It has been a while since my last update, in which I expressed my doubts. Since i'm still playing, I though I'd might just as well do another update on my experiment.

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Lost Count
I actually lost count and don't have a clue if we're actually in season 7 or season 8 at the moment. fact is, in spite of all my doubts, I'm still playing.
I just bumped into a post by @senstlessmonster, who is doing a similar experience, and I thought that since I'm still playing, why not write another update...?

Nothing World Shocking
I hate to disappoint you, but nothing really world shocking has happened.
Maybe the most exciting thing so far is that I have been able to reach Silver 2 without too much trouble.
I haven't been doing a lot of selling lately, because let's face it, selling reward cards is barely worth the effort. Their value is so low that I will have to sell a truckload of them if I want to buy a beta card.
Or better, an alpha card. Because I've been mainly buying alphas - they're often cheaper or only a little more expensive than betas, and you need fewer to level up. Plus, I can sell the beta card I already have. All this makes buying alpha cards more profitable.

Reward Cards
The luck I've been having since I started the experiment (remember the 3 gold foil cards in the first week?) has run out. All I'm getting is the same old, worthless reward cards.
Remember how exciting it was when a new reward card was released every day? Surprisingly, that was only a few weeks ago, and already, the reward cards have become old and boring.
This is what I collected during these last couple of days:

Source
They allowed me to level up my Sea Monster and Goblin Mech, but I haven't even put up the effort to put the spare ones up for sale.

Earnings
Earnings have been pretty low, since I have been neglecting this account for almost a week.
I should free up some time to enter contests, giveaways and @steem-bounty posts again.
The 'free-to-play' Drugwars game appears to be nothing more than a nice slogan. It does bring in something, but in my opinion, it's Steemmonsters all over again. A lot of promises, but in the end, it is just another 'pay-to-play' gig.
I am thinking about hosting a giveaway myself to get myself some more followers, but i haven't decided on that one yet.

My Deck
I can't deny that I have made a lot of progress when it comes to leveling my deck.
I remember that, initially, it was a big hurdle to start leveling, because summoners are pretty expensive compared to other cards. It was only after I received a level 2 summoner from @rentmoney that I could think about leveling up.
I paid it forward by sending a spare level 2 summoner I had in one of my higher decks to @bxlphabet, who is also experimenting with building a deck without spending extra money, and who I met in the Steemmonsters chat channel where she (he? I actually don't know, lol) was fighting for the rights of newcomers without a fortune to spend. I was happy to meet yet another person with the same mindset, so I thought it would be an excellent opportunity to pay forward the gifts I got.
Anyway, this is how my collection looks for the moment.
(The cards that have been maxed for the summoner I have are marked in green.)

Click to enlarge
I took @bashadow's advice and picked up a level 2 Grumpy Dwarf on the market just now (for only 0.507 Steem), because his Reach-ability will probably come in handy sometimes.
As you can see, my Life splinter is still a lot weaker than the others. This has mainly to do with the fact that I don't really like playing the Life splinter, so I don't use it very often. As a result, I'm not as familiar with these cards as I am with the cards from other splinters, and I find it even more difficult to decide which ones are worth buying.
I still have more than 10 Steem in my wallet, but I have a really hard time deciding which way to go from here and which cards to buy.
No need to say I'm dying to get myself and Elemental Phoenix, a Spirit Of The Forest or a My Little Pony, but they are simply too expensive, and too weak at level 1. I know I'd better focus on the other cards first.
I did treat myself to a level 2 Fire Demon and a level 2 Twisted Jester. I love to play both cards and I can hardly wait until I'll be able to level up my Fire Demon until he gets the blast-ability I love so much.
But for now, I'm a bit stuck. The 10 Steem in my wallet is impatiently waiting to be spent, but I simply can't decide.
In other words, all advice would be more than welcome.

Stats

Source
Not a lot of progression since last time.
Seeing these stats, I completely forgot I had 2 gold foil Highland Archers. Had, because for a strange reason which I can't remember, I combined them and turned it into a level 4 card. I don't know what I was thinking when I did that...
Source 1 - Source 2 - Source 3
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