Story of the Chattanooga Athletics

RamMan12 · 08-24-2019, 09:07 AM

I just wanted to share the story of my 2nd PT team since I feel like it might interest a lot of the PT players out there, especially the F2P players.

I created my team a few seasons ago with the idea of being a non-live, F2P team (I have never spent a dime on PT) because I love baseball history and I wanted to learn about players I’ve never followed. While I did buy players from the AH, I tried to rely mainly on packs. The plan was to muddle along in the lower tiers and rely on lucky pulls. I also would only auction my cards that were duplicates or Gold/Diamond Live cards so I could buy more packs.

Well, last weekend I decided I wanted some more packs and found I was close to a few missions so I went to the AH to purchase some cheap players that would get me Standard Packs. I spent about 150 points and was able to complete 3 Standard Pack missions. Well, one of those packs landed me the Future Legend Adley Rutschman card! I wanted to keep him but because I had the 88 Ivan Rodriguez from my starter packs and him not technically keeping in tone with my team’s theme, I decided to auction him off. After a couple tries, I was able to gain 252,000 points!

I was really excited but decided to make a couple rules for myself: 1, buy 20 packs first. 2, never spend more than 20,000 points in the AH for a player. This was to attempt to bankroll my team and also to make sure I used my lucky pull to really improve my team from top to bottom. In those 20 packs I pulled a perfect Jacob DeGrom, 95 Honus Wagner, Bengie Molina, Michael Conforto, and Ron Darling. I was able to sell DeGrom, Conforto, and Darling for an extra 25ish thousand. I put Molina as my backup to Rodriguez and Wagner (one of my favorite players) into my lineup.

I then used the AH to complete the Yan Gomes, Lefty Gomez, and later the Hong-Chih Kuo missions. Then when the Pirates missions came out (huge Pirates fan) I bought up and completed the Pops, Wanger, and Clemente missions to really set my team apart. After pulling 23 more packs I was able to get a couple more historical players including a 92 Sad Sam Jones. I still have 100,000 points left and am trying to wait and see how my team performs in higher levels before throwing it at players.

I’ll post my team in the next post but I definitely thought I would share what I have learned from all of this.

1. If possible, it is definitely worth completing Standard Pack missions. Spending 100-200 points to get a Standard Pack is smarter than spending 1000.

2. Opening packs is the best way to improve your team, either directly or indirectly. Sometimes spending 1000 on a pack can get you someone

3. Completing missions is extremely difficult without spending points on the AH. While you may not need to spend a lot, I have only completed 3 out of 20+ missions (between both of my teams) without purposely spending points. However, like #1, sometimes a few points spent can have huge rewards.

4. I wish I could have given cards or points to my main team! I tried to get ahead of the Pirates missions by buying up as many as I could on my main team (Portland Pirates) but I am still one or two cards away from 3 Pirates missions. I would gladly give 50,000 points to my main team so they could complete one or more of those missions if I could.

5. Plan how to utilize your players before playing them. For instance, since my team is so good overall I am teaching players different positions. Bill Madlock is learning 1B, Pie Traynor is learning 1B and 2B, and Honus Wagner is learning 2B and 3B. This will allow me to start all of these guys and do so in positions they can excel in. Also, if someone like Traynor needs to be a bench player, he can now backup multiple positions and frees up a roster spot.

I hope you all liked this story! Feel free to ask if you have any questions for me or if something does not make sense!

RamMan12 · 08-24-2019, 09:08 AM

Just wanted to post my new roster and how I got each player. One note, some of my hitters are in weird positions due to me wanting them to train up while we have such a good lead in the division.

Rotation
1. 97 SE Lefty Gomez (Completed Mission)
2. 92 Sad Sam Jones (Pack)
3. 92 SE Bob Friend (Completed Mission)
4. 89 Greg Maddux (18k AH)
5. 88 Mike Hampton (Pack)

Bullpen
CL: 91Doug Jones (Pack)
Setup: 94 SE Bob Veale (Completed Mission) Note: Did terribly as a starter, I think mainly because his control is 44.
Setup: 89 Rich “Goose” Gossage (6k AH)
Middle: 88 SE Hong-Chih Kuo (Completed Mission)
Middle: 84 Gene Garber (3k AH)
Middle: 69 Clem Labine (Pack) Note: Figured I’d let him play, has a 0.00 ERA in the last 6 games before I bought/was rewarded with better players.
Long: 81 Joey Hamilton (Pack)

Hitters
C: 88 Ivan Rodriguez (Starter Pack Pull)
C: 69 Mike LaValliere (900 AH)
1B: 85 SE Bill Madlock (Completed Mission)
2B: 86 SE Pie Traynor (Completed Mission)
3B: 95 Honus Wagner (Pack)
SS: 69 Eddie Mayo (Pack)
IF: 70 George Kell (600 AH)
LF: 95 Willie Stargell (16k AH)
CF: 88 Roberto Clemente (6.5K AH)
RF: 91 Paul Waner (15k AH)
OF: 96 SE Fred Clarke (Completed Mission), 71 Mickey Stanley (Pack), 86 Brian Giles (4.5k AH)

Reserve Players
SP: 88 Jerry Reuss and 85 Mike Witt, 78 Fred Newman
RP: 68 Rawly Eastwick, 81 Joe Sambito, 90 SE Kent Tekulve
C: 65 Bengie Molina
IF: 69 Rod Carew, 77 Dustin Pedroia
OF: 85 Lefty O’Doul, 78 Dom DiMaggio, 75 Kenny Lofton

Marleigh · 08-24-2019, 10:09 AM

You are either the luckiest person alive or not telling the truth

this point

''2. Opening packs is the best way to improve your team, either directly or indirectly. Sometimes spending 1000 on a pack can get you someone''

is simply not true, for 10k you can buy a decent low diamond, or 2 or more high golds. the pack odds for that 10k will usually mean you get a bunch of irons and bronzes, maybe a silver and possibly a gold (likely a low live gold)

eldur00 · 08-24-2019, 12:21 PM

Buying packs will never be the best way to build a team, regardless of what game you play. The odds are stacked against you. You got lucky.
I play packs only, have been playing since the game released, and I have seen a grand total of 1 diamond card, which was Rizzo (who has been a gold ever since).
About 97% of the packs I've opened this year have been at a net loss. And that's how it should be. You can't win the lottery every time you gamble.

daves · 08-24-2019, 12:38 PM

Your team looks good enough to win Silver. Your pitching looks good.

I am just confused on your defense. Not sure how good Mayo is at short? Is Clemente decent at CF?

mcdog512 · 08-24-2019, 04:21 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marleigh

You are either the luckiest person alive or not telling the truth

this point

''2. Opening packs is the best way to improve your team, either directly or indirectly. Sometimes spending 1000 on a pack can get you someone''

is simply not true, for 10k you can buy a decent low diamond, or 2 or more high golds. the pack odds for that 10k will usually mean you get a bunch of irons and bronzes, maybe a silver and possibly a gold (likely a low live gold)

Except for the perfect Clemons I pulled. I do agree with your overall point though.

RamMan12 · 08-24-2019, 07:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by daves

Your team looks good enough to win Silver. Your pitching looks good.

I am just confused on your defense. Not sure how good Mayo is at short? Is Clemente decent at CF?

Thank you!

Yeah, my defense is kind of weird just because I want to train up my players for more flexibility in the higher levels. Mayo is a 112 at 2B so he will be a 97 SS IIRC. I have the 1966 Clemente who is a 92 at RF and should be a 60ish CF according to the Positional Ratings Calculator.

Once the playoffs start I am putting my hitters in their best defensive spots so I can win the league.

RamMan12 · 08-24-2019, 08:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marleigh

You are either the luckiest person alive or not telling the truth

this point

''2. Opening packs is the best way to improve your team, either directly or indirectly. Sometimes spending 1000 on a pack can get you someone''

is simply not true, for 10k you can buy a decent low diamond, or 2 or more high golds. the pack odds for that 10k will usually mean you get a bunch of irons and bronzes, maybe a silver and possibly a gold (likely a low live gold)

Definitely lucky, but not the luckiest! I have made it to Diamond with my OOTP19 team and Perfect with my Portland team and utilizing the AH has only been helpful up to about Gold. After that I have struggled to gain even 10k from my team per week and a Gold player usually does not even improve my team at this point. My best players on the Portland Pirates have come from a result of packs. For instance, I was able to get 21k points in order to buy players and complete the Oakland A's mission but that was only because I sold a perfect Ken Giles I had pulled who started to pitch above 4 for three straight seasons.

Those irons and bronzes I pulled actually helped me complete a few more Standard Pack missions and are getting me close to a lot of the Live Missions. I believe that our experiences with packs are so different with the randomness so I would think that some people like pack pulling and hoping for a great card and others would rather go to the AH.

JasonC23 · 08-24-2019, 08:38 PM

Off-topic, but your Portland Pirates are in a heck of a Wild Card battle in P405--currently in a 3-way tie for the 2 spots with Naperville and San Quentin. Good luck to you the rest of the way!

steamrollers · 08-24-2019, 09:13 PM

Packs are definitely not the best way to improve a team. Yes, some people like you are incredibly lucky or the person who pulled two Adley Rutschmans out of their rear but in reality most people get complete garbage almost all the time. I swear I get Luis Rengifo in about every third pack. Have a current streak of 76 packs without anything better than a gold and have only had 5 golds in that time. Best card ever pulled was a 93 Diamond. I just hope you and the Rutschman person are buying some powerball tickets.

OMGPuppies · 08-24-2019, 11:39 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RamMan12

Just wanted to post my new roster and how I got each player. One note, some of my hitters are in weird positions due to me wanting them to train up while we have such a good lead in the division.

Rotation
1. 97 SE Lefty Gomez (Completed Mission)
2. 92 Sad Sam Jones (Pack)
3. 92 SE Bob Friend (Completed Mission)
4. 89 Greg Maddux (18k AH)
5. 88 Mike Hampton (Pack)

Bullpen
CL: 91Doug Jones (Pack)
Setup: 94 SE Bob Veale (Completed Mission) Note: Did terribly as a starter, I think mainly because his control is 44.
Setup: 89 Rich “Goose” Gossage (6k AH)
Middle: 88 SE Hong-Chih Kuo (Completed Mission)
Middle: 84 Gene Garber (3k AH)
Middle: 69 Clem Labine (Pack) Note: Figured I’d let him play, has a 0.00 ERA in the last 6 games before I bought/was rewarded with better players.
Long: 81 Joey Hamilton (Pack)

Hitters
C: 88 Ivan Rodriguez (Starter Pack Pull)
C: 69 Mike LaValliere (900 AH)
1B: 85 SE Bill Madlock (Completed Mission)
2B: 86 SE Pie Traynor (Completed Mission)
3B: 95 Honus Wagner (Pack)
SS: 69 Eddie Mayo (Pack)
IF: 70 George Kell (600 AH)
LF: 95 Willie Stargell (16k AH)
CF: 88 Roberto Clemente (6.5K AH)
RF: 91 Paul Waner (15k AH)
OF: 96 SE Fred Clarke (Completed Mission), 71 Mickey Stanley (Pack), 86 Brian Giles (4.5k AH)

Reserve Players
SP: 88 Jerry Reuss and 85 Mike Witt, 78 Fred Newman
RP: 68 Rawly Eastwick, 81 Joe Sambito, 90 SE Kent Tekulve
C: 65 Bengie Molina
IF: 69 Rod Carew, 77 Dustin Pedroia
OF: 85 Lefty O’Doul, 78 Dom DiMaggio, 75 Kenny Lofton

You should join OL

QuantaCondor · 08-25-2019, 03:51 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RamMan12

Well, last weekend I decided I wanted some more packs and found I was close to a few missions so I went to the AH to purchase some cheap players that would get me Standard Packs. I spent about 150 points and was able to complete 3 Standard Pack missions. Well, one of those packs landed me the Future Legend Adley Rutschman card! I wanted to keep him but because I had the 88 Ivan Rodriguez from my starter packs and him not technically keeping in tone with my team’s theme, I decided to auction him off. After a couple tries, I was able to gain 252,000 points!

There are teams that have won Perfect level championships on a 250kPP bankroll. "The easiest way to get a good team is to pull this 250k PP card" is both a true statement and a horrible way to advise someone to team build.

RamMan12 · 08-25-2019, 08:28 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by OMGPuppies

You should join OL

You know, I was thinking about it. I like the premise a lot.

RamMan12 · 08-25-2019, 08:42 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by steamrollers

Packs are definitely not the best way to improve a team. Yes, some people like you are incredibly lucky or the person who pulled two Adley Rutschmans out of their rear but in reality most people get complete garbage almost all the time. I swear I get Luis Rengifo in about every third pack. Have a current streak of 76 packs without anything better than a gold and have only had 5 golds in that time. Best card ever pulled was a 93 Diamond. I just hope you and the Rutschman person are buying some powerball tickets.

Maybe I am really lucky. My Portland Pirates have pulled a perfect Max Scherzer, 93 Cliff Lee, and (until I sold him) a 98 Charlie Morton. There are a lot of terrible packs I've opened but usually every 10 packs or so (total guess) I do pull a card that can help my team either through being played or being sold. In OOTP19 I literally never pulled a player that was able to help my team in Gold. The AH is full of cards people did pull so all those Perfects and Diamonds came from somewhere.

It is totally cool to disagree with me but I will be buying packs to improve my teams.

steamrollers · 08-25-2019, 12:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RamMan12

Maybe I am really lucky. My Portland Pirates have pulled a perfect Max Scherzer, 93 Cliff Lee, and (until I sold him) a 98 Charlie Morton. There are a lot of terrible packs I've opened but usually every 10 packs or so (total guess) I do pull a card that can help my team either through being played or being sold. In OOTP19 I literally never pulled a player that was able to help my team in Gold. The AH is full of cards people did pull so all those Perfects and Diamonds came from somewhere.

It is totally cool to disagree with me but I will be buying packs to improve my teams.

I'm not disagreeing with the point that you are incredibly lucky. It is just a fact that opening packs are by the numbers the least likely to actually be able to help build a great team. Obviously all the diamonds and perfects "came from somewhere" but if the stated odds are accurate it is just simple math that packs are the worst play for someone looking to build their team. And yes, I am jealous of the people that somehow pull amazing cards while I continue to get multiple Braden Bishops in packs. There are no doubt some have climbed all the way up to perfect thanks to defying the odds on packs but it is a minuscule percent unless they are just spending money and anyone can build a great team no matter what route they take if they are just throwing money at a team which obviously you are not.

With all that said one of my teams is a pack only team and I enjoy trying to build them up but with the fact I have never really pulled anything even close to great it is a struggle to even move beyond silver. I have literally never pulled a diamond pitcher, I have had guys go up to diamond like David Price and back down. The best I have really pulled is live cards that are low 90s like a Correa type which really don't have a heck of a lot of value, certainly not like a game changer that you can sell for over 100K or more.

---------------------
Just grabbed another 18 packs, I did get a nice shiny gold in David Robertson LOL an 80. Somehow didn't even get a single silver and obviously not a diamond to be found. Building quite a juggernaut

Mizzery · 08-26-2019, 03:14 PM

Just as a counterpoint to the original post, I have a packs only FTP team where I accumulated enough points last week to purchase 20 new packs. Opened them up and received 0 diamonds, 0 golds, and 2 low live silvers among the 120 cards.

A packs only team is a playing style choice- it inserts a significant level of chance into the game but is extremely inefficient and generally will slow your team development. It can replicate the feeling of being a kid and opening up a pack of cards, and it is always fun before opening a new pack to wonder if this will be the magic pack that will contain that perfect Ruth or equivalent unattainable card.

It should never be described as the best or most effective way to play, but it can be fun. I enjoy my one packs only team, but if I was playing that way with all 3 of my teams, I’d tear my hair out and throw the computer out the window.

chazzycat · 08-26-2019, 03:29 PM

The following statements are both true about packs:

1) They are mathematically NOT the best way to improve your team
2) Someone has to buy them, or the entire game collapses.

The system pretty much relies on a huge part of the user base acting irrationally. This works fine, because humans can generally be counted on for that. I mean...the gambling industry is insanely profitable, despite everyone knowing the odds are against them.

So OP, please keep buying packs. Because someone's gotta do it, and it's not gonna be me.

RamMan12 · 09-02-2019, 08:31 AM

Since it has been a week I figured I would share an update. We won Game 7 of the Silver League Championship and made it to Gold where we then lost in the Championship. I am on to Diamond this week and I cannot wait to see how my team fairs in this very competitive tier.

I was able to pull 89 Willie McCovey and 89 Al Dark but other than that all of my additions have been through the AH.

My Diamond team is below:

Rotation
97 Lefty Gomez
93 Bret Saberhagen
92 Bob Friend
92 Orel Hershiser
89 Greg Maddux

Bullpen
94 Bob Veale
91 Doug Jones
90 Gene Garber
89 Rollie Fingers
88 Hong-Chih Kuo
90 Kent Tekulve

Starters
C 88 Ivan Rodriguez
1B 85 Bill Madlock
2B 95 Honus Wagner
3B 86 Pie Traynor
SS 89 Al Dark
LF 96 Fred Clarke
CF 89 Martin Dihigo
RF 91 Paul Waner
DH 89 Willie McCovey

Bench
C 84 Mickey Cochrane
IF 69 Eddie Mayo
Util 71 Mickey Stanley
CF 75 Kenny Lofton
CF/RF 88 Roberto Clemente

Reserve
SP: 92 Sad Sam Jones, 88 Denny Neagle
RP: 89 Rich Gossage, 84 Steve Bedrosian, 81 Joe Sambito
IF: 95 Willie Stargell, 70 George Kell
OF: 85 Lefty O’Doul, 86 Brian Giles

BigRed75 · 09-02-2019, 09:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by RamMan12

Maybe I am really lucky. My Portland Pirates have pulled a perfect Max Scherzer, 93 Cliff Lee, and (until I sold him) a 98 Charlie Morton.

My son is definitely one of the lucky ones. Today he needed to buy an SP, but first bought six packs for the hell of it. Pulled three golds (two historical) and a 98 Morton as well.

So much for hitting up the auction house...

That's just par for the course. He has five or six diamonds that he's pulled out of packs, and they're half-and-half historical to Live. I wish I had that kid's pack luck. But he's never pulled a perfect and I've pulled three, including one historical (Kimbrel, sold for 50K) and the one Live that plays like a historical. Of course, when he finally does pull a perfect, it'll probably be one of the Big Five...

steamrollers · 09-02-2019, 12:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BigRed75

My son is definitely one of the lucky ones. Today he needed to buy an SP, but first bought six packs for the hell of it. Pulled three golds (two historical) and a 98 Morton as well.

So much for hitting up the auction house...

That's just par for the course. He has five or six diamonds that he's pulled out of packs, and they're half-and-half historical to Live. I wish I had that kid's pack luck. But he's never pulled a perfect and I've pulled three, including one historical (Kimbrel, sold for 50K) and the one Live that plays like a historical. Of course, when he finally does pull a perfect, it'll probably be one of the Big Five...

At least I know why my last 142 packs have produced only 2 diamonds and just 8 golds, he is stealing them all

At least I finally pulled my first diamond pitcher ever but it was a lowly Severino.

And congrats RamMan on the past couple weeks of success, good luck in Diamond.

08-24-2019, 09:08 AM	#2
RamMan12 Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Maine Posts: 482	Just wanted to post my new roster and how I got each player. One note, some of my hitters are in weird positions due to me wanting them to train up while we have such a good lead in the division. Rotation 1. 97 SE Lefty Gomez (Completed Mission) 2. 92 Sad Sam Jones (Pack) 3. 92 SE Bob Friend (Completed Mission) 4. 89 Greg Maddux (18k AH) 5. 88 Mike Hampton (Pack) Bullpen CL: 91Doug Jones (Pack) Setup: 94 SE Bob Veale (Completed Mission) Note: Did terribly as a starter, I think mainly because his control is 44. Setup: 89 Rich “Goose” Gossage (6k AH) Middle: 88 SE Hong-Chih Kuo (Completed Mission) Middle: 84 Gene Garber (3k AH) Middle: 69 Clem Labine (Pack) Note: Figured I’d let him play, has a 0.00 ERA in the last 6 games before I bought/was rewarded with better players. Long: 81 Joey Hamilton (Pack) Hitters C: 88 Ivan Rodriguez (Starter Pack Pull) C: 69 Mike LaValliere (900 AH) 1B: 85 SE Bill Madlock (Completed Mission) 2B: 86 SE Pie Traynor (Completed Mission) 3B: 95 Honus Wagner (Pack) SS: 69 Eddie Mayo (Pack) IF: 70 George Kell (600 AH) LF: 95 Willie Stargell (16k AH) CF: 88 Roberto Clemente (6.5K AH) RF: 91 Paul Waner (15k AH) OF: 96 SE Fred Clarke (Completed Mission), 71 Mickey Stanley (Pack), 86 Brian Giles (4.5k AH) Reserve Players SP: 88 Jerry Reuss and 85 Mike Witt, 78 Fred Newman RP: 68 Rawly Eastwick, 81 Joe Sambito, 90 SE Kent Tekulve C: 65 Bengie Molina IF: 69 Rod Carew, 77 Dustin Pedroia OF: 85 Lefty O’Doul, 78 Dom DiMaggio, 75 Kenny Lofton __________________

08-24-2019, 10:09 AM	#3
Marleigh All Star Reserve Join Date: Jul 2019 Location: UK Posts: 541	You are either the luckiest person alive or not telling the truth this point ''2. Opening packs is the best way to improve your team, either directly or indirectly. Sometimes spending 1000 on a pack can get you someone'' is simply not true, for 10k you can buy a decent low diamond, or 2 or more high golds. the pack odds for that 10k will usually mean you get a bunch of irons and bronzes, maybe a silver and possibly a gold (likely a low live gold) __________________

08-24-2019, 12:38 PM	#5
daves Hall Of Famer Join Date: Dec 2007 Posts: 3,634	Your team looks good enough to win Silver. Your pitching looks good. I am just confused on your defense. Not sure how good Mayo is at short? Is Clemente decent at CF? __________________

08-24-2019, 08:38 PM	#9
JasonC23 All Star Reserve Join Date: Mar 2002 Location: Huntley, IL Posts: 865	Off-topic, but your Portland Pirates are in a heck of a Wild Card battle in P405--currently in a 3-way tie for the 2 spots with Naperville and San Quentin. Good luck to you the rest of the way! __________________

09-02-2019, 08:31 AM	#18
RamMan12 Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Maine Posts: 482	Since it has been a week I figured I would share an update. We won Game 7 of the Silver League Championship and made it to Gold where we then lost in the Championship. I am on to Diamond this week and I cannot wait to see how my team fairs in this very competitive tier. I was able to pull 89 Willie McCovey and 89 Al Dark but other than that all of my additions have been through the AH. My Diamond team is below: Rotation 97 Lefty Gomez 93 Bret Saberhagen 92 Bob Friend 92 Orel Hershiser 89 Greg Maddux Bullpen 94 Bob Veale 91 Doug Jones 90 Gene Garber 89 Rollie Fingers 88 Hong-Chih Kuo 90 Kent Tekulve Starters C 88 Ivan Rodriguez 1B 85 Bill Madlock 2B 95 Honus Wagner 3B 86 Pie Traynor SS 89 Al Dark LF 96 Fred Clarke CF 89 Martin Dihigo RF 91 Paul Waner DH 89 Willie McCovey Bench C 84 Mickey Cochrane IF 69 Eddie Mayo Util 71 Mickey Stanley CF 75 Kenny Lofton CF/RF 88 Roberto Clemente Reserve SP: 92 Sad Sam Jones, 88 Denny Neagle RP: 89 Rich Gossage, 84 Steve Bedrosian, 81 Joe Sambito IF: 95 Willie Stargell, 70 George Kell OF: 85 Lefty O’Doul, 86 Brian Giles __________________

08-24-2019, 09:07 AM	#1
RamMan12 Major Leagues Join Date: Jun 2005 Location: Maine Posts: 482	Story of the Chattanooga Athletics I just wanted to share the story of my 2nd PT team since I feel like it might interest a lot of the PT players out there, especially the F2P players. I created my team a few seasons ago with the idea of being a non-live, F2P team (I have never spent a dime on PT) because I love baseball history and I wanted to learn about players I’ve never followed. While I did buy players from the AH, I tried to rely mainly on packs. The plan was to muddle along in the lower tiers and rely on lucky pulls. I also would only auction my cards that were duplicates or Gold/Diamond Live cards so I could buy more packs. Well, last weekend I decided I wanted some more packs and found I was close to a few missions so I went to the AH to purchase some cheap players that would get me Standard Packs. I spent about 150 points and was able to complete 3 Standard Pack missions. Well, one of those packs landed me the Future Legend Adley Rutschman card! I wanted to keep him but because I had the 88 Ivan Rodriguez from my starter packs and him not technically keeping in tone with my team’s theme, I decided to auction him off. After a couple tries, I was able to gain 252,000 points! I was really excited but decided to make a couple rules for myself: 1, buy 20 packs first. 2, never spend more than 20,000 points in the AH for a player. This was to attempt to bankroll my team and also to make sure I used my lucky pull to really improve my team from top to bottom. In those 20 packs I pulled a perfect Jacob DeGrom, 95 Honus Wagner, Bengie Molina, Michael Conforto, and Ron Darling. I was able to sell DeGrom, Conforto, and Darling for an extra 25ish thousand. I put Molina as my backup to Rodriguez and Wagner (one of my favorite players) into my lineup. I then used the AH to complete the Yan Gomes, Lefty Gomez, and later the Hong-Chih Kuo missions. Then when the Pirates missions came out (huge Pirates fan) I bought up and completed the Pops, Wanger, and Clemente missions to really set my team apart. After pulling 23 more packs I was able to get a couple more historical players including a 92 Sad Sam Jones. I still have 100,000 points left and am trying to wait and see how my team performs in higher levels before throwing it at players. I’ll post my team in the next post but I definitely thought I would share what I have learned from all of this. 1. If possible, it is definitely worth completing Standard Pack missions. Spending 100-200 points to get a Standard Pack is smarter than spending 1000. 2. Opening packs is the best way to improve your team, either directly or indirectly. Sometimes spending 1000 on a pack can get you someone 3. Completing missions is extremely difficult without spending points on the AH. While you may not need to spend a lot, I have only completed 3 out of 20+ missions (between both of my teams) without purposely spending points. However, like #1, sometimes a few points spent can have huge rewards. 4. I wish I could have given cards or points to my main team! I tried to get ahead of the Pirates missions by buying up as many as I could on my main team (Portland Pirates) but I am still one or two cards away from 3 Pirates missions. I would gladly give 50,000 points to my main team so they could complete one or more of those missions if I could. 5. Plan how to utilize your players before playing them. For instance, since my team is so good overall I am teaching players different positions. Bill Madlock is learning 1B, Pie Traynor is learning 1B and 2B, and Honus Wagner is learning 2B and 3B. This will allow me to start all of these guys and do so in positions they can excel in. Also, if someone like Traynor needs to be a bench player, he can now backup multiple positions and frees up a roster spot. I hope you all liked this story! Feel free to ask if you have any questions for me or if something does not make sense! __________________

08-24-2019, 12:21 PM	#4
eldur00 All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2015 Posts: 506	Buying packs will never be the best way to build a team, regardless of what game you play. The odds are stacked against you. You got lucky. I play packs only, have been playing since the game released, and I have seen a grand total of 1 diamond card, which was Rizzo (who has been a gold ever since). About 97% of the packs I've opened this year have been at a net loss. And that's how it should be. You can't win the lottery every time you gamble.

08-24-2019, 09:13 PM	#10
steamrollers Minors (Single A) Join Date: Aug 2019 Posts: 89	Packs are definitely not the best way to improve a team. Yes, some people like you are incredibly lucky or the person who pulled two Adley Rutschmans out of their rear but in reality most people get complete garbage almost all the time. I swear I get Luis Rengifo in about every third pack. Have a current streak of 76 packs without anything better than a gold and have only had 5 golds in that time. Best card ever pulled was a 93 Diamond. I just hope you and the Rutschman person are buying some powerball tickets.

08-26-2019, 03:14 PM	#16
Mizzery Minors (Single A) Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 99	Just as a counterpoint to the original post, I have a packs only FTP team where I accumulated enough points last week to purchase 20 new packs. Opened them up and received 0 diamonds, 0 golds, and 2 low live silvers among the 120 cards. A packs only team is a playing style choice- it inserts a significant level of chance into the game but is extremely inefficient and generally will slow your team development. It can replicate the feeling of being a kid and opening up a pack of cards, and it is always fun before opening a new pack to wonder if this will be the magic pack that will contain that perfect Ruth or equivalent unattainable card. It should never be described as the best or most effective way to play, but it can be fun. I enjoy my one packs only team, but if I was playing that way with all 3 of my teams, I’d tear my hair out and throw the computer out the window.

08-26-2019, 03:29 PM	#17
chazzycat All Star Starter Join Date: Dec 2014 Posts: 1,685	The following statements are both true about packs: 1) They are mathematically NOT the best way to improve your team 2) Someone has to buy them, or the entire game collapses. The system pretty much relies on a huge part of the user base acting irrationally. This works fine, because humans can generally be counted on for that. I mean...the gambling industry is insanely profitable, despite everyone knowing the odds are against them. So OP, please keep buying packs. Because someone's gotta do it, and it's not gonna be me.