Earlier this week, we saw the first Monthly Awards program and Retro Lightning collection launch. This brought a ton of new cards to Diamond Dynasty, including the best versions of Chipper Jones and Elly De La Cruz we've seen so far this year.
The train doesn't stop, as another massive content drop lands today featuring the 3rd Inning XP Program. New bosses, new henchmen, new programs, and so much more.
Let's get to it.
Bobby Witt Jr. Takeover Program
Yesterday, we got a surprising update to the game art for MLB The Show 26. Yankees' megastar Aaron Judge was the only announced cover athlete, and has been the sole face we've seen until now. Reminiscent of last year's three-part cover athlete program featuring the announced trio of cover guys, Kansas City Royals shortstop Bobby Witt Jr. is now the featured cover athlete in The Show 26.
It's a fairly simple program to knock out, with free packs, Stubs, and XP along the way to a 93 OVR Cover Athlete Bobby Witt Jr.
For an out-of-nowhere release, this is an insanely good Bobby Witt Jr. that everyone can get for free. His Live Series card has been one of the most expensive cards all year, so getting an alternate version of a collection gatekeeper feels like a big deal.
The Cover Athletes version is a better overall card, and the Live Series has fallen below 100,000 Stubs as of this publication. Lowering the price to make the already insanely expensive Live Series collection cheaper is perfectly fine with me.
Cover Athletes Bobby Witt Jr. is now the #4 Meta Overall shortstop and #8 Meta Overall third baseman.
New Mother's Day Conquest Map in MLB The Show 26
A new Mother's Day themed Conquest map is live. In addition to the usual hidden rewards, completing this map will reward you with a 92 OVR Retro Topps Now Javier Baez.
The now-Detroit Tiger unfortunately suffered a severe ankle sprain recently, meaning he'll be out of action for quite a while. This card pays homage to Baez's Chicago Cubs days and has pretty balanced offensive attributes with 99 Fielding that can play 3B, 2B, and SS.
Important note: This card cannot be bought or sold on the marketplace. You will have to complete this Conquest map to unlock this card.
MLB The Show 26 Roster Update Breakdown and New Diamonds
The first Live Series roster attribute update has landed, bringing three new Diamonds with Andy Pages (LAD), Christopher Sanchez (PHI), and Seiya Suzuki (CHC) joining the Diamond Club in Diamond Dynasty.
The most informed market investors use the Roster Update Predictor here at ShowZone to maximize returns. With expert insight from LouisAnalysis, the Roster Update Predictor can help you generate extra Stubs all year to help you acquire any card you desire.
These updates are now occurring on a rough monthly basis. This is a departure from years past when we saw new attributes every couple of weeks. This will have an effect on the long-term market value of the Live Series collection, obviously, so staying on top of predictions can help you make the most out of your investments.
Check out the full roster update breakdown here.
MLB The Show 26 Weekend Classic 2 Breakdown
The second Weekend Classic has arrived, bringing two brand new rewards in the Weekend Classic Choice Pack that can be earned depending on your placement on your divisional leaderboard this weekend.
The rewards this time around feature 94 OVR Postseason Yordan Alvarez and 94 OVR Awards Jorge Posada.
Weekend Classic is intended to be a competitive crash course of Ranked Seasons games, so seeing names like this in the Choice Pack is always a pleasant sight. These are two of the most popular players in Diamond Dynasty, and they both immediately become two of the best cards in Diamond Dynasty.
You'll have to grind out some sweaty games, but having a crack at two of the top-ten cards in all of Diamond Dynasty certainly seems like incentive to get into games this weekend. Jorge Posada to me might just be the best catcher in all of Diamond Dynasty whenever he has an actively competitive card, and Yordan smashes everything so the common theme of today is - the new cards rule.
Tip: If you don't want to grind through sweaty games, these cards can be purchased from the marketplace but expect them to be fairly pricey.
May Spotlight Program/Pack 1 Breakdown
We wrapped up April Spotlight a few days ago, and we're already into the first week of content for May. Play through highlights from the previous week in real MLB action, earn packs, Stubs, and free cards including 93 Spotlight Mickey Moniak in the program.
Reminder: These Spotlight Programs feed directly into the monthly award Lightning collection. You can complete these weekly programs instantly by completing the Collection for each week's Spotlight Pack cards, skipping gameplay grinding entirely. If you're planning on pursuing Retro Lightning, this saves you a ton of time up front as you'll only be able to collect Spotlight cards from each week's pack towards Retro Lightning.
Within the pack this week, we get a couple of new 93 OVR Spotlight cards in Christian Walker (HOU) and Sean Burke (CWS).
Spotlight Sean Burke is a very interesting card to me. It's a name we don't really see so there's an unfamiliarity that can be hugely beneficial for pitchers. The pitch mix is very solid and the attributes are quite good. Now that I'm in the Hall of Fame territory within Ranked Seasons, any incremental boosts are welcomed and I might find myself trying out Burke and seeing how he responds in a World Series push.
Chase Pack 9 Featuring 95 OVR Ken Griffey Jr. (Seattle Mariners)
We also get a Chase Pack refresh today and Pack 9 features 95 OVR All-Star Ken Griffey Jr. in Seattle Mariners form.
This year introduced the Red Diamond tier, where any 95 OVR+ card is denoted with the special Red Diamond art. The Kid being the first official Red Diamond Chase card just feels right, doesn't it?
All-Star Griffey Jr. immediately lands as the #1 Meta Overall center fielder in Diamond Dynasty. You're getting reverse splits on this card, with Griffey mashing lefties a bit better than righties while having solid defense and Speed attributes to boot. SDS confirmed on stream that this Griffey has the "good swing", meaning that iconic smooth swing will debut as the pre-order Griffey featured his rookie swing animation.
This will probably be the best Griffey we see until the 99 overall cards start pumping out, so may the pack luck ever be in your favor.
3rd Inning Cornerstone Program Featuring 93 OVR Salvador Perez (Kansas City Royals)
The newest Cornerstone player is none other than Royals mainstay Salvador Perez. One of the best catchers of his generation, Salvy is a perfect selection for the Cornerstone series that highlights players that have made major impacts with specific franchises.
Salvy is a 9x All-Star, 5x Gold Glove winner, 5x Silver Slugger recipient, and World Series MVP of the 2015 World Series that his Kansas City Royals won.
This is a great card to install at catcher and he's free. Very balanced offensive profile that can achieve a Diamond shield defensively at Parallel 4. As the power creep increases, a card like this can offer a great stopgap if your catcher gets outclassed by new cards.
Pro Tip: Knock this program out now! Cornerstone cards are part of the big Legends and Flashbacks collection and make up one of the easiest vouchers to acquire. Even if you won't add Salvy to your squad now, it'll save you time in the future.
MLB The Show 26 3rd Inning Program Breakdown and Bosses
Finally, the main event of today's content drop is the launch of the 3rd Inning Program.
The main "seasonal" content in Diamond Dynasty, each inning increases the baseline of power level while bringing an entirely fresh path of rewards to earn.
The usual haul of packs and Stubs is accompanied by two unique cards in the reward path itself.
Fairly early in the path at 57,500 XP you will earn 93 OVR 2nd Half Carlos Delgado and at 235,000 XP we get the first "boss" of the program in 94 OVR Breakout Corbin Burnes.
These players are starting level quality, and Burnes actually lands as the #3 Meta Overall starting pitcher. Corbin Burnes is typically fantastic in Diamond Dynasty online play, as he has the quintessential meta pitch mix featuring super hard Sinkers and Cutters, with gross off-speed pitches to keep hitters off-balance.
3rd Inning Boss Choice Pack
95 OVR All-Star Juan Soto and 95 OVR Awards Francisco Lindor are the 3rd Inning Bosses. Completing the program will give you a choice between these players, both of whom are amazing and you really can't go wrong. Plus, you always have the option of buying the other Boss which nets bonus XP in the next Inning Program.
All-Star Soto is certifiably nuts. He lands as the #4 overall card in Diamond Dynasty. A free Boss card that is literally one of the best cards in the game is hard to beat, but Soto's current Mets' teammate Lindor has a card that puts up a worthy fight for consideration.
Lindor lands as the second-best shortstop according to Meta Overall. He also lands in the top-25 Meta Overall, but he's not nearly as impactful on the meta as Soto.
Juan Soto is all offense while Lindor has more of a balanced skill-set. There's plenty of respectable options at the corner-outfield spots and shortstop, but both of these Boss cards are very good and do different things.
If we consider everyone will be getting a free Corbin Burnes, perhaps Soto looks even better when you consider that he's stronger against RHP than the switch-hitter Lindor.
You cannot go wrong with either pick here. I usually grab both Bosses to get the bonus XP, and I'll feel less bad about spending the Stubs when it's on cards like these.
One final note for today's content launch is the addition of an XP Wheel Spin in the Multiplayer Program 3 launching next week. At the end of every Inning Program, we are able to continue earning rewards after completing said program by earning XP that fills up the wheel spin meter. Now, a second wheel spin is available within the Multiplayer Program which adds even more reason to continue playing online once you wrap up programs.
That's your massive content drop for the weekend! What are you starting on first? Which Boss will you be taking?
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