Playing MUT online

[JMD]

So the past couple weeks I've had some time off from work and I've been spending my days playing head to head seasons. At this point I'm 81-81. I've made the playoffs a few times but never been able to win a playoff game. I still need to build up my Offensive line and a few other areas to compete with the powerhouses. When you don't spend a ton on money it takes time.

My team is now an 89 overall. The thing I finding about playing people online is there are 4 types of players:

1. The real football player - this guy is rare, but when you get matched up with one it's usually a great game.

2. The quick quitter - this guy confuses me , he gets the ball first , goes right down the field and scores , then I score. he has the ball again I pick him off he quits?????? It's still the 1st quarter , it's 7-7 and nope , he gone. I'll take the easy win.

3. The speedy QB scramble his *** off guy - As soon as I see the 91-93 over Lamar Jackson card on screen at the opening of the game I know I'm in for a Game of chase the QB. Most of these guys I can figure out and stop after a drive or two , those guys usually quit. there are a few that I have no answer for , when I get matched up with them I just run the clock and get the game over ASAP. I will admit I've conceded the game to a few of them.

4. The super cheese baller - This guy is a total waste of time. His antics are easily figured out and I can usually get him to quit before halftime. He the onside kicker every time , the go for it on 4th down every time , and the go for two every time. He has 3 plays that worked for him so he runs those. you can figure him out after 5 plays and then he will quit.

NOTE: when I say someone quits I mean they disconnect. I've had player concede the game because they know they are out matched and I have no problem with that.

I like playing this game mode online but weeding out the garbage is a chore.

[JMD]

Part 2 - I'm addicted

I believe the last time I played more than a handful of madden games online was in madden 09. Since then I've stayed away from online play. However this year I'm hooked on the head to head season mode in MUT. For the past 4 weeks it's all I've played (plus the solo battles). I've never spent this much time with a madden game before.

Also this year I decided to give myself a budget of $100.00 to spend on card packs. I've used up $90.00 of that so far, my team is now a 91 ovr and i can hold my own against the powerhouses now. I've still got a couple positions I need to upgrade but at this point I can only do a player per week because of the high prices on the auction house.

Each week I play the 13 solo battle games , I was playing them on all pro but that only gets you so many points so I switched to all madden you need to win them all obviously , most are a breeze but when you go up against a 90 over team it can be a challenge ,this gives me the highest point total. This gets me 44,000 coins ( for some reason this week i got double everything) and a bunch of packs , also gets me 60 trophies that I cash in at the store for a quicksell coin card. 90 trophies gets you 25,000 coins 220 gets you 65,000 coins I usually wait until I have 220. Between the solo battle rewards and the head to head season rewards if you play as much as I have been it adds up fast.

Every Monday afternoon when I get home from work my solo battle rewards are waiting for me and it's time to go shopping for an up graded player. most times I can get one really good one 94 ovr or two decent ones 90-91 over. So far I've gone with the two 90 -91 cards. I'll be buying the 94 over cards later to finally get my power up cards maxed out. Most of them are stuck at 90 -92 because that last card I need sells for over 400,000 coins.

My take from solo battles and head to head games usually gets me about 250,000 to 350,000 coins each Monday afternoon

My team is solid. I've beat guys with all starting players in the mid to high 90's. I've also lost to guys with players in the mid to high 80's , some dudes are just that good , and some know how to exploit the game. My team is now mostly 90 , 91 and 92 over players with a few high 80's I need to upgrade and then there's my 94 ovr Tory Holt and my pride and joy 94 ovr Pat Mahomes. I just got this card yesterday. I used my coins to buy zero chill players and cashed them in for enough kindling to get the Mahomes card. 7800 kindling for a random 94 ovr card I got the one I wanted.

Also I've finally won a few playoff games , no superbowl yet. that's my current goal. I'd say I'm an average player. I don't understand all the defensive adjustments that can be made so I never do any of that , and I know that kills me when I go up against a top player. For now though i just can't stop playing this, the competition when I get matched up against a real sim guy is excellent. Had some nail biter games. Yesterday in a wildcard playoff game I went up 21-0 in the second quarter. it was 21-7 at the half. 3rd quarter 28 me 14 other dude. then he got me for a pick 6 , 28-21. With 1:38 left he sacked me and it was 4th an 18 I had to punt. This guy had a real nice drive and scored with 5 seconds left 28-27 It's looking like overtime, Then....... he missed the extra point!!!! what a game.

Untitled by Joe D, on Flickr

Untitled by Joe D, on Flickr

Untitled by Joe D, on Flickr

[NDAlum]

Personally I played the mode for 2.5 cycles and it was fun but the mode is too demanding. Here are the problems with MUT IMO

#1 - It's pay to win or grind to win. Basically you have to invest the time of a part time job to compete.
#2 - It's not about who knows football better or who is a better "skilled" player at Madden. The foundation of Madden is knowledge. Who knows how to exploit the AI more is usually the winner.
#3 - They've decreased rewards and made the mode more towards spending or investing crazy amounts of time. House Rules is a perfect example.
#4 - The run game this year is the worst it's ever been. Having Dickerson with his X-factor activated at the beginning of the game is a terrible choice. Also by worst I mean it's too easy to run the football. Blocking is too good and pursuit is horrible.
#5 - Game design went from skill to animation based. Mainly going to reference the catch mechanics here. You basically press a button, hold it, and hope your DB/WR animates.
#6 - They made athletic QB's useless without abilities. If you don't have escape artist you are a sitting duck in the pocket no matter what your QB's speed.
#7 - Various reasons: no zones cover certain parts of the field, run commit doesn't work, shading doesn't work, man coverage gets burned on routes instead of having ratings matter, contain blitzes are too effective bc OL blocking is terrible...I could go on

Basically I had a great time and was a solid player. Best WL finish was 22 wins and last year I routinely finished top 100 in WL. This year I played WL like 4 times and only had 1 top 100 finish. I would say I'm a 75% win % guy. In WL I'd get 18+ each time. In seasons I was in legend division with a few SB wins.

My time can be better spent doing things around the house rather than playing this game as a part time job. It 100% is an addiction but fortunately I was able to just quit a few weeks ago. Played a guy who had Lamar/Dickerson/Hester in his top 3 and all he did was audible his play around a few times and then have a designed run or option or touch pass. That's the game. Run all day and hope your blocks set up because you can't pass the ball or make a read.

[Scary Larry]

Quote: Originally Posted by JMD

So the past couple weeks I've had some time off from work and I've been spending my days playing head to head seasons. At this point I'm 81-81. I've made the playoffs a few times but never been able to win a playoff game. I still need to build up my Offensive line and a few other areas to compete with the powerhouses. When you don't spend a ton on money it takes time. My team is now an 89 overall. The thing I finding about playing people online is there are 4 types of players: 1. The real football player - this guy is rare, but when you get matched up with one it's usually a great game. 2. The quick quitter - this guy confuses me , he gets the ball first , goes right down the field and scores , then I score. he has the ball again I pick him off he quits?????? It's still the 1st quarter , it's 7-7 and nope , he gone. I'll take the easy win. 3. The speedy QB scramble his *** off guy - As soon as I see the 91-93 over Lamar Jackson card on screen at the opening of the game I know I'm in for a Game of chase the QB. Most of these guys I can figure out and stop after a drive or two , those guys usually quit. there are a few that I have no answer for , when I get matched up with them I just run the clock and get the game over ASAP. I will admit I've conceded the game to a few of them. 4. The super cheese baller - This guy is a total waste of time. His antics are easily figured out and I can usually get him to quit before halftime. He the onside kicker every time , the go for it on 4th down every time , and the go for two every time. He has 3 plays that worked for him so he runs those. you can figure him out after 5 plays and then he will quit. NOTE: when I say someone quits I mean they disconnect. I've had player concede the game because they know they are out matched and I have no problem with that. I like playing this game mode online but weeding out the garbage is a chore.

Slightly off topic in regards to playing H2H online (which doesn't appeal to me). Which solo challenges are worth the grind in MUT? Been away from the game for a while.

[JMD]

Quote: Originally Posted by Scary Larry

Slightly off topic in regards to playing H2H online (which doesn't appeal to me). Which solo challenges are worth the grind in MUT? Been away from the game for a while.

If you can win the 13 weekly solo battle games on All Madden you get some decent rewards each Monday. Be careful though you will need to play smart football against the higher rated team because on all madden the CPU sometimes becomes unstoppable. When I play a 90 over team I hog the ball and run the clock. With 3 minute quarters a good run game or short passing game can eat up am entire half. I've played a few game where the CPU never got the ball back after the first kick off.

With the solo challenges you can see the rewards by selecting the Milestone tab at the top. Some give you coins and some give you cards. Right now the NFL 100 challenges give you your choice of a 94 over player is you get all 33 stars. These are very easy. you also get a 84-85 over player for each set of challenges. These can be added to a set for a higher rated player or cashed in for training points.

[JMD]

My team is a 93 across the board. Now playing online has changed because I now have a dominant team. The typical game goes like this:
1. I kick off I stop my opponent when he goes for it on 4th down or I pick him off , he quits.

2. I kick off my opponent scores , I get the ball I score , kick off again either stop him of get a turnover , he quits.

3. Game is back and forth all game, 4th quarter I take the lead by more then a TD opponent quits.

4. Every now and then I get matched up with the Madden exploit expert. For some reason there is never anything I can do to stop this guy. His Dickerson RB is fully powered at the start of the game and he just plows my defenders over.

So this game mode is fun while you're building your team , but once you get it in the 90's you run into a class of quitters and cheeseballers. It's nuts that someone quits when the score is 0-0.

[JMD]

It's strange the turn this game takes as your team gets better. I've now played 742 games of MUT. It was pretty good and a lot of fun while my team was a 92 over all or lower. Once I hit the 93 and up range the pool of opponents turns to ****. I'm considering lowering my team back down to a 90 just to get some decent games in again.

My team is now a 95 over all 96 offense , 95 defense. 97% of my games don't last beyond the first quarter. As soon as I stop my opponent , which is always on 4th down , no one ever punts , they quit. Also when your team gets to this level the amount of cheap cheese play is at an all time high. Every team I play has a maxed out Jackson , Watson , or Wilson and they all run with the QB like mad men. However this is easy to stop and they quit.

I think Madden 20 will be my last madden purchase. The CPU offers no challenge and playing other humans is for the most part a waste of time.

[A.polk88]

Anyone willing to trade away their high overall MUT players?