Anyone have luck with a theme team?

Cheesehead1964 · 06-25-2019, 07:56 PM

My Barnstormers had decent luck with a championship and made game 7 in the Gold final. Been a dog in Perfect League though.

My Bees have been a strong team but I’m tired of their playoff luck so after completing Brewers Live and the Wallbangers missions I thought I’d give a Brewers theme team a try.

Have some okay cards but not sure I can find enough to make it super competitive.

Anyone have luck with a theme team?

(Accidentally posted this in Perfect Team 19 - reposting)

Edster007 · 06-25-2019, 08:23 PM

I'm doing a 1970's theme. Getting started was easy the for me, the difficult part is upgrading. The team is ftp and I am sitting on a decent amount of PP but there are only so many options. I like the challenge and test of patience given the smaller pool of players. I don't know if I am having luck or not but as I mentioned I like the challenge even when it comes with a little frustration.

LansdowneSt · 06-25-2019, 09:38 PM

Doing well with my Red Sox only team. So well I just got into Perfect League … not sure that's a good thing though … no, not sure about that at all

<Pion> · 06-25-2019, 10:49 PM

My Dodger team made it to Perfect level in PT19. I’ve been tinkering with a Dodger team in PT20 that is at Gold. Haven’t spent as much time with it this time around.

dodger300 · 06-26-2019, 12:29 AM

My all Dodger team won a diamond league WS.But I am getting killed in perfect.

DonkeyKongSr · 06-26-2019, 12:40 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dodger300

My all Dodger team won a diamond league WS.But I am getting killed in perfect.

You've been stuck in the Whale League. I'm about to play you right now and I think I played you last season, where you gave me tons of trouble compared to the other non-playoff teams.

stl jason · 06-26-2019, 08:32 AM

guess it depends on the definition of luck....

my f2p / pre-ww2 team has done pretty well.... 12 full seasons, made the post-season 6 of those.

-Iron level - one season, made playoffs, lost in LCS
-Bronze level - 2 seasons, made playoffs once, lost in LCS
-Silver level - 5 seasons, made playoffs twice, lost LDS once, won WS once
-Gold level - 4 seasons, made playoffs twice, lost LDS once, lost LCS once

now in Diamond league and leading my division... so far so good... haven't made it to perfect level yet, but I figure it's a journey not a race

Chico Guilbault · 06-26-2019, 08:35 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by LansdowneSt

Doing well with my Red Sox only team. So well I just got into Perfect League … not sure that's a good thing though … no, not sure about that at all

Mine has not done as well. I do spend most of my time with the Bail Bondsmen, though.

I can recommend not every trying a One Hit Wonders only team, btw.

Cheesehead1964 · 06-26-2019, 09:12 AM

My Brewers are doing okay at the moment in Diamond.

Not ton of card options, although I'm allowing players that played for the Brewers but may have a card for another team (Grienke on Diamondbacks, Aaron on Braves, and Fingers on Padres to give a few examples).

Have a few PP saved up and saving for the Molitor diamond card....

Drezik · 06-26-2019, 09:37 AM

My Tigers only team has been OK - was consistently in the playoffs and made it up to Perfect but not having much success there. No championships.

My defense only team has been alright. Won a gold championship but stuck in a rut at diamond level until I upgrade my pitching.

BigRed75 · 06-26-2019, 09:49 AM

My Cincinnati theme team has gone up to Gold. I think Diamond will probably be about its limit, but I'd be happy with that. It helps that I've opened it up to players who were born in Cincinnati/Dayton/N. Kentucky (hello Clemens and Schmidt!) and I'm not hung up about absolutely having Reds cards. For example, I have 91 Bret Boone (Mariners) and 90 Dave Parker (Pirates) because they are still Reds greats (and Parker qualifies as a Cincinnati native, anyway). For that matter, all the good Griffeys are Mariners, too.

I do find that theme teams all seem to hit an equilibrium and you have one of three choices:

1. Open up the theme to bring better cards into the mix
2. Stagnate
3. Blow it up and start over (I'm doing this right now, in fact).

My Raleigh theme team in 19 was a perfect example. It was originally just supposed to be players who played for the old Raleigh Capitals minor league team and players born in Raleigh or who played for N.C. State. That proved unworkable pretty quickly, so I opened it up to players born in Eastern North Carolina as well as those who played for UNC, ECU, Duke, etc. Soon, I had 100,000 PP earned and no one to spend it on, so I opened it up to all players from North Carolina. Finally, I was willing to take anyone who played on a minor league team in N.C., which is how I ended up with Jason Varitek (Port City Roosters!) as my starting catcher.

Magus978 · 06-26-2019, 10:41 AM

I started out only wanting to use NL East players. Then it turned into National League only. Then I said the hell with it and abandoned the theme when I felt the team became stagnant.

Problem is we're still stagnant, but at least we're coming off back to back wildcards.

jeffw3000 · 06-26-2019, 11:10 AM

My Pirates did get to Diamond in OOTP19, but that was pretty much their top limit as they were terrible in Diamond. They were not bad in Silver and Gold winning a championship in Silver and getting to the championship in Gold. In 20 they have not fared as well. They got to Gold, but did not do well and got relegated back to Silver. I do allow player that played for the Pirates, rather than just allowing cards of players whose card is with the Pirates. Unlike the Yankees there just are not enough player cards with the Pirates to field a decent team. Especially when it comes to pitching.

Kushiel · 06-26-2019, 11:45 AM

I tried doing a Ranger theme but there is just not enough talent to make it even interesting.

neugey · 06-26-2019, 11:58 AM

My F2P's have been stuck in bronze, so not really. But Roger Clemens threw a perfect game for the Rockets earlier this week, so there is that!

Matt Arnold · 06-26-2019, 12:11 PM

My "two way players" team actually did surprisingly well in Bronze, but they've been killed in Silver. I think they've reached their limits, though, since basically the two-way guys better that my current roster are only guys like Ruth, who might be a little out of their price range.

Charlatan · 06-26-2019, 12:42 PM

My Motown team is restricted to players that were active in what I defined as the "Motown era" - 1959-1988. They've been in the playoffs a few years and are now doing ok in Gold. It's quite a challenge when you restrict yourself to certain era players, but I find it makes things interesting (plus, this era means I'm basically using players who were active when I was a kid, so I enjoy thinking about and using my childhood heroes).

I also have a packs-only team that opens packs on a fixed schedule (2 in midseason and 5 between seasons). They've been interesting to work with but it's pretty hands-off when the season is going, since I only rarely get injections of new players.

webdox · 06-26-2019, 01:14 PM

My Unsung Heroes team is always competitive (so far) from Silver up to Diamond.
Doubt they will do well in Perfect once they make it up there. Unsung just doesn't have a good roster of hitters yet. There are SP, RP, CL galore. My staff is very good with Barker and the other Diamond Unsung SP.

My ALL GOLD Team is very competitive up in Perfect and really shouldn't be.
Not one player above 89 yet they still manage to compete against whale teams.

I spent a fair amount grabbing up and puzzle piecing a lineup of hidden gems that are very competitive. SP is where most of the problem lies with that team. Once in playoffs I am instantly humbled by 4 SP rotations that have top 20 FIP and my Gold Team is immediately reminded they are but shiny Gold, not Perfect...

My All LIVE! Team is very competitive in Diamond... Once they make it up to Perfect they don’t do very well especially the Starters.

Germaniac · 06-26-2019, 02:50 PM

My F2P teams, one with Brewers players and the other with players from before 1990, both are in Bronze Level.

The Brewers team most likely never will get any higher, my Retro team regularly makes the play-offs only to bow out in Round 1 again and again

SpacePope · 06-26-2019, 06:44 PM

I'm running a Giants & Dodgers theme team. We had over 110 wins last season, in Diamond, with some amazing performances (triple crowns in both pitching and hitting). Lost first round of the playoffs, so still in Diamond.

I made some big upgrades coming into this season (100 Mays replacing Pillar at CF and 100 Jackie replacing Turner at 3rd), but we were off to a 28-24 start (3rd in division) when I left for work this morning. Just added a 100 Mathewson and 99 Hubbell, so hopefully the team is clicking again.

Anyway, I'm having a lot more fun with a theme team then I was just playing the best available cards I had.

06-25-2019, 07:56 PM	#1
Cheesehead1964 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2017 Posts: 427	Anyone have luck with a theme team? My Barnstormers had decent luck with a championship and made game 7 in the Gold final. Been a dog in Perfect League though. My Bees have been a strong team but I’m tired of their playoff luck so after completing Brewers Live and the Wallbangers missions I thought I’d give a Brewers theme team a try. Have some okay cards but not sure I can find enough to make it super competitive. Anyone have luck with a theme team? (Accidentally posted this in Perfect Team 19 - reposting)

06-25-2019, 09:38 PM	#3
LansdowneSt Hall Of Famer Join Date: Feb 2004 Location: From Duxbury, Mass residing Baltimore Posts: 5,130	Doing well with my Red Sox only team. So well I just got into Perfect League … not sure that's a good thing though … no, not sure about that at all __________________ Complete Universe Facegen Pack 2.0 (mine included): https://www.mediafire.com/file_premi...k_2.0.zip/file Just my Facegen Pack: https://www.mediafire.com/file_premi..._Pack.zip/file

06-26-2019, 12:29 AM	#5
dodger300 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Apr 2004 Location: Las Vegas Posts: 268	My all Dodger team won a diamond league WS.But I am getting killed in perfect. __________________

06-26-2019, 08:32 AM	#7
stl jason Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2006 Posts: 9,943	guess it depends on the definition of luck.... my f2p / pre-ww2 team has done pretty well.... 12 full seasons, made the post-season 6 of those. -Iron level - one season, made playoffs, lost in LCS -Bronze level - 2 seasons, made playoffs once, lost in LCS -Silver level - 5 seasons, made playoffs twice, lost LDS once, won WS once -Gold level - 4 seasons, made playoffs twice, lost LDS once, lost LCS once now in Diamond league and leading my division... so far so good... haven't made it to perfect level yet, but I figure it's a journey not a race __________________ Beer League dynasty thread - knock 'em back!

06-26-2019, 09:37 AM	#10
Drezik Minors (Double A) Join Date: Feb 2019 Posts: 104	My Tigers only team has been OK - was consistently in the playoffs and made it up to Perfect but not having much success there. No championships. My defense only team has been alright. Won a gold championship but stuck in a rut at diamond level until I upgrade my pitching. __________________

06-25-2019, 08:23 PM	#2
Edster007 All Star Starter Join Date: Jul 2012 Location: New York, NY Posts: 1,670	I'm doing a 1970's theme. Getting started was easy the for me, the difficult part is upgrading. The team is ftp and I am sitting on a decent amount of PP but there are only so many options. I like the challenge and test of patience given the smaller pool of players. I don't know if I am having luck or not but as I mentioned I like the challenge even when it comes with a little frustration.

06-25-2019, 10:49 PM	#4
<Pion> All Star Starter Join Date: Mar 2006 Posts: 1,428	My Dodger team made it to Perfect level in PT19. I’ve been tinkering with a Dodger team in PT20 that is at Gold. Haven’t spent as much time with it this time around.

06-26-2019, 09:12 AM	#9
Cheesehead1964 Major Leagues Join Date: Apr 2017 Posts: 427	My Brewers are doing okay at the moment in Diamond. Not ton of card options, although I'm allowing players that played for the Brewers but may have a card for another team (Grienke on Diamondbacks, Aaron on Braves, and Fingers on Padres to give a few examples). Have a few PP saved up and saving for the Molitor diamond card....

06-26-2019, 09:49 AM	#11
BigRed75 Hall Of Famer Join Date: May 2009 Posts: 2,430	My Cincinnati theme team has gone up to Gold. I think Diamond will probably be about its limit, but I'd be happy with that. It helps that I've opened it up to players who were born in Cincinnati/Dayton/N. Kentucky (hello Clemens and Schmidt!) and I'm not hung up about absolutely having Reds cards. For example, I have 91 Bret Boone (Mariners) and 90 Dave Parker (Pirates) because they are still Reds greats (and Parker qualifies as a Cincinnati native, anyway). For that matter, all the good Griffeys are Mariners, too. I do find that theme teams all seem to hit an equilibrium and you have one of three choices: 1. Open up the theme to bring better cards into the mix 2. Stagnate 3. Blow it up and start over (I'm doing this right now, in fact). My Raleigh theme team in 19 was a perfect example. It was originally just supposed to be players who played for the old Raleigh Capitals minor league team and players born in Raleigh or who played for N.C. State. That proved unworkable pretty quickly, so I opened it up to players born in Eastern North Carolina as well as those who played for UNC, ECU, Duke, etc. Soon, I had 100,000 PP earned and no one to spend it on, so I opened it up to all players from North Carolina. Finally, I was willing to take anyone who played on a minor league team in N.C., which is how I ended up with Jason Varitek (Port City Roosters!) as my starting catcher. __________________ Mainline team SPTT team Was not a Snag fan...until I saw the fallout once he was gone and realized what a good job he was actually doing. - Ty Cobb

06-26-2019, 10:41 AM	#12
Magus978 All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Behind you. BOO! Posts: 1,851	I started out only wanting to use NL East players. Then it turned into National League only. Then I said the hell with it and abandoned the theme when I felt the team became stagnant. Problem is we're still stagnant, but at least we're coming off back to back wildcards. __________________ OOTP Streamer Affiliate who is also your FINAL BOSS. http://twitch.tv/GanbaMagus

06-26-2019, 11:10 AM	#13
jeffw3000 Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 296	My Pirates did get to Diamond in OOTP19, but that was pretty much their top limit as they were terrible in Diamond. They were not bad in Silver and Gold winning a championship in Silver and getting to the championship in Gold. In 20 they have not fared as well. They got to Gold, but did not do well and got relegated back to Silver. I do allow player that played for the Pirates, rather than just allowing cards of players whose card is with the Pirates. Unlike the Yankees there just are not enough player cards with the Pirates to field a decent team. Especially when it comes to pitching.

06-26-2019, 11:45 AM	#14
Kushiel All Star Starter Join Date: Apr 2015 Location: Deep in the Heart of Texas Posts: 1,697	I tried doing a Ranger theme but there is just not enough talent to make it even interesting.

06-26-2019, 11:58 AM	#15
neugey All Star Reserve Join Date: Apr 2011 Posts: 805 Blog Entries: 39	My F2P's have been stuck in bronze, so not really. But Roger Clemens threw a perfect game for the Rockets earlier this week, so there is that! __________________ Online OOTP League Play: PBA - Cincinnati Reds MLM - Baltimore Orioles

06-26-2019, 12:11 PM	#16
Matt Arnold OOTP Developer Join Date: Jun 2009 Location: Here and there Posts: 14,127	My "two way players" team actually did surprisingly well in Bronze, but they've been killed in Silver. I think they've reached their limits, though, since basically the two-way guys better that my current roster are only guys like Ruth, who might be a little out of their price range.

06-26-2019, 12:42 PM	#17
Charlatan All Star Starter Join Date: May 2006 Location: Leesburg, VA Posts: 1,491	My Motown team is restricted to players that were active in what I defined as the "Motown era" - 1959-1988. They've been in the playoffs a few years and are now doing ok in Gold. It's quite a challenge when you restrict yourself to certain era players, but I find it makes things interesting (plus, this era means I'm basically using players who were active when I was a kid, so I enjoy thinking about and using my childhood heroes). I also have a packs-only team that opens packs on a fixed schedule (2 in midseason and 5 between seasons). They've been interesting to work with but it's pretty hands-off when the season is going, since I only rarely get injections of new players. Last edited by Charlatan; 06-26-2019 at 12:43 PM.

06-26-2019, 01:14 PM	#18
webdox Minors (Triple A) Join Date: Dec 2018 Posts: 289	My Unsung Heroes team is always competitive (so far) from Silver up to Diamond. Doubt they will do well in Perfect once they make it up there. Unsung just doesn't have a good roster of hitters yet. There are SP, RP, CL galore. My staff is very good with Barker and the other Diamond Unsung SP. My ALL GOLD Team is very competitive up in Perfect and really shouldn't be. Not one player above 89 yet they still manage to compete against whale teams. I spent a fair amount grabbing up and puzzle piecing a lineup of hidden gems that are very competitive. SP is where most of the problem lies with that team. Once in playoffs I am instantly humbled by 4 SP rotations that have top 20 FIP and my Gold Team is immediately reminded they are but shiny Gold, not Perfect... My All LIVE! Team is very competitive in Diamond... Once they make it up to Perfect they don’t do very well especially the Starters.

06-26-2019, 02:50 PM	#19
Germaniac Hall Of Famer Join Date: Apr 2011 Location: Frankenthal, Germany Posts: 2,993	My F2P teams, one with Brewers players and the other with players from before 1990, both are in Bronze Level. The Brewers team most likely never will get any higher, my Retro team regularly makes the play-offs only to bow out in Round 1 again and again __________________ I'm going to have to meet my Maker some day. And if He asks me why I didn't let this boy play, and I say it's because he's black, that might not be a satisfactory answer. Happy Chandler, 1947

06-26-2019, 06:44 PM	#20
SpacePope Minors (Single A) Join Date: Apr 2019 Posts: 88	I'm running a Giants & Dodgers theme team. We had over 110 wins last season, in Diamond, with some amazing performances (triple crowns in both pitching and hitting). Lost first round of the playoffs, so still in Diamond. I made some big upgrades coming into this season (100 Mays replacing Pillar at CF and 100 Jackie replacing Turner at 3rd), but we were off to a 28-24 start (3rd in division) when I left for work this morning. Just added a 100 Mathewson and 99 Hubbell, so hopefully the team is clicking again. Anyway, I'm having a lot more fun with a theme team then I was just playing the best available cards I had.