New to FIFA/Ultimate Team ? You ’ ra not entirely .
After a free-to-play Thanksgiving Weekend 2016 in the States, Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, or possibly an early Christmas gift, enough of soon-to-be football ( a.k.a. soccer ) gambling enthusiasts are in the same boat as you .
possibly you ’ ve heard of Ultimate Team, be it in FIFA, Madden, or NHL. possibly you ’ ve seen wild YouTube video recording of streamers pulling crazy cards or pros pulling off once-in-a-million goals with what look like superintendent teams .
Whatever your degree of familiarity or curio with the most-played modality in each year ’ s EA Sports FIFA game, we ’ re here to sort reality from myth, break down the barriers to entry, and help you hit the ground running on one of the most fun sports video game experiences you could possibly have.

What is FIFA Ultimate Team?

FIFA Ultimate Team ( or FUT ) is a combination of fantasy football/soccer, card collecting/trading, and the FIFA game you grew up loving .

Do I have to pay to play it?

Like any video game from this earned run average of micro-transactions, you can enhance your feel if you ’ ra lucky enough to have some disposable income you ’ re able to put into it .
If you don ’ t have a credit card, any excess money to put into a trade card game, or simply don ’ t want to pay, you decidedly don ’ t have to .
Whatever time and effort you put into the game can close some of the gaps from those that pay and those that don ’ thyroxine. And who knows. With a little luck, you might wind up with fair as good of a team as any you ’ ll come up against .

How do I get started playing?

Glad you asked. Go ahead and plunge FIFA and when prompted, setup an EA Access account. You ’ ll need this if you want to take your FUT experience to the adjacent level by setting your batting order and/or buying/selling players online with the FIFA Ultimate Team Web App .
After you do, enter the Ultimate Team game modality :



You ’ ll be greeted with the follow presentation and your very first FUT cards :

How to start FIFA Ultimate Team 17 curious what getting started in FIFA Ultimate Team looks like ? We ‘ve got you covered !Posted by FUT Nation on Thursday, November 24, 2016

You start out with 3 untradeable non-rare gold cards and 19 untradeable non-rare bronze ( the lowest rated variety in the game ). The capital Spencer Owen ( aka Spencer FC ) once flush packed an in-form ( the 18 best players in real football each week as selected by EA and given special, enhanced cards good for that week ) for one of his non-rare golds on his newcomer team. It ’ s improbable, but you never know .

Is this the team I’m stuck with?

These players are untradeable and unless you use them in a Squad Building Challenge, a game mode where you permanently exchange players in your club for prizes, they ’ ll be with you to the bitter end. But they ’ re good the begin .
By playing games, completing achievements, and if you feel thus incline, purchasing packs either with in-game currentness or actual money, you ’ ll expand and build upon your foundation with some of your favorites possibly even the best footballers in the universe if dame Luck smiles upon you .

This is a bit overwhelming. What should I do first?

Whether you ’ re a returning pro or a first-timer, I constantly recommend you start by progressing through the “ Manager Tasks ”. Each job is greeted with a reward to improve your collection while better acclimating you to some of the fine points of the game :






fair for launching FUT for the first fourth dimension, you mechanically get a reward. On XBOX One, that means a Loan Legend Pack :





What’s a loan player/the small white number in blue mean?

As introduced in FIFA 15 Ultimate Team, loan players are full cards you can pack ( or sometimes get for detached ) that entirely have a ledge life of however many games the lend is for. While the loanword can ’ t be extended with contracts, as of FUT 16, you can merge loanword cards to play more games with that loanword musician.

The number on the tease indicates how many games the loan card has remaining .

I’m trying to get players in the “right” positions. What does that mean and how does chemistry work?

Depending on the geological formation you choose ( and there are many ), you ’ ve got a number of positions you can play players in. While you theoretically could put any poster in any which position, it ’ ll negatively impact their chemistry, which hinders how they perform in game .
To complete the compensate position tutorial, you can put the follow cards interchangeably in one of the positions they ’ re listed with :

  • Strikers (ST) and Center Forwards (CF)
  • Left Midfielders (LM) and Left Wingers (LW)
  • Center Midfielders (CM), Center Attacking Midfielders (CAM), and Center Defensive Midfielders (CDM)
  • Right Midfielders (RM) and Right Wingers (RW)
  • Left-backs (LB) and Left Wing Backs (LWB)
  • Right-backs (RB) and Right Wing Backs (RWB)
  • Center-backs (CB) and Goalies (GK) have to be set in their respective positions and can’t be substituted with any other position type

So, this chemistry thing?

It gets fairly technical fairly promptly, but here ’ s the TL ; DR :



EA themselves put it pretty well a year ago :

In FIFA Ultimate Team™, building the best possible english requires solid Chemistry. It ’ mho chiefly about the relationships between players. Both players and teams perform at their best when their chemistry is high, and you ’ ll see the results on the pitch in the imprint of stun passes and epic poem goals .
chemistry can be built in a total of ways. Putting players in their favored positions and linking them with boyfriend players from the lapp Club or League will produce Chemistry. You can besides build Chemistry by pairing players who have the same nationality or enlisting a director with the same nationality as players on the roll .
Players who have been loyal to a club will obtain a Chemistry hike. Whereas a musician signed via the Transfer Market will need to play ten-spot matches before becoming loyal, all players obtained through Packs or who were initially on a squad will mechanically have this rise applied .

Wait, what are Packs?

much like collectible physical trade cards, FIFA Ultimate Team is driven by packs of cards. The poster types in FIFA include players that you can use in-game, “ consumables ”, cards that are single practice to restore your players ’ fitness ( think stamina ) or heal them from injuries, club items ( uniform aka kits, badges aka your team ’ south logo, and the stadium you play in ), equally well as staff ( coaches which enhance in-game team stats/performance or managers, who as mentioned affect overall team chemistry ) .
There are 6 different basis pack types and a laundry list of rotating restrict handiness packs :
Bronze Packs



silver Packs



gold Packs



And barely 2 of the dozens of promo/limited time or quantity Packs



How do you buy Packs?

Either with coins, which you earn in-game from playing the plot and/or trade items you acquire or by purchasing FIFA points with real money :


Is that it?

Afraid it ’ s just the tip of the crisphead lettuce .

So I do the Manager Tasks and then what?

Play the plot ! The more you play, the more you ’ ll get out of it. There are no shortcuts, even with spending money on FIFA Points. The more time and sweat equity you put into your Ultimate team, the more you ’ ll get out of it .