Gamevil is one of those household names in the mobile gaming industry — there’s a pretty good chance you’ve encountered at least one of their titles while checking out new game releases, including Talion, Zenonia S, and Elune. They also have a fairly popular MLB-based title called Perfect Inning, as well as the baseball-inspired RPG (or RPG-inspired baseball game) called Baseball Superstars. The game’s 2020 edition was recently released for iOS and Android devices, and it comes with “more style, more modes, and more customization” than ever before.
We won’t lie to you — Baseball Superstars 2020 can be quite an overwhelming title, even if you are used to other in-depth baseball simulations for mobile. With a fictional in-game universe, there are so many things to learn about the characters, and that isn’t counting the various features and modes that come with the game! But we’re going to start out nice and easy and focus on what you may need to know as a first-time player — we’re going to focus mainly on My Player mode and trainers, as well as a few other modes that you will likely be exploring early on in your gaming experience.
So with that said, here’s our beginner’s guide for Baseball Superstars 2020, and all the tips and tricks you need to know as a newbie to win more games.
1. The Basics Of Baseball Superstars 2020
If you’re used to playing traditional MLB-based games such as Tap Sports Baseball or Gamevil’s own MLB Perfect Inning, or maybe used to more casual titles that focus more on your own skills and timing rather than realism, you may be shocked at how deep Baseball Superstars 2020 is. This is, after all, more than just a baseball game — it comes with a wide range of RPG-inspired mechanics, as well as anime-style graphics and an underlying storyline that can match any popular anime or manga out there.
And with a wide range of fictional characters, which we will be discussing in more depth later on, that means a virtual galaxy of NPCs whom you would need to familiarize yourself with while playing the game. But before anything else, let’s talk about how the batting and pitching system works — for the former, we suggest going with basic, one-touch controls unless you’ve played previous Baseball Superstars editions before and want more control over your swing.
When starting the game for the first time, you will be given a quick briefing on how to bat and how to pitch. You may not realize it immediately as a beginner, but avoiding a bad swing is not at all too hard. If the small dot falls inside the box beside your batter, it is within the strike zone, and you should be swinging. But if it falls outside the box, it’s outside the strike zone — unlike in other games, you don’t need to see if the ball is traveling too far inside or too far right of your batter.
Once you see the dot is outside the box, just stand your ground and the umpire will call it as a ball — three strikes you’re out, ball four is a walk, or a base on balls. Otherwise, if that pink dot falls somewhere within the box, you’ll need to time your swing properly in order to avoid whiffing, or getting a foul tip when the tip of your bat is the only thing that makes contact with the ball. (The game somehow refers to this as a “cut.”)
The pitching mechanics, on the other hand, require choosing a pitch, choosing where you wish to aim the pitch, and tapping on your screen at just the right time, right when meter is in the light blue area. The tutorial will also show you how to use your custom pitch, which we shall get to at some point in the future — since this is a beginner’s guide, we will simply advise you to mix up your pitches and never make the same pitch (i.e. same type, same location) two times in a row. Otherwise, your opponent will easily be able to figure you out.
Of course, at this point, you should already have chosen your team name and customized your uniform to your liking. After the batting and pitching tutorial, you will be shown how to manage your lineup and to use the Auto Assign button to let the AI automatically choose the best possible batting order and pitching rotation. You will then be given a basic overview of how trainers work (assuming you’re following along with the Manual), but since these characters are essentially the lifeblood of Baseball Superstars, we shall be talking about them in the very next tip.
2. Trainer Basics – The Recruit Menu And Trainer Rarity
In order to replace the scrub players you start out with, you’re going to need to develop your own players via the My Player mode, and in order to make them worth adding to your team, they’re going to need the right trainers. Essentially, your user-created players will be nothing without trainers, and that’s what arguably makes them the central element of Baseball Superstars 2020. The game will start you out by allowing you to select trainers that specialize in a certain player attribute — Strength (batting and pitching power), Intelligence (generally determines a player’s ability to make smart decisions), Dexterity (athleticism for both batters and pitchers alike), and Mentality (a general player’s attitude and ability to perform in certain situations).
You can also choose Balanced trainers from this initial group — these are jacks of all trades that don’t have any true specialization in terms of attributes. You can get new trainers via the Recruit button on the right side of the main menu/main lobby screen — you can recruit a total of 11 (10 + 1) for free per day, although you will have to pay 500 Diamonds (the game’s premium currency) if you want another go at it within the same 24-hour span.
Likewise, Special Recruit and Premium also cost 500 Diamonds per 10 + 1 pull, regardless of how often you use these options per day, while Friend Recruit costs 350 Friendship Points for a 10 + 1 pull — Friendship Points are earned once you’ve added friends via the game’s social features. You can pay 50 Diamonds to recruit one Premium trainer, although there’s no guarantee you’re going to get a high-end trainer. That, might we add, actually brings us to the topic of rarity.
Using the 10 + 1 options for Special and Premium guarantee you at least one UR, or Ultra Rare trainer, and these are the ones whom you’ll want to upgrade with Level Up Memories, which can be acquired by playing My Player or Player League modes or via the Item Shop. The rule of thumb is to prioritize rarer trainers when upgrading them, and when it comes to rarity, the hierarchy is as follows — UR (Ultra Rare), SSR (Specially Super Rare — no kidding), SR (Super Rare), R (Rare), and N (Normal). Obviously, you don’t want to devote much resources to those Normal, or even Rare trainers.
Simply tap on the Trainer button on the bottom left of the main menu, go to Manage Trainers, and you’ll see an overview of everyone you’ve recruited so far. Tap on any trainer, then tap on their name on the right side, then tap on the plus button underneath Level on the upper right — this will allow you to level up a trainer with the Memories you’ve acquired.
3. The Trainer Deck – Getting Yourself Ready For My Player
The Deck button, on the other hand, allows you to view your lineup of best trainers for batters and pitchers, who will then be assigned to the next player you create for My Player. We won’t dive in too much on this topic just yet — if you’re a first-timer, just tap on Rec’d (Recommended) on the deck screen and choose By Tier to give you the best deck based on rarity or By Position to give you the best deck based on the position they specialize in building. That’s another thing to remember when it comes to trainers — each of them has a specific specialization in terms of position, so if you’re planning to create a catcher, you can try building a trainer deck with several trainers who specialize in training catchers.
Conversely, you can also take note of the positions your rarest trainers specialize in, then create a My Player character to match the most common position. Taking a look at the photo we used, you can either create a new Starting Pitcher (SP) or Relief Pitcher (RP) based on that deck, as there are three specializing in each position, but since there are two super-rare trainers (the ones with purple outlines) for RP as compared to one for SP, you may be better off creating a relief pitcher for your next My Player run.
Bear in mind, though, that you cannot level up a trainer who is currently in charge of developing someone in an active My Player game! That’s why it’s best that you level up your rarest Trainers (and maybe a few others) before creating someone new for My Player.
4. My Player Overview – Developing Your Team’s Star Players One At A Time
In a sense, My Player in Baseball Superstars 2020 is similar to the MyCareer modes in the NBA 2K or WWE 2K video games for console and PC that allow you to create your own player (or wrestler), one who starts out as a nobody but ultimately becomes somebody once they’ve gone through several challenges across the mode’s storyline. However, what sets the My Player mode in Baseball Superstars apart from those similar modes we mentioned is the fact that everyone who successfully passes through the six-week training period and the championship game will always be added to your team and can be used in the other game modes.
The first step to creating your own character in My Player is to choose their name and position and customize their appearance. You can also choose a special item to serve as a buff that’ll help you throughout the training process. Once you’re done, you will be taken to a training camp of sorts that features several buildings. On the top left, you’ll see your created player’s stats (Strength, Intelligence, Dexterity, Mentality), and it’s your job to improve those stats to the best of your ability before the end of training.
To that end, you’ll get to talk to a lot of trainers and other NPCs and go through a lot of training, the latter of which can be done by tapping on the Train button on the lower right and choosing the stat which you wish to improve, thus consuming one turn. Not only does this improve the stat you had chosen; this also allows you to earn rewards, like the ones we will be talking about below.
What can happen in My Player aside from those training sessions? For one, you will go through several cutscene chapters where you talk to your trainers and teammates — these count as Events, and all you need to do is complete the cutscene in order for you to get rewards, which will typically include G-Points for buying gear, Skill Points for developing player skills, and Affinity, which is a stat that rates your relationship with a given trainer. We suggest that you pay close attention to what the characters tell you and not just keep tapping so that the scene goes by faster, as these conversations often include valuable tips about certain in-game features!
5. How To Recover Stamina, Buy Better Gear, And Improve My Player Skills
Next, let’s talk about two of the other facilities you may visit frequently as a My Player newbie. You can visit the Lodge in order to rest and regain a good deal of Stamina — your Stamina starts at 100 but gets depleted following training sessions and Events. You can also use Recreation to improve your Mood, which drops in the event of negative encounters with/negative comments from NPCs during Events, or Heal to help you recover from injuries you may suffer in training.
The Shopping Mall is where you can go to buy new equipment with the G-Points you earn — and these include helmets, bats, gloves, and cleats, which modify your My Player character’s Intelligence, Strength, Mentality, and Dexterity respectively. While it might be a good idea to buy the first non-generic item you can afford with your G-Points, it’s generally best to save up for an UR or SSR item — indeed, in-game items come with their own rarity tiers as well, with your default equipment, naturally, in the Normal tier.
Skill Points, meanwhile, are used to help your created player learn new skills or improve existing ones. Certain events can reward you with a discount on certain skills, but generally speaking, leveling up a skill (each skill has a maximum 3 levels) costs 50 to 75 Skill Points per pop. There are various types of skills, some of which are exclusive to pitchers only, and some (Choice Skills) that limit you to one of each — Resolve or Batting Stance-related skills. Normal Skills, as the name suggests, apply to everyone, and these are the ones you’ll typically be upgrading with your Skill Points.
6. Playing The League Games
Each week consists of four turns, and once you’ve used them all up, you can compete in the weekly League Game. All in all, you’ll need to top the division, preferably by winning all six League Games in the tournament, in order to qualify for the seventh week, which consists of two turns and a Championship Game. So what’s in it for you when playing these League Games?
First off, the AI will control everyone on the opposing teams (naturally) as well as all of your teammates — your created player will be the only character in your control, which means it will behoove you to time those swings properly to avoid striking out or getting called out via a lazy, slow-rolling grounder — at least flying out or popping out suggests that you tried! Likewise, proper pitching technique will be all on you if you selected a pitcher for your My Player run. Thankfully, base running and fielding is all automated, as it is in just about every other mobile baseball game out there.
On many plays — we’d say about 40 to 50 percent of them — you will be given a “flash” objective that you need to complete during your at-bat or turn on the mound — for example, if you’re a batter, you may be asked to get a base hit. Completing these will earn you a small Skill Points bonus, though if you don’t complete it, don’t fret — ignore those disparaging comments from your teammates, as these won’t matter if you were solid otherwise throughout the game.
Once you’re done with the game, your manager will evaluate your performance based on your final game statistics — hits, batting average, home runs, and RBI if you’re a batter, strikes, walks, hits allowed, and earned run average (ERA) if you’re a pitcher. Based on how well or how poorly you played, you will get a corresponding amount of G-Points and you may be moved up or down the batting lineup, for instance, if you chose to play as a batter.
Your game stats will also factor into your final grade once you complete the My Player run and get called up to your “main” team. More often than not, your first My Player graduate should easily be better than the rest of your initial team, especially if you put up big numbers and made it to the Championship Game!
7. Take Part In The Daily Games
The Daily Games, which you are introduced to in the tutorial part of Baseball Superstars 2020, consist of three different modes of play in which you can earn some coins and Trainer Genes on a daily basis. The first, and most basic of them all, is the Home Run Race, where your objective is to hit a specific number of home runs in 10 tries. Next, 3 Innings Full Count puts you in the seventh inning of a game, but with a couple of parameters in place — the game is tied at zero, and regardless whether you’re pitching or batting, the count is full — three balls and two strikes. Finally, Dramatic Comeback challenges you to win the game in the ninth inning as you start out with the game tied or with the opponent in the lead.
When you’re just starting out in the game, everything will be in Easy mode, though as your team gradually improves, the difficulty level will ramp up and so will the quality and quantity of the rewards you will receive. So don’t be discouraged if everything appears to be too easy for starters — but don’t fret either if you’re having a hard time completing some of these Daily Games.
For one, it appears that you will have all the chances you need to complete them, though once you do, you’ll need to wait until the Daily Games reset — unless you want to use your Resets, which you will have three of as a first-time player. Take note that these do not refill automatically — you can only have so many Resets in your inventory, and you’ll need to win them in other game modes in order to refill them!
There’s nothing much to completing the Home Run Race — this is a good way to practice your timing, and we’ve found that it’s easy to reach the required number of home runs once the rhythm is there. Just be prepared for the different types of pitches and their respective trajectories and speeds. Also bear in mind that since Gamevil is a company with a South Korean office (as you may notice from the Korean names of some of the NPC players), the game uses the metric system — pitch speed measured in terms of kilometers, not miles per hour.
When it comes to the 3 Innings Full Count Daily Game, you’re going to be playing both as a batter and as a pitcher, using your team against opponents of varying difficulties, starting with Easy. As a pitcher, it’s still best to vary the type and location of your pitches in order to increase the chances of striking them out — take note that the count is full, so that’s one strike shy of a strikeout, one ball short of a walk. Make sure you’re alert when pitching — after you choose the pitch type and location, you’ll need to pay attention to the meter, as it will quickly move from the left to right.
Tap again on your screen once the meter reaches light blue, and not a moment sooner than that — it’s not uncommon for players to get rattled and tap right away upon seeing the meter moving, but that’s a shortcut to a bad pitch that could result in a home run, a walk, or hitting the batter! The same tips apply when batting — don’t swing at everything, don’t swing at all if you see the ball traveling outside the strike zone, pay attention to the box icon next to your batter to have an idea where the ball is moving.
Dramatic Comeback is, for some, the hardest Daily Game to complete, although your mileage may vary. Again, you’re in control of both batter and pitcher, and the same basic tips will apply as usual, but the difference here is that the stakes are higher, you don’t start out with a full count, but you only have a few chances to mount a comeback. We should also tell you at this point that when it comes to 3 Innings Full Count and Dramatic Comeback, there are no extra innings — finishing with both teams tied is essentially the same as losing, and is counted as such!
8. Complete As Many Missions As Possible For More Rewards
On the bottom left of the main lobby/main menu screen, you’ll see a button that says Missions — tap on this and you’ll see a variety of tasks you need to complete within the day or week in order to earn a ton of rewards. These may include, but not be limited to, My Player buff items, Level Up Memories for your trainers, and materials that can be used in recipes for improving your existing trainers. Daily and Weekly Missions may require you to recruit a certain number of trainers, develop a certain number of players via My Player, play a certain number of games in a given mode, over a span of a day or a week.
Aside from the Daily and Weekly Missions, which are under the Regular tab, there are also sections for Achievements, which do not have any deadline for completion and are more long-term than anything else — these are a good way to earn more Gold, which is the game’s common currency. Growth Missions, on the other hand, pertain more to your team’s OVR rating and the number of players you’re able to recruit — for the former, you can earn more Diamonds and Level Up Memories, and for the latter, the rewards mostly include Level Up Memories and a variety of tickets that allow you to play more often in different game modes.
And this wraps up our collection of tips and tricks for Baseball Superstars 2020. If you happen to know other useful tips for the game, then don’t hesitate to share them with us in the comment area!