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It's the same, but different.
Vintage Series Revives Lore in Diamond Dynasty
The run of similar and Team Affinity-scented Series Programs dropping every other week in Diamond Dynasty continues this Friday with the Vintage Series, which harkens back to some of the more prominent fan favorite names in Diamond Dynasty over the years and a few bigger names from baseball history. And yes, that includes a couple of legendary Yankees.
As ever, the Vintage Program is structured around an XP reward path that features five "free" cards earnable by obtaining the Stars on offer. Those players are, in ascending order on the path, Luis Arraez, Robbie Ray, Michael Conforto, Lou Gehrig, and Matt Carpenter; the latter two are the most interesting, with Gehrig getting better batting stats — nothing under 90 in the Contact categories — than some in DD history and set to be Supercharged on Tuesday, June 2 for MLB's celebration of Lou Gehrig Day and Carpenter having a third baseman's build but secondary eligibility at second base, his primary position for the Cardinals in 2013.
Unique to this Vintage Program (so far) is the total lack of Moments: All the reward path XP will be accrued through Missions, and can be done so fairly easily — one of the tasks is hitting six homers, for example — through regular gameplay. For a Program supposedly steeped in and revolving around lore in Diamond Dynasty and/or baseball itself, the lack of Moments does feel odd ... but excising them also feels like it may be a welcome lightening of the load for San Diego Studio, as Moments have been largely unnecessary for XP reward path completion this year.
A slew of other Vintage-tinged pieces round out the release.
The new Vintage Mini Seasons holds one of the release's best prizes: A 92 OVR Matt Strahm that has maxed-out 125 Hits Per 9 against righties, instantly making him one of the best left-handed relievers in all of Diamond Dynasty. And as he's the reward for tallying just 10 strikeouts with relievers in the mode, he'll be in many a bullpen almost instantly. The other player rewards in Mini Seasons are Raul Ibanez, Ryan McMahon, and Mitch Garver, and the now-customary repeatable Mission for a Deluxe Pack is 10,000 Parallel XP with Vintage players.
The Vintage Conquest map has a 93 OVR Nolan Arenado — with 99 Fielding Ability — as its ultimate prize, but no repeatable goals, making it a one-shot experience. The Vintage Diamond Quest's Epic tier rewards are a Braves-era Fred McGriff and a Reds-era Luis Castillo. And the new Old School Event prioritizes older players (age 35+), Legends, and Vintage cards, with a Gleyber Torres as its XP reward path item.
But, yet again, the Pack and Collections players are the draw. The big names in Packs are a do-everything Larry Walker, second base standout Chase Utley, and power-hitting catcher Gary Sanchez, with Garrett Crochet tagging along, but the Collection rewards are especially stellar: A 94 OVR Joc Pederson (12 cards collected) should be one of the game's best lefty bats, 95 OVR Ubaldo Jiménez (20) will be one of DD's best power pitchers, and the 96 OVR Ketel Marte (27) at the end of the rainbow is simply one of the mode's best players, bar none, with just about no weaknesses.
And then there's the Chase Pack card with Vintage branding: None other than Derek Jeter, and in a version that has an argument to be the best Jeter seen this early in a Diamond Dynasty ever. With triple-digit Contact and Clutch and, uh, generously great fielding and arm attributes, this is a card that is at worst a half-step down from Marte and the Mural Series king Jose Ramirez as options at shortstop.
It is fair to critique this Vintage Series as being hard to distinguish from the Cityscapes and Mural Series, and easy to consider it another Program with no specific ties to Team Affinity but that could have been Team Affinity content in a different form. And three Programs in succession being of this similar design does not help defeat any arguments that this is a paint-by-numbers iteration of Diamond Dynasty.
But if you exist at the highest end of grinders or spenders, Marte and Jeter (and, to a lesser extent, Walker and Utley) are viable top-tier options, and the many ways to earn rewards and attack the Collection remain welcome at lower levels.
Colt Emerson Bolts Into May Spotlight Drop 4
One of the most highly-anticipated prospect debuts of 2026 gets its due in May Spotlight Drop 4, with Mariners third baseman Colt Emerson topping the XP reward path. Emerson's 4-for-4, three-double day against the Royals last weekend earns him a 94 OVR card that has great Contact stats but Power that is probably fair for a guy with just one homer so far as a big leaguer.
Emerson is flanked in the release by the two Spotlight Series players exclusive to Packs: Orioles outfielder Colton Cowser, whose back-to-back walk-off homers had already netted him a Supercharged card, and Kyle Harrison, whose rise in the Brewers' magical pitching wonderland after being swapped for Willy Adames got a new peak with his 11-strikeout, two-hit quality start last week. Neither is better than solid for their respective 94 OVRs — Cowser will mash righties as a lefty bat and play great defense, but there's no shortage of lefty outfielders with similar skills right now — and both will probably function largely as expensive pieces to the May Retro Lightning Collection, which arrives next week.
This week's Spotlight drop does include a fantastic Topps Now player, though: Adam Macko, the Slovakian-born Blue Jays reliever, has a wildly well-statted card as a lefty reliever first up in the XP reward path, and while it lacks high-end velocity, the multiple 100+ attributes on it should squeeze some PCIs.
Other News and Notes
- Double XP is back on for the weekend, which should allow for some completion or catch-up on the 3rd Inning, still set to end next Friday.
- Twitch Drops for the MLB The Show 26 directory are on for this weekend, in case you want to earn a lot of Bronzes and Silvers in exchange for watch time.
- This week's significant piece of midweek content was the arrival of a new Showdown featuring the three Astros hurlers — Tatsuya Imai, Steven Okert, and Alimber Santa — who combined for the first no-hitter 0f 2026 earlier this week.
