Coming off the Spring Cleanup Program, we now get the most divergent and shortest program (two weeks) so far in MLB The Show 22 Diamond Dynasty. The Halladay and Friends Program removes the idea of boss packs and the like, and instead we will be going down the XP path to snag a bunch of Blue Jays and Phillies before snagging a Postseason Roy Halladay as the final player reward. I think of this program almost like an extended version of an old player program (maybe like one of the old Jackie Robinson programs from prior years), so it’s certainly a new wrinkle for DD. It will be interesting to see how it goes and how engaged people are as they all mostly chase the same rewards.
Halladay And Friends Program
Player Rewards
- Rookie Roy Halladay (bronze)
- Veteran Ryan Howard (bronze)
- Breakout Carlos Delgado (gold)
- All-Star Chase Utley (gold)
- Breakout Roy Halladay (gold)
- All-Star Shane Victorino (diamond)
- All-Star Roy Halladay (diamond)
- Veteran Roy Oswalt (diamond)
- 2nd Half Heroes Cole Hamels (diamond)
So you get two bronze players, three gold players, and four diamond players in the lead up to a final diamond Postseason Roy Halladay. There are no new Classics packs or choice packs, which is another departure from the norm. However, we do have a Cover Athletes pack and a Takashi Okazaki pack (Delgado and Joe Morgan not in it in case you were wondering) on the XP reward path.
Final Player Reward
It’s easy to see the appeal of this card. It has almost a full meta arsenal of pitches, 106 H/9, and all the other peripherals are perfectly solid besides K/9. The control is perhaps not quite tippy-top tier, but everything besides the 4-seam fastball has over 85 control. None of the pitches have 99 break, but again, all have solid numbers here as well. Finally, the pitch speed differentials might not be that impressive (plus the fastball is not overwhelming), but it’s really just going to come down to seeing how he looks on the mound. It’s always a little hard to figure out if a pitcher will be good until you see him live, but Halladay has all the makings of a solid ace at this point in the season.
Standard Goals
- Gameplay XP
- Daily Moments
- March to October
Featured Program Moments
Each moment is worth 2,000 XP:
- Halladay Handles Cleveland
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Pitch 2 innings
- Do not give up 1 run
- Strike out 2 batters
- Halladay Is Too Much To Handle
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Strike out 4 batters
- Do not give up 1 run
- Doc Puts On A Display
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Pitch 3 innings
- Do not give up 1 hit
- Strike out 3 batters
- Roy Ruins The Giants Day
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Strike out 5 batters
- Do not give up 1 home run
- Delgado Does Damage
- Difficulty: Rookie
- Tally 2 hits
- Tally 1 XBH
- Flyin’ Hawaiian Helps Philly Offense
- Difficulty: Rookie
- Tally 1 XBH
- Chase Puts A Charge Into One
- Difficulty: Rookie
- Hit 1 home run
- Roy Is Never Rattled
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Pitch 2 innings
- Do not give up 1 run
- Strike out 1 batter
- Cole Carves Em Up
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Strike out 6 batters
- Do not give up 1 run
- Howard Hunts For The Heater
- Difficulty: Rookie
- Tally 1 XBH
Spotlight Moments
Each moment is worth 2,000 XP:
- 27 Up, 27 Down
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Pitch 2 innings
- Do not give up 1 hit
- Do not hit 1 batter
- Strike out 2 batters
- Do not walk 1 batter
- Victorino Flies Around Bases
- Difficulty: Rookie
- Tally 2 hits
- Tally 1 XBH
- Utley Helps Phillies Upend Reds
- Difficulty: Rookie
- Hit 1 home run
- Hamels Is Unhittable
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Pitch 2 innings
- Do not give up 1 run
- Strike out 2 batters
- Oswalt Overpowers San Francisco
- Difficulty: Rookie
- Pitch 4 innings
- Do not give up 1 run
- Strike out 5 batters
- Howard Gets His Hacks In
- Difficulty: Rookie
- Hit 1 home run
- Richard’s 2nd Half Heroics
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Strike out 8 batters
- Do not give up 1 run
- Joe’s MVP Journey
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Get on base 2 times
- Tally 1 XBH
- Edmonds Empowers Cardinals Offense
- Difficulty: Veteran
- Tally 2 hits
- Tally 1 XBH
- Delgado Is A Duck On The Pond
- Difficulty: Rookie
- Get on base 2 times
Week 1: Legend & Flashback Missions
New this year, Parallel XP missions are missions where you use a player and earn a certain amount of Parallel XP with the player. You earn Parallel XP more quickly depending on the mode you play and how well you do with that player.
All missions are worth 3,000 XP each:
- 500 PxP with Rookie Roy Halladay
- 350 PxP with Veteran Ryan Howard or Cover Athletes Ryan Howard
- 350 PxP with Breakout Carlos Delgado or Takashi Okazaki Carlos Delgado
- 350 PxP with All-Star Chase Utley, or Takashi Okazaki Chase Utley, or Prime Chase Utley
- 500 PxP with Breakout Roy Halladay
- 350 PxP with All-Star Shane Victorino
- 500 PxP with All-Star Roy Halladay
- 500 PxP with Veteran Roy Oswalt
- 500 PxP with 2nd Half Heroes Cole Hamels
Week 2: Gameplay Missions
All missions are worth 3,000 XP each:
- 10,000 PxP with any players
- Tally 3,000 PxP with Blue Jays players
- Tally 3,000 PxP with Phillies players
- Tally 100 hits in any Diamond Dynasty game modes
- Hit 20 home runs in any Diamond Dynasty game modes
- Tally 35 XBH in any Diamond Dynasty game modes
- Steal 15 bases in any Diamond Dynasty game modes
- Strike out 50 batters in any Diamond Dynasty game modes
Collections
- Collect 10 Veteran Series players (10,000 XP)
Exchanges
- Exchange Live Series players (10,000 XP)
- Exchange Live Series players (15,000 XP)
- Exchange Live Series players (30,000 XP)
Ringing Bell Conquest Map
With this Conquest map, you will earn 30,000 XP if you complete the goals. No special goals are required here, and you will snag some extra Show packs and some extra accessories along the way.
Doc’s Stethoscope Conquest
With this Conquest map, you will earn 30,000 XP if you complete the goals. No special goals are required here, and you will snag some extra Show packs, a Blue Jays uniform, and some Headliners along the way.
Halladay And Friends Showdown
In this Showdown, you will be taking on various forms of Roy Halladay in mini-boss fights before the Final Showdown. Completing this Showdown gets you 20K XP.
Rewards Structure
- 5,000 XP – Legend icons choice pack, 500 stubs
- 10,000 XP – Rookie Roy Halladay, 1,000 stubs
- 15,000 XP – Legend bat skins choice pack, 500 stubs
- 20,000 XP – Silver Stars choice pack, 500 stubs
- 30,000 XP – Veteran Ryan Howard, 1,000 stubs
- 35,000 XP – Classic stadium choice pack
- 40,000 XP – Classics choice pack
- 50,000 XP – Breakout Carlos Delgado
- 60,000 XP – Toronto Blue Jays Alternate Home 2006 uniform, 1,000 stubs
- 65,000 XP – Philadelphia Phillies Alternate Home 2016 uniform, 1,000 stubs
- 70,000 XP – All-Star Chase Utley
- 80,000 XP – The Show pack
- 90,000 XP – Breakout Roy Halladay, 500 stubs
- 100,000 XP – The Show pack (x5)
- 110,000 XP – All-Star Shane Victorino, 1,000 stubs
- 120,000 XP – Headliners Set 10 pack
- 130,000 XP – All-Star Roy Halladay, 1,500 stubs
- 140,000 XP – Headliners Set 11 pack,
- 150,000 XP – Veteran Roy Oswalt, 1,500 stubs
- 160,000 XP – Headliners Set 12 pack
- 170,000 XP – 2nd Half Heroes Cole Hamels, 1,500 stubs
- 180,000 XP – Headliners Set 13 pack
- 190,000 XP – Ballin’ Is A Habit pack (x2)
- 200,000 XP – Postseason Roy Halladay, 1,500 stubs
- 210,000 XP – Headliners Set 14 pack
- 225,000 XP – The Show pack (x5)
- 240,000 XP – Big Dog Set 1 choice pack
- 225,000 XP – Headliners Set 15 pack (x2)
- 270,000 XP – Cover Athletes choice pack
- 285,000 XP – Headliners Set 10 pack (x2)
- 300,000 XP – Ballin’ Is A Habit pack (x2)
- 325,000 XP – Big Dog Set 2 choice pack
- 340,000 XP – Takashi Okazaki choice pack
- 360,000 XP – Headliners Set 11 pack (x2)
- 380,000 XP – Ballin’ Is A Habit pack (x3)
- 400,000 XP – Big Dog Set 3 choice pack
- 425,000 XP – The Show pack (x5)
- 450,000 XP – The Show pack (x5)
- 475,000 XP – The Show pack (x5)
- 500,000 XP – The Show pack (x5)
Bottom Line
With just one “boss” in the Featured Program, we’ll see how aggressive SDS is here giving out XP in a shortened program. I imagine this will be a new normal for specific legends SDS is excited to introduce to the masses, and it probably is a good idea to throw this sort of program in as a change of pace. The Inning Programs could get boring and predictable, so switching up the rewards structure and all that are a logical way to try and keep things fresh during a long season.
The downside here is there’s no strategy to who you might pick in the choice packs (plus you get multiple Halladay diamonds), and some of the excitement of the program is sapped by already having seen Delgado in a better form — not to mention already getting multiple versions of Utley and Howard. Still, Victorino, Oswalt, and Hamels are new diamonds for this year (though we know those players well in DD), and I’m stoked to get my hands on Halladay cards.
