Lets all be honest here, no one really expected that it was going to be just 36 cards that were going to be responsible for a set that ran from the beginning of the playoffs right? Although I was kind of hoping that was the case so I could have an easy Million coins, I had already started to prep myself otherwise. With the late release of Conference Championship cards, we now know what the future looks like a bit more clearly.

The Cards

I like that there is a change with the lightning for the background to signify a new level of boost and series.

Although a new chase for the conference championship cards will be created for the top guys on each team, we should appreciate that the cards continue to look really nice. They easily could have just continued to churn out playoff series cards with no adjustment, which wouldnt have been as special, and I am happy they are putting in that extra effort. It makes things more appealing, and more of a quest.

The Boost

Making these cards 12x is a good thing to increase value if you are able to pull one. Being that they are in the same pack with 36 other active cards makes this less of an empty pack, and the 8x for the 4 active teams is still big enough to matter. 12x for these cards isnt going to kill anyone’s prospects of finishing in the place they did prior, but it might help the lower tier of points players get some firepower in trading them away.

The Checklist

Its clear that we are getting some new faces in this set, minus Andrew Luck and TY Hilton for a Colts team that is relatively faceless. I would guess that we will have some repeats, but also a chance for players like Boom Herron to get his shot as well. We need those.

The Future

Now we can expect some very interesting things in regards to the sets coming up. First, we know that the teams still playing will have their own cards for this. We can also expect that Super Bowl cards will be available for the players that make it to the big game. This ALL happened last year for the Broncos and Seahawks as well. I would guess that we will be getting some sort of Pro Bowl cards, combined with a few other chases, which will be REALLY cool to see how they turn out. Based on what I have seen for each of the sets so far released during the playoffs, we will NOT be disappointed.

Strategy

Its not in your best interest to open packs right now unless you have money and coins to burn. Not only are people still in the hangover phase from the last round of the playoffs, but activity is lower as well. Without activities in the packs, its harder to pull the nicer cards. You want to get in on the feeding frenzy. Also, the Colts are arguably the least valuable team left alive, save Luck, and that means its good to wait for Pats and Seahawks before diving in. The cards WONT sell out, so you wont miss out if you wait. If you are like me and just want to have fun ripping packs, its on baby! The best time to open packs is right after any new cards are released, so wait for that and start ripping.