Collections are one of the most important aspects of MLB The Show 25. By completing them, you can earn additional stubs, packs, and cards. But while these collections provide a ton of rewards, they can be a pain to complete. And when it comes to the live series collection, that pain is doubled. With 30 teams and approximately 45 players per team, it’s not an easy one to knock out. In fact, even seasoned players are struggling with it.
If you’re in the same boat, this article is for you. Today, we’ll discuss the best way to complete the Live Series collection without spending a dime. While it won’t complete your collection series overnight, these tips will help you get one step closer.
What is the Live Series Collection?
First things first, what is the Live Series collection? The Live Series collection consists of all the players currently engaged in MLB. Their skill or ranking is irrelevant in this series; it’s just the fact that they’re actively playing. Retired players are excluded from this collection, but can be acquired through the reward system.
The collection features 30 teams, each with 40-45 players. You’ll have to collect each one to complete the collection. Each team will have a mix of bronze, silver, gold, and diamond players; however, the ratio doesn’t have to be the same for every team.
Teams are further grouped into East, Central, and West divisions. These divisions are combined to form leagues, namely the American League (AL) and National League (NL). Once you earn all the cards for both the AL and NL, you will be entitled to the grand rewards. With so much to do, the live series collection is time-consuming. However, the rewards make it worthwhile. So, let’s break down how you can complete it without denting your wallet.
How To Complete The Live Series Collection Free
Completing The Conquest Maps
One of the best ways to earn packs, high OVR players, and stubs is by knocking out the maps in Conquest. This single-player game mode offers a ton of rewards, which can easily boost your progress in completing the live-series collection. To collect these rewards, all you have to do is complete each map.
The mode offers two types of rewards: those for completion and additional hidden rewards scattered throughout the maps. If you want to make the most out of Conquest, we recommend exploring each map and collecting the hidden rewards. You can get a ton of headliner packs, show packs, and much more through these. Plus, all of it is free, so it’s a win-win situation.
Pulling Cards Vs Buying In The Marketplace
Completing the collection is simple; you just need to get all the cards. However, it’s not so easy in practice. You can acquire players by pulling them from a pack or buying them from the marketplace. Once you have the player, they’ll be added to the collection, progressing it further. So, the question arises, which players should you pull from packs and which ones should you buy? Well, unless you’re a whale spender, you’ll realize it’s just not plausible to buy the entire collection.
What we’d suggest is to buy cards (only gold rarity or below) that you need to finish off a collection. On the other hand, for the diamond rarity cards, try to pull them from packs or collect them as exclusive prizes from events.
For example, you’re about to finish off the Angels Live Series collection, but you’re missing Mike Trout (Diamond), Zach Neto (Gold), and Luis Rengifo (Silver). The most efficient method would be to buy Zach Neto and Luis Rengifo from the Marketplace and try to pull Mike Trout from packs. This is because the price disparity between diamond and gold rarity players is quite high.
You can always switch things around, buying diamonds and pulling gold and below from packs. However, you’ll pay significantly more for diamond cards in the marketplace. Plus, since there are more silver and bronze cards, the chances of you finding the exact cards are lower.
Always Use Buy Orders/Sell Orders
When utilizing the marketplace for trade orders, always remember to place orders, rather than instantly buying or selling. This ensures you’re getting the best prices for them and not losing out on stubs.
Since the Live Series collection takes time, you can sit back and wait for the cards. Especially if you’re looking for diamond cards, we’d highly recommend using the order mechanic.
Grinding Out Diamond Quest
While there are a ton of different ways to acquire cards for your Live Series collection, no method is quite as good as grinding out the diamond quest. This single-player game mode in MLBTS’25 is amazing to get free packs and exclusive rewards.
Each map has its unique exclusive reward. You can get your hands on rare diamond cards like Walker Buehler and Jason Heyward by completing them. This will accelerate the progression of the collection, and you’ll be able to complete it sooner. If you’re unsure how to beat the mode, we recommend reading our guide on the best strategies for Diamond Quest. This will ensure you breeze through the game mode and complete the collection as quickly as possible.
Holding Diamond Cards
One very common misconception amongst the community is that if you receive a diamond card early, you should sell it to buy several lower rarity cards. The reasoning is that you’re quite far off from completing a collection, so keeping the card in your collection is worthless.
However, this couldn’t be further from the truth. If you pull a diamond rarity card like Aaron Judge or Ronald Acuna Jr., you should most definitely keep them. There are two major reasons for this:
- When selling cards in the Marketplace, the seller must forfeit 10% of the cost as tax. That means you’re only getting 90% of the actual price. Yet if you buy the same card, the buyer always pays the actual price. This means selling a card and buying the same card at a later date will put you at a loss.
- Diamond cards have outstanding stats that will greatly help your team in Diamond Dynasty. By placing these cards in your team, you can increase your chances of victory.
The only time you should sell a diamond card is if the card is about to receive a major nerf or if you have a surefire way of getting it back. However, if neither of these is the case, hold on to the card as it’ll help you complete your live series collection.
Buying Injured Players
One aspect to keep in mind is that injuries in MLB affect the OVR in MLB The Show 25. With each patch, players who have been out of the previous season might see a nerf to their ratings. This isn’t true for all players, especially diamonds and golds, but silver or below rarity is more likely to experience these changes.
The reason this is important is that as a player’s rating drops, so does their cost in the market. So, it’s always good to get your hands on players who were injured recently if you’re missing them in your collection.
By following all these steps, you can be one step closer to completing the live-series collection. However, keep in mind that it won’t happen overnight, and you’ll have to put in the work for it. If you find yourself with a low stub count and can’t seem to get started, we recommend reading our guide on how to quickly make stubs. This will bring your stub balance to a better state, helping you complete the live series collection quicker.
Published: Apr 18, 2025 4:09 PM UTC