The MLB The Show 19 Diamond Dynasty Starter Guide

by Matthew Kato on Apr 02, 2019 at 04:16 PM

MLB the Show 19’s Diamond Dynasty mode has been overhauled from previous years in an attempt to alleviate the grind, make more player cards accessible, and allow for gamers to notch progress by playing in other game modes. It’s a great breakthrough for Diamond Dynasty and the title as a whole.

With all that’s new in the mode, where do you start? This guide breaks it down for you to send you on your way towards building a solid squad without having to spend real money along the way.

HOW DOES IT WORK?

The basics of Diamond Dynasty mode in MLB 19 are the same as before: You build a squad of players through playing the game, pack openings, and the Market. The differences this time, however, are significant. You earn rewards at a better rate, many of those rewards are choosable (letting you tailor the reward to your needs), and there are more places to earn XP to fuel your progress.

Featured Programs are the cornerstone of Diamond Dynasty. These are comprised of challenges like Daily missions, Collections, and Moments that grant players Program Stars upon completion. Program Stars are automatically redeemed for prizes, with the game’s initial 1st Inning Program dispensing rewards at intervals over a span of 600 total Program Stars. Notable prizes along the way include Gold player choice packs (choose from one of five players) at 100 and 200 Stars, and a Diamond choice pack (one of three players) at 300 Stars.

Earning Program Stars is also fueled by getting XP for not only completing challenges throughout the game, but for in-game accomplishments from home runs to routine feats like striking out a batter. Thus, by earning XP anywhere in the game you earn Program Stars. XP also fuels a separate XP Reward Path containing its own choice packs, Stubs, equipment, and more.

Speaking of the XP Reward Path, be sure to look at what rewards you have coming down the road such as the choice packs. You can see their contents before you get them, which helps you plan exactly how you're going to strengthen your squad.

WHAT ARE SOME EASY WAYS TO EARN XP?

Turn on the game. You’ll get a card and a pennant each day. The card won’t be really worth anything, but it could be used towards Collections and Exchanges (more on these later). Collect nine pennants and you’ll get a Standard Pack.
Play other modes. Road to the Show, March to October, Franchise, and even Play Now give you XP for whatever you do on the field, even if it's not pretty. This XP not only goes to the XP Reward Path, but towards Program Stars for the current Featured Program.
Do the current Program's Daily Missions. These can be as easy as racking up a certain number of innings with the listed team's players – accomplished faster the more players from that team you put into your starting lineup – or getting X number of runs in a multiplayer game. The team-based mission can be reloaded once if you don't own any players from the listed team. As you accumulate more and more junk cards (remember those free cards you get every day just for logging on?), these can be used as easy fuel to easily complete the 2,000-point Exchange daily mission for five Program Stars.
Pick off any quick and easy Moments. Moments are listed in the Featured Program's to-do list as well as under their own menu in Diamond Dynasty, and some can be easily completed and/or are short (i.e. starting off already in the 8th inning). These can be knocked off for some Stubs, XP, and Program Stars. Don't forget to do the Moments not tied to the Featured Program as well (i.e. Welcome to Moments and Storylines), which also give out rewards.

Collections. It won't take you long to get enough cards to fill out the positional Starter Collections for Standard Packs, and it doesn't matter which ones from your inventory you use. The first tier of some Live Series team collections (requiring 10 players) can also be filled out for the relatively low amount of stubs it may take to acquire the specific players via the Community Market.
Team Affinity. This year's Diamond Dynasty encourages you to play in other modes, and Team Affinity ties the fantasy mode with the new March to October mode. Win the World Series in March to October and you'll be earning Team Affinity rewards in no time. The first major milestone on the mode's reward path – a gold player card – can be earned by beating March to October on Veteran difficulty, and you can repeat this March to October loop for all the teams and their rewards. Furthermore, Team Affinity is furthered by putting players from whatever team you choose in your Diamond Dynasty lineup. The repeatable 250 Innings challenge sounds like a lot, but shouldn't take long with multiple players from the same team in your lineup.
Create a Player. Create a player is a little different this year, giving gamers Moments to play with existing players, but still letting you craft your own player. You can play all the Moments through the different positions, so don't miss the chance to knock down those quick and easy rookie Moments for Stubs and XP. Furthermore, you can unlock diamond versions of your created player later on.

HOW DO YOU MAKE STUBS IN THE COMMUNITY MARKET?

MLB the Show’s Market for player cards, equipment, Stadiums, etc. is a great place to make easy coins – and you don’t even have to be a total market mastermind.

Head over to the Market and look for the players, equipment, sponsorships, etc. that have a relatively large discrepancy between the Buy Now amount (which will be higher) and Sell Now amount. In the case of players, I like to first filter by team just to narrow down the number of cards present.
Click on the card and go to "Buy/Sell Options." Then look at the Stub amounts in the “Sell” column on the right side. These are descending Stub amounts players who have the card are selling their cards for. The number at the top of the Sell column (let’s say 1,000 Stubs) represents the highest current bid for the card. So you want to "Create a Buy Order” that is higher (ex. 1,005 Stubs) by clicking on the "Buy" column on the left.

If the seller accepts your Buy Order then the card is yours. Now you’re going to flip the card by doing the reverse process. Look at the “Buy” column of ascending Stub amounts. These represent the going rate for the card. Let’s say the top number in the Buy column is 1,500. You want to price your card just under this, but not too low otherwise you could undercut your own potential profit and/or even start a freefall in the card’s price. So, click on the Sell column and create a “Sell Order” for 1,495. If someone buys the card from you, in this instance, you’ve just made 495 Stubs (BEFORE the 10 percent sell tax).
When you create a Sell Order keep tabs on it, because other people are going to be undercutting your price so you may have to cancel your Sell Order and post a new one. Worse case scenario is the card goes into freefall and you get less profit from its sale than you originally plan. I’ve seen prices fall, but I can’t remember straight out losing Stubs on a card.
Of course, these are just the basics of card flipping, and there are more strategies to maximizing profit in the market due to what cards are new, the Featured Program, and what cards may be en vogue for the Daily Missions, and much more.
One really handy aspect of the Market is the official browser, which lets you buy/sell to your heart’s content at your computer after signing in with your PSN account.
BTW, although MLB 19 offers immediate Quick Sell and Sell Now options, don't use them. Quick Sell gives you a paltry amount of Stubs, and even the Sell Now price is often lower that what that card may fetch on the Market.

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