The 96 overall Ketel Marte is the kind of Diamond Dynasty card that makes your lineup feel different right away. Switch hitter, strong at second base, and useful against almost any arm you run into. The catch is the Vintage Collection, which asks for 27 cards. That sounds rough, especially if you're low on stubs, but you don't need to buy the whole thing off the market. If you plan it out, grind the free rewards first, and only spend where it makes sense, you can keep the cost close to a sensible budget with MLB 26 Stubs instead of throwing money at every shiny Vintage card you see.

Start With The Cheap Vintage Cards

Before you play a game, check the marketplace. Filter for Vintage series cards and sort by price. You're mainly looking for the base-tier names sitting around 4,000 to 5,000 stubs. Buy a few of those early, then put them in your squad while you grind other modes. It's not exciting, but it saves time. Those players will collect Parallel XP in the background while you're knocking out missions. If you pull a pricey Vintage card like Derek Jeter, Chase Utley, or Larry Walker from a pack, don't get attached unless you truly want to use them. Selling one expensive pull can pay for several cheaper collection pieces.

Use Offline Modes To Double Up

The smart move is to stack missions instead of chasing one task at a time. Start with the Vintage Program and pay attention to the basic stat goals. Things like total bases, hits, and strikeouts can be done almost anywhere, so take them into Conquest and Diamond Quest. In Diamond Quest, push the difficulty as high as you can handle, go straight for the stronghold, and grab the quick player rewards. Conquest takes longer, no getting around it, but it's useful because every game helps your mission progress. The rewards also matter: Nolan Arenado, Vintage packs, and choice packs all help cut down the number of cards you'll need to buy later.

Mini Seasons Takes Time, But It Pays

Mini Seasons is the grindy part. Still, it's worth doing because the rewards link together nicely. First, get 10 strikeouts with any relief pitcher to unlock Matt Strahm. Then use Strahm for two saves, which opens Raul Ibanez. After that, reach base six times with Ibanez to unlock Ryan McMahon. Use McMahon for extra-base hits, and Mitch Garver becomes available. While that's going on, keep your Vintage cards in the lineup so the 10,000 Vintage PXP target doesn't feel like a separate chore. The broader 22,000 PXP goal will come along too if you're playing full games and not constantly swapping your squad.

Leave The Event Until Your Team Feels Ready

The Old School Event is better saved for later. Online games can be messy, and there's no reason to jump in with a half-built roster if you still have easy offline rewards waiting. Once you've built up your team, the event gives useful progress, including XP, Gleyber Torres, and another Deluxe Vintage pack. By that point, you should also be hitting collection milestones. Locking in 12 Vintage cards gives you Joc Pederson, and 20 collected cards gets you Ubaldo Jimenez. Both count toward Ketel, which is easy to forget when you're counting cards manually.

Keep The Stub Spend Under Control

After Programs, Conquest, Diamond Quest, Mini Seasons, events, packs, and collection rewards, you should be sitting on a large chunk of the 27 cards without buying many at all. The goal is to reach roughly 18 free cards, then purchase the 9 cheapest missing pieces from the market. Don't chase the famous names unless the price somehow crashes. Stay boring, buy the low-end Vintage cards, and let the collection do the work. If you're short near the end, using cheap MLB 26 Stubs can help finish the last few cards without wrecking your budget, and Marte will be ready to take over second base.