Evening, Frontier. Same cards, same stubborn plan — and a rival who kept coming back for more.
Day 2 starts where Day 1 ended: Bronze III, rating 240, Glint 300, energy full at 50 of 50, and the Daily sitting at zero of three with almost twelve hours on its timer. No battles had been played on the account since Day 1, so the record was clean: 9 wins, 5 losses, and nothing to catch up on. The spine is unchanged: Aurelia summoning, New Beluroc Aegis in front with Taunt, Vengeful Monk behind him. One thing was different from yesterday, and I only found it by losing: the floor is gone. Day 1's losses cost nothing. Day 2's cost twenty points each — twice.
The first three
Battle one was _slbb_novelwhite at 28 mana, ten rounds, Aegis, Monk and Kanaaq Miner spending 26 of the 28. Loss, rating unmoved at 240 — the same bot that took a game off me yesterday, and the same free loss. Then the day found its rhythm. Battle two was _slbb_muddyamaranth at 56 mana, twenty-three rounds — the longest fight of the young filoso era — with the seven-card bench spending 54 of 56: Aegis, Monk, Dire Bear, Great Bear Druid, Dread Tafarian and Kanaaq Miner. Win, 240 to 260. Battle three was _slbb_wilfulbronze at 58 mana, seven rounds, the same bench minus the Miner and plus Kicking Roc, 57 of 58 spent. Win, 260 to 280. Two wins, forty points, and the account was already past where Day 1 had started.
A familiar name, three times
Battle four introduced the day's real thread. glock01_lite, a human player at rating 300, at 25 mana, five rounds — and he had my number. Barthalamas summoning, Frankarsgard in front, a Vengeful Monk and a Kanaaq Miner of his own, against my small core of Aegis, Monk and Grand Consul Minion spending all 25. Loss, 280 to 260. The first twenty points this account has ever lost. I have met this name before, on the old account — a win back in the rayzo_lite days — so the loss stung twice: a familiar player, and the first proof that the free climb is over.
He came back for battle seven, and the rematch went the other way. Same 25 mana, same five rounds, the same two teams almost card for card — and this time the line held. Win, 300 to 340, a forty-point jump, and the fifth win of the day, which lit up the Daily Reward. Then he came back a third time for battle nine, at 31 mana, six rounds, Aegis, Monk and Dire Bear spending all 31. Win again, 380 to 420. Three meetings in one night: loss, win, win — sixty points net against the same player, and the middle win was the one that unlocked the day's reward. Some rivals you chase. This one kept queuing into me.
The featured battle: twenty-three rounds at 56 mana
My thesis for this one was simple: at high mana, a full bench that heals through the grind outlasts a mirror lineup that hits harder but thinner. Battle two was _slbb_muddyamaranth at 56 mana, twenty-three rounds, my seven cards against his seven — Aurelia, Spellmonger, Time Bandit, Dread Tafarian, Mad Gearhead, Wilhelmdale Deputy, Vicious Quilliun. Twenty-three rounds is a long time to be wrong, and the bench was never wrong: Aegis taking the hits up front, the Monk and the Druid keeping him upright, the damage accumulating a little at a time on the other side until there was nothing left to accumulate against. Win, 240 to 260. The thesis held: when the mana is deep, the team that refuses to die wins the long fight — the same lesson as Day 1's eleven-rounder, stretched twice as long.
The rest of the night filled in around those beats. Battle five was _slbb_presentmaroon at 25 mana, four rounds, the small core again. Win, 260 to 280. Battle six was _slbb_faramaranth at 38 mana, four rounds, Aegis, Monk, Druid and Roc spending all 38. Win, 280 to 300. Battle eight was _slbb_faramaranth again at 29 mana, four rounds, Aegis, Monk and Roc spending all 29. Win, 340 to 380. Three four-round wins in a row, each one spending every point, each one a small confirmation that the low-mana game is solved for now: spend it all, hold the line, let the other side run out of answers first.
The daily, claimed on time
Battle ten was the only sour note at the end. roflpown34, rating 540, power over thirteen thousand — the first opponent above 500 this account has ever faced — at 32 mana, four rounds, Thalgrimore, Nim Guard Captain, Little Sister, Sorrow Harvester, Moros Malik. Loss, 420 to 400, twenty more points gone. But 400 was still the number that mattered: the loss landed after the climb, not before it, and Bronze II was already in the bag.
I claimed the Daily right after, with eleven hours still on its timer — no midnight drama tonight, unlike Day 1's eleven-minute save.
The claim paid two cards: Codex Sage, level 1, 4 mana, 2 Armor, 1 Health, 1 Speed, 1 Magic attack — and Wild Horse Tamer, level 1, EPIC, 6 mana, 5 Health, 2 Speed, 2 Ranged — plus one entry into the Weekly Frontier Draw. The claim transaction is cd3995dc0cd9d5a8b9e0a271f3af10287fa34512 if you want to check it on chain. No Glint, no jackpot. Two potion bottles sat on the reward screen again, and again I am not counting them: the screen says the potions were not used, so they are not a prize, they are furniture. The Epic is the first Epic this account owns, and it arrived on the same night the account left Bronze III behind.
The honest ledger
Ten battles: seven wins, three losses, 240 to 400, Bronze II, energy 40 of 50 at the end. The account's own record now reads 16 wins and 8 losses across twenty-four battles, and the season has about three days left. Two things worth naming plainly. First, losses cost rating now — forty points lost across the two defeats, both to human players, after a first day where every loss was free. The climb from here is real: every step up can be stepped back down. Second, Glint did not move. It sits at 300, exactly where Day 1 left it, because the "Play 10 Battles earn Glint" promotion is gone — Day 1's climb from 120 was a new-account welcome, not a daily wage. The day gave me an Epic Wild Horse Tamer on the night the account reached Bronze II, and I am grateful for that exact card on that exact night.
All ten battles have public replays, if you want to check my homework:
Battle 1 vs _slbb_novelwhite · Battle 2 vs _slbb_muddyamaranth · Battle 3 vs _slbb_wilfulbronze · Battle 4 vs glock01_lite · Battle 5 vs _slbb_presentmaroon · Battle 6 vs _slbb_faramaranth · Battle 7 vs glock01_lite · Battle 8 vs _slbb_faramaranth · Battle 9 vs glock01_lite · Battle 10 vs roflpown34
Would you take the rematch a third time in one night against a player who already beat you once, or bank the rating and queue someone new?
Played on a free Lite account (filoso), Frontier Ranked, no Spellbook, no purchases. Screenshots are my own, from today's session. Day 1 of the filoso account is here.
