FIFA Ultimate Team has been the most popular game mode in FIFA for many years and in FIFA 21 EA Sports has added some new improvements to help fans build their dream squads and provide a greater variety of challenges and match options.
For many new players, FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) can be a bit daunting at first, but once you get the grips with things like chemistry and the different game modes, it can be extremely enjoyable and rewarding.
Read on for Goal's complete guide to FIFA Ultimate Team.
Contents
- What is FIFA Ultimate Team?
- What is chemistry in FIFA Ultimate Team?
- How do you earn FIFA Ultimate Team coins?
- How do you get Team of the Week players?
- What are Squad Building Challenges?
- What is Division Rivals?
- What is FUT Champions Weekend League?
- What are Squad Battles?
- What is the FUT Draft?
- What are Season Objectives?
- What are FUT Icons?
- How can I access the FIFA 21 Web App?
What is FIFA Ultimate Team?
FIFA Ultimate Team is a game mode in FIFA 21 where you can combine players of different clubs and nationalities to create the perfect XI.
In Ultimate Team, you can create squads of super players, putting Lionel Messi and Cristiano Ronaldo in the same team or build a Premier League XI to take on the world - the possibilities are endless.
There are some restrictions to squad building, meaning you cannot just put any 11 players into a side and hope it works. Each team has a chemistry rating which is calculated from the players in the squad, who need to have some sort of connection to their team-mates to play well.
FIFA Ultimate Team has both offline and online game modes, offering a variety of rewards depending on your skill level and your success in weekly competitions.
What is chemistry in FIFA Ultimate Team?
EA Sports
Each player in your starting XI has a chemistry rating which helps determine your team's overall chemistry rating, up to a maximum of 100. Each player has a maximum chemistry score of 10, meaning you do not need all players to have individual chemistry of 10 to reach an overall score of 100.
A player's chemistry rating is decided by a few factors: their position, the players around them and their manager.
Players who are played out of position will lose chemistry points, but you can buy position change cards on the transfer market to help turn a defensive midfielder into an attacking midfielder or a right midfielder into a right winger, for example.
Chemistry will be boosted if a player is adjacent to players who share the same club, league or nationality as them. Perfect chemistry comes from playing beside someone who shares the same club and nation - such as German duo Leon Goretzka and Joshua Kimmich in the Bayern Munich midfield.
Each team needs a manager as well. Any player who shares the same league or nationality as their manager will receive a chemistry boost of +1.
How do you earn FIFA Ultimate Team coins?
There are many ways to earn coins in FIFA Ultimate Team. Playing matches will get you a small amount of coins based on your performance and the difficulty level of your opponent.
You can also earn coins and packs through weekly placings in Squad Battles, Division Rivals as well as by playing in FUT Champions.
Selling players on the transfer market and completing objectives are also good ways to earn coins.
Many gamers buy and sell a lot of players on the transfer market, trading particular players or items to earn coins from buying low and selling high. Good traders can make 1000s of coins every day.
You can buy packs in the store which contain players and other items which then can be added to your squad or sold on the market. Packs are for sale using both in-game coins as well as FIFA Points which are sold for real money.
How do you get Team of the Week players?
Every Wednesday, EA Sports releases the Team of the Week (TOTW), which contains a full squad of players who have performed well over the last seven days.
Each TOTW player receives an upgrade to their regular ratings with a special black In-Form (IF) card that is only available in packs for one week.
During this time, the regular versions of these players are not available in packs, but their ratings are not changed if they are already in your team.
IF Players are usually more expensive as they are limited in quality and an improvement in quality. Their prices often rise over time once they are out of packs and many traders invest in IF players, which are sometimes used for Squad Building Challenges.
What are Squad Building Challenges?
EA Sports
Squad Building Challenges (SBC) allow you to turn unusable players in your club into better rewards, including packs or better players.
Each SBC requires you to submit a team of players which meet a certain chemistry or minimum rating threshold and sometimes require players from certain clubs or nationalities.
The players submitted into SBCs will be removed from your club, so do not put players you use into the challenge unless you are willing to lose them.
Each month, special upgraded Player of the Month (POTM) items will be made available through SBCs and these improved players cannot be traded on the transfer market.
You can buy players on the transfer market to submit into SBCs, while sites like Futbin offer solutions to help you complete challenges .
What is Division Rivals?
Division Rivals is the main weekly online game mode in FIFA 21, allowing you to earn promotion through divisions, face tougher opponents and win better rewards.
Every game you play each week will earn rivals points which calculate your overall rank for the week and also determine whether you can be promoted or relegation from your division.
Depending on your weekly rank, you can choose from three reward options on Thursdays, taking coins, tradeable packs or untradeable packs as your prize.
Each Division Rivals game also earns Weekend League points to help qualify for FUT Champions. Once you get to 2000 points, you can enter the Weekend League and these points can be used at any time, not just the weekend after you reach 2000 points.
What is FUT Champions Weekend League?
FUT Champions is the biggest game mode in FIFA 21 and offers the best prizes for winning games.
It begins every Friday and is open to anyone who has earned 2000 Division Rivals points or qualified through a high finish in the previous Weekend League.
From Friday to Sunday, you can play a max of 30 FUT Champions games, with each game going to extra-time or penalties to decide a winner if necessary.
More wins in Weekend League gets you greater prizes, including guaranteed special red Team of the Week players, packs and coin rewards.
Qualification for esports events such as the FIFA 21 Global Series is also earned through FUT Champions.
What are Squad Battles?
EA Sports
Squad Battles is the main offline competition in FIFA Ultimate Team.
Every week from Monday to Sunday, you can play up to 40 games against random offline squads, choosing the difficulty level which best suits your ability.
In addition, you can also play two extra games against the Team of the Week squad and a Featured Squad chosen by a professional player or other celebrity.
Like Division Rivals, more wins earn better prizes, and these are awarded every Monday morning.
What is the FUT Draft?
The FUT Draft can be played either online or offline and allows you to draft a squad of players for use as long as you stay in the tournament.
It is a knockout tournament, so as soon as you lose, you are out. Rewards are earned depending on your progress in the tournament, but you will still receive packs even if you lose your first game.
The FUT Draft is a popular game mode as it offers the chance to use some of the game's best players, who may not be affordable otherwise, especially later in the season when Team of the Season (TOTS) or Team of the Year (TOTY) players are included in the draft.
You can enter the FUT Draft by using either a draft token or paying an entry fee. Draft tokens are sometimes given as random rewards in packs or by completing certain Season Objectives.
What are Season Objectives?
Season Objectives were introduced in FIFA 20 and allow you to earn experience points (XP), which automatically awards packs, loan players, consumable items and even upgraded untradeable players each month.
Each week there are three grades of Weekly Objectives - Bronze, Silver and Gold - which offer a lot of XP and help you build torwards the ultimate goal of the Storyline Player awarded at Level 60.
Other weekly and monthly objectives also award other items such as packs, coin boosts and players. Some special players such as the Ones to Watch Diogo Jota could only be earned by completing special objectives (such as scoring with Liga NOS players or assisting with Portuguese players).
FIFA 21 has also added Community Objectives where every gamer works together to earn XP to unlock items and Team Events whereby you choose one team and earn community XP to compete against the rest of the community for various prizes.
What are FUT Icons?
EA Sports
As well as players from all the licensed clubs and leagues in FIFA 21, many legendary players are in FIFA Ultimate Team as ICON players .
These Icons are retired players who can be used in any team as they have special chemistry that allow them to be used with any league or club.
Each Icon has four different versions based on different stages of their career, including a Prime Moment which has a very high rating and reflects when the player was at their peak.
Icons are available through packs and on the transfer market, while Icon Squad Building Challenges return in FIFA 21 after being left out of FIFA 20.
FIFA 21 will see the return of David Beckham to EA Sports after 23 years.
The former Manchester United and Real Madrid star joins the likes of Xavi, Ferenc Puskas and Fernando Torres as a new Icon in the game.
How can I access the FIFA 21 Web App?
You can keep your team updated, trade on the transfer market and open packs and rewards on the FIFA 21 Web App on PC and Mac and Companion App on mobile devices.
The Web App allows you to buy and sell players as well as complete objectives and Squad Building Challenges and can be accessed online here.
The Companion App is available on iOS and Android and can be downloaded through the store on your phone for free. It allows you to do everything you can do in the Web App.