The past few weeks of MyTeam have definitely been interesting.
On the plus side, I finally finished my James Harden grind. And, after winning 261 Triple Threat offline games, I finally got a card from the vault (Rudy LaRusso, who is awesome). But on the negative side, I don’t know if either card was really worth the time investment.
Specifically with Harden, I’m a huge Rockets fan and the card is great, but 150 games is just too much. Doing some rough math, that’s 40-plus hours of work (assuming you never lose), which is kind of insane.
Now, I don’t want to look a gift horse in the mouth, but with the next batch of challenges (which I do hope are coming), maybe they could be a little less daunting? Or maybe there’s a way to weave in more of a narrative, or better mini-rewards along the way? Or maybe I’m just worn out from completing that grind and need to take a breather.
For the time being, I’m pressing pause on the Hakeem/Kobe cards — especially when I also worry that before I can complete the challenges, a better version of those players will be released in packs or the token market. And why would I think such a thing?
Exhibit A:
I feel terrible for anyone who beat all of those Challenges to unlock opal Brandon Roy. The pink diamond they released shortly thereafter was as good, if not better, than the opal.
Exhibit B:
Why on earth would we need another opal Dirk (who can’t even play his actual position) and another opal T-Mac (who can play the point but is otherwise basically the same card)? I was hoping the original opal McGrady would at least drop in price because of this, but that doesn’t seem to be the case either.
So, again…why?
There are so many players to choose from in the history of the NBA who don’t get the fantasy treatment they (probably don’t) deserve. Jared Dudley’s pink diamond is an example I’ve used before as a card that fits into this category. But now instead of getting a fun opal (or even pink diamond) Mo Bamba who can take on the Tackos and Bols of the world, we’ll probably just get a really great pink diamond Hakeem, who has a dynamic duo with Clyde Drexler that will turn The Dream into an opal. If that does happen, I will lose my mind if I do end up completing the Historic Spotlight Sim grind.
And then after that, they’ll probably release the G.O.A.T Kobe card in the token market (like they did last year with those 99-rated cards for Kobe, MJ and LBJ that were 1,750 tokens). Which of course would be a huge slap in the face to everyone who earned Black Mamba the old fashioned way, but I wouldn’t put it past 2K to do that. So yeah, I’m reluctant to spend that grind time right now until I’m a little more confident I won’t get screwed over by the lazy card recycling.
Which means I’ll probably live to regret my Grant Hill opal token reward purchase.
Yup, even with the four new opals they just released, I spent my hard earned tokens on Hill and Josh Smith. None of the new cards seemed worth it to me, even after allllllllll of that waiting for an update. Luckily, I was still in the pink diamond tier before the new cards dropped, so I was able to get pink diamond LaMarcus Aldridge without buying any extra cards I didn’t need. That LaMarcus is a fun card — as is Sprewell. But I wouldn’t classify any of them as game changers, or more importantly, worth the amount of tokens needed to buy them.
So maybe next time they’ll go out with a bang because if history is any indication, we only have one more token market update left this season.
Exhibit A:
Above is the token market update from May 24, 2019.
And then Exhibit B:
This is our most recent update, on May 23, 2020. And while it was nice to be surprised with that update a calendar day earlier (and on a Saturday), it just didn’t seem worth the wait. Derozan is probably the most interesting, but I’m pretty happy with his current pink diamond (especially with the Lowry duo), so this one isn’t worth 750 tokens for me.
Exhibit C:
This was the final token market update from 2K19 on June 28, and it was pretty good. So maybe there’s hope for us yet — approximately four weeks from now if the pattern continues.
But (and I’ve said it numerous times before) there should be token market updates on a monthly (or weekly) basis, even if it’s just one card from each gem tier. Just to have something to look forward to consistently spending my tokens on would be fantastic.
As long as I’m wishing and hoping, at this stage of the game I’d just like a nice variety of unique, elite cards that I can run an offense through and build squads around. You know, to run alongside all of those diamonds and pink diamonds I’ve gotten from the Spotlight Challenges.
So I don’t want a 5-foot-11 point guard with HOF Get Stuffed at the Rim, or a center who can suddenly play point guard. Paul George and Kawhi would be a nice start, but give me something interesting. Something surprising. Like an opal Josh Jackson, who in an alternate reality could have been a superstar. Or an old classic player who truly needs an update, like opal Kevin McHale. If he played in the modern NBA, he could maybe be an elite stretch five who can handle the ball and still dominate people inside with his plethora of post moves. Or someone I’m not thinking of as, again, there are thousands of players to choose from throughout NBA history. Please stop giving me the same cards over and over again with different positions.
Unless it’s an updated opal Kevin Durant who can play SG/SF. I’d be okay with that. Or, what would probably be better, actually, is to give the current KD an evolution level that updates his stats/badges, plus opens up SG as a playable position.
I know I know, I’m a fickle gamer who shouldn’t complain so much, but I promise I do it out of love.
Finally, don’t get me started on the Spotlight Sim cards.
Those have been boring recently, and I actually really enjoy throwback cards so I’m definitely not biased towards current players. Stephen Jackson is a solid new opal, but he’s insanely expensive. Drop a card like that with a Paul George Prime Pack (the Pacers connection), so while everyone is worried about getting Paul, I can grab Captain Jack on the cheap.
It looks like these are probably being retired though. This week’s weak batch of new Spotlight Sim cards aren’t even in regular packs, they’re just in the horrid Super Packs. But what does that mean going forward?
Weekly Playoff (or Throwback Playoff) Moments Packs? Those were cool last year. Or what about some sort of Award Winner packs (MVP, Rookie of the Year, etc.) so ideally we’re only getting elite cards? I’d be okay with that, and they have to do something to replace the typical playoffs and finals content we’d normally be getting.
Well, until they use that as an opportunity to release a pink diamond Grant Hill that’s better than my evolved opal, or a juicy MVP James Harden.
Either way, with each passing week it feels like we’re building towards something. I trust there’s a plan and that it will blow our collective minds. G.O.A.T Jordan and the potential for other G.O.A.T. cards is intriguing, but it seems like right now 2K is leaning too heavily on silly cards like Shooting Guard Dirk. Maybe next up we’ll get something epic, like a legit theme pack release with proper end-game players. Or the next Prime pack, along with an idea of who the final Prime collection reward will be.
Who am I kidding, it’ll probably just be Flash and Buzzer Beater packs from here on out! Though I’d definitely rather wake up to new Buzzer Beater packs on a Tuesday, rather than see more of these stupid Super Packs. Especially the VC-only kind, those are just terrible.
So yeah, don’t buy Super Packs guys and gals. Speak with your wallets, and let 2K know that we’re tired of that nonsense.
And let’s also all hope that MyTeam 2K20 is about to elevate to another level this summer instead of fizzling out early to put the focus on next year and next gen.
Published: May 29, 2020 12:00 pm