**Just when you are about to give up, something extraordinary happens... This is the new update on my experiment on growing your Steemmonsters deck without investing any extra money.** ![steemmonsters experiment SE11 delegated cards.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/yl94Fgbu-steemmonsters20experiment20SE1120-20delegated20cards.png) ^{[Source](https://steemmonsters.com?ref=itisjustme)} There's a lot I need to tell you. I wanted to write a post yesterday, but since I couldn't get the Explorer on Peakmonsters to work, I had to postpone it. Just to avoid misunderstandings: the cards in the picture are not mine. I wouldn't be able to afford them, even if I sold my entire deck. They were delegated to me by good ol' @davemccoy. If you haven't checked out his post, I highly recommend doing so. You can have cards delegated for you for a month, simply for doing something nice. [![davemccoy.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/Q1DeyDZK-davemccoy.jpg)](https://steemit.com/steemmonsters/@davemccoy/free-delegated-steemmonster-cards-to-anyone-that-does-something-nice) ^{Click the image to visit the post} ## Thinking About Giving Up It's funny how life has its ways. Yesterday morning, I left the following comment on one of @senstlessmonster's updates: > *But it is starting to feel so pointless, since getting those summoners from 3 to 4 is almost undoable without extra funding, and those legendaries are getting more expensive every day...* > *If I don't pull one of those valuable gold foil cards any time soon, I don't see how I will ever be able to get to a further stage with the account.*
I said it before... I started this experiment in which I am trying to grow my Steemmonsters deck without any external money - I'm only using what I can earn here on SteemIt - to make a point. I wanted to show the world that @steemmonsters had turned into a 'pay-to-play' system, and that it was impossible to grow your deck without investing. I need to admit, I've already gotten way further than I initially expected. I had to sacrifice my Life splinter - which I thought was not such a big deal - and I had a whole lot of luck getting the reward cards I got, but I managed to get my other summoners up to level 3, something of which I had never expected to happen. However, during this last week, I started to realize that those legendary monsters were just way out of my league. $4.20 for my beloved Elemental Phoenix at level 1... at the current exchange rate, that is almost 9 Steem, which is about everything I have. And at level 1... it's not even that strong. So I would need 3 of them to at least give it the blast ability. There was no way in the world I would be able to ever earn that much Steem. ![sobbing.gif](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/Pm8fkvTY-sobbing.gif) ^{[Source](https://giphy.com/gifs/love-crying-shyynkZzDVYv6)} I actually considered giving up... ![divider2.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/Z3sKRkK9-divider2.png) ## Hail To Delegations And Generous People Then I remembered @davemccoy's post. I had turned down the offer with my main account - I have the luxury to have a strong deck of myself, and I thought the delegated cards would be of more use to people with smaller accounts - but then I realized it might be the only chance I would ever get for @itisjustme to be able to play some of those cards I couldn't afford. Delegation made it possible, but @davemccoy made it happen. I haven't come across anyone like him. His generosity knows no boundaries. Although I had been on SteemIt for quite a couple of weeks before I met him, it feels like my SteemIt adventure only started the day we crossed paths. During this last year, he has really turned the phrase 'be the change you want to see' into a form of art. I lost count of how many times he saved me from quitting this place - and with his latest stunt, he did the exact same thing for this little experiment. So, if you haven't checked out [the post](https://steemit.com/steemmonsters/@davemccoy/free-delegated-steemmonster-cards-to-anyone-that-does-something-nice), I advise you to really do so. All he's asking is for you to do something nice for someone in the community, and in exchange, you can pick one of his cards, which will then be delegated to you **for an entire month**. https://media.giphy.com/media/EdRgVzb2X3iJW/giphy.gif ^{[Source](https://giphy.com/gifs/owl-surprised-EdRgVzb2X3iJW)} Jep... not kidding. I have an entire month to blast you all away with my level 2 Elemental Phoenix and add an extra drop of that powerful magic with the Magi Sphinx card. Better watch your backs now! 😉 ![divider2.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/Z3sKRkK9-divider2.png) ## Season 10 Now, over to the order of the day. I haven't told you anything about the last part of season 10 yet. Checking my blog, I can see that my last real update was 13 days ago... shame on me. Don't worry, I won't be boring you with áll the details... I'll just pick some highlights. The Peakmonsters explorer is working again for now - although it will only show me what happened during the last 6 days. I'll see what I can get from that, and dig in my memory for some juicy details. ### Battles And Reward Cards I managed to reach Gold 3 in the final hours of season 10. By that time, it had become a lot harder to complete my Daily Quests, since most of my opponents simply had a stronger deck than I have. I did manage to complete every DQ, though. Nothing really special to tell about the earned reward cards, except for the fact that I pulled another Sacred Unicorn. Now... if you have been following up, you know I sold my entire Life splinter to be able to level up my other splinters. It was an easy decision, because I simply don't like the Life splinter. Never have, and probably never will. There's something about the pony, though... It took me up to yesterday to finally make up my mind and put it up for sale. Glad I did, because it didn't take long before I sold it for 3.6 Steem. It was actually one of the better pulls that day. Together with the unicorn, I also got another gold foil creeping Ooze, which I sold yesterday for just below 1 Steem. ![reward cards.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/ah8OO3Wh-reward20cards.png) ^{[Source](https://steemmonsters.com?ref=itisjustme)} I was really happy the season reset pushed me back to Silver 3 - it gives me time to think about what I want to do with my deck and the money in my wallet, without having to spend too much energy and time on completing the Daily Quests.

https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/1m22BWq9-bots.gif ^Source

It's probably related to the time of day on which I play my battles, but no matter whether I'm in Silver 3 or Silver 1, 90% of my opponents are bots. As long as they play the Life splinter, I actually don't even care that much. Those are easy to beat.

💡 Quick Tip💡

**If you are still struggling to beat the Life bots: Magic is the secret! - The more magic you can throw at them, the better - their shield is useless against those magic fire balls.** ![divider2.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/Z3sKRkK9-divider2.png) ## Season Rewards Reaching Gold 3 gave me 22 Reward Cards. 21 of them weren't a big deal, but one card made up for that entirely.... I can now call myself the proud owner of my own Ruler Of The Seas! ![season rewards.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/P0A9P8mD-season20rewards.png) ^{[Source](https://steemmonsters.com?ref=itisjustme)} ![divider2.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/Z3sKRkK9-divider2.png) ## Season 11 Season 11 started with some more luck. Out of the 9 cards I received for completing my DQs, I got a Brownie and 2 Phantom Soldiers. I also sold my gold foil Pirate Archers card. I had put it up for sale because I had noticed the price had skyrocketed. I was able to sell it for 2.920 Steem. In spite of the fact that I have just invested quite some Steem to get a lot of my commons up to level 4, so they would match my level 3 summoners, the sales of those few valuable cards have completely made up for that, and the 14 Steem I initially had, is back in my wallet. But it was not only the sales... I owe a lot to my friends over at Team Possible. Next to having a good time and a lot of laughs, we're a strong community that's all about helping each other out, either by sharing tips, delegating cards or decks and keeping each other motivated. We also give people who are new to the game a chance to learn how to play without having to invest in a starter deck first. Everyone's welcome to join the guild - whether you want to just play and have a chat, or delegate cards, or have cards delegated. The only thing we ask is honesty and the willingness to have fun. If you want to find out more about Team Possible, there's no better way to start than to visit the introduction post @johndoer123 wrote a couple of days ago: '**[TEAMPOSSIBLE~THE ULTIMATE STEEMMONSTERS GUILD](https://steemit.com/steemmonsters/@teampossible/7l6u9l-teampossible-the-ultimate-steemmonsters-guild)** ![divider2.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/Z3sKRkK9-divider2.png) ## My Deck I'm slowly trying to get every card (except for the legendaries, of course) to match my level 3 summoners. It's not that expensive, since I don't have to level up the epics - summoner level 2 or 3, the epics can only be level 2. I still have no idea what to do about those legendaries, though. I think delegation will be the only option, until I win the @steemmonsters lottery by pulling a gold foil Ruler Of The Seas, Unicorn or Lord Anus... Maybe I should focus on getting a level 2 regular Lord Antharius first, because when it comes to magic reflect, Rusty and Prismatic Energy are my only options at the moment. The first one works, but I think 6 mana is a bit high for a guy that can only take 2 or 3 hits, and the latter is a beast, but only playable in high mana battles. I would buy myself a level 2 Lord if I wouldn't think it was a bit of a waste of money to buy reward cards... Anyway, still a lot of things to think about, and a lot of decisions to make... In case you're interested, this is how my deck looks like today: [![steemmonsters deck.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/pD3TRS0y-steemmonsters20deck.png)](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/pD3TRS0y-steemmonsters20deck.png) ^{Click to enlarge} ![divider2.png](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/Z3sKRkK9-divider2.png) ## Stats It's a bit of a shame that delegated cards are included in an account's statistics, because this way, they give a wrong representation of what a deck is worth. ![stats.jpg](https://files.steempeak.com/file/steempeak/itisjustme/t8304u4l-stats.jpg) ^{[Source](https://discord.gg/dTW33ge)} Those 2 beautiful Gold Foil cards @davemccoy delegated to me are worth a lot of money, so these stats are way off. Still, I don't get it, because if you look up the current market price for the level 2 GF Elemental Phoenix, you can see it is being sold for $399. As a result, I have no clue how to figure out what my deck would be worth without those delegated cards. Anyway, considering the leveling up and the new Ruler Of The Seas, I assume it will have gone up in value. ### See you soon!
![divider2.png](https://cdn.steemitimages.com/DQmSD2nY2jQCNSmgJ5V9YarWDX9Qpjd1hwDJoPsa7cEFaTL/divider2.png) ## Recommended Interested in more stories about what it is like to start playing Steemmonsters without having a truckload of money to invest? Check out @senstlessmonster and @bxlphabet, who are doing something similar.

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