[DonMattingly]

I'm not sure how different PT 21 will be vs PT 19 and 20, but in both of those versions it was very possible to get to Perfect with F2P teams.

I never won a PT title in 19, but each of my 3 teams in PT 20 has won one. It feels like I am running a dirt poor version of the Cubs that might win once every 100 years or so, but they do have a small chance. In both versions, after first having a rocky go in Perfect and getting relegated back to Diamond, my teams eventually regrouped and got back to Perfect to stay.

Right now they almost always win more games than they lose, they make the play-offs about 1/2 of the time, and I've even had a bunch of 100+ win seasons in Perfect.

I think it's just a matter of building teams with the cheapest cards you can find that will hold up fairly well at that level. I try to have at least very good defenses but not at the complete expense of offense. I want guys with high contact ratings and avoid K ratings at that level. I want pitchers with a high movement rating. And while I gave up on it months ago, for a while I was fortifying the teams with free packs I'd get from Challenge Mode.

But I never pulled any golden tickets, never got all that lucky. Pulled some Diamonds and a couple of Live 100s, but never anything worth hundreds of thousands.

Just keep looking for affordable upgrades and keep strengthening the roster when you can. I think the most I ever spent on any one card was about 70K for a Cobb. I'm usually spending more like 15-40k or so for the cards I have on my teams that have had decent success in Perfect. I do not collect at all either, when I buy an upgrade I will then auction off whichever card is getting cut. I probably have less than 10 extra cards on my teams. Need that PP for the next upgrade.