NBA 2K18's MyTeam: Week 19

Pink. Diamond. Harden. He’s my favorite player on my favorite team, so I figure if there ever was a time to splurge, that time is now.

I just dropped $100 to go after him. That’s 450,000 VC, and 80+ packs. Below I’ll detail what I got out of this endeavor (literally and existentially).

And here we go.

I started off with a 20 pack box.

This was the first pack. Pretty dissapointing.

As was the second. (If I get another silver Mason Plumlee, I’m going to scream). Packs 3-10 were highlighted by an emerald Al Horford. Packs 11-20 got me an emerald Eric Bledsoe.

And that’s it. Zero diamonds. Zero rubies. Zero sapphires. No great badges or shoes, and obviously no James Harden. Not even an emerald one. Pausing to evaluate my mood, I think regret and shame are shining brightly though the euphoric pack-opening haze.

But not brightly enough, as I’m soldiering on.

I decided to switch it up with a 10 pack box. Maybe that will bring the luck…

Or not. So far, just another emerald:

It’s a moments card at least, so maybe that’s a good sign?

Then fast forward to pack 10 and I get a sapphire, but it’s Kevin Love. I guess the pack-opening gods just need to warm up. Yeah, that’s what I’m going to keep telling myself…

But the harsh reality after 30 packs opened is zero diamonds, zero rubies and one sapphire.

The next box finally gets me a ruby:

But it’s a stupid coach. Let’s fast forward again, as the rest of this box was absolute garbage.

Another 10 pack box is purchased… and the mood is quickly turning from regret to anger. It had nothing. Zilch. Nada. So now 50 packs in, I’m up to (ha) zero diamonds, zero rubies (coaches won’t count) and one sapphire.

Which honestly, is crazy.

In addition to the PD Harden, there’s a few great diamond moments cards that I could at least sell. Like LeBron and Steph, or just a plain ol’ diamond Harden, actually. I always imagined that somehow 2K keeps track of how many packs people are opening, or at least the amount of money spent. Basically I figured if you spend a bunch of money, you are rewarded, and if you didn’t, you aren’t.

You know, to entice people to spend the money. Because if spending gets you nothing, why would anyone do it?

Well, I guess it still is kind of fun to open the packs. The anticipation… the euphoria I mentioned earlier… like playing the lottery in real life. Anything could happen. Okay, I’m going to switch over to a throwback box. Maybe I can pull cards that I’m missing from my historic collections so I can at least get my hands on Dirk.

Well well well, I made the right call it seems. I defintely wouldn’t mind getting my hands on that amythest Hakeem Olajuwon signature series card…

Hahahhahhahaahahahhahaahhahahah hahaaha haha ha ha hah… Oh God what have I done with my money?

Okay, pack two has a sapphire Derek Harper. Not one of the sapphires I was hoping for, but I can at least get some MT from it. Obviously not the million-plus MT it would take to buy that sweet PD Harden outright…

*Sigh*

So I’m fast forwarding yet again, as unfortunately packs 3-10 were crap. The best card was a historic gold (from the Bucks collection) Luc Mbah A Moute, which I already had. And I did scream during this box opening, as I pulled yet another silver Mason Plumlee.

My anger is now sadness. Which is slipping towards depression.

But I’ve still got 127,000 VC, so

LET’S

KEEP

GOING!!!

(Manic depression, maybe?) One last 20 pack box is about all I can afford at this point. Maybe there’s still time to rally…

Or maybe not. Another Luc Mbah A Moute.

Though at least this one is from my Rockets. That’s got to be a sign. Right?

Hmmm. Another Rocket. Definitely a sign. Something is coming, I can feel it…

Okay. A diamond is a diamond is a diamond. Better than nothing. I can make some MT at least… unless he’s the new Hassan Whiteside or Karl Malone, aka not worth spit. That would suck.

But let’s stay positive here. Maybe Boogie was the beginining of a huge upswing and I’ll be celebrating momentarily…

Nope. That’s it, pack 20 of 20. Nothing else even worth mentioning.

So, 80 friggin’ packs opened and I end up with one diamond, one amethyst (but c’mon, Karl Malone doesn’t really count), zero rubies and two sapphires. I’m pretty upset at this point, even with the diamond Boogie. For some (idiotic) reason I really thought I’d get that Harden. Oh well…

On to singles!

And long story short, I opened four packs, then opened my oven and contemplated sticking my head inside.

I’m joking, but yeah…the mood is getting pretty dark around here. Because now that I’ve come this far, it’s hard to stop. I could only afford three packs with VC, so I thought, “what’s one more, I’ll use a little MT and I bet I’ll get him.”

Which was untrue. I didn’t get him.

Then I thought, “I should open five packs total, that’s a nice round number. Yeah, that’ll do it…” But I stopped myself, thankfully. Because that’s pretty close to jumping down the rabbit hole of “I spent $100, what’s another $100? I’ll definitely get him then, right?” And that’s a dangerous place to be my friends.

So after all this craziness, I’d like to think that I am done spending money on virtual currency. Quitting cold turkey. Not even worth it. Who’s with me?

But…

What if next week they release a pink diamond Hakeem Olajuwon? Or what happens when the inevitable PD MJ comes out? Will I be right back here, making dumb choices against terrible odds?

No.

Hopefully not. Maybe. I mean a PD Hakeem would be kind of amazing…But I can’t. Right? Right. Sh*t. Okay, so right now let’s say I’m leaning strongly towards probably not spending more than $20.

That seems reasonable.

I remember when I used to buy physical basketball cards, they at least had pack odds printed on the back. I wish we had that same luxury here, because for all we know there might only be 10 total Harden pink diamonds. Or maybe there’s 1,000 and I’m just terribly unlucky. Well, let’s figure this thing out together. Did anyone out there pull him? Did you get lucky with a couple of packs, or go overboard like me? How much did you spend? It’s okay, tell us, this is a safe place.

While I’m waiting to hear from you, maybe I’ll just open one more…