How to get better players in 'Madden NFL 17' Ultimate Team mode
It's hard not to get hooked on Madden's Ultimate Team mode. You get to combine the thrill of tearing open a new pack of collectible cards with the satisfaction of nurturing a championship team.
Ultimate Team returns in Madden NFL 17 with a handful of changes, but the basic flow of things is roughly the same. You start out with a generic team of low-ranked players and, over time, you earn more.
It's the "earn more" part where things get tricky. Don't worry, we got you. Read on for some tips to help you team-build more effectively in Madden Ultimate Team (MUT). This guide assumes you've already got the mode's basics down, so mess around with it before you dive in.
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Don't be fooled by the card packs gamble
The most important thing to remember as a MUT player: buying card packs -- either for in-game Coins or real dollars -- might be fun, but it's not the most efficient way to get elite players for your team.
If you've got real money money to burn, then sure, purchasing card packs is the quickest way to inflate your team. You're not guaranteed high-ranked players from every pack, but you're bound to get some if you spend enough.
Also, to be clear: packs aren't uniformly bad. A lot of the tips below are predicated on the idea of earning free packs. But buying packs -- especially with Madden's Coin currency -- is a waste. There are better ways to spend your coins.
Become an auction pro
The MUT Auction House is perhaps the most reliable way to build the team that you want. Where card packs are always ruled by an element of randomness, you can sit down and find the exact player, rating or position you're looking for.
Bear in mind, the Auction House isn't so far off from a site like eBay. Prices are set by the seller but value is dictated by the economy. You can try setting a 5,000 Coin price on an OVR 77 Theo Riddick card, but you won't get many takers if everyone else sells him for around 2,000 Coins.
That's great news for Auction House shoppers because it means there are deals to be had. Don't spend your Coins haphazardly. Take the time to do some research and see what kind of prices the economy has set for your targeted card, then look for sellers undercutting that average.
Once you get a handle on things, try selling some of your excess cards in the Auction House. Be sure to leave your team with some depth, but sell off doubles and fourth-/fifth-string backups using the same value calculation to set your own prices.
These are standard bargain-hunting and sales tactics, we're just applying them to MUT's living virtual marketplace.
Game the Solo Challenges
Before you can spend any Coins in the Auction House you need to actually have some. Eventually you might lean on the marketplace as your sole source of both players and income, but that won't happen until you can start spending.
The Gauntlet is one of the best options early on for amassing a small fortune in Coins. In Madden NFL 17 there are eight "Opening Games" challenges. They're all very easy, introductory exercises that should net you a good chunk of Coins right away.
Not enough, though. Shoot for a minimum of 10,000 Coins before you start messing with the Auction House. Not only does that let you get a little more spendy, it also lets you spend some time getting to know your team and figuring out where you want to build.
The Solo Challenges that unlock after Opening Games is finished are perhaps the steadiest and most reliable source of Coins available. They might seem tough at first, pitting you against teams with higher overall ratings.
You should pay the most attention early on to the Limited Time and The Gauntlet categories. Both tend to offer less time-consuming challenges with Coin and pack rewards.
The trick with The Gauntlet is to get creative. If you're looking at a long rushing challenge, set up a hail mary and force your QB to scramble. For fumble recovery, muff a punt. Why stick to sane football strategy when you're laser-focused on a particular goal? No one will judge you.
Draft Champions is just a fun diversion
While you can earn stuff for your MUT in Draft Champions mode, the rewards don't really add up.
For offline-preferred players, completing Solo Draft mode involves defeating three successively higher-difficulty teams in a row. Finishing even one or two games earns you some Coins, but the returns are minimal compared to the time you put in.
The same goes for Unranked Draft, an online Draft Champions mode where your team goes up against other live players. For this one, four wins are your goal, and winning earns you cards as well as Coins.
Ranked Draft is roughly the same, though it costs you tickets -- which you can buy with Coins or earn in Unranked Draft -- to participate, and six wins are required for completion. And the Pro Pack rewards you stand to earn -- if you win -- are the same ones that paying players gamble on.
Draft Champions is good fun, and its independence from MUT means you don't have to worry about your team's remaining Contracts. But the time investment doesn't measure up against the rewards you stand to earn.
Long-term thinking
All this time you spend building a team... but what's the point? To play more MUT of course.
The better your team gets, the more you'll be able to capably take on tougher solo challenges and hold your own in online Head To Head mode. And the more you do that, the more you get better cards and completed badge sets -- which lead to even better cards.
It's an enjoyable feedback loop once you get a handle on the basics. The real key with MUT, as mentioned above, is to not get too caught up in the thrill of opening new packs.
It's great when you earn one through challenges, but there are so many ways to excel in this mode without feeding real dollars to the game.
Adam Rosenberg is a Senior Games Reporter for Mashable, where he plays all the games. Every single one. From AAA blockbusters to indie darlings to mobile favorites and browser-based oddities, he consumes as much as he can, whenever he can.Adam brings more than a decade of experience working in the space to the Mashable Games team. He previously headed up all games coverage at Digital Trends, and prior to that was a long-time, full-time freelancer, writing for a diverse lineup of outlets that includes Rolling Stone, MTV, G4, Joystiq, IGN, Official Xbox Magazine, EGM, 1UP, UGO and others.Born and raised in the beautiful suburbs of New York, Adam has spent his life in and around the city. He's a New York University graduate with a double major in Journalism and Cinema Studios. He's also a certified audio engineer. Currently, Adam resides in Crown Heights with his dog and his partner's two cats. He's a lover of fine food, adorable animals, video games, all things geeky and shiny gadgets.
