Catotune's Top Battles Rundown: Diamond league, Modern format - Jan 16, 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 132 of the top Diamond league (modern format) battles from Thursday, January 16, 2025:

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

Monsters with highest win rate

1. Arachne Weaver - Death splinter
   Win rate: 100.00% [4/4]
   

   
   
   Arachne Weaver is an Epic monster card from the 13 edition.
   In today's top Diamond league (modern) battles, the card at level 6 achieved the most success, being a member of the winning team for 2 games.
   • You could study @usujind's battle to learn how they defeated their opponent with Arachne Weaver ^[1].
   • The lowest price for a 13 edition Arachne Weaver card is $1.90 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

2. Rune Arcanist - Earth splinter
   Win rate: 100.00% [3/3]
   

   
   
   Rune Arcanist is a Rare monster card from the Promo edition.
   In today's top Diamond league (modern) battles, the card at level 4 achieved the most success, finding itself on the winning team for 2 games.
   • Rune Arcanist performed ideally when used as the secondary tank (2nd slot) in the team lineup, where it saw 3 wins.
   • It could be enlightening to take a look at @murfunsis's previous battles, where they won 2 games with this card ^{[1, 2]}.
   • The lowest price for a Promo edition Rune Arcanist card is $4.60 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

3. Soul Strangler - Death splinter
   Win rate: 100.00% [3/3]
   

   
   
   Soul Strangler is a Rare monster card from the Chaos Legion edition.
   The card at level 8 was most successful in today's top Diamond league (modern) battles, being a member of the victorious team for all 3 games in which Soul Strangler appeared.
   • Soul Strangler did best when placed at the rear of the team, where it saw 2 wins.
   • If you want to learn from one of the best, study @zomgg's battle, where they defeated their opponent with this card ^[1].
   • The lowest price for a Chaos Legion edition Soul Strangler card is $0.03 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. Venator Kinjo - Neutral splinter
   Win rate: 75.00% [12/16]
   

   
   
   Venator Kinjo is a Legendary monster card from the Reward edition.
   In today's top Diamond league (modern) battles, the card at level 4 had the most success, finding itself on the winning team for all 12 games where Venator Kinjo won.
   • If you want to learn from an elite player, study @usujind's battles, where they beat their opponent 2 times using this card ^{[1, 2]}.
   • When used in combination with the Shades of Gray ruleset, Venator Kinjo won 3 times.
   • The lowest price for a Reward edition Venator Kinjo card is $0.83 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

2. Pelacor Conjurer - Life splinter
   Win rate: 73.91% [17/23]
   

   
   
   Pelacor Conjurer is a Common monster card from the Reward edition.
   The card at level 10 had the most success in today's top Diamond league (modern) battles, finding itself on the winning team for all 17 games where Pelacor Conjurer triumphed.
   • Pelacor Conjurer performed ideally when placed at the front of the team, where it saw 12 wins.
   • You may find it enlightening to take a look at @whitebears's previous battles, where they defeated their opponent 2 times with this card ^{[1, 2]}.
   • When paired with the Fire & Regret ruleset, Pelacor Conjurer won twice.
   • The lowest price for a Reward edition Pelacor Conjurer card is $0.01 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

3. Olivia of the Brook - Life splinter
   Win rate: 72.73% [8/11]
   

   
   
   Olivia of the Brook is an Epic monster card from the 13 edition.
   The card at level 6 achieved the most success in today's top Diamond league (modern) battles, finding itself on the victorious team for 4 games.
   • To understand the strategy of an expert player, take a moment to watch @watari-21's battle history, where they defeated their opponent with Olivia of the Brook ^[1].
   • The lowest price for a 13 edition Olivia of the Brook card is $1.96 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

Summoners with highest win rate

1. Avina of the Wolf - Life splinter
   Win rate: 100.00% [1/1]
   

   
   
   
   Note that while this card has a 100% win rate, it is based on only 1 match.

   Avina of the Wolf is a Rare summoner card from the Rebellion edition.
   The card at level 8 was used in a single match by @whitebears, which it won.

   • The lowest price for a Rebellion edition Avina of the Wolf card is $1.09 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

2. Brewmaster Abraxas - Fire splinter
   Win rate: 100.00% [1/1]
   

   
   
   
   Note that while this card has a 100% win rate, it is based on only 1 match.

   Brewmaster Abraxas is a Common summoner card from the Rebellion edition.
   The card at level 10 was used in one battle by @mgm24, which it won.

   • The lowest price for a Rebellion edition Brewmaster Abraxas card is $0.32 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

3. Dolfar Darflak - Death splinter
   Win rate: 100.00% [1/1]
   

   
   
   
   Note that while this card has a 100% win rate, it is based on only 1 match.

   Dolfar Darflak is a Common summoner card from the Rebellion edition.
   In today's top Diamond league (modern) battles, the card at level 10 was used in one battle by @reyhanau, which it won.

   • The lowest price for a Rebellion edition Dolfar Darflak card is $0.30 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. Thaddius Brood - Death splinter
   Win rate: 70.00% [7/10]
   

   
   
   Thaddius Brood is a Rare summoner card from the Chaos Legion edition.
   In today's top Diamond league (modern) battles, the card at level 8 had the most success, winning all 7 games where Thaddius Brood won.
   • If you want to learn from one of the best, observe @zomgg's battle history, where they won with this card ^[1].
   • When used in combination with the Armored Up ruleset, Thaddius Brood won twice.
   • The lowest price for a Chaos Legion edition Thaddius Brood card is $0.11 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

2. Lorkus - Death splinter
   Win rate: 65.22% [15/23]
   

   
   
   Lorkus is a Legendary summoner card from the Rebellion edition.
   The card at level 4 had the most success in today's top Diamond league (modern) battles, winning all 15 games where Lorkus won.
   • To understand the strategy of a top player, take a look at @zuleh's previous battles, where they won 4 games using this card ^{[1, 2, 3, 4]}.
   • When paired with the Noxious Fumes ruleset, Lorkus won 3 times.
   • The lowest price for a Rebellion edition Lorkus card is $28.89 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

3. Eternal Tofu - Earth splinter
   Win rate: 61.36% [54/88]
   

   
   
   Eternal Tofu is a Legendary summoner card from the Rebellion edition.
   The card at level 4 achieved the most success during the top Diamond league (modern) battles today, winning 53 games.
   • It could be enlightening to take a look at @usujind's battles, where they beat their opponent 9 times with Eternal Tofu ^{[1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9]}.
   • When paired with the Broken Arrows ruleset, Eternal Tofu won 3 times.
   • The lowest price for a Rebellion edition Eternal Tofu card is $51.15 USD (Level 1) at the time of writing.
     
     

Splinters with highest win rate

1. Life
   Win rate: 62.50% [5/8]
   

   
   
   Life splinter had the most success against Water, beating that element 2 times in today's top Diamond league (modern) battles.
   
   

2. Death
   Win rate: 60.53% [23/38]
   

   
   
   Death splinter had the most success against Dragon, defeating that element 7 times in today's top Diamond league (modern) battles.

   • This splinter performed well with the Noxious Fumes ruleset, where Death prevailed 4 times.

   • Death splinter was useful in battles with mana caps higher than 56, defeating the enemy in 5 of those matches.
     
     

3. Earth
   Win rate: 57.43% [58/101]
   

   
   
   Earth splinter had the most success against Earth, defeating its identical element 28 times in today's top Diamond league (modern) battles.
   • This splinter was effective with the Melee Mayhem ruleset, where Earth prevailed 3 times.
     
     

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