If last week was any indication of the level of competition that will exist over the next few weeks, its only going to become more important as the playoffs progress. I want to take a few minutes to talk about how much fun these points chase elements can be, and also which ones are the best to participate in.

Weekly Chase

I understand that many people liked to play the old “set it and forget it” routine with the regular season weekly chase. There are a ton of games, Sundays are usually time to relax, and it can be tough to keep up. Although I urged people to play along whenever they found themselves in front of the TV, it is something that not everyone was willing to do. With only 4 games per week, dwindling down to two for the Championship round and 1 for the Super Bowl, its worth playing along.

The reason I say that is because those helmet awards that you received for finishing higher in the chase have gone up exponentially, and the BoH cards that are going to be given out are actually chosen by the HUDDLE staff, not left to chance on the highest point player from that week. They are also packed with huge boosts, which get higher if you finish among the top spots.

Even if you have never really played along before, these two elements might compel you to try to reach the top 1000 players. Even if you arent invested in the playoff teams, there will be a plethora of people who will pay through the nose for your boosted card.

Game Throwdowns

If you need to brush up on what these are all about, I have an article here that you can refer to.

To update – the two weekly throwdowns that used to happen on Thursday and Monday now are taking place for each day that playoff games are played. So, that means one for the entire slate of Saturday games and one for the entire slate of Sunday games. The great thing is that they still cost the same amount of money, and 500  coins is worth a shot to participate in Bronze if you are a lower tier collection score.

Even if you only want to play in one of the days, you can get 5x your money back in Bronze, just for finishing in the top 100. Many times, this is actually quite the easy task, as only 150 players participate in the lowest tier. I will say that just from looking at the ticket card counts, the two throwdowns were the top of the year. That is easily understandable with many users feeling comfortable with one game on at a time instead of 5-8.

Huddle Bowl

During Wild Card weekend, the top 64 players squared off to see who would finish in the top 8 to go into next week’s bracket for the annual Huddle Bowl. I was lucky enough to squeak into the last spot for the tournament at 8, after finishing 9 for the season overall.

Although 99.9% of the user base is not participating in the tournament, it shows that the season long points chase is worth gunning for. Even if you dont make it to the top of your team’s leaderboard, you only need to get to the top 2, which might be more of a game of outlast than outplay. Because the app grew over the course of the season, some users had a VERY nice head start on late joining players. Even with boosted cards, that factored in, trust me.

Next year may be entirely different, but if anything, I see the Huddle bowl growing rather than shrinking. Worth keeping in mind.

Card Chases

If you are a collector more than a gamer, Huddle is definitely bringing out the big guns for this time of year. From what Chris said in the interview last week, there will be more to come undoubtedly.

Right now, the Playoff Sig set is one that I have been eyeing since release back last week. With many top players getting immortalized, these cards are very hard to come by, made even more difficult by the long pack odds.

To see a guy like Dez Bryant FINALLY get a sig, all while looking as cool as it does, Im sold. The design is really a nice touch, as the cards are definitely going to be some of the more coveted sigs of the year. The scariest part for collectors is that each card also has a 9x boost, which means it will appeal to more people also involved in the points chase. You are going to have more competition than usual! Even if the players dont make the next round, its still worth picking them up.

Here is the thing – this is the best time of year for football. I really like what the Huddle team has been able to do, and I dont even think we are close to getting started. Each game is more important than the next, and desperation usually leads to some amazing play on the field. With Huddle, the chases can come down to the last play, which means even a blowout can be like an overtime battle. I love it. Without a doubt, its the most wonderful time of the year!