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The Ultimate Guide to FIFA 21 Ultimate Team
How to build the best team and make the most coins in FIFA 21's take on FUT
FIFA 21 Ultimate Team is the latest version of the most popular sports game mode on the planet, and whether you're relatively new or true "FUT Founder", there are plenty of things to learn. Absorb our comprehensive guide to understand what's changed in FIFA 21, and learn everything you need to know about how to build a team, and how to generate coins to stay competitive throughout the FUT cycle.
What's new in FIFA 21 Ultimate Team?
FUT can be intimidating before you learn how to navigate its systems
© EA
EA Sports hasn't ripped up the rulebook for FIFA 21 Ultimate Team, but there are a few things to think about before we get going. The key additions are:
- FUT Live Friendlies - This is an attempt to revive the ghost of the fondly remembered Daily Knockout Tournament. Essentially it's friendly matches with squad restrictions, forcing you to build teams with specific nationalities, ratings, and so on. This is then tied into Objectives, rewarding you with packs and unique players.
- Co-Op - If you have a friend who plays FUT, you can now play together in Division Rivals, Squad Battles and Friendlies. The "Captain" chooses the team and you both earn progression. (There's no way to search for a partner, sadly.)
- New Icons - The Icon roster has grown considerably this year and juicy additions like Eric Cantona and Samuel Eto'o are attracting interest. Ashley Cole looks a bit tasty as a new go-to left-back, too.
- No more fitness and training cards - This may sound like a boring bit of housekeeping, but we can't tell you how nice it is not to worry about this.
- Stadium Customisation - This year FUT takes all that TIFO chicanery to the next level, giving you your very own stadium. There are tons of items, from crowd chants and trophies to pyrotechnics behind the goal. To some extent, this is fodder to fill packs, but we certainly get a kick out of covering the whole place in squirrel pictures.
- Community Objectives - There is now a Community tab where progress by all FUT players contributes to themed unlockables. Unremarkable so far but, hey, free stuff.
What to do first in FIFA 21 Ultimate Team
Work through challenges in order to get better rewards
© EA
Seasoned players know the start of a new FIFA is one of the most exciting parts of the FUT cycle, and there are a few things we recommend you do before anything else:
- Division Rivals Placements - This year you need to complete five matches in Division Rivals to be placed in a division, and while it may be tempting to put this off until you have a competitive team, it's actually a good idea to do it ASAP: completing placements gives you a massive wedge of coins. You also earn coins each time you get promoted. Use the money to build your starter team.
- Squad-Building Challenges - Your next highest priority should be completing Basic and Advanced Squad-Building Challenges (SBCs). They're fun to do and give out nice packs (just don't look up solutions online –player prices will be inflated.)
- Foundations - Take a close look at Objectives, and pay particular attention to the Foundations tab, because there's a ton of stuff that unlocks coins and packs to get you on your way.
- Squad Battles - It's not the most glamorous part of the game, but the Squad Battles grind is a guaranteed way to make a heap of coins and packs. The reset is on Sunday night and if you bulldoze your way into the Elite bracket – which shouldn't be too difficult – you will have a bunch of presents to open on Monday morning.
Building a team in FIFA 21 Ultimate Team
Chemistry and formation are more important than ever
© EA
Whether you plan to spend a bunch of FIFA Points on packs or you're running a Road to Glory (RTG) where you play without spending, the principles of building a successful Ultimate Team are much the same.
- What league or nation? - FUT teams need “chemistry” to function based on common leagues and nations shared by adjacent players, so it’s important to build with links in mind. The most popular leagues are the English Premier League, Ligue 1, and Bundesliga. The best players from these leagues are not cheap, so to begin with it's often better to look elsewhere for value. Serie A is good fun (we adore Christian Eriksen at CAM), while Liga NOS and even the Chinese Super League have some great players.
- What is the meta? - In FIFA 21, attackers make better runs, so you want fast players with good positioning stats. Creative midfielders with good vision, short and long passing stats can feed them amazing through balls, so consider getting one of them. On the defensive side, interceptions and defensive awareness have become critical stats, perhaps even more so than pace (although pace is always good). Players who fit these molds go up in price as people puzzle out the meta, but there are always cheap beasts around. Oh, and heading is a thing again! Having someone who can put away aerial balls is useful.
- Formation - This year we're seeing a lot of 4-1-2-1-2 and three-at-the-back formations, along with the tried-and-trusted 4-4-2. Having two strikers definitely does the business. We recommend trying things and seeing how you get along. Don't worry about Custom Tactics immediately -- play a few games and if something feels wrong, tweak it with Custom Tactics (e.g. full-backs on "Stay Back While Attacking"), but otherwise maybe try another formation.
- What to buy first? - Attackers. Honestly, you can have the best defenders in the world, but if you can't score goals then what's the point? Get some cheap, fast attackers and a well-balanced midfield up and running, then worry about defence. Goalkeepers are all a bit rubbish this year (at least so far), although chip shots are a little OP, so tall GKs are handy.
- Key stats - It depends on the position, but it's always important to look beyond face stats (the six main numbers listed on the front of the card) and dig into the in-game stats. You can use websites like Futbin and Futhead to see them. Pace is a good example of a face stat that can be deceptive – a player like Victor Osimhen has 87 pace, but only 81 acceleration, so he's slow out of the blocks. For attackers, look at things like weak foot (a 5* weak foot is as good as the player's strong foot, while 3* and 4* are usable), skill moves rating, and individual stats like positioning, agility, balance, and composure. For defensive players, the aforementioned interceptions and defensive awareness are key, and the more pace the better.
- Keep an eye on Objectives - Whenever EA introduces a new promotion (Ones to Watch, Ultimate Scream, etc), they allow you to unlock a special player by completing Objectives. These can be a grind, but some players are worth the effort. Look at their stats first to make sure you're not slaving away for a dud, but don't overlook them. It's also worth scrutinising the Seasons content tab via the menus -- you will unlock a lot of it just by playing, but there are often unique, high-rated players tucked away for hitting certain milestones, as well as loan versions of endgame players.
Competitive play in FIFA 21 Ultimate Team
Investigate stats to inform the choices you make in FUT
© EA
Most people play FIFA to compete against other players, and that means jumping into modes like Division Rivals, FUT Draft, and the mighty FUT Champions (aka the Weekend League). Each of these has a different setup and rewards.
- Division Rivals - This is the all-week-round competitive mode. After placing into your division, you earn points in up to 30 matches a week (you can keep playing after that, but won't earn points). Winning increases skill rating, which can see you promoted into higher divisions, while losing drops you down again. Every Thursday morning at 7.55am UK time, EA calculates everyone's finishing position and gives you a choice of rewards. You can take coins, several tradeable packs, or lots of untradeable packs. Division Rivals matches and weekly rewards also give you qualification points for FUT Champs, with more given out per match the higher your division.
- FUT Draft - FUT's draft mode costs 15,000 coins (or 300 FIFA Points) to enter, and the goal is to draft a strong team and win a series of matches against increasingly tough opponents. You then get a bunch of packs to open based on when you got knocked out (or if you won). Good players can make drafts pay for themselves by winning consistently, but for most players, it's not that cost-effective – although it is fun because you get access to players you might never afford. You can also find FUT Draft Tokens in packs, although they're rare.
- FUT Champions Weekend League - This is the pinnacle of competition for most players. After qualifying through Division Rivals, you redeem entry and have from Friday morning until Sunday night to complete 30 matches. Based on how many you win, you get rewards at 9am UK time on Thursday. We could write an entire article about Weekend League strategies and rewards, but the critical things to know are that finishing Silver 1 (11 wins) gives you enough FUT Champs qualification points to play again the following week, and that anything above six wins gives you a special red Player Pick item. The coveted red Player Picks are taken from the following "Team of the Week" players announced on Wednesday based on their real-world performances. Solid FIFA players often try to finish "at least Gold 3" (14 wins) for each Weekend League, because Gold 3 rewards include two red Player Picks. As for strategies? Just take your time. Play games in small numbers so you can focus. And if you lose due to an injustice, take a break.
How to make coins in FIFA 21 Ultimate Team
Knowing where to get the most coins will be a boon as you play
© EA
There are more ways than ever to make bank in FIFA 21 Ultimate Team, providing you have the time, judgement and knowledge to do so. We can't help with time or judgement, but we can certainly fix you up with some hard-won knowledge.
- Play Rivals and Squad Battles - OK, let's get the boring one out of the way. These modes give out big piles of coins each week. You like playing the game, right? So prioritise doing this stuff, then spend your hard-earned cash wisely.
- Buying and selling SBC fodder - Everyone loves Squad-Building Challenges, and this has an outsize impact on the value of tons of players at different times of year. If EA drops a particularly exciting player SBC that requires 84-rated players, every 84-rated player is likely to go up in price with demand. SBC fodder is one of the most reliable commodities in FIFA, so when the market is low, invest in it. The best times to buy fodder are just after rewards, whether that's Squad Battles (midnight on Sunday) or more likely Division Rivals/FUT Champs (Thursday 8am and 9am UK time). You can also grab bargains when big promotions go live, usually at 6pm UK time on a Friday. Whether it's rewards or a promo, players open a lot of packs at these times, which increases supply and drives down prices. Identify some good fodder cards to buy, wait for the prices to drop, and grab a lot of them for your transfer list. Then wait for prices to rise due to future SBCs, and sell at a higher price.
- Chem Style trading - Chemistry Styles are items that can be applied to players to boost their stats. The most popular are Hunter (pace and shooting) and Shadow (pace and defence), which cost several thousand coins. The idea with Chem Style trading is to look for players who already have these Chem Styles applied but are being naively sold at a price that doesn't take this into account. You can usually sell them on for a higher price to more discerning buyers.
- Bronze Pack Method / Silver Pack Method - You may see these terms bandied about in the community, and while they are labour intensive, they are reliable if you have the time. The idea is to open a lot of bronze (400 coin) and/or silver (2500 coin) packs, look carefully at the items within and sell anything in demand. It's not super effective early in the FUT cycle, but when League SBCs go live (where you have to submit a full squad for each team in a given league), the demand for bronze and silver players goes up considerably.
- Speculation based on real-world performance - This is riskier territory, but FUT's ties to real-world football mean there are opportunities for windfalls if you know where to put your coins. Ones to Watch and other "live" FUT cards receive better stats when players make it into Team of the Week or teams progress in tournaments, and if you predict this and buy the special cards in advance, they often shoot up in value. However, they can also drop precipitously if the player gets injured or underperforms.
- Find your niche - There are myriad other techniques we could list, but they all rely on the same principle: knowing a particular area of the market well enough to take advantage of supply and demand. With this in mind, it's not that difficult to come up with your own techniques. Perhaps you realise there aren't many rare gold Argentinian left-backs in the game, and you see them spike in price periodically as they feature in SBCs. Buying them when they're low can make some coins over time. Watch the market, and the more you learn about it, the more coins you’ll make.
Final words of advice
Thinking ahead will help you a lot in FUT
© EA
There's more to FIFA 21 Ultimate Team than we've covered here -- from regular promotions and annual SBC patterns to the best content creators and more -- but if you've followed our guide then you should have a solid grounding to go out and build your best Ultimate Team. We do have a few final bits of advice that we live by in FUT though.
- It's often best to avoid Player SBCs - There will be dozens of exciting players released through SBCs during the FUT cycle, but they rarely represent great value for your coins. By completing them, you lose the players you submit permanently, in exchange for a player you will absolutely get bored of using before too long. It can hurt to leave content uncompleted, but unless the value is crazy, it's often better to opt for a slightly less sexy tradeable alternative.
- Don't get sucked in by every promo - Buying a bunch of FIFA Points and cracking packs is loads of fun, but remember you are very unlikely to pack the best players, especially during promos like Team of the Year. You are better off watching content creators take the financial hit for your entertainment, and focus on trading and playing the game. If you must make an exception, we recommend waiting for Team of the Season, when EA boosts pack weight for special items.
- Play to have fun - As with any live game, it can be easy to get lost in the grind and the FOMO around special items, promotions and rewards. But you don't need to complete every objective, play every Weekend League, and have millions of coins. Remember that you're supposed to be playing to have fun!
Now get out there and build an Ultimate Team!
