Time passes even for a player who has passed their growth years and reached their peak. In this game, stats begin to fall in earnest from age 27, and the higher a player’s potential, the higher their peak and the bigger the drop. Here’s how to manage the late career.
When Do Stats Start to Fall?
| Age | Automatic change at end of season |
|---|---|
| Ages 12–20 | All stats rise by 0–2. |
| Ages 21–25 | They rise by 0–1. |
| Age 26 | Mechanics falls by 0–1, while Vision & Macro and Mental rise by 0–1. |
| Age 27 and up | Most stats fall by 1–2 each season. Vision & Macro and Mental fluctuate between -1 and +1. |
For the Late Bloomer temperament, decline starts two years later, at 29. Stats at 90 or above take an extra 1 point of decline, meaning the higher the peak, the bigger the fall. Training efficiency also drops, with the age factor at 0.65 (ages 25–28) and 0.5 (29 and up), so there’s a limit to how much you can win back through training.
How to Last Into the Late Game
- Protect Vision & Macro and Mental. These two stats decline less with age and support your late-career OVR. Jungle and Support weight these stats heavily and are especially strong late.
- Get the medical & psych team and the dorm. They prevent injuries and burnout and increase rest recovery, keeping your condition stable.
- Sign long contracts. In decline, a stable 3-year contract is better than renegotiating your value every year (salary drops by 12%).
- Train the stats that have dropped. It’s hard to raise stats in the 80s and 90s, but stats that have already fallen into the 70s train efficiently and are easy to win back.
Event 1: A Rookie Rising From the Reserves
This event occasionally happens when you’re over 23 in the first team (pro) with an OVR of 70 or higher. It visits players with potential grade A or S more often (8% per week, 3% for others). You can choose among three responses to the rookie’s challenge.
- Face Them Head-On: condition drops by 15, but with a 60% chance you gain team trust +8 and a stat +1. On failure it’s trust -8 and Mental -2.
- Mentor the Rookie: team trust +4, Vision & Macro +1. A reliably safe choice.
- Ignore Them: team trust -4. You gain nothing.
When your condition is low, avoid the head-on option and mentor the rookie; when your condition and Mental are high enough, gambling on the head-on option is worth a try.
Event 2: The Aging Curve
This event appears at age 27 or older, in the pro Reserve or higher, with an OVR of 85 or higher. It occurs at most once per season, and there are three choices.
- Invest in Rehab & Care: spending ₩300M (30,000 in ₩10,000 units) halves the stat decline at the end of that season.
- Switch to a Macro Style: Mechanics -1, Vision & Macro +2, Champion Pool +1. It reshapes your player toward lasting longer late in the career.
- Tough It Out: Mental +1, condition -10. A small gain at no cost.
If you have enough money, rehab is the surest option. ₩300M reduces what you can spend on assets, but slowing the decline keeps your season results and title chances alive, and that comes back as score.
Until Retirement at 35
At 35 you automatically announce your retirement. Retiring on your own earlier is scored the same way, so if your OVR has fallen sharply and your title chances are gone, retiring earlier to lock in your asset score is an option. Conversely, if you still have a shot at a World Championship title, keep going to the end. One title is worth 40 points, which is often more than the asset score you have left.
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The basic rules are in the Game Guide, and the full list is on the Strategy page.