FIFA 19 - Sponsored by Promes to Sevilla

[five time]

It's weird that people thought the pace nerf was such a big deal. In the last couple months of WL and Rivals I've yet to come across anyone playing a target man kind of striker.

Seems like if you do buy a Lewandowski or Mandzukic kind of player the best approach is to stick a hunter on them anyway.

[Gray Fox]

I think pace on the ball is more important this year. It's quite hard to get a proper ball in behind that your pacey striker can take advantage of, but it is a lot easier to dribble past players. A pet peeve of mine has been how attackers can change direction faster than your defender can keep up with it.

Raul currently 1.7m, Keane and Costa down to 650k, KdB to 500k. Sterling 230k.

If you do want to do one of the bigger Icons, it's worth doing Keane or Costa first to put into it. It's the same cost as the cheapest market Icons and you get a fair few packs back

[The Merse]

For anyone wanting to get Kondogbia, I saw a tweet from an EA person saying they were going to change his nationality (think he recently got capped by Central African Republic). His value might crash after that as long as you then have to link him with La Liga players.

Hoping he crashses more due to this. I’ll happily gamble that doesn’t get changed - only new NIFs and New specials packed will I reckon. It’s what happened with Eder, Kimpembe, Costa etc. The only difference here is this is a dynamic card, but even then - I don’t believe EA will wipe probs 30-40% value from cards people have bought.

[The Merse]

It's weird that people thought the pace nerf was such a big deal. In the last couple months of WL and Rivals I've yet to come across anyone playing a target man kind of striker.

Seems like if you do buy a Lewandowski or Mandzukic kind of player the best approach is to stick a hunter on them anyway.

Definitely still a thing to some degree - I’d never have played with Hulk up front in previous years as I maintained I needed 99/99 pace on any striker. This year, Hulk, Immobile and Lewandowski, none of them target men, but all only just in and around 90 pace with a hunter are all great cards. Kane is popular too.

I guess, target men aren’t in vogue but Shearer-style no 9s are, if you distinguish between the two.

The main reason we’re still seeing pacey Striker is that 90% of people run either Auba POTM or Reus POTM.

[Trancemeister]

Are these Electrum packs in store OP or what? Bought 3. Got Courtois & Aguero.

[SincereTheRebel]

Definitely still a thing to some degree - I’d never have played with Hulk up front in previous years as I maintained I needed 99/99 pace on any striker. This year, Hulk, Immobile and Lewandowski, none of them target men, but all only just in and around 90 pace with a hunter are all great cards. Kane is popular too.

I guess, target men aren’t in vogue but Shearer-style no 9s are, if you distinguish between the two.

The main reason we’re still seeing pacey Striker is that 90% of people run either Auba POTM or Reus POTM.

I just want to use a big strong ST who does not have pace but all the ones i have used are horrid becuase they lack agility and balance it appears. That being said, after reading in here about crespo, i went and checked his stats. Nasty :drool:

[SincereTheRebel]

https://www.futbin.com/19/squad/3383482

I'm currently running the above team. Everyone is on 10 chem as 4321 is the formation I play once the game starts. I play Aguero on a free role and it has worked well so far. Much better than IF Lukaku on the ball, he even holds it up much better consistenatly. I want to get Sane instead of Mane as I like the balance with the left footed from the ride side to match Mbappe on the other. I just got Mbappe. Was going to get his IF, but decdied against it.

I would like to add a special CB and special CDM but not sure who to upgrade yet. Ive got just over a million coins left to play with. Worth waiting on TOTY?

[Yevrah]

Crespo should be unreal.

[The Merse]

Sniped a Kondogbia for 360k. I’ve also saved 5k as he’s come with Shadow already appplied. He’s been back up at 395k for an hour or so now and has never dropped below 430k on PS so it’s looking a decent deal. He also means I can go back to playing 433(4) from the start, no formation switching required as he’s got Varane, Mbappe and Lala to link to. In fact, he’d only be 6 chem in the 451 i was using to get Firmino/Kroos on chem.

Also grabbed 4600 Fifa points as a present to myself, though they’ve not appeared in the app yet and apparently take up to 48 hours, so Christ knows what packs will be around for me.

[The Merse]

Anyone else signed up for this Premier League tourament?

Edit; https://e.premierleague.com

[Yevrah]

After last night’s fire sale I’m now at 4m coins. Interested to see what EA do tonight. An IF sbc would be lovely as I still have 60 83 ratedsvon the trade pile that I’m loathed to sell for their current price.

[The Merse]

Yeh, the 82-84 prices are disappointing this year. I had 100 82+ duplicates, more than half over 83 and I’ve still got 70 odd havin gonly really used some of them for SBCs and hardly sold any. I made more out of the MLS and Silver objectives, and the former really just paid for the losses I took putting together my own squad at peak prices and selling up when everyone else was.

Still sat on a million with 2000 players, with 250k reserved for re-stocking the high rated cards during the crash. Coming out with that Martinez, Keane, Firmino, Torreira, Subasic and RTTF Kondogbia from the Xmas period means I’ve done well overall. I’ll add another 80k and some more cards tomorrow morning through rewards as well.

Decided against the remaining 24 hours offers. Matuidi’s boosts aren’t significant enough, and I can’t see myself using Tiago Silva considering the untradeable B Teamers I have are all BPL and Serie A, and I’m never going to bring him into my FUT Champs side.

[Gray Fox]

Just finished up Sterling. Some of the untradeable TOTWs I've picked up lately came in useful. It cost me 185k before any packs. Picked up mostly shit but popped a Lloris in one of the packs to make a chunk back. I reckon about 100k spent after all sold.

I'm now going to spend the next 40 minutes staring at De Bruyne wondering if I should do it.

[Danny]

Did KDB and I am under 1m coins for the first time in a while but I very happy with the squad.

[Gray Fox]

I've decided against it. Even though I've decided to do an SBC with less time than this before and still done it(horrible flashbacks to El Sharaawy) :D

If the UCL card didn't exist, I'd do it, but it does and it's pretty much the exact same card with -2 pace. That one I can give back when I'm done as well. I'll keep my coins in the hope something massive comes for Christmas day. If it doesn't, then I'll be saving to get an Icon. If not then I might try and sneak a TOTY card.

[The Merse]

Fuck all. Probably for the best. I expect Boxing Day to serve up something decent now.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Bullshit.

[Gray Fox]

We've all obviously been very naughty this year.

[Yevrah]

Disappointing to see nothing tonight.

[five time]

I realised I was struggling to break teams down early on so I've started using all out attack from the start of games. Stamina drains more quickly but I don't seem to be conceding more.

Also has anyone else got a supersub they swear by? I've started bringing him SBC Gnabry on around the 60th minute and he destroys people.

[SincereTheRebel]

Can everyone post their play style and tactics because I appear to be alone? I can't get my players to fill the gap between my defence and midfield, regardless of what tactics I play. The other team always has players in between the space and even though dragging back midfield to cover is a good tactic. I can never do it good enough and then trying to switch to the correct player using the right analogue is a complete nightmare. Im in divisions 4 now and playing is not fun. Every game is a grind.

Also tackling. I try and intercept and cut passing lanes but it appears that sprinting full speed in a straight line to the guy on the ball is the best tactic. I just can't do it though. It's not in my play style. Playing squad battles for two years I think has really killed me. Ive got bad habits from that game mode that ive taken to online. I want to be better. Im finding the game more frustrating.

We need a casual game mode. Give me a penalty shootout challenge or free kick challenge or something.

[Gray Fox]

I realised I was struggling to break teams down early on so I've started using all out attack from the start of games. Stamina drains more quickly but I don't seem to be conceding more.

Also has anyone else got a supersub they swear by? I've started bringing him SBC Gnabry on around the 60th minute and he destroys people.

You can get away with about 30 minutes of pure all out attack in this game so that's a bold move.

As for supersubs there's 1 big one you may have missed. 86 Martinez from the MLS was available as an objective. He's amazing to bring on against tired defenders.

My other ones are Salah, 87 Mahrez and now POTM Sterling.

The most common one not listed above is 85 Lozano too.

[Yevrah]

Gameiro's finesse shots are a thing of beauty.

As for subs. +1 for Martinez, Dembele has still been a staple as I've improved my teams and scream Schweinsteiger, who has ridiculous composure which helps when needing to take chances towards the end of the game.

[Gray Fox]

SincereTheRebel

https://i.gyazo.com/0b8b6d2b1e3623a27bebc17a7c39d294.png

I use this on the 4-2-3-1 version with the 3 CAMs. Full-backs and CDMs both told to stay back whilst attacking. Striker and middle CAM set to stay forward and striker to get in behind.

I've considered knocking the width up, but then I end up pushing Neymar and Mbappe out to the touchline and they're more effective further inside. It does me alright but if I was truly bothered I'd tinker to get it better.
My downfall is I should really probably play with defensive minded full-backs. Also in games where the other guy is just dropping back, I need better passing on my CDMs as they will have all of the ball.

For this reason I'm strongly looking at an Icon CDM, even though I'd bloody love to have that Raul. Specifically one that can pick a pass. Ballack looks pretty perfect for the role I want, but I'm not paying like 50k just for a loan card.

I keep balanced on both as I, in-game can dictate the pace. Using fast build up or constant pressure will see you vastly over committed and just begging to be countered anyway.
I did dabble with pressure on heavy touch/possession loss but I soon found that it's great against worse opponents, you can really turn the screw, but those who are composed and can play their way out could get beyond the press and in behind me very quickly.

I play in Div 3 with this, have 2100 skill rating(debating whether or not to make a Div 2 push) and hit 20 wins a weekend at minimum assuming I play all 30 games. I find it best not to get too fancy.

[Yevrah]

Might be back in FutChamps this weekend. Up to 1,336 qualification points, with 130 to come on Thursday morning for Division Rivals rewards.

[The Merse]

SincereTheRebel can't screenshot as I'm away from my Xbox for days, but basically, just covering what's not default mostly:

433(4)

Balanced:
Default sliders
Fast build up
Both full backs set to stay back
1 CM set to stay back, both CMs set to cover centre
CAM stay forward
LW/RW get in behind & cut inside
Striker stay central

Defensive:
Same sliders as Balanced (by default these are more conservative), except for Corners & Free Kicks, which remain at defensive default
Both full backs set to stay back
Both CM stay back
Both CM cover centre

Attacking:
Default sliders
Fast build up
Pressure on bad touch
Both full backs set to stay back
1 CM set to stay back, both CMs set to cover centre
LW/RW get in behind & cut inside & stay forward
CAM stay forward
Striker stay central

[The Merse]

Can everyone post their play style and tactics because I appear to be alone? I can't get my players to fill the gap between my defence and midfield, regardless of what tactics I play.

This was my biggest problem, but I've now found it to my advantage, using chipped balls or FB runs to get it into midfield and find the 5 man attacking line that seems to have formed. Fairly sure it's Fast Build Up that's doing it to you. I'm cutting out their midfield and working the ball to a free player with ease when it comes off.

[SincereTheRebel]

I use the same as Gray Fox pretty much. Offensively im fine. Defensively I struggle.

The Merse are you talking offensive or defensively? when im defending, there is a gap between my defence and midfield that my opponent exploits and I can't select a player quick enough to run back as select a defender can be suicide.

[Gray Fox]

When my opponent gets to my half I only control the CAM that is closest to the ball, I then try to only switch to CDMs. The exception to this is to switch to my full back if he pushes out and push him back into position.
My main aim is to slow the opponent down until I can recover my team behind the ball.

It doesn't always work as when I play stupid(without thinking) I end up switching to my CBs and charging out. Recipe for disaster right there.

[The Merse]

I use the same as Gray Fox pretty much. Offensively im fine. Defensively I struggle.

The Merse are you talking offensive or defensively? when im defending, there is a gap between my defence and midfield that my opponent exploits and I can't select a player quick enough to run back as select a defender can be suicide.

Offensively and specifically when I’ve not got the ball out of
Defence quickly enough (whilst the midfield is still a little deeper. defensively is fine as I’m usually bringing the non-stay back myself.

Have you changed your CM’s to cover central or left as default (cover wing?)

[SincereTheRebel]

Cover centrally. Do you veing your middlle CAM back and do not switch to any other player until he is back in line with yhe CDMs?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1077942145036603392

[Gray Fox]

Well there's a good 4 cards there I'd love to see red tomorrow.

[Yevrah]

That Lala. :drool:

[Raoul Duke]

Might have to get that Havertz. He's one of those ones who I love playing with, even his normal card

[The Merse]

Come what may, TIF Lala will be in my club soon. I’d love a red tomorrow.

[Gray Fox]

I was going to say the same of Sonaldo, but good lord 700k I am not paying.

My red luck has been a bit shit lately, but I'd love one of Sandro, Son, Pogba or especially Lala. The state of his card:

https://www.futbin.com/19/player/17512/Kenny%20Lala/

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

With an anchor card, fucking hell.

[Yevrah]

Nothing again today from EA?

[Gray Fox]

I can only assume there's no one in the office. But considering millions have just got this game you'd expect something.

This lack of activity is pushing those Icon SBCs down in price though.

[Boom-Boom-18]

Nothing again today from EA?

Yep, very disappointing. They have released promo packs so I guess they are just focused on cashing in on the new players over Christmas.

The prices have dropped of the players which I like to invest in (Fabregas / Kompany) so I have stocked up on them.

[The Merse]

I’ve re-bought the La Liga players I sold up. Made a profit flipping them, even after tax:

Casimeiro 6k
Isco 27k
Kroos 24k
Navas 22k x 2
Busquets 26k x 2

Ter Stegen and Firmino are still inflated, so can wait to be replaced, Handanovic too. Both would make no profit at the moment (break even after tax so not all bad).

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Bought prime Crespo earlier today and he's cracking.

Never really got on with Aguero and RTTF Sanchez was so much better up front but Crespo is donning it.

He's such a clinical finisher too.

Thinking about Icon Schmeichel next to add another United legend but I don't know if he's that much better than De Gea to justify the price.

[Gray Fox]

I'd probably go for Van der Sar, but the extra kicking on Schmiechel may help a lot.

[The Merse]

Ribery and Parejo going for <45k. Quite a deal for 86+ IFs with those club/nation combos.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Decided to buy 5 Ultimate packs with coins, here are the results:

Pack 1: 83 Tah, fuck my life. There were 2 other 83's and then fuck all.
Pack 2: 84 Neto and Rodrigo. I'm starting to regret this decision.
Pack 3: 87 Mertens and 85 Alisson. Better but still horseshit.
Pack 4: UCL RTTF Moreno, IF Foster and IF Meret. The last two can be put in Icon SBCs but still shit.
Pack 5: 84 Gomez.

:moop:

Either my luck has run out or it only works when I use points.

[The Merse]

I've got that 4200 saved up, and after noticing I had 17k in Xbox rewards, have another £15 of microsoft value to add to that and have a go, so I'm hoping to pull something. Just need to get to my damn console to do it.

By then (Friday night), I think RTTF won't even be in packs so I might hold on for TOTY.

[Gray Fox]

Speaking of Icon SBCs, the lack of any content since the end of FUTMAS is sending the prices lower and lower.

It's now less than 600k to do Costa, Keane just hovering over 600. Less than 1.6m for Raul and Ballack with Rivaldo now at 850.

I'm not sure how much further they will drop, but even without a pull the cost after packs is down to about 500k for the first 2. Most definitely worth doing the lower 2 before turning one in for the higher priced Icon if you are wanting to do it.

EDIT: You'd get 7 packs for doing it that way instead of just buying an Icon off the market. 2 x 100k packs in there as well.

[The Merse]

850k for Rivaldo is tempting. I’m convinced a second icon will be needed for Henry & co, so it seems a worthwhile deal. I also don’t use Felipe Anderson’s stronger right foot much as I don’t tend to cut inside to shoot - I normally go for power from the angle, same with Mbappe, so Rivaldo is probably very usable for me.

If I’m right about needing a second icon for a big boy, then I’d be spending 250k for the packs and a usable icon. So the risk might be worth it.

[Gray Fox]

Getting an Engine card on him sorts his only bad stat in his Balance too.

I think the pricing shows you where EA stand on their status in the game. Keane, Costa and Campbell are not end game cards and we all know it. They're now a decent value.
Then you look at Ballack and Raul. Priced at 1.6m each right now, they're clearly seeing those as close to, if not end game cards.

Rivaldo comes somewhere in between. Certain things hold him back from being top tier. A 2* WF combined with you having to either play him off chemistry or move one of your other amazing LWs off chemistry is really not ideal.
Looking at Henry he definitely falls into the end game category. You could even make a case that he's going to be more expensive than what we have now. I'd reckon you're definitely going to have the exchange an Icon requirement along with over 1m coins worth of SBC at the least.

If you did that Keane, Merse and aren't happy with him, you can put him in and you'll need only 245k at current price. You get 300k worth of packs back for doing Rivaldo too.
Alternatively you could do Costa for 590k. You'll get about 350k of packs back, then stick him into Rivaldo for another 300k of packs. The latter is obviously more risky coin wise, but has the higher chance of that big pull.

[Yevrah]

Mind you, once these Futmas cards have expired (and there's a flood of Fifa points tomorrow) the market should hit the floor unless EA have anything else planned for the holiday season.

Think I’m finally getting to grips with this.

[Yevrah]

Oh and as Fox has outlined, I’m seriously tempted by the icons now. Might do Keane and Rui Costa and then put one of the two into Rivaldo.

[Gray Fox]

Consensus was there was supposed to be another TOTW SBC on Boxing Day. As it didn't arrive I reckon there's some panic.

In reality there's been a fair few FUTMAS cards the casual player would have done, along with a decent Icon release and that KdB, they just need to restock the market a little.

[Yevrah]

They've looked at all the 83's I'm sat on, haven't they? ;)

[Trancemeister]

Got an untradable Mbappe in my division rewards.

[Yevrah]

Nice.

Thiago was my best, but think I've got a decent number of Bundesliga players to run through that league SBC for a second time.

[Trancemeister]

Just won a match 1-0 online. He/she must be infuriated, so much better than me but just couldn't score.

[The Merse]

50/50 on entering WL. I’ll have maybe 6-7 hours if I’m lucky; enough to at least hit Silver 1 and line up some rewards from it and DR, but I’m somewhat scared of the missus returning to London earlier than planned (or me getting back later than planned) and not having enough time to hit S1 - no way I’d rack up the required points to re-qualify during the week.

[Yevrah]

I'm playing up to 2,000 points today, if I get time, but not sure I'll redeem. At 1,720, with 280 to go.

Alternating between the two teams posted on the previous page and I actually probably enjoy the second one more. Gameiro is brilliant and would be unstoppable if he had High attacking workrates or Low defensive.

[Gray Fox]

I was absolutely gutted to miss out on the big guys as red again. I got Foster and Gotze with Townsend the only other option. Literally the same player pick pack twice over.

I turned to the 100k packs and then got both Foster and Gotze in the same pack, I felt like this was trolling a little, but my other pack saw me get a walkout.

It was a TOTW item which turned out to be Havertz. I skipped some of the pack animation but then there was a surprise waiting for me behind.

https://i.gyazo.com/7bceb4cff433bcbde95338583a12c6a7.jpg

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Cock.

Division 5 rank 2 untradeable packs:

Mega 1 - Barzagli
Mega 2 - Vazquez
Rare players 1 - Hamsik
Rare players 2 - IF Gotze.

Not great but not too bad.

[Yevrah]

TOTW upgrade here for 3 days and all the major league upgrade packs here for the same amount of time.

[Trancemeister]

I remember when this Boca RB Peruzzi went for 10k+. Now When I pack him not even 3k.

[Danny]

TOTW upgrade here for 3 days and all the major league upgrade packs here for the same amount of time.

Did one. Got Goetze thats me done with them.

[SincereTheRebel]

I woukd usually have 1000 83s at this time of year, but i really cant be bothered anymore.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

79 Dennis from an untradeable SBC :moop:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Dennis again.

Fuck this bullshit.

[igor_balis]

What a menace

[Gray Fox]

This TOTW isn't worth having a go at the SBC for. Of the 23 cards only 4/5 are going to give you any profit or a usable player.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Did 3 more:

76 Lica, 81 Budescu and Dennis again.

Honestly, fuck all of this bullshit.

[Yevrah]

I remember when a TotW SBC was dynamite, now it just comes across as a rip off.

I did one last time they were out a pulled a Silver IF, so I doubt I'll bother this time.

[Danny]

Did a few basic PL upgrades and pulled ..... KDB.

FFS. Literally 3 days after his SBC.

[Gray Fox]

Did one from my rivals untradeables. Got a walkout... but Foster. Makes the 3rd time I've got his 84 card in the 3rd different kind of pack today.

I've about 750k in the club now and packing Messi today has given me a decision to make. He is currently 850k and I don't have an easy in for him to get in the team.

Not sure what to do. I'd love to superlink him and Crespo together, but I don't have the coins for that.

[Boom-Boom-18]

Did a few basic PL upgrades and pulled ..... KDB.

FFS. Literally 3 days after his SBC.

What is wrong with that? I assuming the SBC is tradeable.

The SBC hasn't effected his price (it has rebounded back to the pre SBC price)

[SincereTheRebel]

I think I'm done with FIFA for now. I'm just not having fun with it. My playstyle does not bring the level of success I want. I reached gold 1 this past weekend which is my highest rank to date but it is all just a massive headache. I'm tired of my oppoenents closing me down at a rapid rate. There isn't a saying, if you can't beat them join them. But I don't want to do that either. It does not feel fun for me and if it isn't, it is probably best I put the game down.

[SincereTheRebel]

I don't want to be the only man moaning in this thread about the game. I want to be better at it, but the most important thing is to be entertained. I'm conceding too many goals from just bullshit.

[Danny]

What is wrong with that? I assuming the SBC is tradeable.

The SBC hasn't effected his price (it has rebounded back to the pre SBC price)

FUTMAS SBC and then the prem upgrades. Both untradeable. Nice pack reward for sure, kick in the bollocks timing though :lol:


I think I'm done with FIFA for now. I'm just not having fun with it. My playstyle does not bring the level of success I want. I reached gold 1 this past weekend which is my highest rank to date but it is all just a massive headache. I'm tired of my oppoenents closing me down at a rapid rate. There isn't a saying, if you can't beat them join them. But I don't want to do that either. It does not feel fun for me and if it isn't, it is probably best I put the game down.

I barely play right now. I play a few games a week in SB's and decide I cant be bothered and move onto another game.

[The Merse]

I’ll not be doing these. May cash in on 82+ once they dwindle tomorrow evening. I’d love to pull Son as he’s finally give me a central player to switch with Koke (pushing Koke to Cm) in game, and hard link to POTM Lucas. But by fuck am I doing the 30 rounds likely required to get him when that’d be just for the B team, and selling my Transfer List items should give me enough for TIF Lala rather than doing it for him either.

[Gray Fox]

Only 130k for that TIF Lala.

Son at 450 looks tempting to just bring one in. There'll be plenty a fresh one going about with the SBC on as well.

[Trancemeister]

I've played several people who have Gabriel Jesus as a midfielder. He's a total bitch to defend against. Might try that out.

[The Merse]

He’s a good cam, but do you mean deeper than that still?

And not being swapped in game?

[Yevrah]

How's Kondogbia Merse?

[The Merse]

Not had a game since buying him. But delighted already that I sniped him for 360 and he’s back to 420 now!

The misssus is staying at home until Sunday morning now so I’ve redeemed my fut Champs entry and will try him out once I’m home tomorrow. Also toying with adding more RTTF players to my B team to keep it relevant throughout the coming months. Aurier and Nacho I think, funded in part by selling Alex Sandro who is going for 80k again as he’s in TOTW.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I've just seen we get a loan Icon for playing 25 this week.

Not too shabby.

[Boom-Boom-18]

IF Jesus with a hunter card is a very fun card to use. He is just like Aubameyang but with top level dribbling.

[Gray Fox]

Is it the same Icon for everyone or do we get to pick?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Crespo just had his first game without a goal :(

He's now at 11 games, 15 goals and 4 assists.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I have decided that next week will be my first WL venture.

Going against loan icons in every match will be fun.

[Gray Fox]

I've pretty much decided Neymar is for the chop, so that I can go about changing the team up to get Messi in. He looks like the best non-Icon CAM there is.

I've come up with 2 ways to go.

Team 1 = spend on tradeables.

https://i.gyazo.com/e6eebf169c34a0b3c2fb3762f8b5d52b.jpg

That'd be about the best I can do. It'd see Mbappe on the left, Sterling right as more of a winger with Griezmann up front and Messi CAM. I could go with Griezmann right and Sterling left, but I'm not 100% sure Sterling is up to those timed finesse shots. He has low shot power and long shots, which can be boosted, but the Sniper chem style, which is the only one that would boost his 78 composure does not touch the other 2 stats.


Team 2 = Do Icon SBCs

https://i.gyazo.com/68a4b4763370ef23ac40b8d0a9a3e010.png

This way would see me do Rui Costa and then trade him in to the Raul SBC. The hope here is that something comes back from the packs to cover some of the cost. I'd need 150k back to afford the other pieces that slot in. It's 1.65m to do the both of them with probably about 600-700k back of pack worth.
It'd be Raul up front, Messi behind with Dembele right and Mbappe left.

If I were to do #2 I'd be best doing it over the night/morning whilst the RTTF cards are still in packs, just in case of a pack pull of one of those.

[Yevrah]

To be safe I'd probably go for option 1 were it me, but a) option 2 is much more interesting and b) you're so good at the game that you'll generate the liquid coins you have to do the above over the next month or so again.

[Gray Fox]

It may be out of my hands anyway. Option 1 relies on Griezmann going up front, however that 91 card was just over 700k this morning, now that same card is over 900k.

After selling Neymar and Hazard I've got 1.55m on hand.

[Yevrah]

I avoided qualifying for Futchamps this weekend so I can sort my club out. It's in a right state as I haven't done it for weeks. Silvers, consumables, In Forms, loads of stuff to sell and I'm also running out of bronzes.

Think I'm going to sell as much as I can heading into TOTY. I want the TOTY Mbappe.

[Gray Fox]

I do like that you get the token to redeem at your own convenience this time. Having to win that tournament when you were short on time through the week was a nightmare.

How much have you got ready to spend now Yev? I think TOTY this time is the most unpredictable one we've had in the UT era. Some big players are going to be missing out.
We're also set for a big POTM for December. The last matchday is going to prove crucial. I saw a picture on Twitter and this is a mock up the current likely lineup:

https://i.gyazo.com/11f560bb99d2c30f94915788986138cc.jpg


As for my team, Griezmann has come down to 750k again now, so I've no idea what happened. As it stands I've got just shy of 1.6m in the club. I could do that first option with a cheaper version of Griezmann or by changing out Petit and Kante for UEL Kondogbia and 87 Makelele.
The Raul option needs me to have about 1.65m so I'd probably have to do Costa and then all of the Raul SBCs minus the final one. I'd then have to open all of the packs and see if I could make coins back.

[The Merse]

How's Kondogbia Merse?

After 8 games, fucking excellent. He’s definitely got a touch of Vieira about him. With the +2 inevitable for beating Celtic over both legs (no way that’s not happening), I’m hopeful he’ll make it all the way to 89/90 and be pretty end game.

[Gray Fox]

Another thing to note for some of these RTTF cards is winter upgrades. He's only an 82 base card so any upgrade there would be massive to his RTTF card too.

[Yevrah]

He is tempting.

I'm trying to find the link I posted earlier in the thread to SBC's from FIFA18, but I'm fucked if I can.

Anyone have it to hand?

[The Merse]

Another thing to note for some of these RTTF cards is winter upgrades. He's only an 82 base card so any upgrade there would be massive to his RTTF card too.

He doesn’t have a low enough rated special card. If he had an 84, for which an upgrade to his NOF and UCL would necessitate a bump, it’d likely help him out, but the disparity is already too great. I’m hoping Torreira gets a nice boost, and wouldn’t be surprised if his FUTMAS reaches 84.

[Gray Fox]

I think it's Danny that has that list.


Decided to say fuck it and do Raul. Just completed the first phase which is Rui Costa.

I had a little in my club to help it along and it cost me 572k outright. I could probably quick sell the crap from the packs to bring back another 30k and the pack pulls I had were Insigne, Handanovic, Ozil, TOTW Dennis and Davison Sanchez. FUTBIN calculator reckons that is 120k back in the pocket. So done to a cost of about 430k give or take.

Almost 200k cheaper than flat out buying the Icon needed for the SBC without pulling anything over 40k in value.

[Yevrah]

Found it, was me.

https://www.futhead.com/18/squad-building-challenges/?filter=expired

I'll whack it in the opening post too.

[Gray Fox]

Cheers Yev.

If anything it's doing these bronze and silver SBCs that take the time up.

[SincereTheRebel]

FUt Kondogbia will change his nation to the african republic eventually?

[Danny]

I think there was a tweet saying he would but they don’t normally change old cards. This could be different with it being “live”

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

They wont, his upgrade will be his new nation.

[Danny]

Firmino already doing his best to invalidate my FUTMAS version of him

[Gray Fox]

TOTW item will only match his UCL card. Don't worry your FUTMAS card is safe for 2 more weeks.

[Gray Fox]

What this has probably done is confirmed ST Salah for POTM.

[Gray Fox]

https://i.gyazo.com/b8ea7baec44e1af3f32d0d065c534edd.jpg

It is done.

To break it down. I started with 1,574,000 in the club. One Phase 1 in Rui Costa was done I finished with 1,002,000. I didn't sell the pack pulls in case they were needed and a couple were. But some shit sold on.

Phase 2 was Raul himself and I started on 1,050,000. SBC done and before packs opened I was sat on 146,000. Unfortunately luck was not with me despite the much better pack offerings here.
Kaylor Navas and Pulisic UCL Live the only 2 walkouts. After selling those and the unsold from before I'm back to 310,000 or so. I'm also rammed full of non-rares and 81 and below rares.

I could sell them and move on but the intention is to submit them back into the upgrades. The question is La Liga or EPL.

[The Merse]

Having 'mare this weekend. 10-9, comfortably my worst weekend of this edition. I keep losing every other game tightly to ultra defensive or ultra press sweaters. Quite glad I pumped a guy 7-0 who has fielding a full Icon team playing ultra defensive right until the last. Nonetheless, it's not going well.

Not that it's too blame, but I need to upgrade Paulinho-Talisca-Hulk I think... The problem being they're so intrinsically linked it's difficult to pull them apart and upgrade incrementally.

I'm going to start by popping FUTMAS Firmino in for Paulinho and seeing if that works.

[Yevrah]

Given you’ve rocked those guys for a while Merse you must be sat on a fair chunk of coins?

[The Merse]

750k. Pack luck has been shit this year, which has hampered me.

I've got a lot of stuff though. I'm still sat on c. 400 La Liga and 350 EPL players ffs.

I've got something like 50 86+ disposables too, so Icon SBC's should be easy enough. The big problem is Hulk. His in games are fucking amazing for what I want him to do, and compare favourably with similar 'bruising no. 9' Icons - just look at this...

https://www.futbin.com/19/compare/17048/63/13105

Talisca too is so much fun, and very effective at times. They do feel a little off the mark, but I'm not sure I can really get a core that works better for me - also, my untradeable Red IF F. Anderson is massive for me, as is RTTF Telles, so I'mn loathe to lose Brazilian links.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Did some SBCs as I realised that my binder is HEAVING.

Zlatan and RTTF Aurier the best.

[Gray Fox]

8-2 through 10 games and it's a bit annoying as 1 of those was a DC when my internet blipped with me 2-0 up in said game.

The team has been okay, which is disappointing. Raul is pretty damn good as expected. It's more "Press B to Goal" rather than shoot. Messi is where my problem lies. His low stamina means he is shot after 70 minutes. I thought his med/med workrates may have negated it a little but no. In fact those work rates seem to always have him not quite in the right position.
In comparison to Hazard who is by far the best CAM I've used, I find Hazard much faster and much more in the right place, however Messis finishing is far superior.

It could just be me needing to get used to them, but I'll keep on giving them a go. I have found Messi much more effective as the CAM in a 4-1-2-1-2, which is something I'll keep an eye on.

[Yevrah]

Doing the TotW untradeable upgrades then putting two no doubt shitty IFs into the World Class segment of each icon SBC might be worthwhile. For about 50k you're getting two shots at an IF and a 50k pack.

EDIT: It's less than 40k

EDIT2: And the 50k pack may vary and might not be a 50k pack.

[Yevrah]

Just packed Griezmann from a Rare Electrum Pack from the World Class Roy Keane segment doing it. :cool:

[Trancemeister]

RTTF Douglas Costa in my loan pack for playing 15 games.

[Yevrah]

I got Matic for that. :nono:

[Gray Fox]

Apparently the Icon loan you get is only for 3 games. Hardly worth the effort for anyone but new Christmas players really.

Just chalked another 5 games off. 3-2 in that stint and I'm seeing what Merse was on about a lot. Every one of the games was against an Drop Back, Ultra Defensive player. Purely looking to clog the middle and play ping pong on the counter.
What I've become most sick of in those 5 games is tackling a player only for him to get the ball back. This was exacerbated by my 2nd game today. It was relatively even with him only looking for outside the box finesse shots and me working my way in. It was 1-1 in the 88th and I sent Van Dijk out to close down a would-be finesse shot. I tackled him well but the ball trickled over to his Felipe Anderson. From an odd angle towards the corner of the box he took a normal shot. It looked like it was heading to the corner flag, but hit the boot of Sanchez which diverted it back onto goal and Alisson dived over it. Of course it bobbled its way inside the post.
https://xboxdvr.com/gamer/sniper-wolf-tp4/video/66350128

I went straight back up the other end and worked into the box with Salah. Stood on the byline I had 4 players waiting for the tap in. His ball in managed to dissect every one of them and he keeps the ball to see out time.

I'm 11-4 now and heavily reliant on Raul/Messi so far. Sterling just can't get into it for me and the standard Kondogbia isn't really cutting it. Low stamina on Messi is still a big problem too.

[SincereTheRebel]

Ive been watching FIFA rage videos. I don't rage during gameplay and ive never broken anything. I just turn off the game when some weird stuff is going on, but man. I feel you and others pain.

[Danny]

I have stacked a few of the Untradeable TOTW packs. They are coming out to about 15k a time and next weeks looks like it could be a very good team. Why not right?

Obviously I will get Bobby since I have his FUTMAS but would still be a good result!

[Trancemeister]

I hope somone will burn in hell for creating the Nimes sbc. Seriously how fucking rare can those players get.

[Gray Fox]

Ive been watching FIFA rage videos. I don't rage during gameplay and ive never broken anything. I just turn off the game when some weird stuff is going on, but man. I feel you and others pain.

See I'm lucky. I don't rage. I get annoyed don't get me wrong but it's after the fact. I actually think my ability to stay calm in-game actually wins me 4 or 5 games a weekend.
Despite me venting here a little I'm not playing too great and am still 11-4. I'm more than happy with that.

Hoping to get on later and finish of a chunk of games. Probably looking to get to 17 wins and stop.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Did 2 untradeable TOTWs to do another World Class in an Icon SBC but I packed Havertz in one.

He'll go into one of the SBCs I still have to do for Rui Costa.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

81 Calleri IF best so I rolled again.

An 84 and some 83's the best in the two packs. Meh.

[Gray Fox]

Is it bad I'm tempted to sell Messi and do Ballack?

I've been playing with Messi as the CAM so far but I'll swap them around to see how they do. If it does work I've still got the POTM Aubameyang to throw on up front and he's not exactly bad.

The alternative is doing Rivaldo. I have 320k now and would begrudgingly part with the my pack pulled Salah to have most of the coins to do Keane. I'd then turn Keane into the Rivaldo SBC. That 2* weak foot is a bit off putting though.

[Raoul Duke]

Decided to sell off my Bundesliga team and commit to my Serie A squad. There's just not many exciting players in Germany, whereas there's a load of potential upgrade opportunities in Italy. Naingollan seems like a heck of a well-rounded player. Scored some absolute bangers with him so far.

[Boom-Boom-18]

Salah POTM card is going to be tasty (if he gets one). I reckon it is going to cost around the one million mark.

Do POTM cards get upgraded if the base card gets a winter upgrade?

[The Merse]

Salah POTM card is going to be tasty (if he gets one). I reckon it is going to cost around the one million mark.

Do POTM cards get upgraded if the base card gets a winter upgrade?

Depends how great the upgrade is.

[Yevrah]

Decided to go and get Tierney, but figured I may as well do some of the other league SBC's that give silver player rewards as a few are dirt cheap and I have a fair few of the players.

Hammering through the J-League now.

[Gray Fox]

Salah POTM card is going to be tasty (if he gets one). I reckon it is going to cost around the one million mark.

Do POTM cards get upgraded if the base card gets a winter upgrade?

I'll use an example of Van Dijk. He is 85 and the first IF for him is 86, then 87 etc. I'll eat my hats if he doesn't get upped at least 1. If it is just 1, all his following TOTW/SBC cards will go up by 1. If the upgrade is 2, then 2+ for all the other as well.

A POTM SBC is almost always a +2 rating on the previous edition of the card. So for example with Salah it will be a 92 card. So any upgrades that effect the previous cards will bump the POTM one up.

I believe it worked with a Dele Alli POTM I once did. He went from 84 to 86.



Stopped my WL with 2 games left on 20 wins. Annoyingly another disconnect in there or else I could try for Elite. I ended up buying Hazard to come in and play CAM and shoved Messi right. It felt much, much better like that.

[Yevrah]

Doing the French upgrade packs (basically copying Nepenthez's suggestion) has proved great so far. Loads of 83's, 84's and Veratti to put towards Roy Keane and have now just packed TIF Lala.

[Yevrah]

Just need to do the 86 rated squad now to finish Keane.

With pulling Griezmann earlier, some decent pulls from the Jumbo Rare pack from the 87 squad, the Ligue 1 packs and what I had in the club already he'll cost me very little. Which is nice.

I was trolled by the 87 rewards though. Walkout, orange flair, French flag....Mathieu.

[SincereTheRebel]

See I'm lucky. I don't rage. I get annoyed don't get me wrong but it's after the fact. I actually think my ability to stay calm in-game actually wins me 4 or 5 games a weekend.
Despite me venting here a little I'm not playing too great and am still 11-4. I'm more than happy with that.

Hoping to get on later and finish of a chunk of games. Probably looking to get to 17 wins and stop.

Keeping carm is always the best option. I want to get to the elite level and I can see the reasons why I dont reach elite 3. The three or four games I lose and I feel I should have won. I need those games to swing in my favour and im into elite 3.

[Gray Fox]

That's the point where I've got to. I get 20 wins pretty much regardless of my own form. At the start of December I had 2 weeks where I felt I was playing well and was on for a finish around 25 wins. One I just about scraped 23 wins and the other I choked on 22. Annoyingly I've hit 23 once, but finished on 22 twice.

Still, Raul was a pleasure this weekend. Just a case of getting the team behind him right.

https://i.gyazo.com/aa73daf115058f283bab869c2f7cf322.png

He only played 28. 2 people left after seeing my team with 2 DCs in there as well.

[Gray Fox]

Doing the French upgrade packs (basically copying Nepenthez's suggestion) has proved great so far. Loads of 83's, 84's and Veratti to put towards Roy Keane and have now just packed TIF Lala.

Split mine about half and half between Ligue 1 and La Liga.

Nothing out of this world at all, but got myself Kaylor Navas, Verratti, 2 x 81 rated TOTW players and a few 83s and 84s. Completely sucked the club dry of my untradeable shit now though.

I can keep or I can submit some of the stuff in for a TOTW pack. Unsure if to do that or save it for a rainy day.

[Boom-Boom-18]

This game really lacks something to keep you interested during the week. I used to enjoy seasons because it constantly gave you something to strive for, rivals doesn't have the same appeal to me (although I like the reward structure).

Frustrating because I love the 'intense' feel of a weekend league game. I used to get the same feeling last year (during seasons) because I would always be striving to move up the divisions but this year it's a massive slog to get relegated / promoted (I have been in division 5 since the start).

[Gray Fox]

The problem for me is I'm sat now wanting to play. The only thing available for me is Online Single matches or the Draft.

I'm in the bracket I want to finish in for Rivals so I can't play and there are no tournaments. Pretty much nothing to do.

[SincereTheRebel]

The problem for me is I'm sat now wanting to play. The only thing available for me is Online Single matches or the Draft.

I'm in the bracket I want to finish in for Rivals so I can't play and there are no tournaments. Pretty much nothing to do.

Online single is horrid. The team ratings should be hidden like rivals and fut champs. There should also be a penalty for quitting or a better reward for completing matches.

[Yevrah]

Finished off Keane and then did Rui Costa, whacking him into Rivaldo.

Nothing as good as Griezmann pulled, but a few bits and bobs to get the cost down. The Ultimate Pack from submitting Rui Costa was the most offensive thing ever. A 75 In form and no other card over 81.

[Gray Fox]

EA just legit gave out 4 prime Icons to everyone on FIFA 18.

Laudrup, Van Der Sar, Desailly and Shevchenko.

[SincereTheRebel]

18 or 19?

[Danny]

18

https://www.reddit.com/r/FIFA/comments/ab9kpx/free_prime_icon_packs/

[Yevrah]

My FIFA 18 is still installed so I checked and yep, there they are.

Wish even more I'd stayed on 18 now. And what a bizarre company they are.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Just need to do the 87 for Rui Costa now.

Also, whenever Crespo's SBC comes out do it lads, he's brilliant.

[Yevrah]

I’m toying with the idea of binning this game off. I really don’t like how it dictates to me when I need to play it.

[Gray Fox]

Be a shame to lose you Yev. You've build up your club really well and you got yourself a great team.

That being said I can completely understand it. I basically took all of FIFA 18 off because of it.

[Danny]

My FIFA 18 is still installed so I checked and yep, there they are.

Wish even more I'd stayed on 18 now. And what a bizarre company they are.

Had it installed too so I grabbed mine. God I miss the team I had on there.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

As do I.

TOTY Kane was the best player I've ever used.

[Boom-Boom-18]

I also just logged into 18 for the first time in months. Wow, the team I had on there was unreal, I am going to have a few games but there is no way I could get back into it.

The icons aren't anything special due to the TOTS players, very weird thing for them to do.

[Trancemeister]

I thought Nimes sbc was bad, fucking hell Nurnberg would cost me two weeks of rewards to complete.

[Yevrah]

I had some of the silvers needed for that from Bronze Upgrades, but yes, it's a fucking racket.

I've bought Live Kondogbia and Ben Yedder. Not sure if I'll play much until TOTY, but wanted those two just in case.

[Gray Fox]

In another classic EA move, people who had not claimed their rewards until now are finding players from the upcoming TOTW in their red player picks.

So far we have 87 Felipe Anderson, 81 Boly, 84 Ricardo Periera and 84 ST Rashford.

EDIT: 77 Walker-Peters too.

[Yevrah]

Their holiday cover really is piss poor.

I bet those four icons in 18 were meant to be 19 SBC's.

[Gray Fox]

It is very odd that last years game gets the Icons as a reward for continued support and we get absolutely nothing. I just can't make sense of it. The other problem we have is whenever you ask them on Twitter(the only place their employees ever communicate) the only response you get is that the info will be passed on to the relevant team.
We really need them to be getting some of the top Youtubers/Streamers involved in the decision making process or if not them the pros that make the tournaments. I get that their main focus is money making, but keeping people playing your game from October through to September the next year should surely be some kind of priority.

[Yevrah]

The icons thing is the most bizarre thing I think they've ever done. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason for it. The only impact it will have had is to get people playing FIFA18 again, including those that had already migrated to 19.

[igor_balis]

Got IF Dembele now. LW card so got IF Malcom to go on the right. So far I'm not sure. Malcom hasn't been great, but IF Dembele has been absolutely smashing it.

On balance IF Dembele & IF Malcom is doing better for me than Promes and regular Dembele.

Also sacked off Kroos and admitted that slow technical players don't suit me. Got a hilariously defensive midfield 3 of Matuidi, Kondogbia and Partey.

[Gray Fox]

https://xboxdvr.com/gamer/sniper-wolf-tp4/video/66441223

Another edition to the lol goals I concede. I don't mind goals like this in principle, but look at Alisson in the replay. It's as if he's dragged down again to stop him getting to it.

I've been wanting to re-jig my defence. Whilst I like Silva and Alves, they're beginning to get bullied as the teams I face become more and more meta. Van Dijk is still comfortably the best defender on this that isn't an Icon so I'd like to pair him with someone equally as dominant. I'd even be prepared to sell Messi for the good of the team.
I'm looking at 89 Blanc, 91 Hierro, 88 Rio or 88 Rijkaard. I'd be able to then upgrade to 86 Lala over Alves. This would keep Mbappe in the team and then I could upgrade Alisson who has disappointed in all honesty. Too much goes through him.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

IIRC Kane had my record last year for most goals in a game at 8. Crespo has just bettered it by 1:

https://i.imgur.com/ESrvhPe.jpg

A 7 minute hattrick at the end isn't too shabby either.

[Gray Fox]

So new month, first day of a new year, we're due new FUT Swaps, we've not seen any Icons in a little while nor have we seen the Icon sets, or flashback cards.

You'd think something is sure to drop at 6.

Large coin bet on we get absolutely nothing again.

[Danny]

FUTSWAPS Starring the headliner of this thread!

OTW Promes for 6 tokens

3 - 84 Lucas Perez (West Ham ST)
3 - 84 Maxwell Cornet (Lyon RW)
7 - 84 Danny Da Costa (Frankfurt RB)
9 - 84 Lautaro Martínez (Inter ST)
14 (7 + 7) - 87 Moussa Dembele (Spurs CM)

[Gray Fox]

Okay new FUTswap players.

You can exchange 6 for a OTW Promes, 7 for Danny Da Costa(who looks obscene btw) and 14 for an 87 rated Moussa Dembele.

[Gray Fox]

https://www.futbin.com/19/player/17536/Danny%20da%20Costa/

The fucking state of that.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I think I'm going to do Da Costa.

[Danny]

Stick a backbone on him. Christ.

Hunter on Dembele gets him to the Gullit Gang. No way I am getting 14 though.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

He's 6 foot 2 as well.

[Gray Fox]

I'm not doing Dembele. The most important position on the pitch with 72 stamina? No thanks.

I might do Da Costa and Promes.

[Yevrah]

Lucas Perez: Shite.
Cornet: Interesting, but ultimately shite.
OTW Promes: He's done absolutely nothing in La Liga this year, so good one EA.
Danny da Costa: Best thing so far, but his Balance and to a lesser extent his Agility aren't going to make him a particularly good full back going forward though.
Martinez: Bang average
Dembele: At first glance I don't know how that card garners an 87 rating.

For me, probably the worst Futswap promo so far.

[Danny]

Dembele is months too late. He might have been worth a look month 2. By now most people can afford better.

Promes could be a good shout in anticipation of the OTW SBC that will come in Feb,

[Yevrah]

Actually, da Costa with an Engine gives a reasonable increase on balance that he might just be workable in an attacking sense.

With 2 tokens already I might go for 5 more and get da Costa as I need a right back for my B team. It also allows me to pick and choose which objectives I go for and dictate to the game when I play (rather than the other way around).

I could go for 13 and get and then sell my OTW Promes, who is somehow still going for 40k, but I'd probably rather forgo the coins and save myself the ballache of having to get "x wins with players from the Ekstraklasa scoring".

[Yevrah]

Dembele is months too late. He might have been worth a look month 2. By now most people can afford better.

It's a card that will appeal to no-one, bar Spurs fans who don't mind sacrificing results to use him.

If you're not a casual you will have (as you say) much better options available to you already and if you are a casual you won't play the game anywhere near enough to get 14 tokens in three or so weeks.

I don't know how EA get this so wrong, it isn't difficult.

[Gray Fox]

This will actually probably crash the price of Promes OTW so I'm not going to bother. The players needed for Da Costa should come without too much effort too unless they put stupid requirements on them.

That Dembele would have been a good card back in October. But given you'll not get the final card needed until the final week, you'll basically be in February when you get it.
This feels like a last minute effort because they had to find something to put out.

Very disappointing that those Prime Icon sets and Flashback players seem to have just stopped abruptly.

[Danny]

The icon sets stopped because they fucking them up :lol:

[Yevrah]

Which serves them right for them going for the "don't miss out" cash grab approach of putting a time limit on them.

That I can log into FIFA18 and still do any of the icon SBC's is the way this version should have been.

[The Merse]

I’m tempted to log into 18 just to claim those icons and do Vieira and Ronaldo with them.

Da Costa looks great, but I don’t see myself ever fielding a German winger to make it worthwhile. If I get 6 tokens this month then I will do promes rather than the usual Silver and Electrum packs, for the OTW SBCs. I’ve got a couple of Dembele’s stored up for the same reason.

[Gray Fox]

The biggest complaint I have so far is that they've openly admitted they have deliberately held stuff back from us because we're "too prepared" for it. Surely that's their own fault for being predictable?

Those Icon sets as an example were a great way in to Icons and if you didn't like yours or a better one came out, you could submit it to the new one for little to no extra cost. Instead now you need the best part of 2 mill and to hope they have one out you want to do.

[The Merse]

The biggest complaint I have so far is that they've openly admitted they have deliberately held stuff back from us because we're "too prepared" for it. Surely that's their own fault for being predictable?


When / where was that?

[Gray Fox]

When / where was that?

https://i.gyazo.com/44ebe994ee48d78356aad3df16774208.png

He gave this in response to people asking for another Icon set and potential baby Icon SBCs to bring down the prices and make at least lower versions available to the common player.

I can't find the tweet but there was another one of the EA guys who, when asked about something which had leaked but not arrived, replied stating if we were going to leak and mass predict what was coming, they'd bin it off and release different just for the sake of it.

[Yevrah]

I saw that at the time and don't buy it.

At any given moment in time there must be people sat on loads of cards they'll be able to cash in from. Hell, I made well over a million coins in the first month from just storing higher rated cards and flipping players.

Ultimately in any market, people will make money from it.

[Yevrah]

I think what I might need to do to revitalise interest in this is run a second club again. I wish I'd been pickier about the SBC's I'd done and avoided FIFA points over Christmas. I've now got too much, so having to slum it a bit in the run up to TOTY might help.

Maybe pack only/first owner.

[Yevrah]

Decided to and there's a welcome pack for new players now.

1 Loan Icon Player Pick, 1 Loan TOTW player, 1 Loan UCL player and 1 81-83 Gold Player Pick.

Got 4 All Players Pack for playing on this account last year too.

[Gray Fox]

I'm going to cycle all of my bronzes into silvers, then silvers into golds. Simply because there's nothing else to do.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

I'm trying to claw what I can from my club to make my next upgrade.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://i.imgur.com/gEfRNq4.jpg

Out goes RTTF Sanchez and in comes IF Hazard.

He'll play at CAM with Salah now playing up top with Crespo.

[Gray Fox]

You have no idea how good he is. I'm continuously salty I didn't have the coins for his POTM. Be prepared though he does apparently have another TOTW on the way this week, so your card may well tank in price.


I've pretty much gutted my club of all untradeable silvers and bronzes. Worked them all up into 2 rare gold player packs and I've got a Falcao and Matic back to show for it.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Didn't see him in any of the leaks.

Although only about half of the team has been leaked.

Reckon I should sell again for tax loss and hope he's in it or just roll the dice?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Also, just played one game of legendary SB with him and he scored a goal with 4 assists.

Salah was good at CAM but he's also so much better up top.

[Gray Fox]

Keep and use 100% There's no point in all this buying and selling I see going about just to save 20k here or there.

Besides for 700k you're paying 35k tax. If you sell and he doesn't get a TOTW and goes up in price, you suddenly can't afford to get him back. I find him to be the best non-Icon CAM in the game.

[thommo]

Been away from the Xbox for about 10 days now and as such, missed out on redeeming my December Futswap tokens for the Kurzawa. I'm going to have to continue with Wendell for now which isn't ideal.

Since my previous redemption of FUT Champions ended with only 5 wins due to a lack of time, I've got a lot of Rivals to be playing if I want to get back into the weekend league. I also need to decide what to do with my coins, players in the club and choice of squad(s).

One of my problems is I can't ever seem to stick to one choice of squad, and instead of pooling all my coins into a fully upgraded side, I have multiple squads that are all average. Currently I have 600k in the bank, 1000 players in the club, and the following 4 squads:

Squad 1 - Prem team, 4-5-1, including OTW Alisson, POTM Lucas, Son, Azpilicueta.
Squad 2 - Serie A team, 4-3-3 (2), including Insigne, TOTT Parolo, IF Vecino, IF Pellegrini.
Squad 3 - Bundesliga/Ligue 1 hybrid, FUT Champions squad, 4-3-3 (2), including Flashback Alves, Futswap Guilavogui, Futswap Alcacer, POTM Sancho, Scream Koke.
Squad 4 - La Liga squad, 4-3-3 (4), including FUTMAS Isco, FUTMAS Wass, Red IF Dembele, Red IF Carvajal.

My main thought is to ditch the first two squads, and commit to rotation between squad 3 and 4. If anyone has any better suggestions or squad ideas, let me know because I tend to be extremely indecisive with regards to this.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1080478862419476483

Ronaldo position change was fake/they changed up.

Hazard does get one which is a cock as I could have saved a little bit.

[SincereTheRebel]

That Hazard card is going to play nasty. Some interesting cards. Willy Boly I will put straight into my team for the lolz.

[Trancemeister]

Got 5 TOTW packs left. Will probably pull Kums at best.

[The Merse]

Might give this a go, swapping Griezmann and Koke in game for full chem...


http://oi67.tinypic.com/1z5qg46.jpg

[SincereTheRebel]

I didnt like Mbappe when i used him. He wasnt as great as I thought he would be. He just seem the same as SIF Mahrez and IF Mane. I prefer Kyle Walker over 3IF Lala so im going to ditch both of them this week. Im not going to be playing much at all anytime soon

[The Merse]

Fox didn’t like him much either IIRC.

I love the geezer, I’ve got 300+ games with him now. His finishing is clinical with deadeye, and he picks up decent positions. Perhaps it’s partly as I don’t look for him to play as a winger, but very much as a striker who just happens to hang on the wing a bit.

[SincereTheRebel]

What formation do you use him in in-game?

[The Merse]

The one above - 433(4), with cut inside, stay forward and run in behind. I shoot across goal a lot from just within the box and he rifles them in to the top corner beautifully. I’m hopeful Griezmann will be the same on his left.

[Gray Fox]

You're thinking of Yev there Merse. I love him.

He's been about the only constant throught my team's lately.

I'm going to need some fair luck by how that TOTW is in my red picks. Nothing but shit for weeks now. Dreaming of a red Bobby :D

[Trancemeister]

Digne x2(tradable & untradable)
Sorrentino
Under
Skriniar
all untradable

[Boom-Boom-18]

Ricardo Pereira IF - 50K Max Price. Are EA stupid?

The lack of SBC content over the last week has been disappointing.

[SincereTheRebel]

Are EA stupid?



Yeah

[Trancemeister]

Any league sbc to expect other than dutch, saudi, epl, and spain?

[Trancemeister]

Damn I'd buy that Pereira for 50k. Not one on the market though.

Always some fuck that insta buys him before I can :(

[Raoul Duke]

Some decent looking options for my Serie A team :nodd:

[Gray Fox]

That Hazard is pretty much his POTM card in its natural position. I was hoping on picking one up, expecting it to be just on the million mark, but even at 1.4m max price he is extinct.
I'd love Firmino or Anderson in my red picks but I fully look forward to having to choose between Bamba, Bowen, Walker-Peters and Mancuso.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Firstly, I fucking love goals like this:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=90XA-oRf2H0

Fast and lethal.

Secondly, what the fuck is this piece of shit play on:


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mmlDxVWGSPg

First time I've seethed at a game in a long time. Ref was clearly on the take.

[Gray Fox]

I think it's because the 'keeper gets a hand to the ball. The game has stopped it straight on that and then called it back.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The game is a dick.

[Gray Fox]

The ones I hate are when you cut out a pass and start a counter that gets you in a great position but it's called back as the original pass target was offside.

The ones where you score and it gets called back have reduced a lot since the first weeks of the game I feel.


As for my team, I'm considering trying a full weekend of 4-1-2-1-2. It was my go-to formation the past 2 FIFAs and only this year have I succeeded in the 4-2-3-1 properly. However since the latest patch I'm finding it a lot more difficult to get it to click all the time. It also invited a bit of pressure sometimes when it's really not what I want.

I've just got to try and figure out how I want it. I was planning on selling Messi to fund some reinforcements but he's down to 800k. That's about 70k less than I thought he'd be and he was at the weekend gone. I've been eyeing up 90 Puyol. He's not the tallest but has great jumping and amazing everything else. An Icon at the back would really help linking everything up too.
I also want a new keeper and to buy 86 Lala before TOTY, because if Mbappe gets in that card will rocket in price.

[Gray Fox]

After getting to 21xx skill points I decided to check Div 2 rewards to see the difference and was disappointed. I then checked Div 4 rewards and was shocked.

For Rank 2 in Division 3, you need just over 13k points and you get(untradeable) 4 x Jumbo Premium Gold Pack, 2 x Mega Pack, 2 x Prime Mixed Players Pack.

For Rank 2 in Division 4, you need just over 13k points and you get(untradeable) 2 x Jumbo Premium Gold Pack, 2 x Mega Pack but 2 x Rare Players Pack.

The Division 4 rewards are much, much better in my opinion so I've relegated myself down to 4. This should also help with the upcoming objectives to get Da Costa.

I changed my team to one full of my FUT Champs reds and renamed it "FreeWin4You." The thing that was most disappointing was still seeing people playing as dirty as possible and as if their life depended on it. Makes me further glad to get away from Div 3.

[Yevrah]

I just got 10 coins for FutChamps rewards from the web app. :cab:

[The Merse]

I got 6!

But also the correct amounts as well. Odd.

Player pick was shit as expected - Sol Bamba.

The packs though were much better, despite this being my worst WL finish - IF Skriniar, IF Klum, Van Dijk, Koke, Kepa.

[Yevrah]

I wasn't even in the weekend league this week, so feared it might be my bugged division rivals rewards...

[five time]

Picked up 5 of that 84 Kums for 15-16K each. Hoping another icon SBC requiring
higher rated in forms drops and I can sell into the hype.

[Gray Fox]

Comfortably the worst set of rewards this week I've had. Red picks were Digne and Rashford. Considering Firmino was in there that's hell as a Liverpool fan.

Managed to get just 2, 84 rated players between my 2 x 100k packs and 2 x 50k packs. I got TOTW Sorrentino and a draft token as the only notable things.

I ended up putting all the useless untradeables into the player upgrades and got back a Brahimi and then in the next one Ramos (:D). I'll be making my necessary upgrades to RB and goalkeeper and see what I've left to spend. That Ramos could come in very useful in saving some coin.

[Boom-Boom-18]

Comfortably the worst set of rewards this week I've had. Red picks were Digne and Rashford. Considering Firmino was in there that's hell as a Liverpool fan.

Managed to get just 2, 84 rated players between my 2 x 100k packs and 2 x 50k packs. I got TOTW Sorrentino and a draft token as the only notable things.

I ended up putting all the useless untradeables into the player upgrades and got back a Brahimi and then in the next one Ramos (:D). I'll be making my necessary upgrades to RB and goalkeeper and see what I've left to spend. That Ramos could come in very useful in saving some coin.

Rashford looks like he could be a bit of a beast (based on a simple FUTBin comparison of him, Aubameyang and IF Jesus). I was hoping to pack him in my rewards.

Still tempted to go for him, will wait for some reviews.

[Boom-Boom-18]

Yet another day with no new content (other than MM which are awful). Very poor.

[Boom-Boom-18]

What did they do around TOTY last year? Any SBC's or is it just promo packs galore?

[Yevrah]

I don't think they've ever done an actual TOTY SBC, there may have been some associated themed TOTY ones though. But mainly just packs, with ridiculously low pack weight.

I have a theory that they'll put someone shit in TOTY so that the pack weight can be masked somewhat. e.g. The shit player will have odds of 2%, while all the rest will be <1% (in reality probably less than 0.1%), but they can then advertise it as a 2% chance to pack a TOTY player.

[Yevrah]

Streaming again.

https://mixer.com/Chemical_Locust

Some games, SBC's and clearing out my club.

[bruhnaldo]

Some decent looking options for my Serie A team :nodd:

sorry what's this? TOTW?

[The Merse]

Anyone up for a match on Xbox after the Liverpool game?

[Boom-Boom-18]

I have time for one game if you are free.

[The Merse]

Sweet, ready when you are - Prawn of War

[The Merse]

Well fuck me, that was a hammering. Could defend for shit against that Auba-Jesus-de Bruyne front line, well played Boom

[Boom-Boom-18]

Unlucky Merse, I didn't feel like the better player.

Happy for another game anytime.

[Gray Fox]

Sniper Wolf TP4

Add me on Xbox guys. I'm probably on just after midnight to 1am time. I'll give someone a game, if not I'll use my draft token.

[Boom-Boom-18]

I won't be on this evening at that time but I am certainly up for a game when we are both online. I will add you.

We seem to have a fair few X-Box users here. Maybe we could get some sort of tournament / league on the go.

[Gray Fox]

I'm a little bit short of the funds needed for the team I had in mind, but have only found this out after starting making it. Quite annoying. That untradeable Ramos might come in very handy after all.

[thommo]

I'm on Xbox too - I'm always up for a game.

Silent Hawkk is my GT, blame teenage me for that horror show.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Edgy.

[The Merse]

Definitely putting Ramos to good use their, Fox.

Made the same mistakes over and over that I made on last weekends nightmare run - bad habits with my GK distribution and trying to move the ball too quickly. Your defence was not exactly helpful in that regard as it's a bit err... Smothering. I seem to have totally lost the ability to elicit anything out of Talisca and the midfield as a whole too.

Well played. I like that side actually - Raul is so difficult to bloody tackle.

[The Merse]

thommo I've got you already too - assuming you and Fox being on there is due to the tournaments on the old board years and years ago on the 360?

[Gray Fox]

Definitely putting Ramos to good use their, Fox.

Made the same mistakes over and over that I made on last weekends nightmare run - bad habits with my GK distribution and trying to move the ball too quickly. Your defence was not exactly helpful in that regard as it's a bit err... Smothering. I seem to have totally lost the ability to elicit anything out of Talisca and the midfield as a whole too.

Well played. I like that side actually - Raul is so difficult to bloody tackle.

First time I've played with it, hence why I got a lot better 2nd half. Yev says I swarm him when I play him too. I like doing it, but if there's someone who can break past the initial pressure, I tend to have a bad time.

You also gave me quite a lot of space on the edge of the area. I've brought KDB in specifically for this as he and his 5* weak foot make him lethal in that area. I would quite like him as my CAM, but for chemistry purposes I need a LW/RW. I'd loathe to drop Mbappe/Lala, but it's either stick as it is or get Icons in to smooth out the chemistry.
I don't have the coins for that option unfortunately, so De Bruyne and Firmino will be my 2 CMs in a 4-1-2-1-2, with Hazard playing the CAM.

[Gray Fox]

Used my draft token and ran through to the final on the back of the ST Salah and CAM Neymar. They both felt lightyears ahead of their normal counterparts.

In the final we matched up against someone with the new Hazard and he knew how to use him. A very tough game saw me 2-1 down, however in the 60th minute Salah was set in on goal with a lovely ball by Neymar, but was hacked down by last man. He got the red card and the game changed. I took control by exploiting the gaps left by the spare man and ground out a nice 4-2 win.

Reward was a Jumbo Premium Gold Pack and a 100k pack. Managed to pull Insigne from the pack who goes for 38k. Not bad and would have made decent profit had I paid with coins too.

[thommo]

thommo I've got you already too - assuming you and Fox being on there is due to the tournaments on the old board years and years ago on the 360?

Yeah I'm pretty sure we played each other back on 13 (?), I definitely remember having to use Galatasaray throughout the tournament and finding out Yilmaz was unstoppable on that game.

[The Merse]

First time I've played with it, hence why I got a lot better 2nd half. Yev says I swarm him when I play him too. I like doing it, but if there's someone who can break past the initial pressure, I tend to have a bad time.


Not via the traditional press though right? I normally bypass that relatively well, but this was rather being smothered on receipt of the ball anywhere in your half.


You also gave me quite a lot of space on the edge of the area.

This can be a struggle for me. I don't think Firmino is helping at all with it either. When I ran Rabiot-Paulinho in CM, with the former as the Stay Back midfielder, I found someone would cover there most of the time, but despite Firmino's H/H, I don't find him to be the same. For that reason I'm bringing Paulinho back this WL. My midfield feels a little broken after Xmas, and his absence might be the cause as his positioning is great. Problem is, it leaves me with less go forward.

I'd really like to build the team with Koke dropping into RCM, but it means annihilating my club. I can sell Telles to fund 75% of TOTGS Alba, and use coins I have to fund IF Griezmann, but that leaves me needing a further 1.7m or so for RTTF Suarez and Cavani. As such, I'd rather wait until TOTY and see either the prices deflate or pick up TOTY alternatives.

[Gray Fox]

My theory has always been you can have the ball in your own half all you want, unless you're winning late on.

After playing you I did that draft run and felt like I had my mojo back, so slipped into a couple rivals games and the annoyance returned. The first one saw me hit the post 4 times in a 2-0 loss. He had 2 shots on goal all game and both went in. Then came an odd one. I was pressing well and getting to the player with the ball, but it was if he'd covered them in butter. They slipped through all challenges and he took a 3-1 lead. I was finding it hard to break through his wall at the back so I literally scored with 4 finesse shots from the edge of the area.

Red Mahrez and Rashford came off the bench to grab a goal each in it too, almost making me wanting to get them more involved. If I were to bring Mahrez in it would mean sacrificing the long serving Mbappe and Lala would have to go, but it would put about 500k back into the coffers.

I agree with you on the midfield feeling broken. I've been trying Firmino as a CM but it's just not working for me.

As for buying now/TOTY I'd say it depends. If you've been looking, everyone who common opinion says is likely to make the TOTY is now dipping in price as people sell to afford their best version.
Unfortunately people are vastly underestimating how much these players are going to cost. Even the cheapest of players in the CB or Keeper is going to cost 2m+ easily. This will lead to people then buying the previous card back again.
In short, if you have a guy in mind who is likely to make the team, buy now. This could also be a potential money making situation. If there is someone who you think is likely to miss out, but only just, you could buy and hold. After all this is the first TOTY that will be vastly unpredictable outside of Ronaldo. I personally don't see Messi making it with the Mbappe/Neymar hype. There's also KDB and co to think about.

Lastly there's EPL POTM to consider. Here are the nominees:

https://i.gyazo.com/0e53cf29a73bd5b6e1b538823b70e3bd.png

It should really be one of the Liverpool two, but anyone that isn't Kane would be amazing. Potential for 86 Rashford, 94 Hazard, 88 Felipe Anderson, 91 Salah, 88 Son or 88 Van Dijk.

These will all cost a million easily. The exception being Rashford, who would likely be 500-800k.

I personally will find a ST Salah rated over 90 hard to turn down at almost any cost.

[SincereTheRebel]

It would be good of Van Dijk won it. Has a defender ever won POTM since FIFA did SBCs?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

First Fut Champs game this year:

https://i.imgur.com/FUGTEQ3.jpg

I should probably retire now, it's all downhill from here.

A little annoyed though as I could have had double figures.

Edit: 5-1 in the next so the slump has started. Crespo with another 4.

[Yevrah]

I fell asleep on the sofa last night and slept right through without redeeming entry. A shame, but affords more time to tidy up my club.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

3-2 in my third game after extra time and then in the fourth I quit at halftime as I was getting humped 6-1 by a guy who was absolutely lethal.

3-1 thus far.

[Boom-Boom-18]

Flashback Tevez looks tasty and shouldn't be too expensive.

Shame he is so hard to link. I wish these Flashbacks weren't restricted to their current club.

[Yevrah]

I like the look of him, but he's not good enough when you consider the ballache of linking him.

[The Merse]

Veron & Crespo hard links should help. That might change things for me.

[Gray Fox]

If that Tevez stays below 130k by me getting home I'm having it. You need 2 icons to link him in in the 4-5-1 and I already have 1.

[The Merse]

I’m doing it. Sold up a millions worth of shite so far. I hate this. Every time I go for someone big in a Fifa. The tedium of selling up only matched by the tinges of regret felt with each player sold and collection of full clubs ruined.

Just looking forward to getting my hands on Suarez now. The +2 surely due in Feb will make him TOTY standard, so 1.4m seems a decent deal and there’s a decent chance of him hitting 96 OVR.

[Danny]

Tevez loan in weeklies. Might play a few tonight to see how he is.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

After a slump of 3 defeats I was matched up against someone who thinks he's good because he uses a lot of skills but actually are sweaty pricks who are shit.

He quit just before halftime as Crespo scored his third to make it 5-0. He was such a sweaty bastard that two times I had a 2-1 advantage and he let the man with the ball (Crespo) have a free shot goal as he wanted to cover the other man. Crespo buried both of those chances.

[Boom-Boom-18]

Player prices are plummeting, Aubameyang is currently 155K. I think people are selling up thinking they are going to be able to afford TOTY players but they are going to be mega money and hardly anyone is going to be able to afford them.

I imagine the same people will try buying back when they realise this and the prices will rise.

[Gray Fox]

Tevez has risen to 150k which is annoying, however I'm sure I have both an Argentinian TOTW item and an untradeable Matic in the club, which would take card of the special requirement in either SBC.

I reckon I could do it for quite cheap, maybe not quite for free, with the untradeables I've been building up. If I can I'll do it with the packs back I should at least break even. If not I'll wait and hope his price drops.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Giving up for the night at 5-4 as my last match pissed me off.

I was winning 3-1 and then I gifted him 2 goals before a great free kick near the end. 5-3 in total as I was pressing hard for an equaliser.

I had that win but let it slip.