Hey Courtesans,
you could write volumes on this topic! I will try and keep it short and simple, but I am sure my brevity may cause me to miss some possibly important points.
For those that aren't used to, or adept at, playing SC at a frenetic pace, my two keywords are: Efficiency and Patience.
It's great to read stories of how Jay/Chewy/Dimma traded aggressively, and quickly, to bring about the ultimate glory, but what some fail to see and appreciate is, it took skill, and a smattering of luck. Those that try to emulate such feats without at least some skill level are destined to crash, hard and fast. Looking at the better players trading is very educational, but trying to emulate it is very tricky, a lot trickier than it looks. You wouldn't try and drive your 2005 Astra like Lewis Hamilton drives his F1 Mercedes, and if you do it will only end in tears. Just like driving your car too quickly, one bad decision can usually lead to another, and things quickly spin out of control. You may think you are trading like the better/smarter players, but chances are you are not. Just like the bigger Poker Tournaments see a lot the same players getting through to that last 30 and last table, there are players that regularly get through to the top 1,000 and top 100 in SC. Just like watching and learning in Poker, watch and learn here as much as you can, but play within your limitations, until the lessons are learnt. You can try and do what you see them do, but you will likely run out of trades/poker chips before your season/tournament has reached a satisfactory level.
How do you avoid this?
Efficiency. Side trading is inefficient. Speculating on "value" picks once the season has started is inefficient. Culling a Rookie early to get that Prem you want can be a good idea, but in itself is inefficient. You only get 30 trades. Likely you will burn 4 on corrective trades early, another 6-8 on injury/suspension fixes, that leaves you around 18 trades to fill your team. In a basic one up/one down trading pattern that's 9 upgrades. Given you probably started with 12 - 14 solid Keepers, you can see why so many Coaches get to the end of the season without 22 starting Prems in their team. It's a lot harder to achieve than it appears at the start of each season! You either need luck, and/or to trade efficiently. One bad trade can cause what I call chain trading. That one bad trade can sometimes lead to 3, 4 or even 5 other trades getting burnt trying to fix it. We've all seen it happen to someone we know, I'm sure. As we saw in the trade breakdown. you can't afford to get caught burning one trade after another on the one problem. Learn the downside of every decision, as well as the upside. Too many Coaches get caught looking only at the upside. Have an exit plan! Before you commit to the trade, imagine it goes wrong, and then try to plan how you fix it down the track. If you can't see a fix/exit strategy, then reconsider that trade. Stick to the known, and leave the unknown until you have no choice but to deal with it. This seasons example of that would seem to be the Def line. While it is important to try get each line growing in sync, if you can't see a clear upgrade in your Def line, but you only have say 5 Mid Prems, then get JPK/Selwood/Sloane/Rocky as a safer decision, and choose your Def upgrade when you have more information later on. Every single trade should have a positive side to it. That sounds too simple, right? But time and time and time again, I read on this site, of people talking themselves into a "twofor". They want Pendles, but fall just short of getting him. That's ok, I will trade Abercrombie to Fitch, and that gives me the extra dollars to get Pendles. DON'T DO IT!!!! If the Abercrombie to Fitch trade doesn't stand alone as a good trade, if you wouldn't make that trade if you weren't looking to get Pendles, then don't do it! You are not only burning 2 trades to get Pendles, you are also getting Fitch, and losing Abercrombie. 9 times out of 10, if Abercormbie to Fitch is only done to get Pendles, you will regret losing Abercrombie early, and hate having Fitch clogging up your bench!
Efficiency also applies to dollars, as well as your trades. You will never complete your team if you are paying top dollar for your upgrades. Don't jump on the flavour of the month, because he has just posted 3 120+ scores in his last 4 matches! You will pay too much for him, and he will likely let you down anyway! If you needed to make 9 upgrades at the start of the season, and you are paying $40-50k too much for each upgrade, that's an extra $400-500k you need to raise out of your Rookies. What you need to realise is, that isn't from your great Cash producers like Cripps, that has to come from 10th, 11th and 12th Cash Cows! You will be lucky if the 3 of them make $400k, and that's an extra 3 trades used! Everybody has the Cripps, CEY's etc, you are trying to raise $400k more than everyone else, because you traded inefficiently!
The next thing to learn is patience. If you trade impatiently, you will trade with regret. You will get to the end of the season, and regret 2 or 3 trades you didn't make, but regret 4 or 5 trades you did make! Most regrettable trades are from axing a player too quickly. What you thought was an under-performing Prem, that you traded out a bad price, probably became another Coach's fallen Prem/bargain player, that they picked up cheaply. If you are going to trade out a non-injured, non-suspended Prem, be sure! For the most part, don't do it, unless there is very solid reasoning behind it. Are they carrying a niggle that just won't go away, or has it gone away the week you traded them out? That type of thing can drive you crazy, particularly if you react (over-react?) early in the season. If you're not sure, be patient, and trust your judgement that brought them in to start with. Let me be clear here, I am talking genuine Prems, and better performers, not the Newnes/Lumumba's etc that people label as Prems, because they selected them as potential Keepers at the start of the season! Be patient, give them a chance to do what you thought they would!
The other bit of advice I would give, is grab opportunities, particularly first half of the season Cash Cows on the bubble, when they are there! You can't assume there will be another along in 3 or 4 weeks. It may mean culling a Cow earlier than you liked, but some rules need to be broken some times.
It's an incredibly hard balancing act! I liken it to the Walking events in the Athletics at the Olympics. I once heard the Walking described as a ridiculous contest, like trying to find who can whisper the loudest! You have to hurry, but be patient, and not make rash moves. React quickly, but don't be caught over-reacting. It's an incredibly hard balancing act. It really is a skill to manage Cash production and upgrade trading, efficiently, and patiently. Try to emulate the best, but be prepared to have late season crashes when your trades and Cash run out. Or play a bit slower, a bit more patiently, and possibly get your best result ever, even if you remove any chance of the big prize. Both can be enjoyable, but depending on your make up/personality, the better result will be more satisfying, than trying to play with the big boys, only to crash and burn later.
I will equate this to the young golfer you were/are, and the older wiser golfer you are/will be. The young golfer tries to hit every drive as long as possible, and sees avery par 3 as a hole in one opportunity. The older golfer plays control and position with a lot of his drives, and will play centre of green at a lot of par 3's to avoid the bunkers. The young golfer walks off the course satisfied with those one or two booming drives that found the fairway, and that Birdie on the par 3. He's a little disappointed he shot an 86 though. The older golfer walks off satisfied with his days effort. No Birdies or booming drives today, but he shot a 78. You can choose which golfer/SC Coach you want to be.
Sorry Courtesans, a little longer, and not quite the list you were looking for, but it's probably better to help the newbies, and perennial 30,000 finishers get the tools to help them finish higher/play better/get more enjoyment from the game, than to remind the better players that regularly get top 5,000 how to suck eggs!
If I'm too wide of the mark, just let me know, and I will tackle it again, early next week.
