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One of the more important decisions you can make regarding MLB The Show 26 is, believe it or not, choosing whether or not to preorder the game itself. Let's look at the value propositions to Diamond Dynasty grinders and casual players alike.
What Do You Get For Preordering MLB The Show 26?
First, we should probably list what is actually available to players for preordering MLB The Show 26 — and, specifically, for preordering the Digital Deluxe edition, which retails for $99.99 with a 10 percent loyalty discount for players who have played previous versions of MLB The Show on the platform they are preordering on knocking that price down to $89.99. (The Standard edition is $69.99, with no loyalty discount, and its only preorder bonus is five The Show packs.)
- Four days of early access, beginning at 12 a.m. Eastern on March 13
- 20 The Show packs
- Two World Baseball Classic Choice packs
- One Legend Choice pack
- One World Baseball Classic Uniform pack, from which players may choose four uniforms
- One Equipment pack
- One Cover Athlete Bat Skin pack
- 20,000 Stubs
- Double Daily Rewards
The contents of the World Baseball Classic Choice pack and Legend Choice pack were finally revealed this Monday by Sony San Diego. Here's what they have in them.
World Baseball Classic Choice Pack
- Jazz Chisholm Jr.
- Edwin Diaz
- Jarren Duran
- Kenley Jansen
- Aaron Judge
- Manny Machado
- Salvador Perez
- Shohei Ohtani
Legend Choice Pack
- 87 OVR All-Star series Ken Griffey Jr.
- 87 OVR 2nd Half Roy Halladay
- 87 OVR Last Ride Chipper Jones
While we don't have card art or official stats from SDS for the WBC choice packs, it's a good bet that they are somewhere from 83 to 87 OVR, making them either high Golds or low Diamonds. In addition, there's language in the above graphic, pulled directly from The Show's website, suggesting that there is another Gold Choice pack that is a preorder bonus, but it isn't mentioned elsewhere on the site's page explaining all of the preorder bonuses.
And in case you haven't noticed by this point, this is a listing of preorder content that is exclusively for use in Diamond Dynasty, save for the early access that is simply access to the full game. If you are playing MLB The Show 26 and do not plan to touch Diamond Dynasty, the only thing you are buying with your extra $20 to $30 over the Standard edition is a bunch of stuff you will never use.
So...
Should You Preorder MLB The Show 26 if You Don't Care About Diamond Dynasty?
...there's really no reason to preorder this game if you intend to play it for Franchise or Road to the Show or simply as a baseball simulator that plays well on a PS5 or Xbox Series X and do not want to play those modes next weekend. Seriously.
You will still be able to play the whole game on March 17. You will not fall behind anyone in those modes by virtue of not playing it at the stroke of midnight on release. And you can still eventually dip into Diamond Dynasty at some point, but won't have to deal with the fear of missing out (FOMO) and/or invisible hand that steers players toward fielding competitive teams for online play or grinding alongside thousands for in-game achievements.
Save your money. Buy the game when you need it on the true release day or when it goes on sale in months to come.
Verdict: No.
Should You Preorder MLB The Show 26 if You Play Diamond Dynasty?
By the same token, there is really no argument against grabbing the Digital Deluxe edition if you plan on sinking even 10 or 20 hours into Diamond Dynasty in MLB The Show 26 before, say, May.
The value of an 87 OVR card and a couple of, say, 85 OVR cards on launch night is immense, as just that trio of cards will be sufficient to give you a significant leg up on the average CPU roster in DD. And if you're not trying to sweat out three-inning Conquest games on All-Star with Silver and Gold players, paying the $20 or $30 tax — and let's be real, you're probably paying $20 by virtue of having played The Show at some point this decade — is the best way to avoid that struggle.
The extra 20 The Show packs are not exactly a needle-mover for you, as you know that you might get a few useful Golds and maybe even a Diamond, but are well aware that you would need to be extremely lucky to pull a roster-shaping or Stub-stacking Ohtani or Judge in early access. You know the double Daily Rewards are nice, but that their value is really accrued over time. And you know that the 20K in Stubs seems generous but won't go that far, especially with sweat equity likely to help a lot more.
But you have also likely already placed your preorder, and didn't even need to read this section.
Verdict: Yes.
Should You Preorder MLB The Show 26 if You Might Care About Diamond Dynasty?
That leaves us with a third group of players: Ones who may be eager to buy and play MLB The Show 26 even as soon as Friday, but who consider themselves either agnostic on or aligned against Diamond Dynasty or card-collecting, team-building modes in general. And swaying them to one camp or another is really not my job so much as it is that of Sony San Diego.
But I write this in honesty: I think this is a series of preorder bonuses that is good value for money both in a vacuum and relative to what players get in other card-collecting modes.
From my perspective, the best time to play any of these card-collecting modes is at the very beginning of a game's cycle, when every acquisition is potentially thrilling, no metagame has developed to make online play an exhausting experience, and there's no inescapable hum of complaint from the community that finds fault before fun. That period can last weeks or months, but there is every chance that it will only last days, making playing with a team that struggles to make contact or boots every fourth ground ball paradoxically the best time you will have in MLB The Show 26.
I think that having the cards (toys) to make the best use of Diamond Dynasty's experiences (sandbox) from the jump is worth $20 even if that is truly only buying or enhancing a week of fun, and I think shortchanging yourself on that release night experience or the feeling of grinding for a better team this weekend for the price of a Chipotle bowl with chips and guac is silly.
At the same time: What I find fun might not be your cup of tea. Maybe you would really only enjoy Diamond Dynasty with a stacked squad full of legends, the sort of thing that is unobtainable at release without spending hundreds if not thousands of dollars, or know in your heart that you will bounce off a mode like this at some point in the year rather than sticking with it for months. Maybe you are morally opposed to ripping packs for digital items and will find even dabbling in DD distasteful.
If you tend toward any of those possibilities, I have to think you could find better uses for your money this week or weekend. But you need to be honest with yourself about that — I can't do it for you.
