Moonshot Series Delivers 50+ New Cards To Diamond Dynasty

We've known a big collection was lurking for today, but the overall drop ended up being pretty big. More than 50 new cards have hit Diamond Dynasty, many within the featured Moonshot series. In addition to the usual Spotlight content that also released, this year's MLB X content joins the big update today. Diamond Dynasty gets related content featuring retired players in an exhibition-style contest and has been featured in Diamond Dynasty the last couple of years.

A surprise new legend headlines this year's MLB X Program.

MLB X Program Breakdown

We lived long enough to see Julio Franco in Diamond Dynasty. Franco played 23 MLB seasons before retiring at age 48 in 2007, and is the proud owner of one of the most unique and memorable batting stances in MLB history.

Julio Franco won 5 Silver Slugger awards, the 1990 All-Star Game MVP award, and the 1991 MLB batting title. Early in his career, Franco was also a stolen-base threat, and this package makes for a fun debut. Elite Contact and Clutch with respectable Power and Speed, Franco is worth using solely for the swing experience, and it'll be fun to see how his card performs.

Legends and Flashbacks Collection Update

The latest collection reward is 99 OVR MLB X Ben Zobrist.

This card is just absolutely stupid. Just dumb kinds of good in all of the ways you want a card to be. If cards are going to be ridiculously expensive, being this ridiculously good should be the expectation.

I barely collected Beltran just a day ago, and I'm nowhere close on Zobrist. You're looking at somewhere between 5.4 Million Stubs and 14 Million Stubs to acquire Zobrist.

Fear not! If this super-expensive switch-hitter isn't in your budget, you can instead acquire the also new and also ridiculously expensive switch-hitter that is a lot more affordable. Or something.

Chase Pack 27 Featuring 99 OVR Moonshot Chone Figgins

I love everything about this card, except for the inability to use it. Figgins is a super fun player and I still have his Prime series card on my bench as a speed-running super-utility.

Moonshot Program Breakdown

The main event of the evening is the Moonshot series. Following the framework of all premium set releases, Moonshot gets a full program and Event treatment, with new Mini Season and Diamond Quest content for offline players.

The name is pretty straightforward here, as the program and card series are focused on the Alighmighty Dinger. There's a ton of Moments, including more challenging Moments tasking you with hitting home runs on Hall of Fame difficulty. This will probably be the route I go, as the 6 points for Hall of Fame Moments will be much quicker progress, and then I can just clean up with whatever is left if necessary.

This program is absolutely loaded with cool cards. The Moonshot theme typically "juices up" players that aren't necessarily known for their Power, while essentially maxing out the known power hitters. It's always a fun and diverse selection of cards, and the more "speedy and defensive" players that get Moonshot cards end up being fun variants of our favorite players.

I've been building out a "retro" team build focused on players from my childhood and adolescence. It's a pretty solid squad already, but a ton of new options landed today, including Adam Jones.

I'm old enough to remember when Adam Jones was traded by the Seattle Mariners to the Baltimore Orioles for Erik Bedard. I was glued to the television, watching SportsCenter and ESPNEWS religiously, and I just remember this being a fun trade. Seattle acquired Bedard after a top-5 Cy Young finish in 2007, only to watch him pitch less than 90 innings in each of his first two seasons, while Jones quickly turned into a franchise icon in Baltimore.

Moonshot Jackie Robinson and Moonshot Gil Hodges sandwich the Deluxe Moonshot pack to conclude the program. That's a lotta red compared to Jackie, but Hodges also has one of the craziest swings I've ever used in Diamond Dynasty. I know we talk about this all of the time, but Hodges was nuts last year, and I have no doubt this card will rake as well. Hodges won't make my main squad, but Jackie will absolutely be there somewhere - even if it's off the bench.

The cards featured in this program, including the lower-rated Moonshot pitchers, are:

• Felix Hernandez, SP SEA (74 OVR Moonshot)
• Anibal Sanchez, SP DET (74 OVR Moonshot)
• Jered Weaver, SP LAA (74 OVR Moonshot)
• Zack Britton, SP BAL (74 OVR Moonshot)
• Al Leiter, SP NYY (74 OVR Moonshot)
• Albert Pujols, RP STL (74 OVR Moonshot)
• Roy Campanella, RP LAD (74 OVR Moonshot)
• Keith Foulke, RP CWS (74 OVR Moonshot)
• Jonathan Broxton, RP STL (74 OVR Moonshot)
• Gregory Soto, RP PHI (74 OVR Moonshot)

• Gil Hodges, 1B LAD (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Jackie Robinson, 2B LAD (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Wade Boggs, 3B BOS (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Joe Torre, C ATL (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Rod Carew, 2B LAA (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Paul Molitor, 3B MIL (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Adam Jones, CF BAL (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Adam Dunn, LF CIN (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Garret Anderson, LF LAA (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Dave Roberts, CF LAD (99 OVR Moonshot)

Moonshot Mini Season Breakdown

In what will certainly be a series of vicious assaults on the Rookie level CPU, Moonshot Mini Season serves up a new heaping of pack rewards, including the new Moonshot packs. This is a great way to grind out Moonshot packs to work on the collection, which is going to cost you quite a bit to complete.

Moonshot Diamond Quest

A new Diamond Quest offers a chance to collect up to 3 of the Deluxe Moonshot packs. I love Diamond Quest even if I don't grind them immediately, which makes them fun "later" content that still helps progress in the new programs.

Moonshot III Event & Program Breakdown

Build your best squad with any available hitters and face off against Bronze and Common pitchers at Coors Field. I've fallen behind a bit on programs, so this is a godsend right now to get caught up while also breezing through the Moonshot content.

It's been a great run for Bobby's at second base. Bobby Doerr recently dropped an absurdly good card, and now we get Moonshot Bobby Grich making the second base depth more interesting. Moonshot cards are often all offense with no defense, but Bobby Grich is still carrying a Diamond shield once you hit Parallel Level 1 with him. He was big fun to use with lower-rated cards, and I have a feeling this card will be very good.

Moonshot Series Pack Breakdown

The cards featured in these packs are:

• Matt Carpenter, 3B STL (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Fred Lynn, CF BOS (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Jose Bautista, RF TOR (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Mike Napoli, C TEX (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Richie Sexson, 1B MIL (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Bobby Abreu, RF PHI (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Jeromy Burnitz, RF MIL (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Cal Ripken Jr., SS BAL (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Scott Rolen, 3B STL (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Willie McCovey, 1B SF (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Orlando Cepeda, 1B SF (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Al Kaline, RF DET (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Travis Hafner, 1B CLE (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Johnny Damon, CF NYY (99 OVR Moonshot)
• Jeff Conine, LF MIA (99 OVR Moonshot)

Moonshot Collection

Collect 23 - 99 OVR Moonshot Craig Biggio

Collect 36 - 99 OVR Moonshot Mickey Mantle

Everyone loves Mantle, and you really have to love collecting Moonshot cards to unlock this variant of Mantle.

This variant, by the way, has positional eligibility at CF, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, LF, and RF. That is not a typo.

Moonshot Mickey Mantle can play every position except Catcher and Pitcher. I don't make the rules; I just talk about how expensive they are. This collection will currently run between 200,000 Stubs and 1.1 million Stubs depending on how you approach the collection. There's plenty of free cards to grind, so slow and steady always wins the race, while those that have been prepared can basically just play one of the greatest hitters of all time at whatever position they want.

September Spotlight Drop 2 Program Breakdown

Full yet? There's still September Spotlight to cover, so make room.

Here's your budget-friendly switch-hitter via the Spotlight Program.

September Spotlight Pack 2 Breakdown

The cards featured in the September Spotlight Drop 2 are:

• Adael Amador, 2B COL (99 OVR Spotlight)
• Anthony Volpe, 2B NYY (97 OVR Topps Now)
• Leonardo Bernal, C STL (97 OVR Topps Now)
• Victor Mesa Jr., RF TB (99 OVR Spotlight)
• Brett Bateman, CF TOR (99 OVR Spotlight)
• Lawrence Butler, RF ATH (97 OVR Topps Now)
• Emmanuel Rodriguez, CF MIN (97 OVR Topps Now)
• John Peck, SS DET (97 OVR Topps Now)

Double XP Live Now

Now until September 21, Double XP and the 2X HR multiplier are both active. Rack up extra XP to complete your programs while the community continues grinding toward the Community Home Run Challenge.

There's all of the content on this massive Friday. What are you grinding first?