I have mixed feelings about the recent update.
In case you missed it, Axie Infinity recently announced that it will bring back the V2 battler version, which started the biggest "Play-to-earn" wave. It returns with new mechanisms for earning tokens. Let's dive in.
The updated Axie Classic has two main issues:
Earning: You can only earn in either the cursed colosseum (AXS) or the grand tournament (with Mystic Axies). Both require a bit of skill with a HUGE amount of luck. I've watched a streamer play 20 of his accounts, and he only won twice (10% win rate), earning only 0.5 AXS (0.25 AXS each win). Despite being a good player who reached 3k MMR before, the odds seem tough.
AXP: AXP can be earnt but is Axie-bound, ie. not transferable nor tradeable. What's bad about this is that most meta Axies in Classic are trash on Origins and vice versa. So, getting AXP on a meta Axie in Classic might be useless if ascension (leveling up) only benefits the Axie in Origins.
Other thoughts:
It's quite nostalgic to play again, and the new game mode (cursed colosseum) is pretty fun.
Having played twice just after the ticket reset on the cursed colosseum, in just 12 minutes, over 2000 players had already completed 12 wins, so it seems near impossible to get the AXS reward. The rewards also don't reset everyday, which is why the number of players that complete the cursed colosseum consistently increase everyday. Since the original 1875 AXS reward pool is already depleted, there is no way to earn AXS—only AXP which is still very speculative.
I think once Classic gains a bit more traction in the coming months, the devs would probably implement more features for Classic and possibly bring back seasonal rewards. Ascended Axies might be the key to getting those rewards since they are supposed to be stronger than normal ones.
The Value of AXP
Kookoocrypto's Ph ambassador recently posted—the floor for a level 30 Axie is around $670 or 35,000 PHP, but to achieve that, you'll need 457,960 AXP.
A player can get a maximum of 4,500 AXP for each Axie per day. A win in the arena will give you 75 AXP. So, 4,500/75 = 60 wins. Let's assume you're an average player with a perfect 50% win rate; you'll need to play 120 games, which is twice the max energy of Axie Classic (cursed coliseum would make the process faster, but since it's luck-based and unreliable, I didn't add it to the computation).
Then, you'll need to do that for 457,960/4,500 = 101.7 or 102 days. More than 3 months of grinding.
The payout is kind of decent, though, by my country's standards if you own the Axies. Since 670 x 3 = $2,010 or 110,000 PHP. 110,000/3 months = 36,000 per month (minimum wage in the PH is around 15,000).
Things to consider:
- The price is high since a level 30 is still rare; it probably won't be the case after 3-6 months with AXP inflation.
- Selling an Axie then giving profit to a scholar would be too complex, especially for large-scale guilds.
- Utility for level 30 Axies is still speculative. If the benefit of having a level 30 Axie is minimal, then the price would likely drop.
- Will there be a meta involved in level 30 Axies? If ascension is mainly used in Origins, then it would probably be wise to grind Axies that are good in origins since they'll likely sell for more.