with the "Sneak" Ability in its list of Phantom Cards. Its "Flying" Ability and Speed makes it so that it will most likely strike at least once per battle.	To be played with Kelya Frendul Summoner. I would always try to combo this card with the Demented Shark when the mana limit is low so as to boost Pelacor Bandit's Attack. You can also combo this card with Venari Wavesmith and place it at the back to try your evasion luck, making full use of the "Flying" Ability.
Venari Wavesmith	This card is really good as it grants every allied monster with +2 Armor thanks to its "Protect" Ability (Take note that it won't work when played in the Unprotected Rule-Set). This one card grants all your monster more protection against Melee and Range attack but not towards Magic, although you can use a monster with the "Void" Ability as a Tank to cover all sides like Djinn Oshannus or Torhilo The Frozen.	Can be played with any Summoner, be it Bortus to reduce magic damage or Kelya Frendul for extra extra protection. I always play this card on the second last row, using another monster to protect it from "Sneak" attacks.
Flying Squid	As mentioned above, this card is really good as a secondary tank and when upgraded, it will deal massive amount of damage as well.	I generally play this card with Kelya Frendul to boost its speed, with the right team composition, you can blitz through the opponent's monsters before they can hit you. Some great cards to pair it is Demented Shark for the damage boost, Deeplurker and Pelacor Bandit.
Water Nymph	As mentioned above, you will want to have a viable monster with the "Cleanse" Ability in the Noxious Fumes Rule-Set. You would definitely want to upgrade the card as it will grant it more speed and health which is very important to ensure that it can activate its ability at least once for your tank.	A card that will work very well with Kelya Frendul in Noxious Fumes Rule-Set to ensure that it survives to Cleanse your tank at round 1 using the speed boost and protection granted (+1 Armor). I would play Djinn Oshannus or Torhilo The Frozen as the tank in that scenario.
Wave Runner	A cheaper alternative to the Flying Squid in terms of mana, this card is kind of like how the Radiated Brute is like to Fineas Rage in the Fire Splinter with how you would play it on the second position thanks to its "Reach" Ability. Important key feature to note is that this card when upgraded focuses more on speed while the Flying Squid plays more on Damage and health.	To be paired with Kelya Frendul when trying to fit into the lower mana gameplays. Would combo really well with the Demented Shark.
Deeplurker	A monster that strikes really hard where it matters with the "Opportunity" Ability, its first few upgrades increases its Speed and Health which are insane when you plan to Blitz through your enemies.	A card that can be played however you like. Its so versatile and strong that you can add him into any battles of any Rule-Set (not Little League though) as long as you have enough mana.
Demented Shark	You have seen me mention this card a lot and that is because this card is really good and synchronises really well with the new Chaos Legion Cards. It has decent health and speed along with its "Inspire" Ability, his 1 Melee attack can be seen as 2 at all times unless "Dispelled". You really want to play this card with really fast cards and make full use of its "Inspire" Buff before it dies.	I personally play this card with Kelya Frendul and build a fast and hard hitting Melee monsters at the back making full use of its "Inspire" Ability (I play Flying Squid and Deeplurker at the back along with Djinn Oshannus and Venari Wavesmith for extra protection and magic attacks).
Merdaali Guardian	A monster you would want to have to protect your tanks thanks to its "Tank Heal" Ability, by upgrading you can heal earlier in the round which can be obnoxious when played with Djinn Oshannus or Torhilo The Frozen for massive heals.	To be played with Kelya Frendul, while ensuring that this card is protected by a Magic monster in front against "Snipe" Monsters as well as another monster at the back aganst "Sneak" monsters. Only play this card if you have a high health monster at the front as tank to maximise the healing potential.
Sniping Narwhal	A really strong and fun card to play especially when you wish to complete your "Snipe" Quests fast. This card has decent health, attack and speed and would do well as the last monster to soak "Sneak" Damage	When played with Kelya Frendul and placed at the last monster you can have Merdaali Guardian as the second last monster in order to protect it, allowing it to heal your tanks like Diemonshark, Torhilo the Frozen and so on.
Diemonshark	A really strong card to play in Weak Magic and / or Stampede Rule-Sets making full use of its high Armor and/or "Trample" ability! When played right or in the right scenario, this card can wipe the opponents team in one go.	With Kelya Frendul as its summoner, it will have massive amount of Armor and Speed making it not only hard to hit, but hard to kill as well.
Feasting Seaweed	A good monster to have in your arsenal and upgraded. Most of the Water Splinter monsters has really high speed which makes them really good but also really bad when you are required to play in the "Reverse Speed" Rule-Set. This card will generally always have really low speed even when upgraded which allows him to strike faster in such Rule-Set, plus with the "Opportunity" Ability, it will hurt.	You can play this card with any summoner, but in the "Reverse Speed" Rule-Set, you'd want to play it with Bortus so as to not increase its speed stat.
Captain's Ghost	A way better card to play than the Sea Genie as it only costs 1 mana more while granting way more health and the same speed and attack. You would want to pay attention to what the opponent's past matchups to see if they play any healing monsters. Captain's Ghost has the "Affliction Ability which when the opponent is affected, can no longer heal.	A really nice card to play in your team when you know the opponent would have monsters with Armor (Be it his team composition or playing in the Armored Up Rule-Set). With its decent Health Stats and Magic Damage, you can really consider playing it in the Noxious Fumes Rule-Set to make sure that it can last a few rounds of poison while dealing direct damage to the opponent, his "Affliction" Ability will also stop your opponent from using the healing strategy in the Rule-Set as well.
Nerissa Tridawn	A really strong card but coming at 9 mana to play. With its insane health and 3 magic damage, this card is going to bring a lot of pain to the opponent when not prepared for.	To be played with Kelya Frendul to make sure you heal faster at the start of rounds as well as extra protection from Snipe damage (+1 Armor).
Djinn Oshannus	An all time favourite card, which can be played at the front tank or in the middle of the team to soak "Snipe" damage. This card is devastating when played in the Target Practice Rule-Set as all range and magic attack will hit it (its high health allows him to tank range damage while his "Void" Ability reduced all incoming magic damage by 50%).	Can be played with either Bortus making almost all magic damage received 0 or with Kelya Frendul for the extra speed to dodge as well as +1 Armor against melee / range damage. You can place this card behind the Flying Squid while in front of Deeplurker, you can combo it with Venari Wavesmith at the back to make this card way more obnoxious to deal with or even place this card as the Tank with the same monsters at the back.
Ice Pixie	You might ask why I recommend this card and why it is so expensive, but the reason is because it only costs 2 mana and you get a nice magic monster with good speed and "Flying" ability. This means that it covers the general small difference in mana when you play much more mana expensive monsters. Plus with its ability and speed, you would have a higher chance of evading melee / range attacks while being invulnerable to Earthquake Rule-Sets.	To be played with Kelya Frendul at the back of the team. It adds some magic damage to your team for only 2 mana, plus when played with Kelya Frendul, you make it harder to kill with the extra Armor and speed to combo with the "Flying" Ability (Great against Sneak Monsters).
Torhilo the Frozen	A really good tank when you know that your opponent plays water / earth splinters, which totally counters magic team, especially if you pair it with Djinn Oshannus for a full magic team shutdown. It will have a great advantage in the Reverse Speed Rule-Set, allowing you to deal massive damage really quickly at the start of the round.	This is a really strong card that would pair insanely well with Bortus or even Kelya Frendul to cover the Melee / Range damage with the extra Armor (You can pair it with Venari Wavesmith to make him more obnoxious and harder to kill).
Axemaster	Not a card I play often but a really good one regardless. It has really high Speed and can deal loads of damage with its "Double Strike" Ability. When playing in the Holy Protection Rule-Set, this card will remove the Divine Shield of the first monster instantly while dealing a second round of damage.	You can play this card with Kelya Frendul at the last row, while playing Venari Wavesmith to give it +3 in Armor, making it harder for "Sneak" Monsters to kill it and allow it to survive more rounds to deal damage.
Lobstradamius	The Water Splinter does not have much protection against Melee / Range attacks other than with the help of Kelya Frendul the summoner. Which makes troublesome when the game has the Unprotected Rule-Set.	You can play this card with either summoners be it Bortus or Kelya Frendul but you will position it differently according to the game Rule-Sets. Using its "Shield" Ability, you can place it at the front in Melee Mayhem or at the back for Super Sneak Rule-Set making use of its ability to reduce all incoming Melee / Range damage by 50%.
Coral Wraith	My go to monster to play when trying to complete the "Sneak" Quest. Players generally do not predict magic backrow damage so on occasions you can catch them by surprise, especially when they use low health monsters with Armor (Uraeus* for example)*.	To be played with Kelya Frendul to ensure that you strike the back monsters fast, aiming to beat it before it can attack. The Magic damage will bypass any Armor stat and go straight for their Health. This card would beat Pelacor Bandit and Uraeus as a Sneak monster for just only 1 mana more.

Conclusion

I Generally play fire Splinters in really cheap mana games as they have load of options and Tarsa is a superb summoner that boosts most of the options you can play.
However, you will need to lookout for players who plays Magic Teams as the Fire Splinters are generally weak in that aspect.

While I did not cover any Neutral monsters in this guide I would like to recommend you some for this splinter:
1.Magi of Chaos
2.Uraeus
3.War Chaang
4.Spirit Hoarder
These cards will bring more magic options to your team and allow you to make really balanced teams that even if your opponent checks your past teams, they would have to decide if they want to defend against melee or magic more, even though they will both hurt.

P.S Make sure you have a Brighton Bloom in your summoner option so to have an edge over other players in the "Earthquake" Rule-Sets by providing your team with the "Flying" Ability.

Kelya Frendul is a really good summoner that increases your offensive ability with the Speed boost while providing some protection with the +1 Armor. A really balanced summoner that brings forth multiple possibilities to the game!

Please do upvote and comment your opinions! I would love to discuss strategies with you!
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Source:
1.splinterlands.com
2.splinterlands.fandom.com/wiki/Splinterlands_Wiki
3.Teahub