Also would be very happy if you could help make my Archimedes smarter 

also please dont ask if any of my horses are for sale if they are not currently on sale, more likely than not, I'm not selling them :) 

adult player (20s) | female 

reader, f1 fan, cozy gamer

credit to Stars for this explanation on the new game mode:

Many others have already said similar things, and I am really not an expert or anything, but here is a little from my thought process whilde playing the ascents.

I only have Cascade and Atalanta as 3 star divines (all the others are 2 star cards) so dracmas are not where I put my hope at the moment (I have won some time with them and a 2 star horse, and bonuses, but then I need to be really lucky).

I put my trust in using the daily obol and the random cards they give me.

Sometimes I get better cards like 4 and 5 stars, and then the main focus is leveling them, keeping energy and switching the low star cards for better ones if I get the chance. Usually I end up with maybe one 3 star + two 2 star cards in the beginning, and yes: that will make it a bit trickier but it is NOT the end already.

I find that it doesn't matter that much which cards you start out with, but more: what cards you can choose on the way after your wins. Sure: better cards in the beginning are going to make it a bit easier for you, BUT they are no guarantee. If you have the best cards in the game it still is not going to work out if you don't get the chance to choose energy cards to keep them running.

If I get a 3 star card in the beginning I focus on leveling that one and using my 2 star cards as it doesn't matter much if they run out of energy. If I don't get the choice of a level up card I usually pick boosters or another 3 star card, I usually do not bother to pick 2 star cards at all.

When I have two 3 star cards I focus on leveling them up and keeping them with energy. I might pick up an extra 3 star card to feel a little more on the safe side and level it if I can.

By Treshold two I can usually pick up a 4 star, or even 5 star card. Then I try to level them up but I also try to make sure that my 3 best cards have energy. When I have three decent cards (3 stars or above, with full levels) I just focus on keeping them with energy and picking up boosters.

The main thing here and through the game is to hope you get the cards you need (energy, levels, boosters, and so on), and to try to plan ahead if you do not. It is usually good to choose energy cards when you can as there are no guarantees that you'll get them or when, and you don't want to be left stranded if you can avoid it.

But sometimes of course you have really bad luck and there's not much to be done about it.

In number three I usually don't pick up new cards, unless it is early on so that I feel confident on being able to level it (if not my leveled 3 star cards are going to be better anyway), or unless I cannot choose anything other than a new horse card.

Same thing through here. Make sure to keep my three best cards with energy and maybe having another decent card as back-up. Pick up bonuses.

On the side you can see where you are in the threshold and that way you can know how much energy you'll need to make it through. For example: if I have two battles left before the Boss and my best horses have three or more energy, then I know I won't need to pick any more energy cards on my way. And then I usually only pick up bonuses as they are going to help with the boss.

When meeting the boss I use my three best cards and all the boosters I have, and hope for the best. I don't think I have ever met the boss with a 100% chance of winning, but I have managed to win, and I have lost. It is frustrating to loose when you're that close, of course, but I don't beat myself up too much about it. I'm not very stressed about getting Athena, as we get one obol a day and have many days left.

Practice makes better. Try different things and try to not rush through: take a moment to breathe and think.

If you want more chances at practicing, without wasting obols or passes on your account, I suggest creating an account on a different language server (such as Canada, Australia and so on), as you get more obols when starting out with the tutorial.