Hello Splinterlands Summoners and welcome to another edition of Social Media Challenge! The "Arena Fanatic" is an influencer card introduced as an "extra" card and a reward for the 2025 Twitch Drops campaign. It's the first card categorized as "extra" as opposed to "promo" and "core" categories.

Last week, Splinterlands COO @davemccoy called for players to suggest new rulesets. A number of us responded with our ruleset suggestions. Afterwhich, we received a pleasant surprise gift of a gold foil Arena Fanatic!

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Lore

From the Splinterlands lore:

Everyone knows an arena fanatic. They talk as if they're seasoned battle mages, claiming to know exactly which cards should’ve been played and which tactics should’ve been used. Their hovels are shrines to the sport: walls slathered in home-arena colors, portraits of famous battle mages hung with reverence, and old ticket stubs tucked away like holy relics. Ask about last week’s tournament, and prepare yourself for a dramatic reenactment, complete with impersonations, sound effects, and a display of emotional damage so intense you’d think they lost the battles themselves.

It's clear that the Arena Fanatic is a tribute to passionate Splinterlands players and bloggers who can't stop talking about our favorite game. We post about it in Hive blogs and even other web2 platforms.

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Stats and Abilities

The Arena Fanatic is a rare, ranged card. At maxed levels he deals two ranged damage and has two speed. He has decent defense with four armor and six health. He only has one ability, Amplify which he will get at maxed level.

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Role in Battle

The Arena Fanatic is a role player, there to help the team win battles but not the main card. Owing to his decent defense, his main role will be to guard the team's rear against Sneak attackers. He will be a good choice in low mana battles because he only requires five mana. He can be used in battles where melee are not allowed. Being a neutral card, he can combo with all splinters.

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Featured Battle

I had a chance to test the Arena Fanatic in ruleset fit for him. The ruleset was Going the Distance or only ranged units are allowed in battle. Another ruleset was Global Warming where all units are burning. Considering the rulesets, I need ranged units with high health. I chose the Death splinter because the archon grants the Close Range ability to all units.

My Team

Thraghun (tank)

Thraghun has dual attack of range and melee. He has five armor and five health, blending offense and defense. He's great as a tank in this ruleset.

Arena Fanatic (second position)

I put the Arena Fanatic in second position because of his decent armor and health. He can be a tank in this ruleset.

Chaos Battle Mage (third position)

The Chaos Battle Mage deals three ranged damage and is very fast with four speed. In defense, he has an armor and five health. Five is the highest health of my units and it put me in a disadvantage in Global Warming ruleset.

Black Widow (fourth position)

The Black Widow is a Foundation card. It's stats are good being able to deal two ranged damage and has two speed. It also has a decent defense with an armor and five health.

Deep Delver (fifth position)

Deep Delver deals three ranged damage, has two speed an armor and four health. He has the Rust ability to decrease the enemy team's armor by two.

Meriput Slinger (sixth position)

The Meriput Slinger is the highest damage dealer in the team with four ranged damage. He has three speed and five health. For ability, he has Impede which decreases his target's speed by one.

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The Enemy Team

The enemy team is stronger and put me in a disadvantage. First, his archon grants his team the Flying ability which increased their chance to dodge. His team has higher health which is crucial in rulesets where survival is a primary concern. He also has a healer, further increasing his survivability. The battle did not go in my favor this time.

Link to Battle

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Final Thoughts

The Arena Fanatic is a love letter to passionate Splinterlands players. It's a tribute highlighting the enthusiasm of Splinterlands fans to the game. It's a nice gesture by the developers to create a card honoring the community. He may not be that strong but his significance as a collector's item is much more that his card power.