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Did you miss out on Top Shot’s first Rare and Legendary pack drop of Series 3? Was it because the Collector Score (CS) requirements felt out of reach? Well, I’m here to tell you that achieving those high CS scores might be easier than you think. Top Shot currently offers three types of CS bonuses, Set Completions, Team Series Completions and Full Team Set Completions, and of these methods, the most attractive options are for the Team Sets. This is because Top Shot only allows “stacking” for Team Sets, but not Set Completions, meaning with a Team Set you can continually boost your score with each additional Moment within the set, and that is not true for a set.
As a reminder, a Team Series completion involves collecting a Moment from each player (regardless of tier) of a given team within a specific Series – and a Full Team Set completion means doing so for every player that has ever appeared for a given team – across all Series. You can see what players are required for each team/series by clicking on your CS score and scrolling down to “Team Collections.”
Best Teams for Score Boosting
I think the top-3 teams to go after for juicing your Collector Score via the Full Team Set are the Bucks, Hornets and Jazz, in that order. None of these teams are tied to an insanely costly Series 1 Run It Back bottleneck, and all these squads feature affordable non-Base Set Commons, which will count as 50 points towards your CS once you’ve completed the Full Team Set.
As a reminder, completing a Full Team Set provides a 2.5x multiplier to the Collector Score of each Moment in that set – while a Series Team Set provides a 1.5x boost – but these bonuses do stack on each other if both are completed to provide a 3x boost. As an example, a non-Base Series 2 Common is worth 20 points on its own, 30 if tied to a Series Team Set, 50 for a Full Team Set and 60 if part of both a Series and Full Team Set.
Below is a full breakdown of how these various score bonuses impact each tier of Moment.
Note: As of the publishing of this column, I have not been able to confirm if Top Shot rounds up or down on decimal points.
Series 1 Moments | ||||
| No boost | Series Team Set | Full Team Set | Series & Full |
Common (Base Set) | 25 | 37.5 | 62.5 | 75 |
Common (Non-Base Set) | 40 | 60 | 100 | 120 |
Rare | 100 | 150 | 250 | 300 |
Legendary | 2,000 | 3,000 | 5,000 | 6,000 |
Series 1 Challenge Rewards | ||||
| No boost | Series Team Set | Full Team Set | Series & Full |
Common (Base Set) | 37 | 55.5 | 92.5 | 111 |
Common (Non-Base Set) | 60 | 90 | 150 | 180 |
Rare | 150 | 225 | 375 | 450 |
Legendary | 3,000 | 4,500 | 7,500 | 9,000 |
Series 2 Moments | ||||
| No boost | Series Team Set | Full Team Set | Series & Full |
Common (Base Set) | 12 | 18 | 30 | 36 |
Common (Non-Base Set) | 20 | 30 | 50 | 60 |
Rare | 80 | 120 | 200 | 240 |
Legendary | 1,000 | 1,500 | 2,500 | 3,000 |
Series 2 Challenge Rewards | ||||
| No boost | Series Team Set | Full Team Set | Series & Full |
Common (Base Set) | 18 | 27 | 45 | 54 |
Common (Non-Base Set) | 30 | 45 | 75 | 90 |
Rare | 120 | 180 | 300 | 360 |
Legendary | 1,500 | 4,500 | 3,750 | 4,500 |
Note: There is not a Series Team Completion bonus for the Summer ’21 Series.
Summer 2021 Moments | |||
| No boost | Series Team Set | Full Team Set |
Common (Base or non-Base Set) | 2 | 3 | 5 |
Fandom | 10 | 15 | 25 |
Rare | 80 | 120 | 200 |
Legendary | 1,000 | 1,500 | 2,500 |
Summer 2021 Rewards | |||
| No boost | Series Team Set | Full Team Set |
Common (Base or non-Base Set) | 10 | 15 | 25 |
Fandom | 15 | 22.5 | 37.5 |
Rare | 120 | 180 | 300 |
Legendary | 1,500 | 2,250 | 3,750 |
Series 3 Moments | ||||
| No boost | Series Team Set | Full Team Set | Series & Full |
Common (Base or non-Base Set) | 2 | 3 | 5 | 6 |
Fandom | 10 | 15 | 25 | 30 |
Rare | 80 | 120 | 200 | 240 |
Legendary | 1,000 | 1,500 | 2,500 | 3,000 |
Series 3 Challenge Rewards | ||||
| No boost | Series Team Set | Full Team Set | Series & Full |
Common (Base or non-Base Set) | 10 | 15 | 25 | 30 |
Fandom | 15 | 22.5 | 37.5 | 45 |
Rare | 120 | 180 | 300 | 360 |
Legendary | 1,500 | 2,250 | 3,750 | 4,500 |
While the massive score boost received from Legendary Moments may stand out, the more cost-effective way to go about boosting your score is by buying lots of cheap, 35-40K Series 2 Base Set Moments or acquiring cheap, non-Base Set Moments for $7-$14. Non-Base Set Moments come from any set that has a name, such as, Hustle & Show, Playoffs, Cool Cats, etc. You can throw in some Rares here and there while you’re score boosting, but you’re going to want to load up on those cheap Commons.
To further illustrate this point, let’s say you have the Full Team Set of the Bucks. You could buy a Rare, Michael Redd, Run It Back 2005-06 Moment for $77, which would give you a score boost of 200, or you could reach that same point total by buying 3-4 Series 2 Playoff Moments for a grand total of $27-$36. You want to be strategic with how you boost your score to gain access to those future priority queues.
Milwaukee: 17 players ($449)
Series 1: Eric Bledsoe ($340)
Series 2: Sam Merrill ($20)
Summer 21: Michael Redd ($4), Andrew Bogut ($10)
Series 3: Grayson Allen ($2)
While Milwaukee may not be the cheapest path towards completing Full Team Set status, it remains one of the more affordable options and has plenty of cheap (non-Base Set) Playoff Moments that will count as 50 points towards your Collector Score once your Full Team Set is intact. Sure, forking out $340 for Eric Bledsoe is a tough pill to swallow, but the good news is that that bottleneck is unlikely to be broken for quite some time. Think about, even if Top Shot were to introduce another Milwaukee Moment from past seasons, do you really think the guy they’d look to showcase would be Bledsoe? I don’t think Bucks fans want to see any additional Bledsoe Moments, and the bottleneck has already survived two historic drops (Run It Back & Deck the Hoops). Additionally, the Series 2 set is relatively affordable at $179, and when combined with the Full Team Set those Series 2 Moments will receive a 3x boost. There could also be some long-term value in Milwaukee’s Series 2 set, as it’s the championship set from that season.
Charlotte: 15 players ($211)
Series 1: No true bottlenecks
Series 2: Bismack Biyombo ($48), Brad Wanamaker ($32), Malik Monk ($49)
Series 3: Ish Smith ($2), Kelly Oubre Jr. ($21)
Summer ’21: Gerald Wallace ($6)
If you feel that Milwaukee’s price tag is a bit out of reach, then Charlotte would be your next best option for Full Team Set completion. It’s currently the cheapest Full Team Set to complete and also has relatively cheap, non-Base Set Commons and Rares. For example, a Gordon Hayward Cool Cat Moment won’t cost you much more than $10, but it will count as 50 points towards your Collector Score once you have the Full Team Set (60 if you complete S2 as well). Terry Rozier’s Series 2 Throwdown is also one of the cheaper Rares from Series 2, and he’ll count as 200 points towards your CS with the Full Team Set (250 with S2 completion). The only drawback here is that the Hornets don’t have any cheap Playoff Moments and because folks have started to catch on to score boosting off cheap, 35-40K Series 2 Commons (+30 CS), the floor on those has risen from $3-$4 to $5-$6.
Utah: 13 players ($545)
Series 1: Jarrell Brantley ($405)
Series 2: Georges Niang ($6), Royce O’Neale ($24) Udoka Azubuike ($85)
Summer 21: Deron Williams ($10)
If you can bite the bullet and live with paying $300+ for Jarrell Brantley, a guy who only played in 37 games through two years in the league and is currently without a contract – and shelling out an additional ~$85 for Udoka Azubuike (another non-rotation player), then this is another relatively cheap Full Team Set to go after. It comes with the benefit of numerous cheap, Playoff Moments, a low-cost Hustle & Show Rudy Gobert and three Seeing Stars Moments from Gobert, Donovan Mitchell and Mike Conley. However, the cheapest Rare in this set is a Spida Throwdown for $178.
Best Series 2 Sets Under $150
If acquiring a Full Team Set feels out of reach, then you can still get a decent score boost by completing a Series 2 Team Set. Below are some of the best teams to score boost through Series 2, but I’ve also included the bottlenecks for Full Team Set completions, so you know what you’re getting into. As a reminder, completing a Series Team Set provides a 1.5x multiplier to all Moments in that set.
Note: An asterisk indicates a Series 1, Run It Back bottleneck with a 275 Edition Size.
Atlanta ($117): 15 players ($116)
Series 2: Skylar Mays ($14), Bruno Fernando ($22), Nathan Knight ($16), Tony Snell ($12), Solomon Hill ($10)
The Hawks have plenty of cheap, Playoff Moments, but perhaps the most attractive avenue through score boosting in this set is the Cool Cats, Bogdan Bogdanovic, that will only set you back $7 while providing a 30-point bump.
The bottlenecks for Full Team Set: Dennis Schroder* ($820), Jeff Teague ($110), Vince Carter ($569)
Dallas (127): 13 players ($126)
Series 2: Trey Burke ($8), Dwight Powell ($11), Willey Cauley-Stein ($9), Dorian Finney-Smith ($16), Josh Green ($21), J.J. Redick ($17), Boban Marjanovic ($9), Maxi Kleber ($8)
The Mavs have multiple Playoff Moments for as little as $7, and the Kristaps Porzingis Cool Cat is affordable at $14. KP also has one of the more affordable Throwdowns from Series 2 with a lowest ask of $69.
The bottlenecks for Full Team Set: Shawn Marion* ($1,688), Seth Curry ($50), Delon Wright ($67)
Denver ($103): 14 players ($104)
Series 2: Zeke Nnaji ($17), Paul Millsap ($14), JaMychal Green ($9), P.J. Dozier ($10), Austin Rivers ($10)
The Nuggets have a plethora of Playoff Moments under $10, a Facundo Campazzo Hustle & Show for $10 and an affordable Nikola Jokic Seeing Stars Moments for $28. The bottlenecks for the Full Team Set on this one aren’t terrible, either, so Denver’s Series 2 Set is an attractive jumping-off point.
The bottlenecks for Full Team Set: Jerami Grant ($75), Torrey Craig ($99), Andre Miller ($333)
Portland: 9 players ($107)
Series 2: Robert Covington ($47), Nassir Little ($24)
This is a set that I’ve personally completed, and it’s another one with plenty of cheap non-Base Set Moments to score boost from. The Mo Williams bottleneck for the Full Team Set is quite unfortunate, though.
The bottlenecks for Full Team Set: Mo Williams* ($2,150), Trevor Ariza ($60), Hassan Whiteside ($34)
Lakers: 12 players ($113)
Series 2: Andre Drummond ($38)
The Lakers Series 2 Set is surprisingly affordable with only one bottleneck, and the plus side of score boosting off these Moments is they should hold their long-term value better than others due to the brand. Completely the Full Team Set is out of reach for most folks, though.
The Series 1 bottlenecks for Full Team Set: Steve Nash* ($4,799), JaVale McGee ($62), Danny Green ($81)
New York: 12 players ($116)
Series 2: Elfrid Payton ($19), Nerlens Noel ($13), Taj Gibson ($9), Alec Burks ($23), Kevin Knox ($8)
Another team with cheap Playoff Moments and affordable Cool Cats, but like the Lakers, completing the Full Team Set here will be out of reach to most folks.
The bottlenecks for Full Team Set: Carmelo Anthony* ($2,900), Amare Stoudemire* ($1,699), Dennis Smith Jr. ($38), Reggie Bullock ($32)
New bottlenecks
The Deck the Hoops Legendary drop created some brutal bottlenecks, with these Moments having an Edition Size of just $55. For that reason, going after Full Team Sets for the following teams is quite unappealing.
New Orleans ($8,654)
Anthony Davis ($4,850)
J.J. Redick ($3,446)
Boston ($9,425)
Kevin Garnett ($7,749)
Chicago ($2,942)*
Derrick Rose (no listings)
Miami ($3,965)*
LeBron James (no listings)
