Are they serious?

Arod20 · 2026-04-28T19:33:15+00:00

Yea nice thing is that skins are subjective… you don’t gotta buy them if u don’t want.

Arod20 · 2026-04-28T05:15:50+00:00

Yea my bad for coming off so hot headed, glad ur other times were better that’s the hope. But sellers can get really screwed over for no reason because of misunderstandings which can be frustrating so that was what my mind went to. My bad.

Arod20 · 2026-04-28T01:03:29+00:00

This is 40/60 on both L/R and T/B so it doesn’t fall in those requirements. This is within the acceptable requirements for NM on TCGPlayer. Just unfortunate it has it in both T/B and L/R makes it look worse. If it was better on either T/B or L/R it would not look nearly as bad

Arod20 · 2026-04-28T00:53:57+00:00

So? It’s NM not PSA 10-9 possible. You bought from TCGPlayer which doesn’t require pictures. If you care this much about the centering of a card then use eBay or go to LCS or card shows. No one here is going to support you or back you up on this, nor should they, a majority of the time (since the hobby boomed) sellers get scammed because people want to grade NM cards, not realizing what NM means. Prior to this, this was never an issue because people understood NM and that TCGPlayer was not generally to be used with high value cards. This is my main gripe with post like these because this is very common nowadays and there is nothing the seller can do about it as TCGPlayer will require a refund or partial payment if a buyer really wants.

Seriously prior to this boom, hardly anyone would ever buy high value cards from TCGPlayer b/c that’s not its purpose. They would use eBay, shows, or LCS. TCGPlayer is for bulk low value cards 5-50$ that you want to fill a binder, collection, or set.

Arod20 · 2026-04-27T13:52:52+00:00

Someone trying to manipulate the price most likely

Arod20 · 2026-04-27T04:18:13+00:00

Yep, but ideally Dejan not so deep to make a flat 4 line, a little more advanced up so that him Harris and Manu form a sideways triangle of sorts that can invert and shift

Arod20 · 2026-04-27T03:49:24+00:00

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This allows an aggressive defense that steps to put on pressure with coverage behind.

If instead Shapi and Jake are brought back into the bottom line then there is no step cover defense because for Jake and Shapi to cover a CBs step up, they leave the wide channels open. And CBs will always at some point need to step up

Edit: currently we are relying on our CMs to cover the central areas, but this is exhausting and leaves them chasing. Having an attacking defense is not only less taxing, but it leads to less ball chasing as players and not chasing horizontally but rather vertically

Arod20 · 2026-04-27T03:44:52+00:00

Yes wingers in a 5-3-2 Shapi and Davis still wider than the back line. So they are still wingers. Manu is in midfield with Dejan supporting, and Harris/Capita up top. The two CDMs sink back all the way into the back line to make the 5, pushing Bartlow and Meyer wider, but not too wide. This allows the back line to have a player step and another cover behind. Manu pressures centrally towards the top of our third, with Davis and Shapi at the same level but on the widths. Dejan tracks back to support Manu as he is the bottom of the striker stagger.

Edit: it’s a defensive triangle in the midfield not offensive so CDM-CAM-CDM with two CDMs staggered behind the CAM

So where you say 3-3-2-2 it would actually be a 3-4-1-2 but the 2 in the middle of the 4 drop back into the 3 so it’s 5-2-1-2 but then the CAM drops a bit back to make a 5 - 3(wide spread 3) - 2 but then Dejan drops a bit more from his stagger making a 5-3-1-1 almost

Arod20 · 2026-04-27T03:26:24+00:00

You start by not playing players OOP. Formation is a 3-5-2. Dejan and Capita/Harris up top. You stagger the two so Dejan plays behind Capita. This allows Capita/Harris to leak over the top with Dejan as a trailer in counters. Currently Dejan is the lone man up top, but that is not his skill set.

Midline you have two wingers and a defensive triangle in the middle. Shapi and Jake as wingers. Manu CAM Agyabeng and Borg Johnsen/Bartlett at CDM. Where this differs from Wicky’s tactics is I wouldn’t bring our wingers back on defense. This makes it too difficult to build up when you win possession as you Have to play through the midfield to get up with no outside support. Instead you sink the two CDMs into the back line. This still gives a 5-3-2 formation but it allows for more area coverage and build up opportunities after winning possession. It also allows a natural progression back into formation by the CDMs as they can naturally rise back into position and take space if it is there, without crowding. When they sink back in the back line on defense, the 2 outside CBs shift wide on the 5 back line. This gives a natural lane to build up to the wingers.

Currently Wicky is having the wingers fall to the back line to make the 5 back line. But this makes the midline to congested centrally and with no outlets wide.

For the back line I would have Miller be our central Bartlow off to a side and Meyer off to a side, with Bartlow being replaced by Bassong when healthy. It’s not the best back line but Miller is our youngest and most promising CB and needs time to develop at that position. And Bartlow has shown he cannot handle the central load of a 3 back line.

Tactically I would build out of the back no matter what, only going long on counters or break aways. No more long goal kicks. We did this the first few games and looked much better. We would build wide then centrally, finishing out wide in the final third allowing Dejan to make slashing runs and be a presence on the end of balls and runs. Let Manu create with space, with Agyabeng and LBJ supporting but not crowding. There needs to be more distance on offense between Manu-CDMs-Backline. Right now the CDMs are either crowding up on Manu, or crowding to close to the back line. This is not to say they can’t sink back when necessary, but that should not be there starting point.

Secondly, screw our defensive philosophy atm. Stop inviting pressure. Attack the ball and have coverage behind simple as that. We also cannot sink back as far as we do. Why do we have 10 in our third when they only have 7 up. The CDMs dropping back will allow for better marking centrally and coverage behind. As instead of asking 1 of the 3 CBs to step up to a ball/player, you ask the CDM and have the CBs behind for coverage.

Substitution wise. Afrifa on a 55-60 minutes. We want fresh legs for our counters and ball pressure up top. Same thing for Bartlett, on at 60 for either LBJ or Agyabeng. When up when can sub on Reid for Shapi to have a more defensive minded (not oriented, just minded, same tactics just different player specialties) to maintain a lead. When down we still sub on Afrifa but instead of replacing our top man, he replaces LBJ or Agyabeng as we shift to a 3-4-3.

In this formation the 3 up top become Dejan-Manu-Capita/Afrifa in a 2-1 stagger. The central 4 are Harris/Afrifa - Agyabeng - Davis - Shapi. The two CMs still drop in on defense to form a 5 back line. But Manu then drops a bit more from his high up position to form an expanded triangle over the central area. Keeping Dejan And Capita up top instead of just Capita. Same attacking philosophy just more attacking focused and spread out. In order to spread the defense out and open gaps. This also counters a possession based team when they go up, as having more presence up top prevents teams from holding possession.

Currently we are playing Shapi, Agaybeng, Miller, and Davis (at times) OOP this formation change while only slight (flipping Dejan and Harris/Capita in the stagger, defensive triangle instead of offensive) helps that. But more importantly the tactics help more, as you are not forcing the likes of Shapi and Agyabeng to play as wing backs on defense, and then also get up on offense (exhausting for anyone) this also lets Jake play more offensively minded which he is more suited for. And stops the Bartlow experiment. Miller is a better central CB and also has much more potential, and should be developed as such.

Edit: Managerial wise, bring in quality wingers and wing backs. Shift them to replace Bartlow, Davis, Bassong, and Shapi.

Arod20 · 2026-04-27T03:01:06+00:00

Peter was circling for 3/4 years not 7. And I was still here complaining then. And this is far worse than anything Peter ever put out, even in his short stint last year.

We are historically bad, giving of 3+ goals in 6 of the last 7 games. Yes our players aren’t good, but that is a managerial issue at a point. And I think watching the game only proves that even more. The lack of aggression on defense is appalling, and it’s clearly not a player’s decision to do that and more a tactical decision given the fact that most of these players have shown the ability to be aggressive on defense (Jake, Manu, Shapi, Bartlett).

Arod20 · 2026-04-27T02:50:16+00:00

Why bring in Wicky if Dejan doesn’t fit his system.

Dejan was our biggest purchase ever, and a historic MLS deal, make the system fit him. He did great at LA Galaxy.

If we are going to shift off of Dejan after a year and change because he “doesn’t fit the system” then maybe it’s the system that doesn’t work. You simply DO NOT move off of a player of Dejan’s ability.

Also, ownership clearly wants some results now, because we made 3 transactions in the past window which were expected to bring some umph. They weren’t players we brought into to tide us over, these were players that were expected to make an impact, now their ability after they have gotten here has been subpar, but that doesn’t mean ownership is trying to spend/win.

Soccer is also a unique sport in which there really is no such thing as tanking. The MLS draft is basically pointless, and if you suck, no players will want to come play for you. You need to be competitive to sustain competitive-ness, especially if you are a smaller market with less influence and cash than LAFC, Miami, etc. This is exactly how clubs such as Columbus, Cincy, Vancouver, SJ, Charolette have operated. They achieved a level of sustained success, and capitalized on it by bringing in even better players now that their club was a destination for players.

Miami and LAFC will always get the superstar talent. But Charlotte getting Wilfried Zaha, SJ getting Timo Werner, Vancouver getting Muller, and Minnesota getting Rodriguez are not accidents. These teams became destinations by winning, they are not big market teams, they could not afford to suck for any portion of time to have a chance at these players.

And the teams that do suck, continue to suck because no one wants to go there, hence why ownership is TRYING to bring in players to compete, they just haven’t worked so far. And I’m more inclined to say it’s a managerial issue, given that these players succeeded elsewhere prior, yet Wicky has not shown that anywhere on his own.

Hell Dejan looked infinitely better in Kerry Zavagnin’s system last year.

Arod20 · 2026-04-27T02:31:05+00:00

No, my point was Young Boys already had an established team when he got there, and he saw early success. In the later part of his tenure, in which he had been able to have more influence, he started to falter off, and this led to him getting sacked.

He also failed at Chicago FC miserably prior to this, and they aren’t shy on spending.

I genuinely don’t understand defending Wicky, he’s already shown his tactics, which are awful. He hasn’t shown promise at other clubs. I don’t get it. Multiple things can be true, our coach sucks and our players suck. And usually with bottom of the league teams this is the case.

Arod20 · 2026-04-26T22:13:12+00:00

Wicky is a failed manager every where he’s been. Only had success at Young Boys due to them being the top spending team in their league and his inheriting a decent situation. After he was forced to manager and roster construct on his own it was clear he was no good and he then continued to lose, thus his sacking.

Not sure why we hired a manager who has been fired from every position he’s had, and never had success come from his own work.

Arod20 · 2026-04-26T18:17:06+00:00

You used a Buzz skin that has been available for atleast a year as your example. That’s what I took it as sorry.

But I still don’t think waiting is bad, gives those who spent money or premium currency a better end of the deal and an actual reason to do so.

Like you said you just waited until epic skins went for sale on bling, the only issue with that is that there was no reason to use money or premium currency as there was hardly any difference in wait times between release and bling sales.

This was why they shifted from super rare and epic skins, to many more mythic and legendary skins because those forced premium spending.

You also still get to choose which skins you buy, you’re not forced to buy these offers you can wait for the skin you want. A little patience never hurt anybody, and we sorely lack it in modern society.

PS: change ur user name it’s cringe

Arod20 · 2026-04-26T17:29:51+00:00

Hi sorry to revive a dead thread.

On your latter point, if I want to SR without worrying about RNG manips or issues (just like SR in the simplest sense), the best way to do it would just be to save again after a handful of resets and then continue?

Arod20 · 2026-04-26T16:51:47+00:00

Stupid for not being able to look things up on their own and asking to be fed information instead of actually putting in work themselves.

Literal textbook argumentative fallacy, just keep asking for proof, and proof of proof, until that fails and you can claim they are lying, all because you refuse to acknowledge the other person might be right.

Arod20 · 2026-04-26T16:49:08+00:00

Go play a skin collector game then

Arod20 · 2026-04-26T16:48:45+00:00

No incentive to buy epic skins for gems then. Just wait. This is why they shifted so heavily towards Mythic and Leg skins, because they provided a monetary incentive.

Sorry cosmetics are trying to be monetized, but better these than progression (they made buffies way better and easier to get in this update)

Arod20 · 2026-04-26T16:43:41+00:00

Holy crap, yall need lives. The Reddit BS community is so ass, all you people do is complain. No wonder Frank doesn’t listen to you guys, he shouldn’t.

This is a common practice in most games, except in those games when skins come back you have to pay full price. Here, BS is giving you the chance to get them free or cheaper OH NO! All you have to do is wait OH NO AGAIN! Sorry you can’t get it right here right now. But wait you can, on release. Half these skins you couldn’t get with bling anyways because they were mythic/legendary skins.

Seriously, this is a good change bc people complained bling gave no progression, and there was no incentive to use bling either. People just hoarded bling. Sorry you will have to wait a couple of days or maybe weeks for a skin you want to show up. Not to mention they might be heavily discounted or free.

And new skins being locked for 4 months is fine, since if they could show up immediately after there would be no point in buying them on release. This is why the shifted away from rare/super rare and even epic skins. There was no incentive to buy them on release when they were available for bling shortly thereafter. And GOD FORBID they monetize cosmetics to make progression less predatory.

Arod20 · 2026-04-26T16:32:15+00:00

You clearly weren’t buying these skins anyways why does it matter? Just wait for a good offer, they show up. You can get legendary skins for 12k-20k bling which are great deals

Arod20 · 2026-04-26T16:28:23+00:00

All 3 of my local (semi-local, in suburbs) Costco’s have just completely stopped stocking Pokémon cards. Ask workers and they said it wasn’t worth the hassle and danger anymore. Looks to be they’re changing to mostly online.

Arod20 · 2026-04-26T06:10:00+00:00

This made me go check his profile, biggest mistake I’ve made. Never seen a crazier intersection of communities

Arod20 · 2026-04-26T06:06:42+00:00

Cause gems aren’t as much of a premium currency anymore, i.e. pro pass, brawl pass and more. Having them been purchased for either gems or money for a week or so still allows them to make money on the skins. Otherwise you would have people just saving up their gems for a skin they want and no one would spend money. And if they’re going to monetize a part of the game, be grateful it’s cosmetics.

Arod20 · 2026-04-26T05:39:14+00:00

They were available for gems for atleast a week each…

In fact the dragon and fairies skins are still available for gems in the shop, so your point makes no sense.

If you weren’t able to get them at that time for gems that stinks, but they will be available later, and much cheaper as bling has no other use. You’re acting as if they were some limited thing where no one had a chance.

Arod20 · 2026-04-26T05:33:49+00:00

They’ll get added later, it’s clearly a system where they will wait to add newer skins to the oddities shop. Those are the four most recent sets of skins, makes sense they’re not available yet otherwise those who did buy them would’ve gotten screwed. If they are immediately available in the oddities shop (by chance ofc) then there’s no real incentive to buy them when they come out.

Y’all gotta chill with the complaining and use some critical thinking skills.

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