Back from the dead for a rant about MUT. First I want to say that I’m not an EA hater or anything, and I’ve always been a Madden fan. Madden 20 is probably my favorite game of all time. However, what they’ve done to Ultimate Team starting in Madden 23 is downright appalling. All they’ve done since then has been gradually sucking all of the fun out of the game.
Madden 23: They remove power ups. One of the easiest ways to make coins for F2P players. Power-up passes were great rewards we used to earn and they helped out a lot. Power up players could go for insane amounts of coins and you could just pull them in packs.
Madden 24: They add BND cards and REMOVE NAT cards. Probably the worst change in MUT history. What’s special about NAT cards? They could be used in master sets, and if I’m not mistaken, any sets and quicksold for more training. NAT’s used to be obtained in solo challenges or other rewards and would only become BND once you put them into a master set, for example. And after you exchanged them, you would get the master card as auctionable, and all players you exchanged back as BND. Starting in Madden 24, all players you exchange are now gone. You get nothing back except the master card. BND’s have no use except for playing on your team. They can’t go into any set and quicksell for next to nothing.
Madden 25: Buyable field pass levels and HORRIBLE User Interface. First of all, with levels being buyable, that makes no rewards exclusive to people who just grind the game. Starting in Madden 25 as well, the rewards for solo challenges are terrible, and other modes remain awful for rewards as they have always been. Now, let me get in to the awful UI. It looks like some dystopian horrorscape. This doesn’t make me excited do sit through 5 seconds of input lag every time I click a button. What happened to the User interface being colorful and vibrant. There’s no art or any creativity being used. Just look go back and look at Madden 20’s UI. It looks like a fun game before even playing any of it. This has to be better, EA.
Madden 26: Same issues as the past few years, but added this year is making the card art, one of the few things MUT still had going for it, generic, boring, and pathetic. The card art is reminiscent of Madden Mobile, which look like they were created by ChatGPT.
With that, every fun part about MUT has been taken away. No freedom to get any player you want anymore with coins because every player you will get is BND, and they will have no return once you sell them. Grind 8 field passes to get players who are outdated by the time you get them. Again, I’m not targeting anybody or anyone. I’m just speaking out about how unplayable this mode has become. I’ve been playing MLB the Show 25 since it came out, and I’ve been having a blast. I have 1.5 million stubs and just about every player I want. If EA is reading this, please take all of the lazy and greedy additions out of MUT.
TL;DR: EA has made Madden Ultimate Team unplayable for free to play players beginning in Madden 23 and it has only gotten worse.
Thanks for reading if you’ve got this far and let me know how you feel about this. Rant over.
