Every year we get to start fresh. The part of the year where packing an IF is special. Where golds are making your squad. When trading can be very impactful! Here is how I start each year and some lessons learned along the way!!!
For me, the beginning of the year is the most exciting. My favorite part about early year play is that golds matter, In Forms matter for more than SBCs, packing a good card feels exciting and finding that perfect chemistry between your good cards and players from your favorite club...it all just feels great. There aren't more promo cards than base cards. 1 Icon or Hero can open up so much team building. Grinding for those cards provides a very satisfying win when you finally pack one or trade enough to purchase one.
The hard part is how do I get there? I have taken a very different approach over the past few years that has made a huge difference in my enjoyment of the game. In the past, I would spend a lot on points at the beginning of the year (like 36,000-48,000) and then to keep it going, I'd get more points 1-2 times each month during promos all year long. I just continually would spend points on packs hoping to hit the lottery and get rich. I did not have a healthy balance between real money and grinding the game.
That imbalance ruined the game for me. Even in years where I'd pack some great cards. . .I'd be bothered knowing in my mind how much I spent. Worse yet, in the years I wouldn't really pack anyone valuable, the resentment and frustration would build. I realized that resentment was the source of most of my frustration with the game. It ruined the experience for me. As with everything in life, I had to find a balance that works for me. Trading helped me to find a better balance.
What I do now is allow myself a little kitty to start the year. In the past two years its been from 12,000 to 24,000 over the first month that I use to build up a trade pool. One thing I may do this year is be patient and wait for player packs instead of just ripping packs day 1! Time will tell on this one. My objective is to get enough value from those points to fill up my trade pile. Pending the coin value of the cards I hit and sell, I'll focus on 82-84 rated cards or if I get lucky and hit some more valuable cards, focus on higher rated "meta" cards. If I hit anyone really valuable, that's awesome. . .icing on the cake and I'll maybe use a little for my first squad. But my objective is to fund my trade pile. Trading early on can be very fruitful and afford you a very nice team and continued coin income (if you keep at it).
I know not everyone has the money to do this. There are alternative ways to building up a trade pile. Starting with some points, I'm simply skipping the introductory trading method, called the Bronze Pack Method and jumping right into trading golds. If you're unfamiliar, I just checked. . .ask ChatGPT and it gives a great rundown of how this works.
I try to trade very heavily the first 2 months of the game. This is when trading truly is at its best. As there are so many new people starting out, this is when you can be selling Adama Traore for crazy amounts. There are a few methods for the early game. The Lazy Buyer Method (TL;DR buy players cheap, and list at 2x,3x with a full trade pile), predicting In Forms and purchasing their golds before release, purchasing In Forms and waiting for them to be required in SBCs (which can cause their base price to inflate), trying to predict cards that will fit good SBCs or playing it just like the stock market. The market is very volatile early on. There are less risky methods (Lazy Buyer) that will consistently generate income or more risky methods where you target a certain card and purchase many of them hoping they inflate and you can sell. Having a diverse trade pile (lazy buyer) will be less risky because you are not putting all your eggs in one basket.
This isn't a blog on trading, its a blog to help people who might have been where I was before. I love this franchise but I let it take an unhealthy grip on how I game. I found a balance that works for me and the last 2 years I found myself less angry, less frustrated, and enjoying the game longer and longer. I hope this helps others!
Looking forward to all the changes to gameplay. Looking forward to Tournaments. SBCs. . .it's going to be a good year!
