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Topps Update Series Programs Cross Cardboard Over to Diamond Dynasty
The biggest release in the baseball world this Wednesday might be an exhalation if Shohei Ohtani finally breaks out of a months-long slump to produce for the Dodgers against the Brewers in the NL Championship Series. But the second-biggest is likely Topps dropping its 2026 Update Series of cards, the third in its troika of Flagship Baseball releases for the 2026 season. And given that Topps and MLB The Show have a longstanding relationship, Topps-flavored Programs have never been far-fetched.
But the three that come to Diamond Dynasty today — Autumn Ascensions, Black Gold, and Heavy Lumber — are both fun highlights of cool inserts in Update Series and a neat way to get some updated 99 OVR versions of great players who might not have qualified for the Postseason or merit Finest inclusion.
Specifically, the players at the top of the XP reward paths for the three programs — respectively: Julio Rodríguez in Autumn Ascensions, Paul Skenes (no stranger to the colors) in Black Gold, and Tony Gwynn in Heavy Lumber (get it?) — are A-list names, and the Bobby Witt Jr. that has been inserted into Show Packs as a sort of pseudo-Chase Pack card is obviously a name on that tier or even better. You basically know what you're getting in all four: J-Rod is an evolutionary Griffey, for better or worse; Skenes throws gas and has excellent sinker/splitter options to play off that four-seamer; Gwynn hits (singles); and Witt is a complete five-tool shortstop who lacks just a teensy bit of pop (99/93 Power R/L) that would make him a best-card-in-the-game cinch.
Acquiring all of them but Witt, who is simply going to be vanishingly rare and very expensive, is about getting 500 Parallel XP with the players on the XP reward path, which are:
- Black Gold: Kevin McGonigle, Chase Burns, Samuel Basallo, Skenes
- Autumn Ascensions: Trey Yesavage, JJ Wetherholt, Konnor Griffin, Rodríguez
- Heavy Lumber: Bryce Eldridge, Sal Stewart
Heavy Lumber allows for a little more leniency: 1,000 Parallel XP with shortstops and/or Pirates and with right fielders and/or Padres stands in for what would be Honus Wagner and Gwynn missions to account for their cards being rarer. And then there's the Witt mission for 500 PXP that exists in each program, which should effectively stand in for one of the other missions, as there are 40 Stars necessary to max out the reward path and 50 on offer.
Adding a bunch of actual Topps cards to DD in the middle of the Postseason does sort of distract from Postseason content. But when that content is rolling out as slowly as it is — which we'll get to in one paragraph — the changeup is welcome.
Retro Championship Series, White Sox vs. Guardians Programs Arrive
For the Postseason content in Diamond Dynasty this week, we got two drops on Tuesday: The long-awaited arrival of the White Sox vs. Guardians ALDS Program, days after the games were completed, and the Retro Championship Series Program.
The former is highlighted by Postseason Patrick Bailey, who is suddenly a very much viable option while standing at the plate in addition to crouching behind it, as a switch-hitter with no hitting attribute below 105 despite a season in which he had a .607 OPS and a 72 OPS+. White Sox shortstop Colson Montgomery also gets a great card, with 120/122 Power to reflect his one extra-base hit in the series. (He did hit 31 homers, but what's the logical consistency here?) As has been the case throughout the Postseason content, the XP reward path progress comes via Missions and Moments, and both are required for full completion.
That's also true in the Retro Championship Series Program, where Justin Verlander — in Astros livery — headlines and Vladimir Guerrero Jr.'s ALCS MVP performance from 2025 is the undercard. Verlander's obviously the prize and his fastball/curve/slider combo ought to be lethal.
The biggest name in the Postseason content for the Division Series may ultimately be a player who didn't advance from them, though. That's because Munetaka Murakami is the first Postseason Collection reward added to Diamond Dynasty thus far, coming in as the prize for locking in 27 2026 Postseason Program players in the 2026 Postseason Collection. It's a great version of the Japanese import — who reminded us all, memorably, that he is Japanese, late in the White Sox's magical run — with 125/120 Power and the weirdly helpful secondary position of third base, where he can now slot in on a White Sox theme team without displacing Frank Thom ... wait, you mean Frank Thomas isn't in Diamond Dynasty in the first year in many in which the White Sox have been fun? What a miss.
Other News and Notes
- A new Ghost Conquest map — spooky! — dropped on Tuesday; its primary prize is another Chase Pack 28, so another shot at the Mike Trout therein.
- Again, the Coming Soon rundown shows nothing scheduled between now and October 23, when the 9th Inning and next (and perhaps last?) Weekend Classic come to DD. So you'd better hope the ALCS and NLCS wrap up quickly if you want any sort of significant Diamond Dynasty content prior to the 9th Inning.
