Rocket League Guide: How Do Drafts Work?

Rocket league
Last year, the so-called drafts replaced the popular loot boxes. (Image Credit: Psyonix)

The number of different items in Rocket League has increased immeasurably. About a year ago, the loot boxes were removed from the game and so-called drafts – also called blueprints – were brought in. But what exactly is this all about?

Like every big online game, Rocket League relies on numerous items that the player can get as a reward or must buy with money. These include cars, paintwork, rims, goal celebrations, and much more, although there are qualitative differences. Until a year ago you could get these items from boxes that you had to open with some credits and a key. This system was replaced by the so-called drafts.

Rocket league blueprints
Whoever plays a lot, also collects a lot! (Image Credit: Psyonix)

Rocket League:The Designs!

Instead of loot boxes, Rocket League now relies on so-called drafts, which the player can get dropped randomly after the game. The player can then ‘develop’ them with credits and receive the corresponding item as a reward. The advantage: each design contains a specific item – the random factor has been reduced. The disadvantage: some of the designs are quite expensive.

Like the items themselves, the designs are divided into certain rarity levels. In total, there are 5 different levels, which differ mainly in costs:

  • Rare
  • Very rare
  • Exotic
  • Import
  • Black Market
Rocket League Blueprint Black Market
The animated painting 20XX costs you an arm and a leg! (Image Credit: Psyonix)

While the rare ones with 50-100 credits are still relatively cheap, you still have to dig deep for designs of ‘black market’ quality. The animated painted ‘20XX’ for example, costs you already 2000 credits, which is about €20. While in the past you could hope for your luck with loot boxes for very little money, you now have to pay the old Rocket League price for rare designs.

Rocket League Designs: Trade Ups

Given the prices, one should think twice about whether it is worth the investment. Quite apart from that, you first have to have the appropriate design. Similar to CS:GO, the designs are organized into so-called collections. The 20XX paint, for example, is part of the Turbo Series Collection. So, what if I have designs from the collection, but not the design I want?

Rocket League Blueprint Trade Up
A Trade Up from the Champions 4 Series Collection (Image Credit: Psyonix)

The solution is simple: Trade Ups! Once you have 5 designs of the same value from a collection, you can trade them in for a higher quality item. But here is where luck comes into play again, because you get the right collection but not always the right item. Five designs of the level ‘Rare’ give 1 item of the level ‘Very Rare’ and so on. How has that reduced the random factor...?

It is an open secret that the community did not really welcome the step from loot boxes to designs. Many blame Epic Games, who supposedly want to milk the game. Now, the items are of course no compulsion, it’s up to everyone whether he wants to fork out 20 bucks for rare rims or a goal explosion.

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Evan Williams

Australian gamer, musician, and journalist at EarlyGame. Currently living in Germany so no, I don't ride a Kangaroo to work. I am currently hard at work making our CoD and Rocket League pages the best on the internet. Lofty ambitions,...