Season 128 - Are you ready?

[HeavensAAA]

But mate, why were you looking to join a platinum association? Like you said you were being carried along while you strengthened. You run the risk of getting kicked if the position holders get frustrated. Plus it sounded like a fight for survival. Why gamble, there are many associations that are a guaranteed 50 or 100 tokens? So you went in and out of associations just checking their training levels before sticking with your current association?

If keeping the association at platinum level, there will be a 100T reward for each season. Along with 35T from sponsors, 5T from boxes (my typical bad luck ), and typically 20T from events (could be more - set as 20 for budget purposes), I could earn up to 160T each season.

Like what you do and exactly what I did until end of season 4, typically I spent about 50T for squad replacement for 1-season players before too. Without that 100T from association (say only 50T from gold 1), I would only have that 50T extra to spend on FTs (will explain on greens later), and that basically means 1 very good one max, so only by getting that max 100T I can consider strengthen 2 positions with FTs each season until the team becomes relatively less beatable.

I only joined 1 association and that’s the current one (looked around for a long time before requesting). They previously had 2 different members being kicked in those 2 previous seasons because of general inactivity, and they made the point very clearly that maximum bonus and attendance is way more important than result at the start. They understood in a sense that they might need to bail me out in that first season (to earn the T to strengthen in the following season), while they feel relatively confident that I could at least win 50% of matches when considering my 96% general win ratio and clean sweep of trophies then. (hence why I feel you should be fine in finding a good platinum to join when yours is even better than mine!)

Yes, now it is still a fight for survival (got 1st this week, and 3rd last week - need another 1st to safely stay in platinum, as usual ). Draw has often been very tough and unkind (this week we are the weakest of 4 on paper as usual, and still managed to win 1st ), so it kinds of bringing out the competitive edge of each other. And don’t think they would kick me out now (not surprised if in the first season ) when I have earned 131 out of a possible 168 points in 3.5 seasons with them.

[Sillybq]

If keeping the association at platinum level, there will be a 100T reward for each season. Along with 35T from sponsors, 5T from boxes (my typical bad luck ), and typically 20T from events (could be more - set as 20 for budget purposes), I could earn up to 160T each season.

Like what you do and exactly what I did until end of season 4, typically I spent about 50T for squad replacement for 1-season players before too. Without that 100T from association (say only 50T from gold 1), I would only have that 50T extra to spend on FTs (will explain on greens later), and that basically means 1 very good one max, so only by getting that max 100T I can consider strengthen 2 positions with FTs each season until the team becomes relatively less beatable.

I only joined 1 association and that’s the current one (looked around for a long time before requesting). They previously had 2 different members being kicked in those 2 previous seasons because of general inactivity, and they made the point very clearly that maximum bonus and attendance is way more important than result at the start. They understood in a sense that they might need to bail me out in that first season (to earn the T to strengthen in the following season), while they feel relatively confident that I could at least win 50% of matches when considering my 96% general win ratio and clean sweep of trophies then. (hence why I feel you should be fine in finding a good platinum to join when yours is even better than mine!)

Yes, now it is still a fight for survival (got 1st this week, and 3rd last week - need another 1st to safely stay in platinum, as usual ). Draw has often been very tough and unkind (this week we are the weakest of 4 on paper as usual, and still managed to win 1st ), so it kinds of bringing out the competitive edge of each other. And don’t think they would kick me out now (not surprised if in the first season ) when I have earned 131 out of a possible 168 points in 3.5 seasons with them.

Not at all mate. While i do think many may look at the trophies to see how active my team is. I think ultimately it is about the quality or high white skills. I know my team isn’t strong. It can be but isn’t. Your points total is really good and it is surprising that your association has to fight for survival. I mean they bailed you out before so your members should be relatively strong as well.

But i have been told association draws are similar to normal draws in that we are more likely to draw our friends. Perhaps you guys might be luckier if you eliminate some friends from strong associations who do not support you often and are in the same division?

[HeavensAAA]

Not at all mate. While i do think many may look at the trophies to see how active my team is. I think ultimately it is about the quality or high white skills. I know my team isn’t strong. It can be but isn’t. Your points total is really good and it is surprising that your association has to fight for survival. I mean they bailed you out before so your members should be relatively strong as well.

But i have been told association draws are similar to normal draws in that we are more likely to draw our friends. Perhaps you guys might be luckier if you eliminate some friends from strong associations who do not support you often and are in the same division?

Yes, lots of associations consider favourably teams with players having high white skills. And probably rightly so because it does give some advantage to those teams.

And only by keeping FTs (or some 19yo with some greens to start season around 100% and stay in team until 22yo) for lots of seasons can gather them without spending crazy amounts of Ts. It then comes back to the point where it is worth spending lots of hard-earned Ts to get more FTs to keep. Hence, I did overspend slightly in season 4 and 5 to strengthen, and only by strengthening enough that winning more becomes possible in asso matches against platinum opponents (league, cup and CL do not need such high whites to win anyway). You can see it is like a cycle - strengthening requires lots of Ts and greens, and in return its rewards is even more T (plus further more from certain event, such as King of the Hill which is heavily biased towards high avq teams).

Well, really no luck with draws mostly and 3/4 times would end up being the worst or 2nd worst team with the best teams having significant quality advantage against us. Tried lowering AVQ of first-11 and just turns out similarly tough. There was not even once that our association was the best team in AVQ in some 14 draws, which is incredible. (And that is also why I always feel so hilarious when some are complaining about draws not working, because ours is as luckless as it gets ). Association members are doing extremely well to win 1st this week (eg. 17% & 15% disadvantage, still managed to win home games, 8% disadvantage and managed a draw when 2 goals behind, etc.). I won 3/4 when the engine is so, so determined to troll my other game 9-2 with opponent having a 90% shot efficiency and red card my DC with PK awarded too.

Really don’t know about the association draw related to friend list. I will surely have a look and remove those!

[Sillybq]

Yes, lots of associations consider favourably teams with players having high white skills. And probably rightly so because it does give some advantage to those teams.

And only by keeping FTs (or some 19yo with some greens to start season around 100% and stay in team until 22yo) for lots of seasons can gather them without spending crazy amounts of Ts. It then comes back to the point where it is worth spending lots of hard-earned Ts to get more FTs to keep. Hence, I did overspend slightly in season 4 and 5 to strengthen, and only by strengthening enough that winning more becomes possible in asso matches against platinum opponents (league, cup and CL do not need such high whites to win anyway). You can see it is like a cycle - strengthening requires lots of Ts and greens, and in return its rewards is even more T (plus further more from certain event, such as King of the Hill which is heavily biased towards high avq teams).

Well, really no luck with draws mostly and 3/4 times would end up being the worst or 2nd worst team with the best teams having significant quality advantage against us. Tried lowering AVQ of first-11 and just turns out similarly tough. There was not even once that our association was the best team in AVQ in some 14 draws, which is incredible. (And that is also why I always feel so hilarious when some are complaining about draws not working, because ours is as luckless as it gets ). Association members are doing extremely well to win 1st this week (eg. 17% & 15% disadvantage, still managed to win home games, 8% disadvantage and managed a draw when 2 goals behind, etc.). I won 3/4 when the engine is so, so determined to troll my other game 9-2 with opponent having a 90% shot efficiency and red card my DC with PK awarded too.

Really don’t know about the association draw related to friend list. I will surely have a look and remove those!

You guys are good! I have not played in platinum but i track my previous associations and their record has been dismal in platinum after dominating in gold 1 so it is a very steep jump in the kind of teams you face.

I feel my Gold 1 matchups are much tougher than our League,CL and Cup so platinum must be really bad ass.

My draws have been relatively good this season. I attribute it mainly to my team mates being more active this season and having a much stronger first 11 than their bench. Not sure if it is also best 14 quality players from each team form associations draw quality but it does seem to make a difference by keeping a weak bench.

[Max]

You guys are good! I have not played in platinum but i track my previous associations and their record has been dismal in platinum after dominating in gold 1 so it is a very steep jump in the kind of teams you face.

I feel my Gold 1 matchups are much tougher than our League,CL and Cup so platinum must be really bad ass.

My draws have been relatively good this season. I attribute it mainly to my team mates being more active this season and having a much stronger first 11 than their bench. Not sure if it is also best 14 quality players from each team form associations draw quality but it does seem to make a difference by keeping a weak bench.

Associations is a feature I have never really looked into, I played one season In a gold one association a very long time ago, I think the opponents were tough but I can’t remember, It would be fun to play in platinum I would say, but as you said probably extremely challenging, maybe there is more 9 star opponents there.

I don’t know to be honest because Associations is a feature I have hardly used except to look up managers and their trophy hauls and win percentages.


Sent from my iPhone using by pressing the Reply button.

[HeavensAAA]

You guys are good! I have not played in platinum but i track my previous associations and their record has been dismal in platinum after dominating in gold 1 so it is a very steep jump in the kind of teams you face.

I feel my Gold 1 matchups are much tougher than our League,CL and Cup so platinum must be really bad ass.

My draws have been relatively good this season. I attribute it mainly to my team mates being more active this season and having a much stronger first 11 than their bench. Not sure if it is also best 14 quality players from each team form associations draw quality but it does seem to make a difference by keeping a weak bench.

Really great that you have nice draws! Wish we would have them occasionally too... (envying)

Only played platinum from start, so it has been very tough right from the start at level 4 & 5 then. Understandably it would be so as opponent managers had seasons to strengthen and mould their teams when I barely had some 5-6 FTs who couldn’t be trained properly (insufficient greens, no world-class drills then, etc) and the rest of first-11 filled with stop-gaps players. And then opponents tend to have a few players with high whites when my team had only a top attacker with any threat, if at all.

Most platinum players would know about manipulating draws, so putting a 1* first-11 would still draw those same 7*-8* monster teams when our association quality ranges from 113% to 127%. My 124% semi opponent (association tag: #9CID6I - captain) this weekend had attackers of 155% (300%+ finishing!), 146% and 132%, along with 135% MC, so my 117% team getting a home 5-2 reverse win is as good as I could do.

https://ibb.co/8610qF2

Final opponent was only 2% weaker and needed to win both as the final total stands (Association tag: #O4BV5Y)

https://ibb.co/tQ13LMQ

And maybe because of the relatively higher win ratio in association matches, my team would be drawn against the 2nd best or 3rd best of opponents even when my AVQ ranks 4th or 5th (very close AVQ between 3rd to 5th, depending on which teams have finished 2 daily matches and training first). The draw system does try to balance it to ensure a closer matchup (at my expense ). I also have to build my FTs according to the association needs (needing to win via counter against better opponents - hence the 3 newest additions all go to defenders and GK).

Very fun and indeed exciting playing in platinum as it forces a manager to find a way to grind out an unlikely win against the odds, plus the extra Ts. League, Cup and CL matches will be felt like a piece of cake after those nightmare challenges. Really worthwhile to try it!

[HeavensAAA]

Associations is a feature I have never really looked into, I played one season In a gold one association a very long time ago, I think the opponents were tough but I can’t remember, It would be fun to play in platinum I would say, but as you said probably extremely challenging, maybe there is more 9 star opponents there.

I don’t know to be honest because Associations is a feature I have hardly used except to look up managers and their trophy hauls and win percentages.


Sent from my iPhone using by pressing the Reply button.

The draws would still be fair most of the time, with teams of +/-10% to be drawn together mostly. So a 6* team should still be facing similar or slightly better opponents. Under 6* teams could be drawn against significantly better opponents though, when 100%- teams are unlikely to win enough matches to stay in the division in the long run with random horrible draws (Engine may not draw the lowest AVQ teams against each other every single week for fairness and inclusivity).

Even gold 1 is worth the time as a start with 50T each season.

[Der_Ryan_M]

Association in general is one of the best parts of the game.
To answer some questions here - the draw is being based upon your 11 best players in your squad. Putting up the bench in starting lineup only gives you the easiest opponent out of the 6 opponents (when they don't do it) and else you would be the best team in terms of quality in your asso. So generally this is not recommended and can hurt your team more than it helps most of the times...

Of course your manipulating for easy draws in League, CL and so on doesnt help in association, so there is a place where people who don't weaken their team on purpose every season usually have the best potential.

So for a few months I have been in a really great association and even stopped my players-selling at the end of the season for now, so that I can have 11 skilled players to be able to contribute the most. Now unfortunately my general quality is always a bit higher, but it really helps in these asso games, where mostly you play vs similar opponents.

[Sillybq]

Associations is a feature I have never really looked into, I played one season In a gold one association a very long time ago, I think the opponents were tough but I can’t remember, It would be fun to play in platinum I would say, but as you said probably extremely challenging, maybe there is more 9 star opponents there.

I don’t know to be honest because Associations is a feature I have hardly used except to look up managers and their trophy hauls and win percentages.


Sent from my iPhone using by pressing the Reply button.

I have been in 3 associations so far and many players ain't active. Some don't even train. And even more do not turn up to support or give bonuses. This is especially so if the captain is not active or if he thinks loyalty trumps being active. Or maybe they just want to remain in gold 1 and not get promoted.

Not sure why you do not participate but as Der Ryan mentioned, it is one of the best features in the game. It's free tokens.

[Sillybq]

Association in general is one of the best parts of the game.
To answer some questions here - the draw is being based upon your 11 best players in your squad. Putting up the bench in starting lineup only gives you the easiest opponent out of the 6 opponents (when they don't do it) and else you would be the best team in terms of quality in your asso. So generally this is not recommended and can hurt your team more than it helps most of the times...

Of course your manipulating for easy draws in League, CL and so on doesnt help in association, so there is a place where people who don't weaken their team on purpose every season usually have the best potential.

So for a few months I have been in a really great association and even stopped my players-selling at the end of the season for now, so that I can have 11 skilled players to be able to contribute the most. Now unfortunately my general quality is always a bit higher, but it really helps in these asso games, where mostly you play vs similar opponents.

Good info mate. I hope my ex association mates read this. Some think it's the daily average quality of best 14 players over the last 7 days or something like that. So the impression is manipulating for the League/Cup/CL draw helps a little for week 1 as the daily average quality is lower for the first few days of the season until replacements are purchased and trained.