Splinterlands Launches Survival Mode and Training Mode on Test Server

**New Frontier Community Cards** The Frontier (Extra) set adds 8 community cards: - 1 Dragon Summoner - 7 Rare Units Cards available through Sparks Shop purchases, Wheel Spins, and Frontier Daily Rewards. **Third Escalation Conflict** **Grimdave The Unbent**, a Legendary Water Summoner, debuts as the third Escalation Conflict reward card. **Key Updates** - Survival bracket cooldowns reduced by 99.99% - Battle replays now feature card drop shadows - New notification settings to disable red dot alerts - Verico improvements include Glint Recovery tracking - Collector Binders enhanced with better transparency and card alignment - Guild Library adds new backgrounds **Bug Fixes** - Wheel Spin bosses now properly use Double Strike - Determined ability naming and functionality corrected - Survival bracket selection restricted to eligible Summoners only

Splinterlands is launching **Arena Vanguard**, a community-driven initiative where players design official in-game cards. **What's Coming:** - 8 new community-created cards - 7 limited-run Rare units - 1 Legendary Dragon Archon - Cards will be fully tradeable and usable in battles Unlike traditional games where communities create unofficial fan art, Splinterlands players are directly shaping the game's content. These aren't concepts—they're real cards that will enter the game's economy. [Read the full announcement](https://peakd.com/splinterlands/@splinterlands/the-arena-vanguard-is-coming-to-splinterlands)

Splinterlands announces the **Third Escalation Conflict** event starting **July 25**. The event centers around Grimdave the Unbent, a 4,000-year-old guardian who has abandoned his watch after a blight threatened the oldest grove. The narrative suggests a significant shift in the game's storyline as "the forest is done waiting." This follows the Second Escalation Conflict from June. Players can expect new gameplay mechanics and story developments tied to this environmental conflict theme. Full details available at [Splinterlands announcement](https://peakd.com/splinterlands/@splinterlands/third-escalation-conflict)

**Major Game Updates Released** Splinterlands completed its weekly maintenance with several significant additions: **New Land Card Crafting** - Four new **Land-only cards** now available - Land plot owners get **3-day early access** before general release - Full crafting details available in-game **Cinder Introduction** - New crafting ingredient **Cinder** goes live - Players can now choose between **DEC or Cinder** when burning cards - Works with all burnable cards, including Soulkeep cards **Luckiest Longshot Feature** - Daily ranked draws now award **1 Lucky Coin** per losing entry - Every **500 entries** earns a Luckiest Longshot card - **Retroactive rewards** applied to past draws - Top Lucky Coin earners enter raffles for alternate-foil variants **Additional Updates** - DAO burned extra Conclave Arcana packs per community proposal - Added countdown timer for Gotten in Exclusive Shop - Fixed skin display issues and animation freezing These updates expand crafting options and reward systems for active players.

The first **Splinterlands Grand Prix** has officially ended after a full ranked season of competition. **Final Results:** - **1st Place: Team Jambre** (Rating: 3700) - Reached Champion league in his first Splinterlands season - **2nd Place: Team Dmoney** (Rating: 3380) - Climbed from bottom to second place - **3rd Place: Team Baby Bear** (Rating: 3000) - Surged in final hours - **4th Place: Team MTG Jedi** (Rating: 2920) - Best win rate of the event - **5th Place: Team Updog** (Rating: 2660) - Showed rapid improvement **Community Impact:** The event showcased strong community support through: - Coaching and mentorship - Deck delegations - Strategy sessions - Live streaming and engagement Jambre's achievement of reaching Champion league as a first-time player is considered extraordinarily rare, demonstrating pro-level TCG instincts and fast adaptation. More Grand Prix events are planned for the future.