Like all you other people who sit at the intersection of baseball fanatics and gamers, I’m eagerly awaiting the release of MLB the Show 21. There are several different modes to enjoy with the game, but for me, its all about Diamond Dynasty. And as someone who doesn’t spend money (aside from purchasing one of the deluxe editions to help jumpstart), I like to maximize as much as possible.
Here are some tips for what to do initially in order to do just that!
1. Sell (Almost All) Diamonds
Diamonds are great to have early on. They help you do initial grinding and can put you ahead of much of the online competition. The thing is: almost all diamonds will go down within the first couple of weeks after release. Mike Trout is the guaranteed exception–his value has traditionally always increased and can make a good investment if you can find the stubs to purchase him in the first few days. And generally a few others in his diamond rating range hold most, if not all, of their value.
Everyone else is a must sell if you want to maximize stubs. Especially anyone in low diamond range (around 85-87 rating). To be clear: it is perfectly fine to not maximize here. It’s exciting to pull a diamond early in the game, and I’ve been known to keep playing with initial pulls later in the game’s run just because “I pulled this guy!”. Embrace the irrationality if that’s your approach.
2. Sell Golds
I tend to also sell all of my golds unless there is a particular collection I am aiming to complete early. Like diamonds, almost all golds will go down in value pretty quickly in the first 1-2 weeks. The only exception here are players who have the potential to become diamonds.
These would be players in the 83-84 gold range who have been performing extremely well in MLB. Remember: San Diego Studios (SDS–gamemaker) does live roster updates during season, and we can expect the first one within two weeks after release. A player like Byron Buxton comes to mind for this.
One definite: the gold players for teams that have no diamonds will be at their absolute highest during the first few days. This is because players who are trying to complete collections early will be competing for cards in much lower supply than at any point in the game.
3. Sell Silvers
I’m betting you have noticed the theme so far. The value of silver cards plummet as the season goes on. If you stub maximization is what you’re after, then ditch all of the silvers you get. Except for those you actually want to use for early grinding.
4. Don’t Buy Packs
Packs are fun. They’re a digital lottery that most often don’t work out. If you want to maximize your stubs, resist the urge to digitally crack packs. That said, if you’re just to here to have fun and pack opening is your kind of fun, then do it early. That way, you can maximize the stub value for any player you choose to sell.
5. Avoid Chasing Collections
Chasing collections can be fun, too. But as I mentioned in #2 and #3, most gold/silver card prices are at a maximum during the first few days and up to a week. You are better off just playing the game, and collecting cards naturally. And then you can fill in gaps later if you want to complete a collection.
Again, though….if there is a player card you absolutely want right now. Then go get it. It’s more important to enjoy the game than maximize stubs.
6. Play Conquest
Not everyone may want to do this, but I find starting on conquest that first day/night to be a good way to get into the game. You can pick up small prizes and experience points (XP) along the way. It also lets me get a feel for the cards I have and decide if there are any silver/gold players I do want to keep for the first few weeks of gaming.
Bonus: Investing
I put this one here as a bonus because it’s not really a tip.
If you look around for help making stubs, you will inevitably find people talking about investing. If you follow baseball, then you will have a decent chance of guessing which players may see a rating boost. This can be especially frutiful as investments if a players bumps up a tier (e.g., from gold to diamond).
You can also study a player’s market for a day or two and get a sense of what the range is for that player. Then, you can look to purchase at the minimum, and sell later at a maximum. Note: you can try this strategy with many players just by purchasing when fewer people are playing, and then posting for sell when there are many players (e.g., during weekends).
