Madden 16 Catch-All

There might be a PS4 contingent. The 360 was the sports console last gen, but with the PS4 selling so well, I think it will get some action. I know some of the Goodjers I played football with last gen are on PS4 now.

I'm in. Played until 2am. Great game so far.

I was on to 4:30 am the other night playing just one more game. It was ridiculous.

Loving this game too. It consumes my thoughts!

I've been doing the same thing. I've become a MUT and Draft junkie.

Got my MUT team up to an 80 OVR. All I've spent is $1.34 for the one time 2 for one Pro Pack, which mostly gave me guys rated in the 60's.

But there are plenty of packs and coins to win in the solo challenges. I sell all of my team stuff (uniforms, stadiums, coaches, and play books) and just keep what I use.

At this level, I've been able to run up my coin totals to 12K, and then buy players in the auction house that I need. That will get more expensive as I need better and better rated players to be an upgraded to what I have.

I love this part as much as playing the games!

Have been on vacation and catching up at work. Just got it last night have played one franchise game. Will dig into it this weekend and get my MUT started. Hit me up if you want an easy win!

I'm gonna post this here since I doubt there's many left playing the previous year's version of this game. But I just picked up Madden 15 off of EA Access. It's been since college since I've played an EA Sports football game (circa 2002) so it's a steep learning curve, but this is friggin' awesome! MUT is consuming my soul right now. I'm barely into it but I'm already trying to snipe players on the auction house to build up my team. I've played about a dozen of the Training Camp solo challenges and gotten all the packs from the skills trainers, and have my team at about 73 right now with a 24 rating in Short Pass.

Any tips? Other parts of the game I should be checking out? I'm can't put down MUT for the moment but I'm sure there's more to this game that I should see. I might go out and buy '16 just to participate in a more active MUT economy.

MUT pretty much owned me in Madden 15, and Madden 16's version is improved. It's not massive improvements, but there are some simple UI improvements to make accessing the Solo challenges a little easier.

My first recommendation is not to spend money on packs. they are great to win, but the number of players you get are too few to make it a good use of your coins. Use those to target specific players n the auction house. That way you can incrementally improve your team by valuing just how much of an upgrade each player is.

That said, spending cash on premium packs is a quick way to start selling and buying players, but I can't recommend it. You can really increase your bank, which will improve your team faster, but all that does is make the solo challenges even easier, and in the H2H seasons you will just rise to a level where everyone else bought their way up.

I say that as someone who bought the premium version of the game which give me 40 Gold packs. they come once a week for 40 weeks. So far, I'm just letting them build up and not opening them. I've been enjoying the process of building my team from scratch too much. My team is currently 70 OVR with a 51 rating in Speed run. I have about 15K coins in the bank right now, and I won 17.5K last night when my Coin Up challenge hit. I won 2500 on the Cowboys win, and another 15K on predicting Romo to go over 300 yards.

I would recommend playing the coin Up every week, although they may not be doing that in '15 anymore. But you win one game and you get a card to add to a set for the team you expect to win that particular game. Then there is a second game, where you win a card that lets you choose from 4 options, ranging from 5K to 40K coins if they hit. If I had picked a ST TD last night, and there was one, it was 40K. Another option was 25K for selecting OBJ to go over 154 yards receiving.

I will also say that the gameplay of Madden 16 is actually a substantial improvement over Madden 15. The only problem is some issues with Franchise play, which will hopefully get patched. MUT is really great, with a strong marketplace already.

In fact, there is a new mechanic for catching balls that is actually really cool. You would do well not to get used to Madden 15, and just learn the new mechanics now. Not that I'm enabling you.

Some time late in the season, I may open my Gold packs. What I might do is set a rating I want to hit without using them first. You need to get to 85 in order to open up the second scheme advantage. Last year I ran Ground and Pound and Run Stuff. This worked pretty well, as most online players go with Passing advantages. I loaded up on DBs, which let me guess pass most of the game, but but my Run Stuff team would still stop any draw plays and such. Offensively, I used Demarco Murray to just pound the ball, and made play action a top skill I looked for in a QB. It was a pretty good system, although it did make playing from behind harder.

I'm so damn new to the gameplay mechanics that I'm not sure it'll matter. I feel like the last time I played a Madden game it was so much more simplistic that it's like I'm playing a completely different game. So many little intricacies in how you move the players around that I'm still just trying to work out in my head what the hell I need to be doing at any given moment.

If I see '16 go on sale I'll snap it up. Do you know if the 10% EA Access discount applies to sale items as well as full-priced?

Thought I replied yesterday. But yeah, the 10% applies to whatever the price they are selling it for. So if it goes on a $40 sale, which is about the most I expect to it drop to anytime soon, it would be $36.

I'd bite for $36 for sure. I'm a gamer without job right now, though so that's about it.

What have I become? I'm up at 12:30 a.m. flipping kickers and punters on the auction house.

I'd love a smartphone app just to manage my MUT team and work the auctions.

Jayhawker wrote:

I'd love a smartphone app just to manage my MUT team and work the auctions.

That was my very first thought this morning. My daughter is watching Micky Mouse on Sling TV but I'm sorta tempted to kick her off just to get into Madden to see if my auctions sold overnight. Father of the year material.

Jayhawker wrote:

I'd love a smartphone app just to manage my MUT team and work the auctions.

Don't they have one? They've had one for FIFA for a while now. All these sports games are seriously testing my "I can't afford one of the new consoles right now" stance

Looks like there's a FIFA Ultimate Team app but that's it.

Madden does use a pretty cool second screen experience through SmartGlass. Well, at least Madden 15 did. Basically it's a running total of the current stats, including info on what your opponent has been running. I have not tried it in Madden 16 yet.

Still playing the heck out of the game, although almost exclusively MUT.

I had a monster win today in a H2H game against a guy that had a team that dwarfed mine in talent. On the splash screen, as the game loads up, it shows each teams top three players, of which he had three Elite guys rated over 90, while I don't have a single player rated over 90 on my team. So I knew it would be an uphill battle. Heck we both have Tony Romo at QB, but his is the 92 OVR Romo and mine is the 86 OVR Romo.

It turns out the guy was good, but not a one of the people that runs lots of hot routes and picks your defense apart. One thing I have been doing is audibling out of my defense at the last second when guys start changing up their routes. I had one guy burn two time outs because I swapped up and he didn't have time to correct. I this case, he did run a hot route early on, I swapped out from zone to man, and it resulted in an INT that gave the ball in the Red Zone, which I converted to a TD, and a 7-0 lead.

He drove on the next possession and scored. but I was able to respond with my first real possession and scored another TD to go up 14-7 with 43 seconds left in the half. Since I was going to get the ball back first next half, at this point, I knew I could win, but it was going to be tough. And sure enough, he hit Megatron for a long TD right before the half to tie the game up, eliminating my chance at getting the ball back with a lead.

But by this time I knew he was throwing every down, regardless of his formations, which is a huge advantage for me. This is MUT, so the quarters are just 4 mins (although with no clock run off, you get a lot more plays than you would assume). I proceeded to go on a 5+ minute drive to open the second half, mixing inside and outside runs with the occasional PA pass. I had no interest in scoring quick, but I din't want to milk it either. So when I scored, I felt like I had a good shot because he had less than 3 minutes left. He converted a few 3rd down plays and was at mid field. On 3rd and 1 he tried to run a PA out of a tight formation that I read and stopped. That left him at 4th and 1, where I gambled that he might try his second run of the day. I won that gamble and stuffed him for a loss, giving me the ball back with just under 2 minutes left, but he had three timeouts.

So I had to run the ball, and he stuffed me on first down. Then I gambled on another PA pass, only to have it fall incomplete, stopping the clock. So I'm now 3rd and 10, with 1:29 left, and he has 2 time outs. I know I have to force him to use one, so I have to run the ball. I decided to go three wide to see if I could lure him into a dime or nickel formation, and then run a draw to pick up what I could. This worked, as he was in a nickel.

All of this was to set up for this last play that I saved. While both LBs blitzed, one was picked up, and theater had a shot at closing one of two holes. This forced me to wait to make a cut, which set this play in motion. My HB here is Reggie Bush. He's not the best HB, but he has certain skills, and it was cool to see them pay off here.

Since I cut late, he ran into my C. Actually, just one leg hit him. In the past, this would result in what is known as Mario Running, where the TB gets stuck while his feet keep running. But in this case, it triggered Bush's spin move, as he pinballs to the other side of the hole, running into my RG and the guy he was blocking. Because he does have a high agility rating, he somehow avoids putting his knee to the ground and spins into the open. My RT has put his man down, and then looks for someone else to block, which was the safety that was now crashing down. Again, in the old days, these guys don't keep blocking. This sprung Bush just enough to get out before just barely being tripped up by a falling LB that just gets enough of his ankle to prevent a TD. But it was a 13 yard run, and the first down sealed the win.

Basically, it became one of the those moments that encapsulates why I play sports games, and why I think Madden is far better than many give it credit for. To be fair, this game did review well this year, but many still hammer away at the game like it has not improved in ages.

So anyway, here is the play that clinched the game.

Mega Huge Ginormous pitch for Madden 16 has dropped. It includes a new mode, Ranked Draft Champions, and a slew of other improvements.

http://www.pastapadre.com/2015/11/17...

DRAFT CHAMPIONS
♦Ranked Draft Champions mode added.
In order to compete in Draft Champions Ranked, you’ll need tickets. These tickets can be purchased with coins, and may be available through other sources such as solo challenges. Players will need 3 tickets, which cost 9,000 coins total (3,000 coins per ticket), to enter a Draft Champions Ranked Event.
♦You will play until you either win 6 games or lose 2 games. Ranked Draft Champions is a head to head mode. This means you can lose 1 game and still win your Draft Champions Ranked event. As you win more games within each event, you’ll earn increasingly better rewards in MUT.

MADDEN ULTIMATE TEAM
♦Addressed issue where user could only use Enhanced play call settings in Solo Challenges.
♦The Item Binder filters will retain after searching the Auction House from the Item Binder.
♦Users can now quick sell, auction, or trade items that are in their lineup; this will remove that item from the user’s lineup.
♦Turning off the Camera Toggle setting will now correctly allow you to use Strategy Pad controls in Solo Challenges.

GRAPHICS
♦Added Ann Mara patch to Giants default home and away uniforms.
♦Added William Clay Ford patch to Lions default home and away uniforms.
♦Falcons 50 Seasons patch is added to default Home/Away uniforms.
♦Addressed issues with Bears 1985 Blue Jersey.
♦Addressed errors with the Kansas City Chiefs Official Away Jersey

STABILITY
♦Multiple general stability fixes.
♦Fixed softlock that could occur viewing manual instant replay after a questionable call.

GAMEPLAY
♦Addressed a gameplay exploit where user could flip a run play and audible to a new run play resulting in an unintended ball carrier taking the handoff.
♦Addressed an issue where elite defenders were causing lower rated receivers to have 0% chance of catching during two-man interactions.
♦Fixed an exploit where users could hot route PA End Around after they would audible and reset the play.
♦Addressed an exploit with HB auto-motion vs man coverage.
♦Increased the effectiveness of AI pass rushers.
♦Eliminated the ability to “route swap” offensive plays.
♦Fixed the issue where users could not use custom defensive playbooks in online play a friend matches.
♦Increased the chances for elite defenders to intercept the ball during two-man interactions.
♦Increased pass breakup chances when using the Play Receiver mechanic in a two-man Aggressive Catch situation.
♦Addressed exploit where the safety in deep zone would misplay the ball when a receiver streaked down the seam.
♦Addressed an issue where the user would be penalized with an “On the Run” throw type when the QB’s feet were still planted and user was trying to pass lead.
♦Addressed an issue where kickers could shank field goals despite keeping the accuracy inside the cone.
♦Fixed a rare issue where the ball carrier could freeze in place after interacting with other offensive players.
♦Fixed an issue where safeties playing the outside deep zone could still get beat deep defending vertical routes.
♦Fixed an issue where preplay mechanics for DL and LB shifts would not function after pressing or backing off the secondary.
♦Addressed an exploit where motioning a WR half a step inside would give the WR a speed burst upon snapping the ball.
♦Addressed an issue where the WR would not make the proper cut after being pressed at the line of scrimmage.
♦Addressed an issue where the AI team would kick a field goal before 4th down in OT instead of attempting to score a TD.
♦Addressed an issue where outside receivers that are aligned tight to the formation are able to get behind deep third defenders consistently.
addressed an exploit where the MLB could come through unblocked on FG attempts and block the kick.
♦Overall improvements to AI pass blocking and bug fixes.
♦Addressed an issue where the half would end even if a defensive penalty occurred on the last play. There will now be an untimed down.
♦Fixed an issue where tapping LT during pre-play caused users to challenge a play they did not want to challenge. Users can now quick challenge by clicking in Rstick during pre-play.
♦Improved the hit stick when a user holds it down rather than flicking it.
♦Fixed an issue where FG kickers were sometimes kicking the ball wildly inaccurate when user slightly misses outside the kick meter cone.
♦Fixed an issue where Users could regain ability to Hot Route and quick hike on PA End Around by audibling to PA End Around during huddle break.
♦Decreased inaccurate passes on short throws for elite QB’s who are not under pressure with their feet set.
♦Fixed an issue where the Center does not snap the ball to the Quarterback, instead immediately engaging the Defensive/Nose Tackle, leaving the Quarterback frozen for the whole play.
♦Fixed an exploit on kickoffs where users on the return team could spam audibles until their opponent is forced to kick an inaccurate kick.

Connected Franchise Mode
♦Added XP sliders to new online CFM’s. Note: This feature will only work for new Online leagues only – available 11/18.
♦Fixed a bug in CFM preseason and regular season where a last second field goal in OT by the team who received the ball first and is on their first possession would not end the game.
♦Fixed an issue where generated rookies were only wearing Revolution Speed helmets. Note: This fix will work for existing offline that don’t already have that season’s rookie draft class created; fix already applied to online leagues.
♦Tuned Confidence so that it’s not as easy to earn for offline franchise. Note: This fix will work for existing offline leagues; fix already applied to online leagues.
♦Addressed an issue where users could not edit the Depth Chart during the Preseason. Note: This fix will work for existing offline leagues; fix already applied to online leagues.
♦Addressed an issue where a Low Back Strain would result in an unrealistic injury length. Note: This fix will work for existing offline leagues; fix already applied to online leagues.
♦Purchasing “Increased Experience – Increase Player Weekly Goal XP” upgrade now functions correctly. Note: This fix works for existing offline leagues; already applied to online leagues.
♦Tuned generated rookie safeties’ speed to better align with the rest of the game. Note: This fix will work for existing offline leagues that don’t already have that season’s rookie draft class created; fix already applied to online leagues.
♦Addressed an issue where interception season goals were not be being tracked correctly in some instances. Note: This fix will work for existing offline leagues; fix already applied to online leagues.
♦Tuned generated rookie wide receivers’ speed to better align with the rest of the game. Note: This fix will work for existing offline leagues that don’t already have that season’s rookie draft class created; fix already applied to online leagues.
♦Tuned generated rookie cornerbacks’ speed to better align with the rest of the game. Note: This fix will work for existing offline that don’t already have that season’s rookie draft class created; fix already applied to online leagues.
♦Fixed an issue where users could have players get traded from their team without their consent when trade type was set to Enable All. Note: This fix will work for existing offline leagues; fix already applied to online leagues.
♦Fixed an issue where users could only re-sign two players before the rest would stay in a “negotiating” state. Note: This fix will work for existing offline leagues; fix already applied to online leagues.
♦Addressed an issue when Progress Player was set to On, the user’s Coach XP would also be spent as well according to the league’s Player Progression Frequency. Note: This fix will work for existing offline leagues; fix already applied to online leagues..

The New Draft Champions Mode is is a nice update. It is still designed to drive folks into playing MUT. It won't really cost you money, but it may take a little bit of time playing MUT to earn coins to buy tickets. The tickets it costs to play will un you 9000 coins, which is pretty simple to accumulate just playing the offline portion of MUT.

Also, your rewards are MUT packs, which gives you cards you can sell in the auction, which is one more step in getting you involved in MUT. I won one pack in my first go at DC (which was actually borked, I lost my first game, but then won and lost the next on disconnects before the games started), and among my takes was a 60 OVR bronze card that also happens to have a +12 Style rating. Those guys are rare and in demand, so that alone netted me 4K coins. Plus I will pick up a few thousand with the other cards I got.

My first three tickets were won by simply playing this week's Gatorade Challenge, which I do every week. It is a simple scenario game, usually setting you up in the 4th quarter to come from behind or to protect a lead. I play them because they gift you coins and contracts, and take very little time. And sometimes I can win without ever putting my defense on the field, which saves more contracts.

Honestly, I don't know why I worry, I've never bought any contracts yet, I have over 2000 contracts and never seem to fall below 1200 or so.

My DC game today was fantastic, although it started ugly. I've gotten so used to my MUT team that it takes some time to wrap my head around a new team and new playbook. Plus, I build my MUT teams a little at a time. I don't tend to have weaknesses. But here, when you don't draft a player in a position, it is a serious drop off in talent. So there is a lot more work to understand how to overcome you own weaknesses, as well as exploit your opponent's based on what you have to work with.

My opponent scored a TD on his first drive, and then two INTs (including a pick six) and just terrible play on my part saw me down 28-0. At this point I decided to just chew clock and get it over with, even though I had just under 2 minutes left in the first half.

But after running for 10 yards on 1st down I decided to chuck a PA pass and see what happens and completed a long pass. I finally scored and entered the second half down 28-7, but I got the ball to start. Low and behold, I scored another TD on a nice drive, as I started to figure out my offense.

But more more importantly, I figured out his offense and really clamped down. I forced him to punt and I scored again, with 3 minutes left. I stopped him once more and got the ball back, and was able to score a TD with 40 seconds left. I decided to go for the win and a two point conversion, as my short passing was eating him up. I failed.

But I got the onside kick! But with no time outs and some poor play calls, I stalled and failed to get the game winning FG, losing 28-27. After that start, I would hanger have guessed. Still kicking myself over my playcalling after the insides kick.

For me, this isn't just the best Madden game I've played, it is far and away the best football game I have ever played. With all of the improvements to franchise play, I may finally crank up a season.

Draft Champions has once again been updated, and this time it is the best feature yet. Play your friends!

Patch Update: Draft Champions Improvements, Stability Fixes and More

Draft Champions has been a great addition to Madden NFL 16, but one thing that we heard when the game launched this year was that the players were hungry to be able to draft and play against their friends. In past years, we might have had to wait another year to put in a brand new feature like this, but one of the things we’re most proud of in Madden NFL 16 is how many great improvements we’ve been able to deliver throughout the year. And we’re very excited to deliver the ability to draft against your friends in time for the holidays!
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You’ll start Draft Champions Play-A-Friend by drafting a new squad. From there, you’ll have the opportunity to play up to 5 games with that drafted team against members from your friends list.
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After 5 games, the process will start over and you’ll need to draft another team. We also give you the ability to reset your team and re-draft once every 24-hours.

I have a team drafted and ready to play if anyone wants to join in. I even had to pass on Marshall Faulk in the last round because I had already drafted a HB and still didn't have a WR. So I needed up with classic Joe Horn at WR and Mark Ingram at HB.

Draft Champions is a seriously great Play Now mode. It's the perfect way to draw reasonably even teams and still feel like the team you have is "your team." The only thing better would be a live draft that you can watch your opponent build their team while you build yours. But this is a still fun.

You basically start with a squad of players rated in the low 70s. They are selected based on the coach you pick in the beginning, which dictates the style you will play. Then you get 15 picks. Each round you are given a choice of three players, usually in three vastly different positions, but usually pretty close in OVR rating. If you pass on a position, there is a chance you won't see it again, so you have to gamble a bit. You can't just take the highest rated guys each round. I passed on Matt Forte, who is my feature back on my MUT team, because I needed another position and I felt like another HB would pop. That HB was 81 OVR Mark Ingram. Had I passed on him, I would have easily snagged 96 OVR Marshall Faulk. Instead I grabbed 92 OVR Joe Horn.

These are for Play Now games. Forcing you to wait 24 hours means you can't just keep redrafting until you get the perfect team. The team I ended up with right now is an 81 OVR. In playing Draft Champions, my teams have ranged from 79-82 OVR. No one is going to have a ridiculously powered DC team. My MUT team is now rated 86, but that took a long time to build up to. I also have the style points maxed on defense and have 86 (out of a possible 99) on offense. while that has been fun to play online, slowly moving up the ladder, it would not be fun to use against a friend just starting out.

If have Madden 16, I really can't recommend checking out Draft Champions enough. You can now play it against randoms weather for nothing, or in ranked matches, which cost you 9000 coins to start each "season," or now in Play a Friend mode.

And really, Madden 16 is the best console football game I have ever played. The devs deserve a ton of credit for finally getting the game to where it is. I wish their was a college version, but ship has sailed. It may dock again, but the legal issues surround the the NCAA and players getting paid make it very unlikely to happen any time soon.

Picked this up in the xbox live sale. I like MUT on Fifa so giving it ago here, I like it, with the little solo games you can do in a few mintues instead of playing a whole game. One thing though, the bidding on single cards is annoying a) people really over value their cards b) When you do find a card, it doesn't pick up your bidding on them sometimes
Draft Champions mode seems fun, just done my first solo draft and can see myself spending a good amount of time there.

I haven't found prices to be too bad. You just have to progress your team slowly. In fact, right now, prices are way down. But you've missed a ton of opportunities to build your bankroll.

There are some overcharging, but you can find deals. It will just be harder to find particular players. I try to find guys that match my style and will be a significant upgrade over who I have. If your starting LT is rated 79 and the wrong style, finding a guy rated 84 and the right style would be a big improvement, and you could find one for a few thousand coins. And you can really build up coins with the hundreds of solo challenges.

You don't really need to build a monster team, and in fact, the solo challenges are more fun and competitive your team isn't rated so high. I would ignore playing online in favor of using the coins you earn to buy into the ranked draft champion games, which are generally better.

Playing MUT online is a crapshoot of playing lot of over and under powered teams. It was better last year, and the relegation system does help. But playing Draft Champions ensures that you will be pretty darn close to even. And it is more fun playing with a healthy position of the team being scrubs, as it makes for more strategic play.

I really like that they added the play a friend mode, which is free. You don't win coins, but it is better than the normal vs games. You get to use some fun players, teams are pretty even, and you feel a greater sense of ownership of a team, even if you only play a few games with it before resetting. You picked those guys and crafted the team.

Yeah you can build a team, organising things by buy it now price seems to be the way forward. Just easy to note that some people are crazy when you look at the prices, almost everything is at the top with no bids. I know why they do it, if you get some sucka, you're set up for life. I remember getting Dani Alvez on Fifa MUT once, sold him for 120,000 coins and never had to worry about it again since I didn't want all the crazy players.

Alas since I have a new gamertag on Xbox now, I only have one friend on my friend's list and he doesn't play Madden.

Friend me up! Not only do I play Madden, but you can then look through my friends list and find quite a few other Goodjers. Madden doesn't get a lot of play from Goodjers overall, but it's still a good way to find folks to play other XB1 games with.

I will do that. Got all nostigic there and was flipping through the old Madden 11/12 league threads. Some fun times there, getting beat up by Zell every time we played.

So what is yalls philosophy on early game teambuilding? I have a 78 OVR team (41 GP style) and I just pulled a 90 OVR TOTW Bradley Roby from the Championship Pack I got for beating the weekly Super Bowl TOTW series of challenges. He's by far my most valuable card and some of the feedback from MUTHead is that he's actually a really good player to line up at CB. But should I sell him for $80K and build up the rest of my team?

I wish I knew an easy way to link my lineup here. I have a pretty solid mid-80s O-line, an 88 Brees at QB, an 87 Barry Sanders at RB, an 87 TY Hilton as my WR1. My D-line stinks but my secondary is amazing.

My philosophy was to keep guys like that if they fit your style. When you hit 85 OVR, which will take quite a bit of grinding, you can add a second style, so you may want to look at your DEF and see what you might want to go with, and see if he fits.

The issue is, now that the season is over, prices in the auction house will begin falling. So that 80K you can get now, won't be there later. And you pocket the 80K, it will be worth more in a month or two.

As I said, your goal right now should be to get to 85 OVR. And a 90 OVR player will help that a lot, regardless of his style. So maybe look the lowest OVR starters you have, then look at what it would cost to replace them and get a 6-10 (or more) OVR upgrade. About every 22 OVR you improve will boost your overall OVR by 1. That's why it's much harder to move from 83 to 85 than 78 to 80. It's harder and harder to improve a position substantially.

One rule, don't buy packs with your coins. For every great card you pull, you will get dozens of packs that you will be selling most of the players you get. And if you run the prices, you just won't make money on the deal. If you want to open packs, throw a few bucks in, and you will at least get some cards and boost your bankroll.

and really, grinding the the Journey and Journey II, the Gauntlet, and completing every weekly challenge will net you a lot of packs as rewards. You really don't have to spend money.

One thing to consider. In my opinion, playing Ranked Draft Champions is 100X better than MUT multiplayer. Ranked DC costs 9000 coins for each "season." A season is a slate of games that ends after you win 6 or lose 2 games. The more wins you get, the more packs and rewards you get. Winning three games will almost assuredly net you your 9000 coins back between the packs you get and the quick sell cards that just hand you coins. I addition, every win also gives you a DC card that you can use to acquire an elite player. This is not cheap. I'm saving up for an Elite Derrick Johnson, but it will require 200 DC cards.

Right now I have about 90K, and I'm mostly just using that to play Ranked draft Champions. The coins mean folks are not playing stupid. You will still run across cheesers, but I still find that they are not hard to beat. The game is pretty good about providing ways to beat whatever a guy uses. And cheesers then to be predictable.

I've actually added a few friends playing the Ranked DC games. I send a "good game" message after nearly every game, and it leads to some chat, and you find folks you would like to play again. This can build up your list of friends to play in the Play a Friend mode of DC. And that is free, although you get no rewards. But you get the same fun of playing DC, assembling a team, and then facing off against folks you know and like.

I played a couple of Friend games last night, and it makes draft Champions even more fun. After our first game we decided to redraft. So while chatting, we drafted and talked about which players we were choosing and such. then took our new teams and faced off again. By that time we have already got our eyes on which players to avoid or focus on, and it really becomes fun when you rip off a good run with a player the guy was just making fun of.

I'm actually thinking about setting up an informal Draft Champions tournament. The game doesn't support it, but if we got a group of 4 or 8 guys, we could schedule it out ourselves. Since I'm winding down my MUT play, I might put up some of my better cards as prizes. Then folks could use them to play MUT, or sell to play more DC. Just a thought.

Yeah I dipped into DC today and had some fun. Still randoms who decide to go for it on 4th and way long but at least the teams are balanced. Played 2, 1:1 at the moment but both games there was just one score in it.
I like the footie sticker album feel of MUT though, and those solos are fun to play, if annoying at times.

Edit - in regards to selling your top players, remember to check if the cards are going for those prices, there are aload of people who over value stuff and get zero bids on their cards. 80,000 is a lot though and you could build a decent team of good players just not big fancy names. On Fifa MUT I was set up when I sold Alves for 120,000 coins, made a very good team at all levels and also some weird concept teams, like ex Leeds players and such.