Global fantasy sports platform Sorare, has just launched Sorare Rivals, a new free-to-play fantasy football game. Unlike existing Sorare competitions and rival fantasy products, it runs on a head-to-head basis and it is centred around individual matches rather than full gameweeks or seasons. Below, we’ll go into more detail into what Sorare Rivals is, how to start playing and how it works.
Sorare Rivals Explained
What is Sorare Rivals?
Sorare Rivals is a head-to-head fantasy football game which enables you to take on friends or complete strangers in one-off fantasy duels.
If there’s football on, you can play Rivals, as long as the match is taking place in one of Sorare’s extensive covered competitions which ranges from major European leagues such as LaLiga and the Premier League to the Korean K League and Peruvian Primera División, as well as all the major continental and international competitions.
If you win matches, you can progress up the leaderboard and potentially win rewards such as jerseys and Pro cards which can be used in the paid version of Sorare which is reviewed here.
Essentially Sorare Rivals is designed to be both an additional and more social gameplay mode for existing users, as well as a fun environment for new users to come and try out Sorare’s fantasy football which is defined by its advanced scoring matrix which uses Opta stats to grade players out of 100.
How to join Sorare Rivals
If you’re not yet on Sorare, you need to first create an account to play Sorare Rivals. It’s a very short process and given Sorare Rivals is free to play and doesn’t require any investment, you don’t need to deposit funds or buy any cards as is the case in the Pro version of the game.
You can sign up for Sorare and play Rivals from a desktop, laptop, tablet or mobile device. You’ll then be guided to the Rivals tab where you can see which upcoming matches there are, select your first teams and play your first games.
If you’re an existing Sorare manager, you should be able to see the large Rivals tab in the Lobby. Click on that and you can immediately start playing Rivals. You don’t need any Pro cards to play, although having Pro cards will give you a slight edge in Rivals matches where your players are in action as they carry a bonus of 20-35% depending on the Scarcity.
How does Sorare Rivals work?
Sorare Rivals works in a head-to-head format. You can challenge any other Sorare manager to a duel for any given match and you’ll then compete against them in a one-off contest. The manager who scores the most most points wins and there is no limit on the number of duels.
There is also something called the “Arena” which is central to all things Sorare Rivals. Choose to enter the Arena for a match and you will be automatically paired with another Sorare manager with whom your lineup will compete against.
Winning matches in Arena mode is key to building your reputation, climbing the overall leaderboard and winning rewards.
Selecting Lineups & Entering the Arena
As in Sorare Pro, Rivals managers must select five players to form a lineup (a goalkeeper, defender, midfielder, forward and one more outfielder). Only this time, you only have a pool of players from just two teams to pick from.
It’s advisable to pick lineups in the hour before the game by which time starting elevens will be known. This will ensure your lineup will consist of five starting players.
Your five picks must stay within an overall cap or budget which varies from game to game (it’s typically between 220 and 300). Each player is assigned an L15 value (cost) which is their average score over the last 15 matches.
For example if the overall cap is 250, you could pick players with L15 values of 40, 50, 50, 50 and 60. This ensures managers have to think strategically as it almost certainly won’t be possible to just pick the five best players.
Once you’ve selected your lineup, you are free to accept challenge requests and challenge other managers. You can also choose to enter the Arena and take on another manager.
Entering the Arena will use up one Arena ticket so you’ll want to think carefully and most likely prioritise matches where you know the teams and stand a better chance of getting the edge on your opponent.
You can see how many Arena tickets you have at the top of your screen via the pink ticket icon. Every 12 hours, you have the opportunity to collect a new ticket, so it’s worth trying to do this as often as possible as the 12 hour timer resets every time you claim a ticket.
Gameplay & Bonuses
The gameplay in Sorare Rivals is fundamentally the same as Sorare Pro in that you use five players while as is typical in Fantasy Football games, you can choose a captain who gains a 20% bonus.
You also need to choose a Tactic. You have five options: tiki taka, joga bonito, all out attack, park the bus and gegenpressing. If your players collectively surpass a certain criteria (for example, over 130 accurate passes if you choose tiki taka), you will score extra points which may prove decisive in determining whether or not you win your duels.
Once the game kicks off, you can sit back and enjoy the game, be that at home or in a bar with your friends who you’ve gone head-to-head with in Rivals.
That’s not quite the end of the matter though as you have the opportunity to make a substitution, which may be worthwhile if a player is having a shocking game, concedes an own goal or gets sent off.
What can you win in Sorare Rivals?
Given Sorare Rivals is free-to-play, rewards are not what they are in Sorare Pro where you can win cash prizes and cards that are worth hundreds or even thousands of Dollars/Pounds/Euros.
To win rewards in Sorare Rivals, you need to complete missions such as winning 3 or 5 consecutive Arena matches. Should you complete a mission, you’ll get to open a Rivals Reward Box.
You’re most likely to win a bunch of Arena tickets which will enable you to keep playing the game and target bigger missions. However those Reward Boxes also offer a chance to win Limited cards which can then be used in Pro mode or sold for cash.
There are also some football jerseys to be won in the Reward boxes, although the chances of landing one of these is very low.
If you’re ready to get started on Sorare Rivals, sign up here to kick off your journey.
Questions are welcome via @SorareLaLiga on twitter or maybe you just fancy a Rivals match! If so, send out a challenge on Sorare.
