We re-tune our ratings every month as the meta shifts, and September is worth a quick note: with this month's content drops, nearly every new card is a 99. Here's the short version of what we did to keep things honest. (For the full breakdown of how these ratings work, see our summer deep dive.)
- Meta Overall got its monthly re-tune against the community's latest tier lists. The good news: it barely moved. The model already tracks the September meta well, so this was a tune-up, not an overhaul.
- True Overall™ — our AI model — was retrained on the current card pool, so its read on all the new 99s is grounded in this month's data instead of a guess.
- We recalibrated our all-time scale. With this many 99s in circulation, we made sure new cards are measured against the actual all-time greats. A fresh 99 starter now slots in behind the Randy Johnsons and Pedro Martinezes of years past, right where it belongs, rather than leapfrogging them. We also reined in a few elite closers that had crept up next to top starters.
The bottom line: the new 99s are rated fairly against the best cards we've ever tracked, the elite stayed elite, and nothing got repainted.
Frequently Asked Questions
For most cards, only slightly. Meta Overall barely moved. The bigger change was recalibrating the scale so the wave of new 99s is measured fairly against past legends.
The meta shifts constantly as new cards drop. A monthly re-tune keeps both ratings current with the cards people are actually using.
