What Theme Team are you guys running? Need suggestions.

Currently running a SB theme team. Have a 97 overall. Team plays well, I’m just not sure if eventually the stats won’t match up with the newer 99s coming out. Do I keep rocking this team for right now or switch up to an actual NFL team theme team? And if so which one? Probably Chiefs, 49ers, or Cowboys right?

70 SB 40 Combine

I think I'm going to add the LTD Egg cards and then sit on this until Golden Ticket.

40 Combine

40 SB

50 Combine plus a few TOTY players

25 COMBINE, 50/50 Steelers, 20 SB

theperkness said:

70 SB 40 Combine

I think I'm going to add the LTD Egg cards and then sit on this until Golden Ticket.

How you have 70 SB and 40 Combine? Assuming you have to have pretty much all the limited cards to get the 2x and 3x chemistry?

Lcs1778 said:

Currently running a SB theme team. Have a 97 overall. Team plays well, I’m just not sure if eventually the stats won’t match up with the newer 99s coming out. Do I keep rocking this team for right now or switch up to an actual NFL team theme team? And if so which one? Probably Chiefs, 49ers, or Cowboys right?

100% stick with what you are using.  The only theme team superior to Superbowl, even at this late date, would be Combine.  Unless / until there's a clear upgrade path, i'm sticking with the same, Superbowl hybrid theme team, comprised of the following:

• 70/70 SB
• 25/50 49ers
• 6/6 AKA Crews
• 15/60 Combine

Fully intending to add Andrew Thomas when he drops, because 0AP Secure Protector is elite.  Probably going to have to slide one of my 0AP SP Tackles to OOP, hoping for at least a one or two other Sugar Rush Part 2 cards that drop, but nothing lately has pushed the meta forward.  We've had the benefit of 98-99 SPD skill position players for nearly ~2 months.  Anything else feels liek it's going backwards.

Lcs1778 said:

How you have 70 SB and 40 Combine? Assuming you have to have pretty much all the limited cards to get the 2x and 3x chemistry?

Yep yep I’m using all SB LTDs plus all SB strat items except offense playbook, then I have all Combine LTDs except Ant Rich, tho I have DHB at slot wr only so his chem isn’t applied. I’m actually at 42 Combine but don’t see a path to 50 while keeping 70 SB, so I will probably keep it like this to make sure my SB defenders get boosted as much as possible

I might get close to 50 if I were to get Okoye and Fridge, but I’d rather save the coin until they dip

peatrick said:

100% stick with what you are using.  The only theme team superior to Superbowl, even at this late date, would be Combine.  Unless / until there's a clear upgrade path, i'm sticking with the same, Superbowl hybrid theme team, comprised of the following:

• 70/70 SB
• 25/50 49ers
• 6/6 AKA Crews
• 15/60 Combine

Fully intending to add Andrew Thomas when he drops, because 0AP Secure Protector is elite.  Probably going to have to slide one of my 0AP SP Tackles to OOP, hoping for at least a one or two other Sugar Rush Part 2 cards that drop, but nothing lately has pushed the meta forward.  We've had the benefit of 98-99 SPD skill position players for nearly ~2 months.  Anything else feels liek it's going backwards.

That’s what I’m saying. I see all these 98 and 99 cards dropping with really good stats, like 98 speed, but most of my SB theme team players already have those high stats with the theme team boosts. I question sometimes if an upgraded 99 speed plays different than a base 99 speed, which is why I was asking if these new cards out perform the old ones with boosts. I don’t see a point in getting these new cards when the boots from the SB theme team makes the cards I have the same, if not better.

Lcs1778 said:

That’s what I’m saying. I see all these 98 and 99 cards dropping with really good stats, like 98 speed, but most of my SB theme team players already have those high stats with the theme team boosts. I question sometimes if an upgraded 99 speed plays different than a base 99 speed, which is why I was asking if these new cards out perform the old ones with boosts. I don’t see a point in getting these new cards when the boots from the SB theme team makes the cards I have the same, if not better.

Correct, people typically compare base-cards, NOT theme teams, which essentially boosts them up another notch / tier ranking, at least from my personal perspective.  I believe that 99 SPD is 99 Speed, regardless if it's base or adjusted.  That's basically the ONLY stat that matters, most everything else is based of thresholds, for example, 90 route running is essentially equivalent to 99 route running, so the actual gameplay differences are minimal, if any.  Many/most stats work in a similar manner, but not all.  And i don't claim to know every single stat in the game, but am confident suggesting that abilities are basically the ONLY thing that matters once all of our players hit these minimum thresholds.  Beyond that it's personal preferences and feelings.  I care more about how cards objectively play.  Sure, we all have favorites, i'd prefer to be running an exclusively 49ers theme team, but still feels WAY too gimped.

Multiple discounted ability buckets and at/near max speed in late Jan/early Feb basically was EA shooting themselves in the foot.  All these children get hyped up about magic golden 99 OVR ratings on cards, but they're not nearly as good as ones we've been using for months.  I'll repeat that until i'm blue in the face.

70 SB 50 Combine but its starting to get really hard to hold on to, at cap 55 players in lineup with 2 different SLR and SLCB + 1 SubLB plus Sweet Feet and Country Strong :(

I’m 25 NFL Combine 45 Cowboys with a few fillers at positions that are just best at position I am at 97 OVR with a 98 OFF and a hair under 98 OVR.

peatrick said:

Correct, people typically compare base-cards, NOT theme teams, which essentially boosts them up another notch / tier ranking, at least from my personal perspective.  I believe that 99 SPD is 99 Speed, regardless if it's base or adjusted.  That's basically the ONLY stat that matters, most everything else is based of thresholds, for example, 90 route running is essentially equivalent to 99 route running, so the actual gameplay differences are minimal, if any.  Many/most stats work in a similar manner, but not all.  And i don't claim to know every single stat in the game, but am confident suggesting that abilities are basically the ONLY thing that matters once all of our players hit these minimum thresholds.  Beyond that it's personal preferences and feelings.  I care more about how cards objectively play.  Sure, we all have favorites, i'd prefer to be running an exclusively 49ers theme team, but still feels WAY too gimped.

Multiple discounted ability buckets and at/near max speed in late Jan/early Feb basically was EA shooting themselves in the foot.  All these children get hyped up about magic golden 99 OVR ratings on cards, but they're not nearly as good as ones we've been using for months.  I'll repeat that until i'm blue in the face.

Do you know if the game accounts the boosts to a players overall into the overall of the team? Like if I were to be using actual 98 players  instead of my Super Bowl boosted players, would my team higher than a 97 overall? Not that I really care about overall that much compared to stats, as a 98 overall team may not have as good as stats as a 96 or 97 SB theme team.

Lcs1778 said:

Do you know if the game accounts the boosts to a players overall into the overall of the team? Like if I were to be using actual 98 players  instead of my Super Bowl boosted players, would my team higher than a 97 overall? Not that I really care about overall that much compared to stats, as a 98 overall team may not have as good as stats as a 96 or 97 SB theme team.

Correct, first and foremost -- the OVR ratings (both on our teams, and individual player/cards) Do. Not. Matter.  Whatsoever, it's merely numbers on the front of the card.  And yes, boosted players help towards your team OVR rating, but again... it is meaningless, unless you are trying to post pictures on social media to make your friends "envious" or whatever that logic entails.

Abilities are everything, as you pointed out.  96 Bo Jackson is better than every QB in the game, especially and including 99 MVP Mahomes.  For QBs, release matters a TON, as it directly determines how quickly the ball comes out, which can help avoid pressure/sacks, etc.  LBs simply will not animate unless they're equipped with LurkArtist.

Stats barely matter, I cannot reiterate that enough.  90 Short Route Running is basically equivalent to 99.  I'm probably not explaining things particularly well, but there's some random examples.  Sorry i start nerd-raging, because i was SUPER confused by these OVR ratings when i first started playing the game.  Took me months to realize that abilities are the only thing that matters.