Let’s be honest right away: NO, it is not possible to play Sorare without paying. I can already hear someone in the distance saying: “Yes, you can play Sorare and win cards without paying in Ubisoft’s Oneshot League“. So, myth or reality?
Originally, this article was written to show the difficulties of getting into Sorare and buying rare cards with a very small budget (250 dollars). With the arrival of Limited cards, it is now possible to start the adventure with a small budget: discover how to invest 250 dollars in Sorare and win cards!
The exception: Ubisoft’s OneShot League
Well, it’s true, there was a way to earn Sorare cards for free: the OneShot League from Ubisoft. Launched on March 2, 2021, this competition allowed you to build your team in the Jupiler Pro League and earn rewards every week or at the end of the season depending on your performance. It was technically possible to win cards without spending any money.
For those of you who have already left for the Ubisoft website, I have some bad news for you: the project is over and will not start again.
On the good side, new competitions around Sorare are emerging (SorareData, SorareMega, etc.). However, for the moment, they use all cards acquired by the players, and do not allow someone who does not want to invest money in Sorare to participate in competitions.
Challenge: start with 250 dollars
With a very small starting capital, it is possible to embark on the Sorare adventure, but the challenges that await you are immense. Here is a brief overview of the difficulties you will encounter.
Update September 2021: Thanks to the introduction of the new Limited scarcity, it is now possible to invest 250 dollars in Sorare and start earning cards. Don’t hesitate to choose this adventure rather than to start absolutely with Rare cards, it will be much more accessible.
Introduction
In order to progress in Sorare, you will have to buy rare cards quickly if you want to participate in the Global All Star D4 competition.
To build a team, you will necessarily need to acquire a goalkeeper, a defender, a midfielder, a forward, and a fifth player of your choice, in order to participate in competitions. If you have already read the article 3 tips to get started in Sorare, you should already have at least one goalkeeper available. If not, I encourage you to start over. The challenge is already very high, no need to make it harder from the start. Re-register until you get one or two very good goalkeepers, ideally in two regions where the championships are consecutive.
Further reading : 3 tips to get started in Sorare
250 dollars ?
Now let’s get to the heart of the matter: the price of the players.
Naturally, most of the good players who play regularly are going to see their price rise quickly, even if they underperform. You’re going to have to come up with some bright ideas to find 4 players who play AND are able to perform.
Looking at the ended auctions on SorareData, we can observe that players currently leave at low prices, but rarely below 0.010 ETH (25 dollars at the time of writing this article).
To illustrate the challenge ahead, of the first five players listed above, two don’t play, two play a game occasionally, and one is half a starter when not injured. Sound promising to make a team capable of competing, right?
Considering that we will be able to make hits (0.02 ETH / starter), this already represents almost 250 dollars at the current rate, and the quality of what you get will depend entirely on you. You will not be allowed to be good, or very good. With this budget, you will have to be exceptional!
Can’t I buy younsgters and wait 3 years for them to increase in value?
That’s clever! The idea itself is very good, but I see at least 3 problems ahead of you:
1. Unfortunately, you are not the only one to have had this brilliant idea, and the youngsters, in Sorare as in real life, are sometimes worth much more than experienced players in their clubs. Some kids are exchanged at their introduction in the game at several thousand euros.
2. The second problem is that not all player cards exist yet in some teams (when teams are available). So even if you have a crazy idea that no one would think of (see point 1 in most cases), the card may not be available. And since the statistical data of each player’s matches is often available before the cards are introduced, these good cards rarely go unnoticed with SorareData. Nice try!
3. If you are European, you may not be advantaged as Sorare is a French company, and as such, most users are likely to know the same leagues as you. Back to square one, then.
Old, injured and substitute
With such a low budget, it is likely that you will have to turn to the cards that others do not want. And what better way than to go after a player near the end of his career, or to get a decent player who just rupture his ligaments? Too risky? I never said it was going to be easy to play in Sorare with a budget of 250 dollars.
If you want to be able to compete quickly, players near the end of their careers are most likely the ones to turn to. Doing a quick search, the top 3 most interesting players in terms of ratings are Chris Odoi-Atsem (returning from lymphoma), Kosei Shibasaki (36 year old rotation player) and Mehdi Abeid (former Nantes player transferred to Al Nasr SC (Dubai), whose results are not counted in the So5 mode. Well, it will be tough.
Again, I never said it would be easy. YES, it is possible to make exceptional deals, like paying a player 0.015 ETH when his usual price is 0.060 ETH on average, but in this case it is a statistical anomaly, it is not the everyday reality.
A very slow grind
Let’s face it, the most profitable strategy when you have a tiny budget is probably not to focus on So5 competitions but on buying and reselling in order to make (very small) profits and thus succeed in investing in a better card that you will resell following the same logic. And so on… And so on… Can you see the next topic coming?
A long-term effort
Playing on a very small budget, your decisions will be critical, and the slightest mistake where you end up with a player you can’t resell can bring down your expectations. It’s key to accept that at first you probably won’t make a meteoric rise to success and wealth.
You will also have to accept to go through periods of stagnation and spend even more time on your research to make the right investment. High time investment, high risk, potentially low return on investment, it is best to have this equation in mind before embarking on Sorare with such a small budget.
Participating in the Fantasy Football mode
Participating in the Fantasy Football AND making your wallet grow at the same time could be complex. On the one hand because when you are in a buy and sell mode, you can lose your defender, midfielder or striker overnight. On the other hand because your purchases will probably not be guided by the active leagues, and your players will potentially not play.
I can only wish you success, but in the first instance, I would advise you to concentrate on buying / reselling rather than both at the same time.
Investing without paying? Impossible today, but possible tomorrow?
If investing in Sorare without paying is not possible today, there is no guarantee that this will always be the case. The use of NFT in general (and more specifically of Sorare cards) is still new, and it is likely that new uses and new methods of obtaining cards in Sorare may emerge with partnerships as it was the case with Ubisoft.
Keep an eye on the news with the secret hope that a new way will appear to get into Sorare for free, but if you want to participate now, you may have to accept to invest a little money to get into the deep end.
In the next series of articles we will focus on the analysis of cheap players of the UEFA EURO 2020 which will start on June 11. First appointment: Cheap players in Sorare of UEFA EURO 2020
See you soon,
