Sorare Set: Card Scrapping (What Is It & When It Makes Sense)

Card scrapping is one of the most important progression systems inside Sorare Set… yet many managers completely misuse it (or worse: ignore it!) during their first days in the mode.

At first glance, scrapping cards in Sorare Set looks simple. You destroy those that you no longer need and receive Essence in return.

But once you spend more time playing the different Set editions, you quickly realize there is much more strategy behind it.

In this guide, we’ll go through exactly how card scrapping works in Sorare Set, what rewards you receive, when it actually makes sense to scrap cards, and which mistakes I personally try to avoid after spending a lot of time inside the mode.

What Is Card Scrapping in Sorare Set?

Card scrapping in Sorare Set is the process of permanently destroying cards from your collection in exchange for Essence.

Once a card is scrapped, it disappears from your gallery forever. You cannot recover it later, reverse the action, or use the card again inside the Set.

The Essence you receive can then be used to open new packs and continue building your card collection for that particular Set edition.

In simple terms, scrapping is basically Sorare Set’s version of recycling unwanted cards into new progression opportunities.

And from my experience, this system is one of the reasons why the mode feels much smoother than older onboarding formats on Sorare.

Instead of letting duplicate or weak cards sit uselessly inside your gallery, the game gives them value.

That value may not always look huge immediately, but over time, consistent scrapping becomes one of the main ways managers keep generating extra Essence between Hot Streak runs, missions, and Wheel rewards.

Most managers mainly scrap:

• Duplicate cards
• Low-tier Reserve players
• Players unlikely to feature regularly

But this is where things become a bit more strategic than they first appear.

Because while scrapping gives immediate resources, keeping certain cards can still help your account through:

• Collection bonuses
• Mission progress
• Lineup flexibility
• Future Set meta changes

That is why good managers usually do not treat scrapping as a completely automatic process.

Sometimes the best move is to clean your gallery aggressively. Other times, patience creates more long-term value than quick Essence gains.

Scrapping Values

Not all cards in Sorare Set give the same amount of Essence when scrapped.

The amount you receive depends entirely on the player’s current Tier.

Here are the current scrapping values:

• Reserve → 5 Essence
• Roster → 20 Essence
• Key → 200 Essence
• Star → 2,000 Essence
• Icon → 10,000 Essence

And once you see these numbers, you immediately understand why scrapping decisions can become surprisingly important.

For comparison, a single Bronze Pack usually costs around 1,000 Essence.

That means:

• 200 Reserve cards = roughly 1 Bronze Pack
• 50 Roster cards = roughly 1 Bronze Pack
• 5 Key players = roughly 1 Bronze Pack
• A single Star player = roughly 2 Bronze Packs
• A single Icon player = roughly 10 Bronze Packs

And this is where the strategy side of scrapping really starts appearing.

Because while scrapping weak cards usually feels easy, scrapping higher-tier cards becomes a much bigger decision (especially Stars and Icons).

For example, scrapping one unused Icon player instantly gives enough Essence for a huge amount of progression.

But at the same time, Icon cards are usually very difficult to replace later.

That is why I almost never recommend scrapping Stars or Icons impulsively unless:

• The player won’t play again in the current Set (eg. the season has finished or he has a serious injury)
• The Tier downgrade risk is very high
• You urgently need Essence for a specific progression goal

Another important detail many newer managers miss is that Special Edition cards also receive additional scrapping value bonuses.

For example:

• Shiny cards → extra 20% Essence
• Holo cards → extra 50% Essence

That means the final scrapping reward becomes noticeably higher compared to normal Base cards from the same Tier.

And honestly, this can sometimes create interesting decisions.

There are situations where scrapping one unused Special Edition card can generate enough Essence to open multiple new packs immediately.

On the other hand, strong bonus cards are usually much harder to replace later (especially if they’re of higher tiers).

So personally, I try to be considerably more careful before scrapping high-bonus versions.

Reserve and Roster cards, however, are often treated almost like “fuel” for your gallery.

Over time, those low-tier cards slowly accumulate and become a reliable Essence source through sheer volume alone.

And this is one of the reasons why opening large numbers of packs in Sorare Set rarely feels completely useless.

Even weaker pulls still contribute something toward future progression (through missions, collection bonuses, or eventual scrapping value).

When to Scrap Sorare Set Cards

One of the biggest mistakes newer managers make in Sorare Set is either scrapping way too aggressively… or never scrapping at all.

From my experience, the best approach usually sits somewhere in the middle.

You want your gallery to stay flexible and useful, but at the same time, there is no reason to keep large amounts of cards that no longer help your progression.

Here are the situations where scrapping usually makes the most sense for me.

1. When You Have Duplicates

This is the most obvious example.

If you own duplicate versions of the same player, scrapping one of them is often the correct move.

Especially if the player is low-tier and unlikely to appear in multiple lineups at the same time.

The main exception for me is usually Star and Icon players.

Those cards can still be valuable as duplicates because during busy football days, you may genuinely want to use the same player in several streak attempts simultaneously.

And during international tournaments or Anytime Entry formats, that flexibility becomes even more important.

To quickly access all the duplicate players in your gallery, navigate to the current Set edition you’re playing and then use the “Duplicate” toggle (see the image above).

2. When You Want To Focus On Specific Leagues

Another very common strategy is narrowing your gallery toward one or two leagues only.

For example, some managers decide to fully focus on:

• Premier League
• LALIGA
• Bundesliga

Instead of spreading cards across every available competition.

This usually helps you build Collection Bonuses much faster because more of your pulls belong to the same clubs and leagues.

It also makes league-based Collection Missions easier to complete.

In that situation, scrapping cards from leagues you no longer care about can become a very efficient way to generate extra Essence.

3. When You Only Chase Certain Players Or Teams

Some managers simply enjoy building around their favorite players or clubs.

And honestly, that is completely valid in Sorare Set.

If your goal is building around teams or footballers you personally enjoy following, there is usually little reason to keep unrelated cards sitting unused in your gallery.

For example, if you mainly focus on:

• Chelsea players
• Argentina internationals
• Premier League stars

…then keeping random low-tier cards from unrelated leagues often slows your progression more than it helps.

Scrapping them lets you recycle unused value back into packs that better fit your strategy.

4. When You Expect A Tier Drop Soon

This is probably one of the more advanced scrapping strategies.

Sometimes you can clearly see a player’s Tier value about to decrease.

Usually because of:

• Injuries
• Losing starting role
• Transfers
• Poor form
• Manager changes

And in those situations, scrapping earlier can actually generate more Essence than waiting.

For example, if a player is currently categorized as a Star player but just suffered a long-term injury, there is a good chance their Tier drops in the next update.

That usually means lower scrapping value later.

From my experience, reacting early in these situations can be very important for efficient resource management.

5. After Completing Collection Missions

Sometimes you only keep certain cards because they help complete missions.

Once those objectives are finished, those same cards may suddenly lose most of their usefulness.

That is often the perfect moment to scrap them and redirect the Essence toward your next target.

I personally do this fairly often during Set editions.

There is usually no point keeping cards that no longer contribute to progression if the Set only lasts a limited amount of time.

Looking at the image above, you can see I was able to to scrape all the cards I no longer needed that had helped me complete missions for Goalkeepers, Reserve & Stellar Players in the Stellar Set. I then used the Essence to continue building towards other Collect missions!

As of now, Sorare doesn’t punish you retrospectively for scrapping cards that helped you fully complete a mission – so use it to your advantage!

6. When You Only Care About High-Tier Players

Some managers take a completely different approach and ignore most collection systems entirely.

Instead, they focus almost exclusively on building galleries full of:

• Star players
• Icon players
• Key players

In that strategy, Roster and Reserve cards often become immediate scrap material.

The idea is simple: Instead of collecting depth, you recycle weaker cards aggressively in order to chase stronger packs and higher-end pulls faster.

This approach can work well… but it is also riskier.

You usually sacrifice:

• Mission flexibility
• Collection progress
• Club bonus growth

So personally, I think this strategy works best for managers who already understand the Set economy quite well.