To find out more about this exciting platform, I have written a guide to help you get started. If you want to explore Sorare by yourself, you can create an account straight away. However, I'd highly recommend reading this blog first since it covers all primary aspects of the platform, including a beginners strategy as well.

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How does it work?

Users of the platform can use their NFT collectibles to compose teams to compete in various tournaments, each with 5 divisions of its own. Based on real-life performances, football players receive a score after each played match. The combined score of players in your lineup will determine your rank in the leaderboards and whether you've won new cards or ETH prize rewards.

Collectibles

On Sorare, managers can earn, trade, buy and sell digital player cards. All cards used in Sorare are licensed, meaning that real names and images are used for players. These digital player cards can either be won on the auction market or can be bought from players that have listed their cards on the secondary market.

Scarcity

All player cards have provable scarcity because of the blockchain technology that's behind it. These cards are minted as an NFT (non-fungible token). Each season, the same amount of cards are minted for every player. New cards will come into circulation by auctions or as rewards. All NFTs have their own unique card number printed on the card (E.G. 12/100).

Ownership

Once a player card is acquired, it truly belongs to you. Each NFT you own is associated with a unique address on the blockchain and will be yours forever. Because these tokens are not stored on a database from Sorare and are address-bound, ownership could have more benefits. Future projects or games could increase the utility of these tokens if the same blockchain is used. Even if Sorare were to no longer exist, these collectibles would still belong to you.

SO5 Fantasy Football game

Apart from the fact that player cards are seen as collectibles that increase in value over time, the main reason a lot of users play Sorare is because the player cards can earn you money as well by entering tournaments. The fantasy football tournaments that are held twice a week are an opportunity to win new collectibles or ETH rewards.

Player cards

A player card represents a licensed professional football player. During a full football season, the following editions will come into circulation:

• Unique: 1 copy
• Super Rare: 10 copies
• Rare: 100 copies
• Limited: 1000 copies.

When starting out, you will be given some untradable 'common' cards. These cards can not be traded with other managers and hold no value. However, these cards can be used in lower tournaments and might as well prove helpful at a later stage. New managers can enter the 'Rookie League' straight away without having to invest money at all.

Entering a tournament

There are several different leagues you can compete in with each having 5 divisions of its own. Whilst higher divisions might have higher requirements to enter, possible rewards scale up as well. An important note is that cards are not consumed nor lose utility once entered in a line-up.

Leagues that are currently available:

• Global All Star. This is tournament with the most participants with very few restrictions. Cards from all leagues can be used to participate.
• Global Under 23. Only players up to the age of 23 can participate in this tournament.
• Champion Europe. Only players from the top 5 competitions can participate (Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, Ligue 1, & Serie A).
• Challenger Europe. All other European leagues that are not eligible for Champion Europe.
• Champion America. This tournament covers American leagues including the MLS.
• Champion Asia. This tournament is limited to players from the K-League and J-League.
• Global Unique. Only Unique cards can be used for this league.
• Special Training. Players can be sent here to gain XP to boost their card multiplier level.
• Special Weekly. Special promotions are done through this tournament. Requirements vary each game week and sometimes physical prizes are in the pool too.

As explained earlier, each tournament has 5 division of its own. With division 5 being the most beginners friendly while division 1 has higher requirements and bigger rewards.

Entering a team

To participate in a league, click on 'play'. After choosing a league, an interface which show up that allows you to fill in players for your lineup. In this interface, the last 5 games will be shown per card. This will indicate the current form of a player. The opponent of the player in that game week is shown on the card. Make sure all players are having an opponent when lining them up. The scores of the last 5 game weeks are shown as well, helping you choosing in-form players.

As you can see in the image, each player has a card bonus percentage. Based on the 'card level' of the player, a multiplier is used on the final score of the player. Cards that are submitted for Special Training will level up and increase the bonus percentage. Lastly, you will be asked to pick a 'Captain'. Your captain wil receive an additional 20% bonus on top of its original bonus.

Scoring system

The final score of a card on Sorare is ranges from a minimum of 0 to a maximum of 100. If your selected player did not manage to make an appearance in the game, DNP (Did Not Play) will be given as the score which is equal to 0.

Scores are provided by a third party that analyzes sports data in great detail. Based on these real-time statistics, final scores are calculated by a lot of metrics according to the position of the player. Each starting player will start off with 35 points while a substituted player will start with 25 points. Positive events in the game will contribute to a higher score whereas negative events will drop the score of your player.

Some examples of positive events are Goals, Goal Assists, Penalties earned or a Clean Sheet. Examples of negative events are Yellow or Red cards, Errors leading to a goal or foul passes.

Prizes

The final score of your submitted squads will determine your spot on the leaderboards. Prize pools are different for each league. The amount of prizes that can be won is also dynamically calculated based on the number of covered games that are held that game week. Card rewards have different tiers. The higher you have scored on the leaderboard, the higher the tier reward. Each game week, you can click on 'View Prize Pool' to see what players you can expect within each tier.

• Star (e.g. Neymar, Mbappe, Neuer)
• Tier 1 (e.g. Aouar, Klaassen, Suarez)
• Tier 2 (e.g. Özil, Pepe, Schuurs)
• Tier 3 (e.g. Neto, Vecino, Pandev)

The tier pool vary each game week according to the form and value of a player card. Starter goalkeepers can often be won in the higher tiers since goalkeepers are valued the highest in comparison to other positions.

Unless you're participating in 'Global All Star', the players within the tier pool will be from the league you've entered your lineup in. For example: after finishing high in the 'Global Under 23' league, you will be rewarded a U23 player.

Besides winning player cards, you can also win Ethereum prizes. By participating in Global All Stars division 4, you can earn 0.01 ETH by scoring at least 205 points and 0.02 ETH for scoring 250 regardless of your ranking in the leaderboard.

Beginner Strategy

Although Sorare added the Limited tier (1/1000) in order to make the game more accessible to new players, I'd highly recommend focusing on buying rare cards (1/100) instead. The first goal you want to set yourself is hitting the score thresholds for the Global All Stars division 4 in order to accumulate Ethereum. It is important to focus on improving your club before aiming to go for player rewards in other divisions. After a while, you will find yourself in the position that you can enter multiple lineups over different leagues.

What's the first move?

As mentioned earlier, your first goal should be participating in Global All Stars division 4 since this is the easiest way to earn Ethereum which is needed for expanding and improving your club. The requirements for this tournament are as follows: a minimum of 4 rare cards and a maximum of 1 common (free) card. (note that limited, super rares and uniques are not allowed in divison 4). This would mean that the cheapest strategy would be to buy 4 rare players and use one of the common cards from your starter pack. Because of their scarcity, starter goalkeepers are the most expensive cards. Therefore, if possible, use an uncommon goalkeeper along with 4 field players. Make sure you buy at least 1 card in each position (defender, midfielder, forward). It's also advisable to look at the last 5 games to determine whether the player is either a starter or a substitute.

It's extremely important to participate in the rookie league straight away. This is a free beginners league where only common players are allowed. You can only participate 8 times so make sure all your players have a match in your submitted game week. Scoring high will reward you a high-tier common reward. This is the chance to win yourself common goalkeepers which can be used forever in all D4 leagues.

Where can I sign up?

Get yourself registered using this link. Additionally, you will receive a free card after winning 5 auctions. Good luck on your journey!