I’ve been on Sorare for just over a year so I thought it was time to do a quick recap of my journey so far and share a few of the things I’ve learnt along the way.

I joined on the 8th August 2020, although I actually created my first account in the July but couldn’t get past the sign up stage. I bought my first player, Amadou Diawara, on 10th August 2020 for 0.070 ETH (I still hold him now). By the end of August I’d bought 18 players and spent just over 3 ETH on Sorare (around £1,000 at the time). I was hooked.

Since then I’ve put £10,000 into the platform and my gallery now stands at over 100 players with an estimated value of around £42,000. Like many others, my buying and selling activity took a bit of a dip after the mad March period but I’ve recently added a few new recruits to the gallery like Julian Araujo, Sebastian Lletget and Wojciech Szczęsny.

I’ve had 49 rewards through S05 with a total value of nearly 4 ETH plus 1.1 ETH earnt in threshold rewards. I’ve been pretty consistent at grinding out card rewards and ETH, although I did have a real dry patch on card rewards between gameweek 148 and 177. I’ve rarely hit more than a tier 3 but have had the odd gem, like Sébastien Haller and Carlos Vela (I sold both for around 0.380 ETH each).

But no podium prizes. Yet.

So I’ve certainly done ok. Presuming I could sell my current gallery for somewhere near that valuation, I’ve more or less quadrupled my initial investment – pretty good right?

Well to be fair, we need to take into account the rise of ETH as well. I probably invested about £4,000 of that £10,000 when ETH was hovering around the £400 mark. If I’d have just put my money on ETH, I’d probably be sitting at not far off the same figure but with a far more liquid portfolio. So actually, I’d say my performance was pretty average – mediocre even!

I’ve embraced my mediocrity because there are so many people on here who will happily show off their wins but not their losses. I think it’s important to be realistic and be truthful – Sorare is easy to play but difficult to win and you’re operating in a very volatile environment. That’s why I stress that you shouldn’t ever have more on the table than you’re happy to lose. Nothing is ever guaranteed.

Having said all of that, I’m comfortable with where I am and I’ve really enjoyed the last year. I’ve made friends, broadened my football and crypto knowledge and had a lot of fun.

‘Fun’ is actually the main driver for me. Having a pretty large gallery means that I’ve nearly always got the ability to put out a few teams and I have plenty of skin in the game on matchdays. That’s fun for me – but it isn’t necessarily the most profitable approach.

There’s plenty I think I’ve done right. I’ve made some decent moves on the transfer market, I’ve kept a pretty good balance across each playing position in my gallery, I’ve always trained my players as much as I can and I’ve bought across summer and winter leagues so I’ve got interest all year round.

But if I was starting again, there are a few things I’d do differently.

Focus on quality, not quantity

If I could wave a magic wand and go back in time I’d buy less players but better ones. I don’t really need 100 Rare cards and some are never going to get a game for me. Players that are cheap aren’t necessarily a bargain, especially now that there is so much competition in the lower divisions. Better to buy half a dozen players that you can depend on for 60+ scores each gameweek than 30 players that might not even start.

That’s particularly applicable to youth prospects. There’s definitely a temptation to buy the next big star, even if they’re not even making the bench regularly. Often these ‘stars’ are priced high too – but where’s the value really? If you can pick someone up genuinely cheaply, where the upside looks to be better than the downside, then go for it but otherwise I’d recommend going for proven high scorers rather than chasing the fountain of eternal youth.

Decide on your level and work towards it

I didn’t even entertain the idea of buying Super Rares when I first started and by the time it crossed my mind, my budget wasn’t enough to get anyone decent. I have managed to scrape together a handful of Super Rares now but it’s a real motley crew and I’m not really sure that I’ve got the stomach to invest heavily to move up to Division 3 or even to aim at Division 2.

Many new managers today will be starting with Limited cards and the temptation will be to spend heavily to bring in the best players and compete for those elusive podium spots. I suspect that many of those managers will soon reach a point where they wish they’d invested in Rares instead. If I was them, I’d be trying to pick some Rares up now while the market is cheap.

Know when to sell

I’m terrible at letting go of players – I’m a hoarder. On Sorare, that’s not always a good thing. You need to understand that the market fluctuates and changes to the platform, player form, transfers and league scheduling can all massively affect liquidity. If you want to sell players, you really should try to sell into demand. That sometimes means letting go of a player when they’re just coming into form.

I’ll give you an example – Cade Cowell. I picked him up on the 11th March for 0.250 ETH. He did well for me straight away but since then his form has really dipped.

I could have sold into the demand at the end of April and taken a nice profit (he scored two goals and picked up three assists across two consecutive games). Right now, his value is around 0.095 ETH and we’re getting near to the MLS season end so that’s unlikely to change.

But what about long-term holds? I think you need to take into account that there are (currently) no transaction fees on Sorare for market sells or buys. No commission. So there’s nothing to stop you selling into a rise and buying back when the player’s form dips or the season draws to a close. That’s probably the smarter play if you want to make money from Sorare, rather than sitting on your hands as I have tended to do.

Don’t spread yourself too thinly and always do your research

It’s great fun turning out half a dozen teams each gameweek but if that means spreading your stars across multiple teams, it’s perhaps not the smartest play. Put your best players together. If you have some you’re less sure of, put them together in a ‘wildcard’ team. Don’t waste your high scorers.

One DNP can ruin your gameweek anyway so always do your research. Check for injuries, suspensions and team news as much as you can before setting your line ups. This is another reason to keep your squad fairly tight as having too many players means you need to allow even more time for research. Check for news on social media, monitor chatter on the Discord channel and use aggregator sites like SportsGambler.

It’s been a great ride so far and I can’t actually believe how much the platform has evolved in the short space of time I’ve been involved. We’ve had huge changes to the way the scoring works, the introduction of the ETH threshold rewards, the move to layer 2 and recently the introduction of Limited cards, all while Sorare is being talked up as the biggest game in town. I can’t wait to see where things go next and what I’ll be writing this time next year.

If you want a mediocre (but honest) guide to getting started on Sorare I’d be really happy to help you! I’d also be interested to see how you are finding the platform and what you think the future holds for Sorare.