Players accumulate points by completing communal team sets in this fun baseball card game.
For 4 to 7 players, ages 6 and up.
How to Win
The first player to tally 125 points wins the game.
How to Play
Each player starts with 10 unopened packs (150 cards). Players are given 10 minutes (timed) to open starter packs and sort cards.
After timed rip/sort period ends, game play goes in turns. Players complete one of three actions during a turn: activating a team stack, adding cards to an activated stack (Add-Ons), and picking a Wild Card. The individual player chooses which action to complete in his turn. If a player chooses a Wild Card, the action specified on the Wild Card is completed before the turn is over.
How Points Are Awarded
Players are awarded points by activating team stacks or by adding cards to activated team stacks (Add-Ons). Once a player submits cards for points, those cards are tallied against the master team checklist and points are awarded.
Once a player has submitted his cards for points for a given team, that team is activated for the other players to submit Add-Ons.
A player cannot accumulate points until he activates a team stack (either through cards in initial pack rip or through Free Add). After the initial add, that player is activated for points and can add additional cards to other team stacks.
Point Structure
Points are awarded in two ways: activating team stacks and placing cards on already-activated team stacks (Add-Ons). Once a team stack is activated and points are awarded to the activator, the point structure for Add-Ons is applicable for that team. See the chart below for point amounts.
Initial Team Stack Activations
Completed team: 35 points
(A completed team includes DK, any RR, and MVP cards plus all base cards)
25–29 members of team: 25 points
20–24 members of team: 20 points
15–19 members of team: 15 points
10–14 members of team: 10 points
Add-Ons are worth as follows:
To team stacks
MVPs: 3 points each
Diamond Kings & Rated Rookies: 2 points each.
Base cards: 1 point each.
Last card, regardless of type: 5 points
To MVP/DK/RR stacks
1 point each, respectively
Example: Player 1 assembles 13 different Atlanta Braves cards and places stack on game board in unclaimed team spot. Player 1 is awarded 10 points and Braves team stack is activated. Player 2 then adds three cards to Braves team stack—a Diamond King and two base cards—and is awarded 4 points.
Wild Card Types
Wild Cards are provided as part of the game (not found in packs). They are arranged in a stack somewhere on the game board. There are 100 cards in the Wild Card stack (30 Free Adds, 20 Challenges, 20 Auctions, 30 Pack Redemptions).
Challenge: The type of Challenge is specified on the card. The judge administers the Challenge and decides the winner. The player who wins the Challenge wins the number of unopened packs specified on the card.
Free Add: A Free Add allows a player to activate a new team stack without meeting the threshold of 10 cards. There is one Free Add card per team per deck (30 cards total—26 teams, Diamond Kings, Rated Rookies, MVPs, and Judge’s Choice). A player does not have to play a Free Add when picking it up, but if he chooses to play it, he must play all of his cards from the specified team. If a player picks or holds a Free Add card of a team that has already been activated, that Free Add card is treated like a Pack Redemption card.
Auction: All players are eligible to compete in an Auction. Each Auction card will specify the number of unopened packs that are up for bid. Players bid using their individual cards or a combination thereof. Which cards they use is at the discretion of the individual player. Bidding consists of the combined monetary Beckett value of the player’s cards. Beckett values are provided by the judge at the beginning of the game. The player who wins an Auction must surrender the cards he used as his bid.
Pack Redemption: Good for one free unopened pack from the judge.
Other Ways to Score More Packs
Players will need to gain additional unopened packs during game play in order to compete. Besides the ways outlined above, here are two other possible ways to win more packs:
Checklist cards: Checklists are worth 5 new packs.
Puzzle-piece panels: A bundle of five different puzzle-piece panels are collectively worth one unopened pack.
What the Judge Does
The judge is responsible for keeping the game moving, resolving questions about rules, updating the master team checklist, tallying points, and judging challenges.
The master team checklist must be updated as the game progresses, as players add cards to activated team stacks. Only missing/new cards can be added to team stacks.
Player point tallies must be updated as the game progresses. The first player to reach 125 points wins the game.
