Update after one year of playing Sorare
In my previous post about Sorare, I detailed how the game works, and how it can be used to turn your favorite sport into a lucrative side gig. For the past twelve months, I’ve dedicated a couple of hours each week to playing Sorare. The result: I finally got rid of my Football Manager and FIFA addictions, and also made a decent profit in the process.
In this article, I’ll talk about the transfer strategies I use in Sorare, the most useful tools for the game, and how to find the best deals.
A friendly disclaimer: Sorare is not for everyone. if you don’t have the patience and a higher risk appetite needed for this game, you better stick to traditional football betting or with playing the fantasy football game of your choice. Also, please keep in mind that none of this is financial advice, it is simply based on my personal experience.
Total profit after one year
In May 2021 I found out about Sorare while browsing this DeFi applications ranking website. After reading a bit about how the game works, I decided to create an account, just for fun. I set a relatively small initial budget of 0.4515 ETH, at that time, the equivalent of $1200. My goal was to build a Rare team for competing in the All-Star league. At that time, my budget wasn’t enough to buy a quality starter goalkeeper, so I focused on finding cheap outfield players who started more than 80% of their games. I was also lucky enough to get Thibault Courtois as a Common goalkeeper card after creating the account, which I then used in almost every game week. Luck most definitely played a part in winning cards and ETH rewards from my first few game weeks of Sorare, as well as in swapping Rare players like Leonardo Bonucci, Bryan Cristante, Renan Lodi, Jordan Teze, or Jean Amani for more than 2x their buying price. After each sale, I reinvested the profits in more and more Rare cards, and later in Limited cards.
I logged each transaction in a spreadsheet, for keeping track of my progress. One year and a few hundred card transfers later, the summarized results look like this:
A few days ago, I decided to withdraw my Sorare profit (1.4045 ETH from rewards and from player transfers) and converted it to UST. This was then added to my long-term staking vault on Anchor Protocol, currently earning a decent 19.45% APY interest.
Although I am left with no funds in my Sorare wallet, I still have 12 Rare cards and around 60 Limited cards on sale, currently valued at 0.72 ETH, according to Soraredata roaster valuation. Not great, not terrible, but still higher than my initial investment of 0.4515 ETH.
Overall, I am very happy with the outcome, my only regret is that I haven’t gotten into Sorare earlier and with a bigger transfer budget.
Sorare transfer strategies and most useful tools
Finding the best players on Sorare for the cheapest possible price is not that easy. But with a bit of research, one can find hidden gems that can be sold at a profit.
Although I used a couple of different Sorare transfer strategies, my favorite remains the one that I call “flipping reserves”. But not all reserves can be flipped or sold quickly. And here come handy tools like SorareData, TransferMarkt, or SportsGambler.
Here’s how this strategy usually works: right before a game week starts, I use these websites to find recently injured or suspended starting players from the top teams. If the injury or suspension is confirmed on all three websites, I look into buying the substitute most likely to start in the next game. Of course, it would be ideal to buy a player at the best possible price, so sending out a few offers for a -5% or -10% discount is always a good approach. In most cases, if the bought reserve player starts the next game from the first minute, the card sells for at least 15-20% profit. If the injured player will take a longer time to recover, I usually keep the reserve card for at least 2 or 3 games and sell it at an even higher profit. Bonus points for finding injured goalkeepers and buying their reserve at the right time.
Of course, this transfer strategy has its own risks, such as getting stuck with a reserve that never gets the chance to play, or buying it too late, after the price has already pumped. But overall, for me, it turned out to be very rewarding.
One other transfer strategy I use is flipping resellable players. By “resellable” I mean players starting out in more than 80% of their team’s games, ideally less than 30 years old, and bought at a slight discount. Again, using Soraredata “Card search” filters is the best way to find such players. With this strategy, the cards may take longer to sell than the previous one, and usually at lower profit margins (10% or more), but if the player gets a good result in the next game week, it will sell sooner. Just be careful not to buy already injured players, that usually are being sold at a discount.
A third way to make good profits on Sorare would be buying Under 23 players from top-tier teams and holding on to them for at least a few months. Ideally, less-known young players from clubs like PSG, Lyon, Ajax, PSV, AZ Alkmaar, Feyenoord, or Anderlecht can be found at relatively low prices, especially before the season starts, or if they haven’t played any minute for their teams. With this strategy, one could easily turn +500% in profits if the player is given enough time on the pitch and shines enough to get good scores. The downside is that if the player is loaned out or fades into obscurity, you are stuck with the card and/or might be forced to sell at a loss.
Another transfer strategy I use in Sorare that works great, particularly with Limited cards, is buying cards off-season. Using the Sorare season planner tool, when there is a summer break for a competition, one can look out for bargain deals on cards. For example, in January and early February, there are usually great discounts on cards from MLS and Asian leagues. After the competitions start, the prices will soar, especially for regular starters.
For this year’s European Leagues summer break, I’ll be on the lookout for bargain deals for players most likely to be called up for the World Cup. I already added some to my club, and have created a list of prospects based on the data found here. Looking forward to this competition, as well as to the transfer season this summer. In the meantime, I’ll be joining the remaining competitions and hope to win some more rewards.
Sorare tips and tricks
As more and more new people join Sorare, it can be easy for some to make mistakes in the game before learning how the game works and to even lose money as a result. Here are some helpful tips I learned the hard way while playing Sorare:
always double-check the sale price for a card BEFORE putting it up for sale on the market. You don’t want to set the price of a card that is worth say..0.09 to 0.009 by mistake!
don’t buy players from the auction market if there are cheaper listings on the manager sales market. This one is self-explanatory don’t pay extra if you don’t have to.
always check the average sell price for a card before accepting an offer from another manager. It might be that the average price went up and that offer is too low.
keep track of your transfers! Use a spreadsheet to log every sale or purchase, and use either ETH or USD as reference currency (using both can be confusing in the long run).
don’t spam other managers with unrealistic/ridiculous offers! Just don’t, you will get blocked.
develop your own Sorare goal and transfer strategy and stick to them. Being chaotic in buying/selling cards or in registering your teams in competitions will likely not bring any long-term benefits.
always make sure that a player is not injured or suspended before signing him up in a game week league (you can use SorareData, TransferMarkt, SportsGambler, or even FlashScore for this purpose)
before signing a player, research as much as possible about his current stats, playing time, contract, injuries, market valuation, competition for the position he’s playing, etc. TransferMarkt is once again the best tool for this.
try not to buy players from relegated teams or if their contracts are close to the end date.
be realistic with your Sorare transfer budget and don’t use money or crypto that you cannot afford to lose!
If you found any of this info useful, feel free to sign up using my Sorare referral link and you will get a free Limited card after buying your first five cards in auctions.
Conclusion
Sorare is, in my opinion, one of the best football fantasy games out there. Compared to games such as FIFA, Football Manager, or even PremierLeague Fantasy Football, it has the right balance between engaging and rewarding. It does require patience to play and be competitive, but it does not create frustration (unlike some FIFA bugs you probably met). You can build up your own skills as a manager, and with a bit of luck and research, build teams that win rewards consistently.
