My Sorare journey has now spanned a full two years. I did a recap at the one-year point but how has my mediocre, rag-tag team done two years in?

Before I dive in… I’ve primarily written this for me as an overview. I find the process of writing about my successes (and failures) really helpful as it forces me to look at what I’m doing. So this is about my gallery and might not be that interesting to the rest of you – but I will try to note a few learning points along the way.

Net deposits

If year one was all about building my squad, year two was about consolidating and starting to take out the money I’d originally invested.

Unlike many of the ‘early adopters’ of Sorare, I’m not at the level of zero net deposits yet, but I’m not too far off either. My deposits stand at £13,350, while my withdrawals are £8,800, giving a net deposit figure of about £4,500. My challenge over the next year is to get this to zero.

However large or small your gallery is, getting to a point where you are comfortable with the amount invested is vital. Crypto is volatile and putting your money into individual footballers, who might break a leg or transfer to Saudi Arabia, adds an additional level of risk to your investment. Be sensible and never play with money that you might need for real-life things!

Gallery size and value

A year ago I had a gallery of over 100 players with an estimated value of 17.8 ETH, or around £42,000 at the time (according to SorareData). The crypto crash earlier this year has really hurt the relative ETH value of my gallery but it now stands at a very respectable 35 ETH, or around £57,000.

I’ve reduced my gallery size by 12% while growing its value by 36% – I’ll take that as a win!

Side note – zooming out like this is a great way to see just how much Sorare is a buffer against ETH fluctuations. Against the backdrop of the crypto crash earlier this year, the ETH value of my gallery has more or less doubled and the fiat value has only increased by 36% – this speaks for itself! In other words, Sorare appears to protect you a little when ETH is crashing but, on the flipside, hinders you when it’s flying.

My gallery is almost entirely Rare cards. I’ve never moved into Limiteds, and have no real desire to do so, nor do I have any desire to build up by Super Rares. My focus over the last year has been consolidating into better Rare cards with the aim of placing higher in SO5 (I’m not quite there yet but I’m working on it!). Spreading yourself too thinly is rarely a good idea.

SO5 performance

A year ago had 49 rewards through S05 with a total value of nearly 4 ETH plus 1.1 ETH earnt in threshold rewards. No podium prizes and almost entirely tier 3s.

Well, one thing hasn’t changed – I’m still the queen of tier 3s, with no podium prizes, but I’ve now reached a total of 96 rewards with a total value of just over 13 ETH, plus 2.29 in thresholds rewards. Consistent!

The threshold rewards might not be all that exciting but they’re certainly not to be sniffed at. ‘Earning’ 1.19 ETH in threshold rewards over the course of a year works out at around 0.02 ETH per week, or about £36 at the current conversion rate. I’d hate to see Sorare ever scrap them.

Over 9 ETH in rewards in a year isn’t bad at all, especially given how many have been tier 3s. I have snagged the odd decent reward along the way, the best being a 14th place finish in All-Star Division 3 last October which got me a Rare Arsen Zakharyan and 12th in a Weekly Challenge in September, for which I was awarded a Super Rare Kerem Aktürkoğlu. That’s about 2.5 ETH in rewards right there – showing again that it’s quality over quantity that really matters.

I stopped competing in Division 3 (now known as All-Star Pro) at the start of this season. With very few Super Rares, and no inclination to spend more to build that side of my gallery, I thought it was better to focus on the Rare divisions instead. I guess we’ll see how that decision plays out…

Trading

Trading isn’t my strong point. Typically I buy high and sell low… don’t be me!

I’ve had some absolute nightmares this year as well, particularly on the goalkeeper front – like Ochoa and Vindahl who were both dropped just days after I bought them, and Romo who I bought for a quick flip and completely messed up, ending up selling him for half the price a few weeks later.

I also took the decision to cut my losses on some players, rather than risk holding when their short to medium outlook looks poor – Haller and Partey being two of these.

Having said that, holding is sometimes even better than trading. Hanging onto Sebastian Szymański when his future was unclear is a case in point.

I’ve had some trading successes too. I picked up Zian Flemming when he was a little under the radar for 0.15 ETH and sold when his transfer was announced for 0.59 ETH, before picking him back up again for 0.49 ETH when everyone panicked. Hopefully he’s still a good investment for the future.

But generally, I avoid too much trading activity and most of my sales are rewards. Stick to what you’re good at (or at least what you’re not terrible at), that’s my advice!

Challenge for Year Three

Sorare is a three-year project for me in some ways. The growth of the platform last year was at an accelerated rate, which was exciting to see, but I imagine may lead to some ‘growing pains’ over the next year. And this was all without Sorare securing the Premier League rights (so far) and with less than 100,000 managers holding at least five blockchain cards.

Therefore my key priority for year three is to take out the remaining £4,500 from my initial deposits – as a minimum, but more if I can. Not because I think Sorare is likely to hit any trouble over the next year but I do think growth will naturally slow at some stage and I want to make sure I make the most of my head-start on the platform.

I also need to start pulling some better rewards. Grinding out tier 3s every week is lovely but with a gallery of my size I should be doing better than that, and a few big rewards would help to move me closer to my goal of zero net deposits.

I had considered pulling out from Champion Europe this year, just because of the difficulty of beating Bayern and PSG stacks (and the historical data which tells me I suck at Champion Europe). The trouble is, there is just as much of an issue with stacking in Challenger Europe, plus the Champion Europe cards can be useful in the quieter midweek periods, later on in the season.

Regardless of whether I consolidate divisions, I definitely want to consolidate my cards a bit more. For the number of SO5 teams I line up each week, 80 cards would be more than enough – and actually, 60 really good cards would probably be even better. So I need to shave another 25% or so off my gallery size over the next year.

Again, it’s quality over quantity I want to aim for.

But it’s not all about making money. The real value in Sorare is in the entertainment, the building of your football knowledge and the friends you make along the way. That’s kinda priceless right? And it’s for that reason that I’m really looking forward to my next year on the platform, even if I only manage to maintain my rather mediocre form!

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