Have you ever looked through your baseball card collection and marveled at how good a team you'd have if they were on a real team? With Sorare, your dream can become a reality.
Unfortunately, you can't put the cards in your bicycle spokes or play, "closest to the wall", and there's no stale bubblegum staining the end card. The cards are digital.
In short, you collect cards, set a lineup and enter it into tournaments. Additional cards are awarded as prizes. You can also purchase or trade for additional cards. The cards carry over to next season and you never lose your cards, even if you don't win a tournament you've entered.
I'm going to be upfront; this is my first venture into the NFT (non-fungible token) world. That said, I know a little something about baseball cards and setting a lineup, so this is the perfect entry into the market. Each week, I'll share my experiences and track my team.
What follows is a rundown of the basics and a look at my initial card collection. If this is something of interest, please check out Sorare and tell them ToddZ sent you.
Fees
There is no cost to join. The game is Free-to-play. However, you can buy, sell or trade cards.
The Digital Cards
After you sign up, you'll be asked to choose a common card, then you'll be assigned 12 more, comprising your initial collection. The positions will be distributed so you can set a legal lineup. In addition to your chosen common card, your pack will contain
- Four Starting Pitchers
- Two Relief Pitchers
- Two Corner Infielders
- Two Middle Infielders
- Two Outfielders
Initially, your collection will consist of 13 common cards. In addition to these common cards, there are four levels of the NFT cards:
- Limited
- Rare
- Super Rare
- Unique
Acquiring and winning cards at the higher level allows entry into higher level tournaments. This is all explained on Sorare, but I'll document the process as I navigate through playing the game.
Scoring
Points are assigned as follows:
Hitting
- Runs: 3 points
- RBI: 3 points
- Single: 2 points
- Double: 5 points
- Triple: 8 points
- Home Run: 10 points
- Walk: 2 points
- Strikeout: -1 point
- Stolen Base: 5 points
- Hit By Pitch: 2 points
Pitching
- Inning Pitched: 3 points
- Strikeout: 2 points
- Hit Allowed: -0.5 points
- Earned Run: -2 points
- Walk: -1 point
- Hit Batsmen: -1 point
- Win: 5 points
- Save: 10 points
- Hold: 5 points
Lineup
An active lineup is composed of the following:
- One Starting Pitcher
- One Relief Pitcher
- One Corner Infielder
- One Middle Infielder
- One Outfielder
- One Extra Hitter
- One Extra Hitter or Pitcher
Game Play
Sorare runs two tournaments a week, Monday through Thursday and Friday through Sunday. The better you fare, the better the cards you're awarded. Once ample cards of a higher level are collected, you can enter a higher level tournament.
With only a couple weeks left in the MLB season, it will be hard to gain access to higher levels, but let's learn the process now and do some damage in 2023.
My Initial Team
The first player was my choice. Sorry, I should have jotted down the options. I selected Corbin Burnes. I haven't had much time to really think through the scoring, but with tournaments twice a week, I wanted to make sure I have at least one ace, and I have no clue what Sorare will assign me.
As it turns out, I received an elite arm in Zac Gallen and the solid Drew Rasmussen, but with the super-utility spot, I can use both hurlers if they both are scheduled to start in a tournament. The other starters included in the initial set of common cards is Bryse Wilson and Joey Wentz.
The relievers are Giovanny Gallegos and Collin Snider. I suspect the first course of action will be learning how to acquire a cheap reliever. Holds aren't worth as much as saves, but at least they're scored.
My corners are Charlie Culberson and Alec Bohm while the middlemen are Donovan Solano and Luis Garcia. The hitting is rounded out with Bubba Thompson and Victor Reyes in the outfield.
The first tournament commences Friday. Burnes, Rasmussen and Wentz all worked Wednesday, so they're not slated to pitch over the weekend. Gallen is the clear choice over Wilson. The entire lineup is
- SP: Gallen
- RP: Gallegos
- CI: Bohm
- MI: Garcia
- OF: Thompson
- UT: Solano
- UT/P: Wilson
The final spot came down to Wilson, Snider or Reyes. Snider hasn't collected a hold since May 17, so I took the chance Wilson isn't crushed by the Mets.
Wrap-up
The basics of the game have been presented. There is a plethora of nuances to discover, but it's best to learn to crawl before walking. I hope you'll join me as I embark on this new adventure. Let's just hope this old dog can learn some new tricks.
