Posted by John Wang
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Once you move past Moments in the 95 OVR Shohei Ohtani City Connect program, MLB The Show 26 Players quietly shifts you into its most efficient grind engine: Conquest. While many players see Conquest as optional side content, in reality it is one of the most powerful progression tools in Diamond Dynasty—and for unlocking Ohtani, it becomes the backbone of the entire route.
If Moments were about controlled execution, Conquest is about system efficiency. The mode rewards planning, not reaction. The players who finish Ohtani fastest are not necessarily better mechanically—they are simply more structured in how they move across the map.
Conquest is a turn-based map mode where you capture territories, simulate games, and gradually eliminate opposing strongholds. On the surface, it looks like a strategy mini-game. But for the Ohtani City Connect program, it serves three critical functions:
What makes Conquest so important is its repeatability with low risk. Unlike Ranked Seasons or online play, there is no pressure from human opponents, no ranking loss, and no variance from unpredictable matchups. You control everything: difficulty, pacing, and roster usage.
That control is exactly what makes it optimal for grinding.
One of the biggest misconceptions in Conquest is that you need to clear the entire map. You don’t.
Efficient Ohtani grinders focus on path optimization, not total domination. The goal is to reach strongholds that unlock rewards and mission progress—not to eliminate every single territory.
The smartest route usually follows this logic:
Every unnecessary game adds time. And in Conquest, time is the only real resource.
One of the most effective Conquest techniques is known in the community as fan clustering. The idea is simple but powerful: instead of spreading your influence evenly, you concentrate fans toward a single expansion lane.
Why this matters:
Think of it as building a highway instead of a web. A highway gets you to rewards faster.
Most inefficient players make the mistake of expanding in all directions equally. This leads to fragmented control, more defensive games, and slower progression.
Conquest isn’t just about strategy—it’s also about roster optimization. For the Ohtani City Connect program, this is where many players accidentally slow themselves down.
The key rule is simple:
Every game should contribute to multiple objectives at once.
That means your lineup should heavily feature:
Even low-rated Dodgers cards are valuable here. The goal is not peak performance—it is stacked progression efficiency.
For example, a silver Dodgers batter still contributes mission stats just as effectively as a diamond card in many cases, especially in lower difficulties.
A common trap in Conquest is assuming higher difficulty equals faster progress. In reality, the opposite is usually true.
Here’s why lower difficulty wins:
Rookie and Veteran difficulties are not “less optimal”—they are time optimized.
The only situation where higher difficulty makes sense is when you are explicitly chasing competitive XP bonuses. For Ohtani progression, efficiency beats reward scaling.
Conquest allows both simulated and played games, and understanding when to use each is critical.
A good rule: if a game doesn’t directly contribute to Ohtani progress, it’s often better simulated.
This distinction alone can save hours across the grind.
High-efficiency grinders use what is known as the XP Stack Method, which combines multiple objectives into a single Conquest run.
Instead of thinking in individual goals, you think in stacks:
Every Conquest game should ideally advance at least two of these four categories.
If it doesn’t, it’s inefficient.
For example:
This mindset is what separates casual progression from optimized grinding.
Conquest is not just about Ohtani progression. It also provides secondary rewards that indirectly accelerate your grind:
These rewards reduce friction in other parts of the game. A better roster means faster Moments completion, easier Showdown runs, and more consistent gameplay overall.
This is why Conquest is often called the “economic engine” of Diamond Dynasty.
Even experienced players lose efficiency in Conquest due to a few predictable mistakes:
Trying to eliminate every tile slows expansion dramatically.
Not every match deserves full attention.
Failing to align roster with objectives wastes XP potential.
Time loss outweighs XP gain in most cases.
Avoiding these mistakes is often more important than mechanical skill.
Many players describe Conquest as repetitive, but that repetition is intentional. It creates a predictable environment where optimization matters more than randomness.
Unlike online modes, Conquest removes variability. That means success is determined entirely by:
There are no unpredictable opponents. Only inefficient routes.
By the time you finish Conquest in the Ohtani City Connect program, you are no longer just “playing MLB The Show 26.” You are operating within its optimization systems.
You’ve learned:
This is the real turning point of the grind.
Because once Conquest is complete, you are not just closer to unlocking Ohtani—you are already playing like someone who knows how to use him efficiently.
And that is exactly what the program is designed to do:
turn the grind into mastery before the reward ever arrives.