Just started with Splinterlands!

Hey Guys and Girls,

I just started playing Splinterlands and got into the Hive community.

There are some things that I dont understand with this game, and which I could not research anywhere. I was hoping you could help me with the following:

• What are the pros and cons for each splinter? Which one is good against which? How are they balanced?
• I was wondering if there was a concept to memorize the abilities quicker. I always struggle to remember what the ability does a monster has just by the symbol.
• How realistically is it to build a deck which can actually earn you the $10 paid for the spellbook back, and in which timeframe? I am really intrigued by the ecosystem evolving around this game and hive in general!

If this isnt the right place to ask questions, I apologize in advance and would be grateful if someone could point me in the right direction to where to ask those.