Resurgence of pack viability

Litty · 10-17-2019, 06:02 PM

So everyone, rightly, tells you that once your team reaches a certain point, auction house hunting is better than buying packs.

However, with the advent of collections, I feel like packs have become viable again? Especially when hunting non-live golds and diamonds, I just feel that it's better to roll the dice on packs as I am never going to have enough PP to even come close to the price of most non-live gold+ (and hey, even some non-live silvers).

Curious as to what other people think.

GlassGuyBob · 10-17-2019, 06:31 PM

The AH is more viable for team building at any point in the game. The odds of getting the value of cards in PP that you get from your investment in packs is low. Additionally, the AH allows you to target the cards of your choice, which is critical to building a team around themes or specific player skills.

However, I crack packs on all of my teams because it's fun. I don't need any more justification than that.

gemini615 · 10-17-2019, 08:00 PM

I just play to have fun. If that means picking off a good deal in the AH or ripping packs and watching confetti fall during the fireworks so be it. There's no right way to play. It's all up to you and how fast you'd like your team to end up in perfect.

mcdog512 · 10-17-2019, 08:52 PM

At some point if you spend enough, upgrades are going to run you 170k+ at every position. At that point I can either dump another several hundred into the game or buy packs and have fun ripping. I've decided I want to finish off some of my 60's topps baseball sets next year so working towards that and just buying packs now.....given enough beers, that could change of course!

El Jeffe · 10-18-2019, 12:03 AM

Except for minor purchases for collection missions, I'm pack only. I'd never manage a decent team with what I've spent (maybe $300) if I bought my cards. I have a Gold, Diamond, and two Perfect championships.
I ended up with a team of all right handed hitters and Sandy Kofax plus modest pitching. I have 6 total perfect legends, 5 perfect Lives, and a perfect all-star Yellich. Besides affordability, packs are more fun anyway!

Infinity · 10-18-2019, 05:13 AM

Being disabled and on a fixed income, I can't open many packs, so I focus on the AH..mind you I've never won a PL championship....YET but eventually I will....

funseeker · 10-18-2019, 09:01 AM

I've been playing 2.0 since June (packs only) and have opened 274 packs. That's 1644 cards and not one perfect. Packs are on hold for me. Just accumulating points for now. I've only spent $20 on points. I'm not investing any more than that. When all is said and done, PT is only a game. I remind myself of that every day.

dkgo · 10-18-2019, 09:06 AM

Packs will always be negative EV and are never "viable" if you mean the optimal way to spend points.

If you have fun opening them or just want to gamble though then go on ahead, nothing wrong with playing the game how you want.

I think collections make packs worse though because the major franchise collections mean that you can now invest time on the auction house to supplement your points whereas before points were the only currency you had. Put in the time to finish off the White Sox or As or Braves or Indians and you end up with six-figure surpluses, but that isn't possible to do if you keep blowing every couple thousand points you get on packs.

GlassGuyBob · 10-18-2019, 10:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by funseeker

I've been playing 2.0 since June (packs only) and have opened 274 packs. That's 1644 cards and not one perfect. Packs are on hold for me. Just accumulating points for now. I've only spent $20 on points. I'm not investing any more than that. When all is said and done, PT is only a game. I remind myself of that every day.

Perfects appear once every 1000 cards. One card in each pack is guaranteed Bronze, Gold or Diamond depending on the type of pack. You have opened 1370 cards that had a chance to be a perfect, not 1644.

There's about a 25% chance of opening no Perfect cards in that number of packs.

jeffw3000 · 10-18-2019, 11:42 AM

i have two teams I am running this year. Both are FP teams. One team is pack only, and the other team started out AH only, but I have on occasion opened packs since then. My AH team has been the more successful team. made it to perfect, though is in diamond now. Has won a championship in diamond, and had a couple of championship wins in Gold.

That said, my pack only team really has not done bad. Is in diamond now, and has been semi successful. Has made the playoffs a couple of times in diamond, and currently is playing about .500 ball. I was not really expecting this. When I decided to do my teams this way, I figured there would come a time my pack only team would fall behind. It did take longer for my pack only team to show success. It seemed like I was in Gold forever, but eventually, my pack only team started to show success. My AH team did have success well before my pack only team.

Depending on what you are looking for in success, a pack only team can give you some success, and is really fun to open packs.

El Jeffe · 10-18-2019, 12:04 PM

I've opened a lot more packs than my $300 would buy. My 1st 175 pack open I got Josh Gibson which I sold for 330k, bought more packs and got Mantle, Kofax, and more. Since then I've sold a lot of collection mission cards to generate many more packs. I'd never have had those collection cards to sell if I'd not spent my PP on packs. I generally dumped my live perfects for PP to spend too.

10-17-2019, 06:02 PM	#1
Litty Minors (Double A) Join Date: May 2019 Location: United Kingdom Posts: 138	Resurgence of pack viability So everyone, rightly, tells you that once your team reaches a certain point, auction house hunting is better than buying packs. However, with the advent of collections, I feel like packs have become viable again? Especially when hunting non-live golds and diamonds, I just feel that it's better to roll the dice on packs as I am never going to have enough PP to even come close to the price of most non-live gold+ (and hey, even some non-live silvers). Curious as to what other people think. __________________ Good times, good vibes going forwards.

10-17-2019, 06:31 PM	#2
GlassGuyBob Minors (Double A) Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 121	The AH is more viable for team building at any point in the game. The odds of getting the value of cards in PP that you get from your investment in packs is low. Additionally, the AH allows you to target the cards of your choice, which is critical to building a team around themes or specific player skills. However, I crack packs on all of my teams because it's fun. I don't need any more justification than that. __________________

10-17-2019, 08:00 PM	#3
gemini615 All Star Reserve Join Date: Aug 2017 Posts: 671	I just play to have fun. If that means picking off a good deal in the AH or ripping packs and watching confetti fall during the fireworks so be it. There's no right way to play. It's all up to you and how fast you'd like your team to end up in perfect. __________________ Hiram College Terriers Blog "The Dog Park"

10-17-2019, 08:52 PM	#4
mcdog512 Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2018 Location: Pack Robert Gibson; November 9, 1935 – October 2, 2020 Posts: 2,339	At some point if you spend enough, upgrades are going to run you 170k+ at every position. At that point I can either dump another several hundred into the game or buy packs and have fun ripping. I've decided I want to finish off some of my 60's topps baseball sets next year so working towards that and just buying packs now.....given enough beers, that could change of course! __________________ Last edited by mcdog512; 10-17-2019 at 08:54 PM.

10-18-2019, 05:13 AM	#6
Infinity Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: Anderson, CA Posts: 3,431	Being disabled and on a fixed income, I can't open many packs, so I focus on the AH..mind you I've never won a PL championship....YET but eventually I will.... __________________ *Infinity Boxing Association* *All Time Greatest Tourney - Infinity Style* All Time Greatest Tourney - Infinity Style - Teams *Dream Fights*

10-18-2019, 12:03 AM	#5
El Jeffe Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 42	Except for minor purchases for collection missions, I'm pack only. I'd never manage a decent team with what I've spent (maybe $300) if I bought my cards. I have a Gold, Diamond, and two Perfect championships. I ended up with a team of all right handed hitters and Sandy Kofax plus modest pitching. I have 6 total perfect legends, 5 perfect Lives, and a perfect all-star Yellich. Besides affordability, packs are more fun anyway!

10-18-2019, 09:01 AM	#7
funseeker Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Jun 2019 Posts: 35	274 Packs I've been playing 2.0 since June (packs only) and have opened 274 packs. That's 1644 cards and not one perfect. Packs are on hold for me. Just accumulating points for now. I've only spent $20 on points. I'm not investing any more than that. When all is said and done, PT is only a game. I remind myself of that every day.

10-18-2019, 09:06 AM	#8
dkgo Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2010 Posts: 2,152	Packs will always be negative EV and are never "viable" if you mean the optimal way to spend points. If you have fun opening them or just want to gamble though then go on ahead, nothing wrong with playing the game how you want. I think collections make packs worse though because the major franchise collections mean that you can now invest time on the auction house to supplement your points whereas before points were the only currency you had. Put in the time to finish off the White Sox or As or Braves or Indians and you end up with six-figure surpluses, but that isn't possible to do if you keep blowing every couple thousand points you get on packs.

10-18-2019, 11:42 AM	#10
jeffw3000 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 296	i have two teams I am running this year. Both are FP teams. One team is pack only, and the other team started out AH only, but I have on occasion opened packs since then. My AH team has been the more successful team. made it to perfect, though is in diamond now. Has won a championship in diamond, and had a couple of championship wins in Gold. That said, my pack only team really has not done bad. Is in diamond now, and has been semi successful. Has made the playoffs a couple of times in diamond, and currently is playing about .500 ball. I was not really expecting this. When I decided to do my teams this way, I figured there would come a time my pack only team would fall behind. It did take longer for my pack only team to show success. It seemed like I was in Gold forever, but eventually, my pack only team started to show success. My AH team did have success well before my pack only team. Depending on what you are looking for in success, a pack only team can give you some success, and is really fun to open packs. Last edited by jeffw3000; 10-18-2019 at 11:51 AM.

10-18-2019, 12:04 PM	#11
El Jeffe Minors (Rookie Ball) Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 42	I've opened a lot more packs than my $300 would buy. My 1st 175 pack open I got Josh Gibson which I sold for 330k, bought more packs and got Mantle, Kofax, and more. Since then I've sold a lot of collection mission cards to generate many more packs. I'd never have had those collection cards to sell if I'd not spent my PP on packs. I generally dumped my live perfects for PP to spend too.