Pack Opening Review. Episode Seven. Let's do this!
Here we are again. Another day, another pack opening. It has been a long while since the last one. And there is a big backlog of packs to open. Wait did I just recite whatever I said last episode almost word for word? I guess I need to help myself accountable. And I need money, so the circumstances force me to do it. Or not. We will see. I have to say I enjoy writing these articles, but when real life is a kick to the teeth, I gotta do what I gotta do. Anyway, let's get this rolling again. You are in a treat today. Shooting for 2.5k words. But there may be a second one coming right after this one. We will see.
But enough with those, you will see them when they drop. Let's see where we stand from the last episode:
Total cards opened: 60
Hall of Fame: 0 - 0%
Ultimus: 0 - 0%
Awards: 0 - 0%
Legend (Blue/Sapphire): 1 - 1.66...6%
All-Pro (Red/Ruby): 2 - 3.33...3%
Star (Gold): 7 - 11.66...6%
Starter (Silver): 17 - 28.33...3%
Backup (Bronze): 33 - 55%
Duplicates: 3 - 5%
Alright let's get down to business. After the last episode, I had 5 packs left. Now I have 18. I guess I am just lazy? Dunno, we will see. But let's get going. Pack #1 for today, and the first card is... backup offensive lineman, Douglas Quail, from the Orange County Otters. Entered the league in season 20, through the prospect draft, selected by the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers, and was drafted in the big league in season 21, by the Otters. Not sure why he is so low in tier, but then again, he only joined the league in season 20. And he may not be the max earner I am trying to be. I was a slacker with my first player. 174 TPE in the ISFL draft, peaked at ~950. Who am I to judge?
Next up is... HOLY FUCK! FINALLY. S23 ULTIMUS MAGNUS VALDYR! MY BOY! Nothing to say about him. Really. I got no words. Part of the amazing locker room we had in Yellowknife. And part of the Ultimus winning team as well. Part of a team strengthened through pain and straight Ultimus losses, that eventually hoisted the big trophy. By the way, this is not an Ultimus pack, it's a regular pack. The Ultimus packs will have separate episodes. I think it is the next two. But be sure they are coming.
Alright, moving to the next card. Which, considering my luck, is another backup. This time all the way back in time and season 2 (the card wrongfully has him as season 3), from the Colorado Yeti, defensive end Blaster Blade. He had a short career. Bouncing around the league, from Arizona to Colorado, then to Las Vegas. He recreated as Blaster Blade Jr. in season 16, but with only 62 TPE, it seems his time in the league is over.
Next up is Baltimore's defensive end, Arik Eller. Backup rarity. Entered the league in season 22, and got drafted in the International Simulation Football League in season 23. As far as I know, he is still in the development league, patiently waiting to be called up. Hence the Backup rarity. As I say with all recent creates, he got all the time in the world. And being a defensive end is kind of easy. You max with 940 TPE.
Penultimate card of the pack is another backup, from season 3, Outlaw Samuel Zhang. He was part of Er's team that won three straight, with the last being the one in season 3, but with all the multis, there are some huge asterisks looming over those wins. For the typical of it, he went inactive fairly quickly, got traded to New Orleans, ending up in Yellowknife, from where he was released into Free Agency, never to be seen again.
And the last card of the pack is... Beat. A Starter rarity safety that entered the league fairly recently, in season 19. Drafted by Zona, traded to Chicago, then Philly, to end up in Sarasota during the season 22 expansion draft, when the Sarasota Sailfish and the Honolulu Hahalua joined our glorious league. Apart from him being up there with the top safeties of the league, I barely know anything about him.
Pretty average pack, but the Ultimus card is enough for me to say it was a good one. On to the next one. Do I spice it up by opening an Ultimus pack? Well, no. Those packs deserve their own articles. Their own rage. Increased Ultimus drops? I will believe it when I see it.
Let's tear this bad boy open then. First up, Backup defensive end, Greg Taylor. Part of the inaugural ISFL draft class. From his low rarity, I assume he went inactive fairly quickly. Or he was just a casual player. Nonetheless, he is one of the few that can boast of being some of the pioneers. The people that laid out the groundwork for the league we all enjoy, or not, that's up to you, today.
Another player from season one. Starter Vincent Sharpei. A linebacker. He started out in Baltimore, as a waiver pickup, and drafted by San Jose in the season 2 draft. He was traded to NOLA at some point, from where he retired. His user, Muford, is still part of the community. He is one of the two Chicago Butchers GMs, alongside Taylor Swift stan, Bayley. All jokes aside though, Chicago is finally in good hands after the while shitshow the past three or four seasons.
The next card is Star Devo Cansino, a running back from season ten. He capped in Colorado. I doubt he is in the league anymore. It is really sad to see people reach their TPE max that low. But I guess the league is not a fit for everyone. He may have been a casual earner. Let's check the forums. There are no contracts or trades posted about him, so I have no clue. Please enlighten me in the comments. Thanks!
Next up is one of my favorite names and renders. Star running back, Baby Yoda. He plays for the Chicago Butchers. Earning hard, a testament of his Star aka gold rarity. I want to stick a bit on the render. I have not watched any Star Wars universe movie, but baby Yoda has to be the cutest character ever put on the big or small screen. Period. If you got objections, keep them for yourselves. Baby Yoda was drafted to our major league in season 21. He got a few seasons left before regression, but if he keeps earning like that, he will be able to fight it for more than a couple of seasons.
Fifth card of the pack is a backup defensive tackle. His name? Fitting to his position, Riles McTackle, a season 21 prospect. I hate assuming, but since he is a bronze card, he is inactive now. Which is a shame. But I guess having huge recruitment classes and expansion every 3-4 seasons is what interests HO more than maintaining the existing users. Sometimes, strength is not in numbers, but in quality.
Last card of pack #2 is another backup defensive tackle. This time, from season eight and the Yellowknife Wraiths, Ramadan Steve. He remained in Yellowknife for the totality of his career, but with 152 TPE max, regression got him before you could spell the word itself lmao. I know that was a bit mean, but come on, let me have some fun with this.
Almost 1.4k words. I guess I can open one more and see if I can reach 2.5k. If I cannot, I will open a fourth one. And I promise that the Ultimus pack opening special episodes will come on Monday and Tuesday. I have seen that if I set goals, I reach them. If I go by the flow, I flop hard.
So for the third pack. Let's go. The first card is... Greg Taylor. Read a few paragraphs above, you will find him. God I hate pulling duplicates. At least it is not two of the same in the same pack. Some salvation to the "pain" I guess.
Next up is season 23 draftee, Nicholas Ayers. Starter running back of the Honolulu Hahalua. Season 24 Rookie of the Year candidate. Not sure if he won the award, and if he was a candidate for said award. Shame on me. I even was in the award committee. I need to pay more attention to these. Anyway, he was a candidate for an award the past season. As a running back. While being on the same team as Ke'oke'o Kane-Maika'i, formerly known as White Goodman, but as we all know, Gucci sucks and loves to make your life hard (I love you man, I really do).
Third card of the third pack is defensive end, Norman Bagwell, from season six and the Philadelphia Liberty. I guess he was not well on his bag, pun intended, as his peak TPE is low enough for him to be of backup rarity. I could not find something about him, so I assume he created and then bounced. No drafts, nothing. But let's have another look. No, nothing to be found. Not sure if this smells fish. If the Dotts team reads these, I hope they will see it and see the problem, but anyway, I found something to vomit some words about, no hard feelings.
OOF. OOF. OOF. I am not sure where to start this from. Let's say that this player triggers my post-traumatic stress disorder. Kicker Neo Donaldson. He came in the league in season 12, and started in San Jose. But it is Yellowknife where his legacy was established. So many games lost due to missed field goals from him. Ugh. I remember those and I shudder. We would have at least two extra rings if the sim was kind enough to let Neo make those field goals. God, the memories I had locked to the back side of my mind flooding at the sight of this card. Ugh. Thank you, next.
The penultimate card of the third pack is Perry Tucker Jr. He is a defensive tackle(?). Backup rarity, since he went inactive around the time I took over as Portland's co-GM, and I remember him still being on the team, but not active. Hie currently resided in Chicago, playing for the Butchers. The card mistakenly lists him as an offensive lineman, but it is what it is. With how many cards they had to make, some mistakes are bound to happen.
The last card of the pack is a duplicate from the past. YKW OL Tyron Smith. Yet again, I hate backup cards. I also hate duplicates. When they are combined, I just sigh and move on. No reason to cry over spilled milk.
As I suspected, a fourth pack will be necessary to reach the 2.5k word goal, so let's open it.
First card is a boomer. Another season one player. From the Las Vegas Legion, now known as New Orleans Second Line, Backup safety, Devin Speed. I guess he was speed indeed. Because as he appeared, he vanished. There is nothing on the forums about him. At least the search function I used. If I decide to look at each page one by one, which I will not do, I am lazy, I may find something. But whatever. This is a money making word vomit, do you blame me? The all nice and tidy researches will come when I find time to make them.
Up next is the leagues most favorite shape. Starter rarity LiterallyJust A. Hexagon. A safety from the notoriously big season 22 draft class. He plays for New Orleans. Will not say anything about the player. I only want to talk about the user behind him a bit. You all know JPach. He is part of the sim team, and the person responsible for updating one of the indexes. I think it is the DSFL one, but I am not sure. It does not matter though. Even though he is young in the league, he has already stepped up to help in major and tedious jobs, like the sim team. Something nobody wants to do because nobody wants to waste their precious free time for this. Unless it is an HO job or a GM job, where they flock like crows over the dead carcass to feed. Anyway, some people roll their sleeves up and get to it, others want just to flex being GMs. There is a reason there is a huge GM turnover, especially in DSFL. If you know, you know.
The third card is Awards Van. AKA Laszlo Forty-Two. He joined the league one season after me. He started as a wide receiver in Colorado. Then switched position to offensive line. Then picked by Sarasota in the S22 expansion draft. Then Sarasota traded him to Yellowknife, where he had historically insane seasons. He holds the #1 and #2 spots in the most pancakes in a season, and also holds the record for the most pancakes from a human offensive lineman, because as you all know, ISFL teams purchase OL bots to fill their needs. And the season he won the award, he was undoubtfully the best offensive lineman the league has ever seen. PERIOD! Fight me in the comments if you disagree. Rubbe may be one of the all time greatest O-Linemen, but 42 is the best.
The fourth card is Backup defensive tackle, from season one and the Baltimore Hawks, Erasmo Broadway. I assume there is nothing about him in the forums, since he is a very old player. Backup rarity, so he must have gone inactive fairly early. He was not like me, who went casual max on his first player, then full max in his current player. By the way, a new Unfiltered will drop soon too. Keep an eye out for it.
The fifth and penultimate card of the pack AND this episode is offensive lineman, from Las Vegas, Tim Tebow. Wow. You choose a quarterback as your render, and use your render's name for an offensive lineman. This indeed is the "live your dream" league. He was part of the season one class, and by seeing the rarity, backup, he went inactive fairly early as well.
And now, the moment you have all been waiting for. The last card of this opening is... a freaking duplicate. From Philly and season one, offensive lineman, Marcus Boyd. I talked about him before, will not do it again.
Now that we are done, let's see the final pulls table. A comparison with the drop rates will come at a later episode. When I have finally opened all packs. Which is 28 total packs, if my maths are right. I think 288 cards are enough to see how realistic the drop rates are.
Total cards opened: 84
Hall of Fame: 0 - 0%
Ultimus: 1 - 1.19%
Awards: 1 - 1.19%
Legend (Blue/Sapphire): 1 - 1.19%
All-Pro (Red/Ruby): 2 - 2.38%
Star (Gold): 8 - 9.52%
Starter (Silver): 22 - 26.19%
Backup (Bronze): 49 - 58.33%
Duplicates: 6 - 7.14%
I think we are really back on the grind. I will keep dropping these every day, until I am out of packs. Then we will go back to the usual of one pack per day. If you are reading these, I really want to thank you for spending your time reading my hard work, and I send all the love your way. If you do not, then you are not even reading this, so why do I even bother about you?
And that's it for this one, folks. Next episode coming in real soon! Peace!
Here we are again. Another day, another pack opening. It has been a long while since the last one. And there is a big backlog of packs to open. Wait did I just recite whatever I said last episode almost word for word? I guess I need to help myself accountable. And I need money, so the circumstances force me to do it. Or not. We will see. I have to say I enjoy writing these articles, but when real life is a kick to the teeth, I gotta do what I gotta do. Anyway, let's get this rolling again. You are in a treat today. Shooting for 2.5k words. But there may be a second one coming right after this one. We will see.
But enough with those, you will see them when they drop. Let's see where we stand from the last episode:
Total cards opened: 60
Hall of Fame: 0 - 0%
Ultimus: 0 - 0%
Awards: 0 - 0%
Legend (Blue/Sapphire): 1 - 1.66...6%
All-Pro (Red/Ruby): 2 - 3.33...3%
Star (Gold): 7 - 11.66...6%
Starter (Silver): 17 - 28.33...3%
Backup (Bronze): 33 - 55%
Duplicates: 3 - 5%
Alright let's get down to business. After the last episode, I had 5 packs left. Now I have 18. I guess I am just lazy? Dunno, we will see. But let's get going. Pack #1 for today, and the first card is... backup offensive lineman, Douglas Quail, from the Orange County Otters. Entered the league in season 20, through the prospect draft, selected by the Myrtle Beach Buccaneers, and was drafted in the big league in season 21, by the Otters. Not sure why he is so low in tier, but then again, he only joined the league in season 20. And he may not be the max earner I am trying to be. I was a slacker with my first player. 174 TPE in the ISFL draft, peaked at ~950. Who am I to judge?
Next up is... HOLY FUCK! FINALLY. S23 ULTIMUS MAGNUS VALDYR! MY BOY! Nothing to say about him. Really. I got no words. Part of the amazing locker room we had in Yellowknife. And part of the Ultimus winning team as well. Part of a team strengthened through pain and straight Ultimus losses, that eventually hoisted the big trophy. By the way, this is not an Ultimus pack, it's a regular pack. The Ultimus packs will have separate episodes. I think it is the next two. But be sure they are coming.
Alright, moving to the next card. Which, considering my luck, is another backup. This time all the way back in time and season 2 (the card wrongfully has him as season 3), from the Colorado Yeti, defensive end Blaster Blade. He had a short career. Bouncing around the league, from Arizona to Colorado, then to Las Vegas. He recreated as Blaster Blade Jr. in season 16, but with only 62 TPE, it seems his time in the league is over.
Next up is Baltimore's defensive end, Arik Eller. Backup rarity. Entered the league in season 22, and got drafted in the International Simulation Football League in season 23. As far as I know, he is still in the development league, patiently waiting to be called up. Hence the Backup rarity. As I say with all recent creates, he got all the time in the world. And being a defensive end is kind of easy. You max with 940 TPE.
Penultimate card of the pack is another backup, from season 3, Outlaw Samuel Zhang. He was part of Er's team that won three straight, with the last being the one in season 3, but with all the multis, there are some huge asterisks looming over those wins. For the typical of it, he went inactive fairly quickly, got traded to New Orleans, ending up in Yellowknife, from where he was released into Free Agency, never to be seen again.
And the last card of the pack is... Beat. A Starter rarity safety that entered the league fairly recently, in season 19. Drafted by Zona, traded to Chicago, then Philly, to end up in Sarasota during the season 22 expansion draft, when the Sarasota Sailfish and the Honolulu Hahalua joined our glorious league. Apart from him being up there with the top safeties of the league, I barely know anything about him.
Pretty average pack, but the Ultimus card is enough for me to say it was a good one. On to the next one. Do I spice it up by opening an Ultimus pack? Well, no. Those packs deserve their own articles. Their own rage. Increased Ultimus drops? I will believe it when I see it.
Let's tear this bad boy open then. First up, Backup defensive end, Greg Taylor. Part of the inaugural ISFL draft class. From his low rarity, I assume he went inactive fairly quickly. Or he was just a casual player. Nonetheless, he is one of the few that can boast of being some of the pioneers. The people that laid out the groundwork for the league we all enjoy, or not, that's up to you, today.
Another player from season one. Starter Vincent Sharpei. A linebacker. He started out in Baltimore, as a waiver pickup, and drafted by San Jose in the season 2 draft. He was traded to NOLA at some point, from where he retired. His user, Muford, is still part of the community. He is one of the two Chicago Butchers GMs, alongside Taylor Swift stan, Bayley. All jokes aside though, Chicago is finally in good hands after the while shitshow the past three or four seasons.
The next card is Star Devo Cansino, a running back from season ten. He capped in Colorado. I doubt he is in the league anymore. It is really sad to see people reach their TPE max that low. But I guess the league is not a fit for everyone. He may have been a casual earner. Let's check the forums. There are no contracts or trades posted about him, so I have no clue. Please enlighten me in the comments. Thanks!
Next up is one of my favorite names and renders. Star running back, Baby Yoda. He plays for the Chicago Butchers. Earning hard, a testament of his Star aka gold rarity. I want to stick a bit on the render. I have not watched any Star Wars universe movie, but baby Yoda has to be the cutest character ever put on the big or small screen. Period. If you got objections, keep them for yourselves. Baby Yoda was drafted to our major league in season 21. He got a few seasons left before regression, but if he keeps earning like that, he will be able to fight it for more than a couple of seasons.
Fifth card of the pack is a backup defensive tackle. His name? Fitting to his position, Riles McTackle, a season 21 prospect. I hate assuming, but since he is a bronze card, he is inactive now. Which is a shame. But I guess having huge recruitment classes and expansion every 3-4 seasons is what interests HO more than maintaining the existing users. Sometimes, strength is not in numbers, but in quality.
Last card of pack #2 is another backup defensive tackle. This time, from season eight and the Yellowknife Wraiths, Ramadan Steve. He remained in Yellowknife for the totality of his career, but with 152 TPE max, regression got him before you could spell the word itself lmao. I know that was a bit mean, but come on, let me have some fun with this.
Almost 1.4k words. I guess I can open one more and see if I can reach 2.5k. If I cannot, I will open a fourth one. And I promise that the Ultimus pack opening special episodes will come on Monday and Tuesday. I have seen that if I set goals, I reach them. If I go by the flow, I flop hard.
So for the third pack. Let's go. The first card is... Greg Taylor. Read a few paragraphs above, you will find him. God I hate pulling duplicates. At least it is not two of the same in the same pack. Some salvation to the "pain" I guess.
Next up is season 23 draftee, Nicholas Ayers. Starter running back of the Honolulu Hahalua. Season 24 Rookie of the Year candidate. Not sure if he won the award, and if he was a candidate for said award. Shame on me. I even was in the award committee. I need to pay more attention to these. Anyway, he was a candidate for an award the past season. As a running back. While being on the same team as Ke'oke'o Kane-Maika'i, formerly known as White Goodman, but as we all know, Gucci sucks and loves to make your life hard (I love you man, I really do).
Third card of the third pack is defensive end, Norman Bagwell, from season six and the Philadelphia Liberty. I guess he was not well on his bag, pun intended, as his peak TPE is low enough for him to be of backup rarity. I could not find something about him, so I assume he created and then bounced. No drafts, nothing. But let's have another look. No, nothing to be found. Not sure if this smells fish. If the Dotts team reads these, I hope they will see it and see the problem, but anyway, I found something to vomit some words about, no hard feelings.
OOF. OOF. OOF. I am not sure where to start this from. Let's say that this player triggers my post-traumatic stress disorder. Kicker Neo Donaldson. He came in the league in season 12, and started in San Jose. But it is Yellowknife where his legacy was established. So many games lost due to missed field goals from him. Ugh. I remember those and I shudder. We would have at least two extra rings if the sim was kind enough to let Neo make those field goals. God, the memories I had locked to the back side of my mind flooding at the sight of this card. Ugh. Thank you, next.
The penultimate card of the third pack is Perry Tucker Jr. He is a defensive tackle(?). Backup rarity, since he went inactive around the time I took over as Portland's co-GM, and I remember him still being on the team, but not active. Hie currently resided in Chicago, playing for the Butchers. The card mistakenly lists him as an offensive lineman, but it is what it is. With how many cards they had to make, some mistakes are bound to happen.
The last card of the pack is a duplicate from the past. YKW OL Tyron Smith. Yet again, I hate backup cards. I also hate duplicates. When they are combined, I just sigh and move on. No reason to cry over spilled milk.
As I suspected, a fourth pack will be necessary to reach the 2.5k word goal, so let's open it.
First card is a boomer. Another season one player. From the Las Vegas Legion, now known as New Orleans Second Line, Backup safety, Devin Speed. I guess he was speed indeed. Because as he appeared, he vanished. There is nothing on the forums about him. At least the search function I used. If I decide to look at each page one by one, which I will not do, I am lazy, I may find something. But whatever. This is a money making word vomit, do you blame me? The all nice and tidy researches will come when I find time to make them.
Up next is the leagues most favorite shape. Starter rarity LiterallyJust A. Hexagon. A safety from the notoriously big season 22 draft class. He plays for New Orleans. Will not say anything about the player. I only want to talk about the user behind him a bit. You all know JPach. He is part of the sim team, and the person responsible for updating one of the indexes. I think it is the DSFL one, but I am not sure. It does not matter though. Even though he is young in the league, he has already stepped up to help in major and tedious jobs, like the sim team. Something nobody wants to do because nobody wants to waste their precious free time for this. Unless it is an HO job or a GM job, where they flock like crows over the dead carcass to feed. Anyway, some people roll their sleeves up and get to it, others want just to flex being GMs. There is a reason there is a huge GM turnover, especially in DSFL. If you know, you know.
The third card is Awards Van. AKA Laszlo Forty-Two. He joined the league one season after me. He started as a wide receiver in Colorado. Then switched position to offensive line. Then picked by Sarasota in the S22 expansion draft. Then Sarasota traded him to Yellowknife, where he had historically insane seasons. He holds the #1 and #2 spots in the most pancakes in a season, and also holds the record for the most pancakes from a human offensive lineman, because as you all know, ISFL teams purchase OL bots to fill their needs. And the season he won the award, he was undoubtfully the best offensive lineman the league has ever seen. PERIOD! Fight me in the comments if you disagree. Rubbe may be one of the all time greatest O-Linemen, but 42 is the best.
The fourth card is Backup defensive tackle, from season one and the Baltimore Hawks, Erasmo Broadway. I assume there is nothing about him in the forums, since he is a very old player. Backup rarity, so he must have gone inactive fairly early. He was not like me, who went casual max on his first player, then full max in his current player. By the way, a new Unfiltered will drop soon too. Keep an eye out for it.
The fifth and penultimate card of the pack AND this episode is offensive lineman, from Las Vegas, Tim Tebow. Wow. You choose a quarterback as your render, and use your render's name for an offensive lineman. This indeed is the "live your dream" league. He was part of the season one class, and by seeing the rarity, backup, he went inactive fairly early as well.
And now, the moment you have all been waiting for. The last card of this opening is... a freaking duplicate. From Philly and season one, offensive lineman, Marcus Boyd. I talked about him before, will not do it again.
Now that we are done, let's see the final pulls table. A comparison with the drop rates will come at a later episode. When I have finally opened all packs. Which is 28 total packs, if my maths are right. I think 288 cards are enough to see how realistic the drop rates are.
Total cards opened: 84
Hall of Fame: 0 - 0%
Ultimus: 1 - 1.19%
Awards: 1 - 1.19%
Legend (Blue/Sapphire): 1 - 1.19%
All-Pro (Red/Ruby): 2 - 2.38%
Star (Gold): 8 - 9.52%
Starter (Silver): 22 - 26.19%
Backup (Bronze): 49 - 58.33%
Duplicates: 6 - 7.14%
I think we are really back on the grind. I will keep dropping these every day, until I am out of packs. Then we will go back to the usual of one pack per day. If you are reading these, I really want to thank you for spending your time reading my hard work, and I send all the love your way. If you do not, then you are not even reading this, so why do I even bother about you?
And that's it for this one, folks. Next episode coming in real soon! Peace!
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2643 words