MLB Showdown

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MLB Showdown
MLB Showdown Logo
Publisher	Wizards of the Coast
Players	2
Age range	10 and up
Setup time	< 5 minutes
Playing time	< 30 minutes
Random chance	High¹
Skills required	Card playing Some knowledge of baseball
1: Due to the 20-sided die
BoardGameGeek entry

MLB Showdown (colloq. Showdown) was a collectible card game by Wizards of the Coast, that ran from 2000 to 2006. The game was introduced to the public in 2000, featuring Atlanta Braves 3rd Baseman Chipper Jones on the product cover. Since the 2000 Base set, cover athletes have included Shawn Green, Gary Sheffield, Manny Ramírez, Luis Gonzalez, Torii Hunter, Albert Pujols, and Craig Biggio, and many more.

1 How to play the game
2 Organized play
3 Sets
4 MLB Showdown Timeline
5 See also
6 External links

[edit] How to play the game

MLB Showdown simulates baseball through baseball cards and polyhedral dice combined with a mathematical formula. The game involves a twenty-sided die and baseball cards made specifically for the game. These cards come in booster packs, a staple for collectible card games, as well as starter games & draft packs (see below). There are two types of cards, player and strategy (colloq. "strats") cards. The player cards have a point value on them, and the team of 25 players can have no more than 5000 points worth of value. Many casual players ignore this rule, and instead put together their best possible team.^{[citation needed]} Strategy cards are randomly drawn and used by the player to alter the flow of the game usually in that player's favor.

MLB Showdown is broken up into two main divisions, the modern era, 2002-present, and the beginning era, 2000-2001. The reason for this distinction is a formulaic statistical change (known as Catina) of hitter cards introduced in 2002. The game is based on two numbers on the player cards. For pitchers it is the statistic "Control", which ranges from +0 to +6. A hitter's key stat is his "On Base", which ranges from 7-16 in the modern era and 4-11 in the beginning era. The basic at-bat goes like this; the pitcher rolls a twenty-sided die and adds his control to the result. This is called the "pitch". If that number is higher than the On-base of the hitter, the pitcher has advantage and the "swing" is rolled on the pitchers chart. If this "pitch" is lower than or equal to the On-base, the hitter has advantage and the swing is rolled on the hitter's chart. Possible results are strike outs, pop up outs, groundball outs, fly ball outs, walks, singles, doubles, triples, and home runs. There is a lot more to the game and it is suggested for beginners to play the demo on Wizards.com.

[edit] Organized play

Organized play was set into three levels, Local MLB Showdown Leagues, MLB Showdown Regionals and the MLB Showdown National Championship. The MLB Showdown card game has had eight national champions: 2001- Scott Forster, 2002- Gary Quinn, 2003-Keith Pioro, 2004- Terry Dugan. The national championship has been discontinued for the 2005 season, because of changes in Organized Play. Instead, 8 players will be regional champions only and will win the grand prize of MLB Season tickets to the team of his/her choice. There is no formal organized play since Showdown has been discontinued by Wizards of the Coast as of January 2006.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Sets

MLB Showdown 2000 (Base)
MLB Showdown 2000 (Pennant Run)
MLB Showdown 2001 (Base)
MLB Showdown 2001 (Pennant Run)
MLB Showdown 2002 (Base)
MLB Showdown 2002 (Trading Deadline)
MLB Showdown 2002 (Pennant Run)
MLB Showdown 2002 (All-Star Game)
MLB Showdown 2003 (Base)
MLB Showdown 2003 (Trading Deadline)
MLB Showdown 2003 (Pennant Run)
MLB Showdown 2004 (Base)
MLB Showdown 2004 (Trading Deadline)
MLB Showdown 2004 (Pennant Run)
MLB Showdown 2005 (Base)
MLB Showdown 2005 (Trading Deadline)

[edit] MLB Showdown Timeline

February 4, 2000: MLB Showdown 2000 is announced by Wizards of the Coast

April 24, 2000: MLB Showdown is put on the market by Wizards of the Coast Inc at $2.99 per booster pack.

August 14, 2000: First Expansion set titled Pennant Run is released.

March 30, 2001: MLB Showdown 2000 is named the 2000 Collectible Card Game of the Year by Card Trade Magazine.

April 2, 2001: MLB Showdown 2001 is released, changes in the game are made to allow more baserunning choices.

July 2001: Most controverisial strategy card set is released in Pennant Run.^{[citation needed]} Including "Mound Conference" and "Pep Talk", "1st Edition" cards are discontinued.

April 29, 2002: MLB Showdown 2002 is released with revamped on-base.

July 15, 2002: MLB Showdown 2002: Trading Deadline is announced, it was released less than a week later.

September 2002: "Super Season" cards are created, allowing managers to play with player with Stats from previous historic seasons in the Pennant Run expansion.

March 7, 2003: MLB Showdown 2003 is released, The Icons are put onto Player cards to supplement gameplay.

June 27, 2003: New rookie season cards let managers play with a card based on a Rookie of the Year winner's rookie season.

August 29, 2003: In Pennant Run, the Cooperstown Collection subset is created, allowing managers to play with classic Hall of Famers such as Nolan Ryan and Reggie Jackson.