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Run It Back Conquest Map, Showdown and Packs Another Win for Single-Player Fans

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The Run It Back Conquest map, Showdown and 15 new players are a real boon for single-player fans, but beyond that, they’re big for people who care about Team Affinity or having a new chunk of sellable diamonds. Beyond that, for me it’s just good to get a bunch of new players who aren’t all high overall diamonds. Plus, it’s great to get some relievers in any form. I know some people are asking why “Prime Elvis Andrus?” is in this pack, but you know what, I like hitting with Andrus and not every diamond or player needs to be a 99 overall to have a purpose.

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Run It Back Conquest

run it back conquest map

The Conquest map is very generous here all things considered. You only need to win six strongholds to get a choice pack, and it’s probably worth mentioning the choice pack works like most others where there will be weighted tiers (base tier, elite tier, etc.) to split out these 15 players so you don’t actually get to pick from all of the players each time.

Of course, JProGaming27 comes through with all the secrets of the Run It Back map as well:

On top of the secrets, the first time through there’s some other goodies to earn:

  • Steal 2M fans for Headliners 1-31 bundle set
  • Capture Yankees stronghold for Headliners 1-31 bundle set
  • Capture Braves stronghold for Headliners Set 45 pack
  • Capture all strongholds for a Ballin Is A Habit pack

It’s maybe a little weird the all strongholds prize is a Ballin’ Is A Habit pack, but the real prize is the choice pack so whatever. To be clear, you don’t get to re-earn all these goodies (except the final R.I.B pack) when you re-do this map, so it works like the original Willie Mays Conquest map that shipped with MLB The Show 20.

Run It Back Showdown

run it back showdown rewards

Two mini showdowns await you here before the Final Showdown. There’s nothing much here that’s exciting to get on repeat plays minus the 1,500 stubs and Run It Back choice pack if you knock out the final challenge. In theory, this is more efficient than even the Conquest map if you just want the pack as you’ll only be down 12-0 if you skip right to the Final Showdown, and you have 16 outs to beat one of the Run It Back pitchers each time. The Final Showdown is also only on Veteran, which is not bad at all even with the shenanigans of Showdown.

Run It Back Players

So it makes sense to probably group these players and discuss them a bit that way. But, again, the big thing here is these are sellable and you can also use them for Team Affinity collections, which could be big as we approach Team Affinity Stage 4.

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  • Awards Andruw Jones is the sole 99 overall here. The hitting ratings aren’t blowing me away but he’s going to be one of the best all-around CFs around. The issue will be his stance, but I’ve grown to enjoy it this year a lot more than I did last year.
  • Awards Paul Goldschmidt has max contact against LHP, which we have come to expect from top-end Goldy cards the last couple years. The max discipline also doesn’t hurt and gold fielding is plenty at 1B.
  • Don’t sleep on Signature Series Billy Williams. He’s a very underrated star in The Show most years for whatever reason — he just outplays his ratings.
  • Signature Series Bert Blyleven is another mainstay, but I’m not usually a huge fan of the dual-curves and general pitch mix.

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  • A Prime Wade Davis should be one of the more popular cards from this set. He has maxed H/9 to go with good gas, a sinker and a slider. I will be seeing this card a lot in my games.
  • The less said about Javy Baez’s current season the better, but Awards Javier Baez should be a good time. Again, maybe the hitting stats aren’t the best around, but I love his swing in this game, and he has the enjoyable signature animations in the field.
  • Signature Series Cliff Lee falls into the standard category of being an acquired taste for a finesse left-handed pitcher. I can usually find my way with him, and he does have a sinker, but I expect some to struggle and give up on him.
  • Prime Curtis Granderson you already know is going to crush right-handed pitching, and since it’s Granderson in a Show game, I just assume he will far outpace his left-handed ratings.

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  • More relievers here is the big selling point, but Wainwright having a sinker should help his stock a bit as well this year. Regardless, I assume Signature Series Lee Smith, Prime Greg Holland and Prime Tyler Clippard are the trio of cards people want to secure. Each has a different strength, which is cool as well.
Author
Image of Chase Becotte
Chase Becotte
Chase has written at Operation Sports for over 10 years, and he's been playing sports games way longer than that. He loves just about any good sports game but gravitates to ones that coincide with the ongoing real seasons of the NBA, NHL, MLB, NFL, and so on. As of now, he's gearing up for EA Sports College Football 25 and what should be a wild summer while still dabbling in the latest Top Spin and MLB The Show.