It’s now been two weeks since I first signed up for Sorare. I’ve written about it once already and I won’t be writing about it every week but I think this is a good time to help people set some reasonable expectations, build a roster which can win prizes, and feel like this is manageable? The first is to acknowledge that this will take a bit of time to get up and running and you’ll need to identify what you’re buying cards for: to play the game, as an ‘investment’ or because you like having the collectable? If it is the second two this is a much shorter process: buy the stuff you like and think will appreciate well. Tis a mad time and it can seem like you’re never going to win a thing without the deepest pockets.
Let’s first be honest: Sorare has an onboarding problem. In most fantasy games, you have the opportunity to start fresh, level with everyone else. In fact that’s exactly what makes both draft/auction day in traditional leagues so compelling. It’s that desire to constantly refresh which makes daily fantasy sports even more engaging: every week you can start over, level playing field and pick the winners. Of course, that’s not really true. Multiple entries, advanced projections and the knowledge gap make competing in DFS as much luck as any other form of gambling. Sorare doesn’t allow you to do that and they don’t provide any insight themselves into how you can be competitive without spending big. That means people who sign up may take one look at the game and decide it’s not worth the risk.
Use This Link To Register for Your Free Cards - If you Buy Five New Signings You and I Each Receive 1 Free Rare Card.
That list is my publicly available list of referrals. Every one of them is an experienced fantasy player. Some will likely buy cards at auction and play, some won’t. But when experienced fantasy players aren’t able to jump right into a game, there is a bar to entry that takes some of the joy out of it. Believe me, I get it. I spend dozens of hours each week doing deep dives on football stats in leagues all across Europe to properly cover FPL and this has been daunting. But, it’s not impossible - it might even be *easy*. The key is simply to divorce yourself from the names, the teams and the leagues, and concentrate on the points. Specifically on the 50pt threshold. Why that threshold? Well, because it is an ‘average’ score (scores cap at 100 per game per player, before modifiers). Players who score significantly above that threshold cost a significant premium. Some players who score at or just below can be had for a relative steal.
Because I think transparency is important when discussing these things you can always view which players I own, have bought or sold in my profile.
As is always the case in fantasy sports, you must look to acquire not just points, but as many players who have the greatest opportunity to score those points: starters. If you can find regular starters who can average 50+ points in Sorare, you’ll be in with a shot at scoring at least 200-250 points per week. And that threshold will make you a winner every single week.
Global All-Star Division 4
This is the lowest of the ‘pay card’ divisions, where you may use Rare and Common cards. The payouts are heavily weighted to favor the top of the heap - if you play DFS you’ll already be used to that - with the top 10-20 players collecting the bulk of the prizes. If you’re an OFPL or draft player this is no different that mini-leagues paying out a prize to your winner while everyone else is left to summer agony and preparation for the next campaign.
Sorare does not boast the same equality of entry as those other games. If you joined and the first day you watched a Cristiano Ronaldo Unique card sell for over $100,000 you’d rightly be put off! How the fuck am I going to compete with that? You’re not - at least I’m not, maybe you will - but you can compete and win because in GAS4 you can earn 0.01 ETH for scoring 205 points in a game week and 0.02 ETH for scoring 250 points (this is currently the only division with this type of threshold payout). Let’s do some quick math(s). You need five players to start each week - one of which will be your common GK - who are capable of scoring 41 points each. Assuming you don’t splash the cash on a Rare GK, you’ll take a massive points hit there, but even if you get 20 points from your GK that leaves you needing 46 points from each of your other four positions. To be safe lets round up to 50. There are 78 players in the J League alone who have scored, on average, more than 50 points per match.
Use This Link To Register for Your Free Cards - If you Buy Five New Signings You and I Each Receive 1 Free Rare Card.
When I say “starter” I’m not just talking about a real-life starter, I’m also taking about a fantasy Sorare starter. The Japanese and Korean leagues are starting the 2021 campaigns this week. The Russian is resuming with GW 20 (of 30) slated for this weekend. And Major League Soccer is only weeks away and will play through the end of September. I’m focusing on the J-League, K-League and MLS players right now to maximize the number of match weeks I can field a GAS4 five a side (5OS) every week starting now! Here are just two J-League names that played 100% of their last 15 games and averaged 50 points or more:
Hiroshi Kiyotake (M) - while his secondary market is quite high ($267 is a current low), his recent auctions have gone for about half that. Kiyotake plays every match for Cerezo Osaka, scoring eight goals with eight assists in 33 appearances last term (31 starts). That’s a solid return on your investment. It’s important to note he averaged nearly 60 points per match because you also receive a Captain armband which scores an extra 20% plus any % on the card. Purchasing one more expensive card for a player with 60-65 point potential can net you 75 points which both provides a cushion for poor outings from others AND allows you to target some less expensive options at forward.
Eiichi Katayama (D) - last two cards sold at auction for ~$50, played all 15 of his clubs most recent matches, averaging 49.82 points. While he made 32 total appearances for Cerezo Osaka last term, only 18 were as a starter. If the end of the season pointed to a regular starting role he’d be golden. Cerezo Osaka for the double!
In the K-League there are 41 players who score at least 50 points, with the overwhelming majority starting in 80% of more of their clubs last 15 matches. And in Major League Soccer there were 94 players in a bizarre, COVID-interrupted season that hit at least 50 points. Some key players to consider adding this season are:
Keaton Parks (M) - The NYCFC midfielder is going for just under $100 right now but the 23 year old made 21 starts last season in the No. 8 and looks set to keep his place when MLS resumes. The interesting to remember in Sorare is you can play a players card for as long as you own it so buying into a 23 year old will have a bit of an ‘age’ premium in addition to the points they score - makes sense as you could own and start Parks for a decade.
Oswaldo Alanís (D) - San Jose’s projected starting XI (per Matthew Doyle) includes Alanís as the starting left-side center back. In his final seven matches of the last season he scored at least 46 points in all of them (score!) and broke 50 in five of those. His Transfer Market price is low at $52 and there’s an auction ongoing right now where you could score it for less.
Players like Nick Lima, the full back who just moved from San Jose to Austin, and Orlando City’s midfielder Junior Urso have auctions ending today which will help define their pre-season prices. Lima (51.43) and Urso (51.88) are perfect examples of players to target in auction to shave a few quid off the cost of acquisition while slotting in an asset who can help his 205 (or 250!).
Stick to Starters
At first blush Bressan, the Brazilian center-back who plays for FC Dallas in MLS is a good target for our goals. Aged 27 he has a few years of prime performance left, he is listed as a ‘starter’ if you’re running SorareData which also highlights his outstanding performance: in six of his final 10 appearances last season he scored at least 55 points in he broke the 50 point barrier in eight of 10.
Those prices aren’t wildly off base for a player in this scoring range and that he can still be had at auction for significantly less than the over-reach in the Transfer Market may heighten you attempts to land him. With MLS still several weeks from starting their season, anything could happen and certainly a regular starting role would make Bressan an attractive option. However, he made only 11 starts last season, and made only 12 the year before pre-COVID. He is a frequent substitute but that doesn’t help you hit 205.
In addition, FC Dallas does not appear to see him as the solution having just signed a new, experienced center back. From Matthew Doyle of MLS.com:
In have come at least two likely new starters: right winger Jader Obrian from the Colombian top flight, and veteran center back Jose Antonio Martinez, a Spaniard with nearly 100 appearances in Spain's top two divisions.
Doyle has Bressan as the back-up for both Martinez and projected partner Matt Hedges, the 29 year old who featured 19 times last season including 18 starts. Martinez is not currently available on Sorare (there are several Jose Martinez’s available but he’s not one of them) but Hedges can be bought at auction for around $100 (his Transfer Market price is around $180) and has been outstanding value for points regularly claiming north of 55 in 11 of his last 23 appearances. But if you’re trying to do this on a budget, Bressan is exactly the luxury you can’t afford.
Don’t Buy Merveille Goblet
So I have a problem, I like to collect stuff. And a card for a man named Merveille Goblet is square in my wheelhouse. Perhaps not as much as buying EVERY SINGLE FELIPE ANDERSON card which is put on auction, but still a whole lot in my wheelhouse. And that can get tricky. Yesterday I just left the house and walked the dog for the final 10 minutes of the Anderson auction, saved myself $52.49. Best dog walk of my life.
And look, it’s a closed market and we’re going to be competing for some of the same players but one of the reasons I shared the list above is so you know who else from this community is playing so you can help each other find hacks to help build a successful core of cards at a reasonable price and, in 10-20 weeks, be sitting on a small stack of ETH that will help offset your initial costs. That will set you up for both short-term and long-term success.
A Quick Note From Last Week’s Comments
Andrew Laird and I have traded about 500 messages this week on Sorare so here is a lineup he put together which would hit 205 pts on average every week (in practice it hit the threshold twice and missed twice). The biggest hit is the Common GK will lost 45% of their points in this level of competition so again, get a top one. Ask me for names!
NAME - target weekly score - Cost
COMMON GK (-45% points) - 20 pts - Free | DEF - Derijck - 36.6 - $37
MID - Seck - 75 - $46 | FWD - Vossen - 48 - $46 | FLX - Streider - 58 - $42
That netted 238 points. Hit the right captain (+20%) and you're over the 250 threshold as well (0.02 ETH prize) plus you'll finish pretty well over all making you eligible to win prize cards, too. Keep in mind at today’s ETH prices 0.01 ETH = ~$17.50 and 0.02 ETH = ~$35.00 so if you keep you spend low you could recoup your initial investment or build a small next egg of ETH to use in the Transfer Market, on New Signings or to negotiate prices through Direct Offers. That last one is only available (currently) to those with ETH in their wallet so having some there makes a different in your user experience.
So what’s keeping you from playing? Are you already on board? Found any good deals we should be watching? Let us know in the comments.
I'm struggling a little with how best to enjoy Sorare. The most promising thing about it is using my ETH for a fun activity that I'm already familiar with i.e. fantasy. But when I say fantasy, I really mean Premier League. I'm currently in a town with an MLS team and I have avoided following them (unlike everyone else in my EPL supporters group) because I don't need another thing I'm obsessed with. And Sorare seems like it is multiples of that. I care about the premier league and to a lesser extent, other euro leagues. I at least have enough knowledge of those to make decisions about players in Europe. Do you think there's a way to enjoy it on your own terms without having to learn about random leagues because I know that if I start to get into them I'll get into the weeds and I don't want to commit the time. Maybe I just trade cards generally and get involved more with games when the European leagues are active?