When last we were exploring the various modes within Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 22, we were focused on outlining the single-player ones and brainstorming ways that each of them could be better. From playing these alone, it’s entirely possible to accumulate enough XP to unlock all of the prizes in the newest Featured Program, but there’s also plenty of other things to do if you’re someone who prefers playing online with others. With that in mind, I now want to talk about how to improve each online mode in Diamond Dynasty.
As you might expect, all of these modes are not perfect and could perhaps use some changes and refinements, if not an entire overhaul, to have them working their best. Here’s a breakdown of each of Diamond Dynasty’s online modes and how they can potentially be improved upon in the future.
Diamond Dynasty Multiplayer Breakdown
Ranked Seasons
What is it? 9-inning games that allow you to use the best cards in your collection. Winning consistently will have you ascending tiers that will ultimately determine your rewards at the end of each season.
What’s good about it? In many ways, this would have to be considered the ultimate competitive mode within Diamond Dynasty. First off, you’re playing full 9-inning games that require the same kind of strategy when managing your bench and bullpen. Additionally, the way that you increase your ranking with every win and decrease it with a loss does a good job of ensuring that you’ll eventually wind up finding your ideal quality of competition if you play enough games. As you get into the higher levels, it’s appreciated that the game’s difficulty setting becomes more challenging to properly accommodate for the advanced skill of the players involved. The achievement of reaching World Series level in Ranked Seasons remains a lofty aspiration that players will chase with dogged determination because of how rewarding it feels to get there. The addition of a program within Ranked Seasons helps out those who lose frequently but like to play nonetheless by rewarding them for the number of innings they play in the mode.
What could be better? There aren’t really that many valid complaints regarding Ranked Seasons within the community, and the few that you’ll hear probably say more about the community than the mode. At the same time, some feel that games take too long because they can sometimes take longer than an hour. However, you’ll also find others moaning because they aren’t able to a log a full nine innings towards the mode’s program when an opponent does decide to quit early. Suffice to say, anytime you find yourself belly-aching about an opponent gifting you a victory, it might be time to take a breath and check yourself.
Battle Royale
What is it? 3-inning games where your lineup is drafted at the outset over the course of 25 rounds, and two losses will force you to start all over again while trying to attain the ultimate goal of 12 victories during a run.
What’s good about it? From its inception, a great thing about Battle Royale has been how it gives you the opportunity to test out some of the best cards in the game without having them in your collection. The 3-inning games make the mode less of a commitment if you’re pressed for time. It’s justifiably challenging to string together 12 wins without losing twice, but you can still be rewarded with lesser cards, and you can still snag a diamond at nine wins. Even if you aren’t able to secure a single victory, you’ll still get a pack once you suffer your second loss, which helps to offset the entry fee of 1,500 stubs that you’ll need to fork over every time you want to begin a run. As with Ranked Seasons, the addition of a Battle Royale program where you can unlock rewards based on cumulative wins and other stats within the mode is a godsend to anyone who doesn’t have the skills to ever reach 12 wins in a run but still wants to feel like the games serve some purpose in the bigger picture.
What could be better? Rather than being rewarded with random silver, gold, and diamond cards for reaching 3, 6, 9, and 12 wins, it would be preferable to able to come away with cards from the lineup that you have drafted instead. Considering that you’ll be spending a lot of time becoming attached to the players that you’re using, especially if you have a particularly long Battle Royale run with them, it’s nice to think that you could then add a few of them to your collection when all is said and done. If you are able to reach your target of 12 wins, it would be a neat feature to allow you to actually then select your preferred diamond player from your drafted squad to add to your collection. Without question, that player would then go on to always hold a special place in your heart because you would always remember the fateful Battle Royale run that brought the two of you together.
Events
What is it? With each lasting for only a short time, events are updated regularly to have you playing games that will have various lengths, roster restrictions, and settings (like quick counts) depending on the event.
What’s good about it? Because most events come with those specific restrictions that can force you to use cards from certain teams or of a certain quality, they’re bound to get you using players that you might not typically include in your lineup. This can also result in an extra layer of strategy as you tinker with how to best construct your lineup to highlight your own preferred strengths while working within the given parameters. Usually either 3 or 6 innings in length, the games are mercifully shorter too. The event programs dole out rewards based on wins and, though there’s always better prizes for getting more wins both cumulatively and during a single run, there are always attainable packs and cards you can unlock with a few wins. The best part about events though might be that there’s no entry fee, so once you’ve had a run ended by losing two games you can always just turn around and run it back again at no charge.
What could be better? I might be in the minority on this, but I would like to see more events that have an overall team rating restriction, which would then require you to get a little more creative about who you want in your lineup and, perhaps more importantly, what kind of sacrifices you need to make. One of the bigger deterrents to competing in an event right now can be that the specific restrictions may force you to seek out specific cards on the market if you want to stay competitive and avoid facing squads that are better than yours. Without some kind of overall ratings cap that all but guarantees your team will need to have a weakness somewhere, what can end up happening in an event is that you’ll come up against the same players in every game — and that can get old in a hurry.
Co-op
What is it? New to the game this year, co-op gives you the opportunity to team up with either one or two other players for 2-vs-2 or 3-vs-3 games online in which you all take turns batting and control different players when your team is in the field.
What’s good about it? As a mode that many had been craving for years now, it’s great to have a component of the game that finally transforms MLB The Show into the kind of team sport that baseball was designed to be. The last of the big five sports video game series to embrace joining up with others, this initial proverbial dipping of the toe into the communal waters for MLB The Show at least gives some hope that one day the mode might progress from having two or three on the same team to a full squad of nine people. The construction of the team and division of labor among its members are relatively straightforward and logical, with each team member getting to bring six of their best cards from their collection and then having to rotate between playing pitcher, infield, or outfield when your opponent is at the plate.
What could be better? As you might expect from a mode still in its infancy, there are plenty of kinks that need to be ironed out if anyone is going to want to return to this mode. That begins with eliminating all of the bugs that have plagued its functionality since the game’s release, including any the reported annoyances that cause the gameplay to freeze or hang. Matchmaking has been another issue for many, and even when you are able to finally find a game, there’s no guarantee that your opponent won’t quit the very instant that you take any sort of lead. It might help to keep more people from quitting if the mode offered some actual incentives to stick around, but there’s no co-op program to grind for rewards or seasons to increase your standing. Ideally, the mode would seek to implement the ability to create your own customizable co-op teams like in NHL 22 or NBA 2K22 that you can invite all of your friends to join, and where you can view history and stats for your past games.
