A new promo, a new way to disappoint Madden Ultimate Team fans. While the Super Bowl promo doesn’t appear to be fully fleshed out, it’s fair to suggest what dropped on January 25 was lackluster at best, particularly with the new currency system which coincided with the drop of the new promo.
Starting first with the players, there hasn’t been any mention of past Legends who were initially teased in the Super Bowl advertisement such as Jevon Kearse and Darrell Green, but the hosts on both Thursday and Friday’s stream made a point to mention there is more to come.
As of now, four former Legends cards – Ronde Barber, Dallas Clark, Franco Harris and Reggie White – highlight the major updated additions to MUT.
Perhaps the biggest detail regarding the previously leaked SB promo, however, is the return of John Elway and to some extent Rodney Harrison, who both were previously included in past editions of Madden Ultimate Team, but made their triumphant return to Madden 19 on Friday.
The current general manager of the Denver Broncos and Super Bowl winning quarterback’s item will be a part of the “Blue” team along with the likes of White and Harris, while former Patriots safety Harrison will join Barber and Clark on the “Red” team.
The teams seem to be thrown together in no particular order, but it’s worth figuring out which side you’d like to support, as players who finish the given “color” solo sequence will have the opportunity to pick one of the three players and receive a 94 overall NAT item.
Those solos are repeatable, which is important when considering whatever “team” ends up playing the most solos will get a +1 boost to their respective card. It’s nice to see EA try something different in regards to the community engagement, even if the +1 overall essentially means zilch when it comes to the logistics of the item itself.
Perhaps the most troubling aspect of the free 94 overall item is that you can literally get the same item, only a better version (97 overall), by completing what figures to be an expensive set, which requires all nine cards from each color in order to get. If a prospective player planned on acquiring the 97 overall item to start, there doesn’t seem to be any incentive to actually doing the colored solos, as a player could immediately be able to get the top end option without wasting any time on the newly minted games.
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Players can acquire those items through packs and the use of sets, which feature cards from some of the most recent Super Bowls. The likes of Malcolm Butler, Marshawn Lynch, Jordy Nelson and Eli Manning are some of the highest overall cards needed in the set, but it seems likely EA will add more cards throughout the Super Bowl promo, which is expected to end February 8.
To cap off a confusing and frustrating start to the new promo, a new currency has been introduced called “Super Bowl rings” which can be used to purchase cards in the store similar to “snow” from the Zero Chill program. On the surface, it certainly looks like EA is being generous with their new currency with quicksell options for even the most basic items far exceeding the availability of snow upon launch of the Zero Chill program.
However, when looking at the cards currently available to be purchased in the store with Super Bowl rings, they are actually double the price of similar overall cards for Zero Chill which essentially renders the whole (valid) complaint completely moot.
It’s a painfully tone deaf charade that hasn’t done any favors to MUT’s deteriorating public image.
Monthly MUT rewards also dropped Friday, providing Legendary tier members with 3,000 Super Bowl rings, or in other words, less than 20 percent of the total cost to acquire a 94-95 overall item. If that comparison doesn’t do enough to highlight the unassuming travesty, 3,000 Super Bowl rings is equivalent to one Elite token, which currently sells for 50,000 coins.
That minuscule amount is a reward for players who have purchased 1,000 or more packs and have continued to play the game through January. While more cards are sure to be added throughout the coming days and weeks, at least for the moment, the only thing this promo is good for is quieting the chants for “more content.”
