Sep 19, 2011

Welcome to Part II of Intro to MUT, where this time we take an intermediate-to-advanced approach and dig into some of the grit of trying to build a Collection, and also briefly get into Tournaments in MUT and what they’re all about. To see part one, check out the MUT 12 introduction article.

Collections in MUT

Collections are a great way to pass the time between games, as well as give added incentive to not trash, trade or auction cards. What a collection is in MUT is a series of cards, usually specific to a certain team or attribute, that when collected nets you some serious coins and/or bonus cards that cannot be found anywhere else. These cards can be bought in every pack available, from Bronze to Legendary.

At the time of this writing, the collections (rewards in parenthesis) in MUT ’12 are:

AFC Head Coaches  (25,000 coins + bonus card)
NFC Head Coaches (25,000 coins + bonus card)
The 99ers (5000 coins + Marshall Faulk card)
Sure Footed Stadiums (27,000 coins + Barry Sanders card)
Back to Nature Stadiums (27,000 coins + Walter Payton card)
Panthers Core Collection (50,000 coins + boosted Coach card)
Bengals Core Collection (50,000 coins + boosted Coach card)
2010 Offensive Rookies (50,000 coins + special Dez Bryant card)
2010 Defensive Rookies (50,000 coins + special Ndamukong Suh card)
Oregon University Collection (50,000 coins + special Haloti Ngata card)
LSU Collection (50,000 coins + special Kyle Williams card)
Notre Dame Collection (50,000 coins + special Justin Tuck card)
Michigan Collection (50,000 coins + special Tom Brady card)
Packers Core Collection (100,000 coins + boosted Coach card)
Saints Core Collection (10,000 coins + boosted Coach card)
Bears Core Collection (100,000 coins + boosted Coach card)
Vikings Core Collection (100,000 coins + boosted Coach card)
Lions Core Collection (100,000 coins + boosted Coach card)
Falcons Core Collection (100,000 coins + boosted Coach card)
Buccaneers Core Collection (100,000 coins + boosted Coach card)

So, as you can see, those core collections are where you’ll make your virtual wallet grow immensely. I have currently completed only two collections (both stadium sets), and I will use the Sure Footed Stadiums collection in my examples for this article. In this collection, we have 14 stadiums to find and add in order to get our prize. For example’s sake, let’s say I have 25,000 coins to start with, assuming I’m already multiple games in. The stadiums we need by team initials are DAL, ATL, NYG, NYJ, DET, NE, STL, BAL, NO, SEA, MIN, CIN, BUF and IND. First, group the stadiums by list of coin amount, which you’ll find on the top of each card. For this collection:

Bronze (1000) – ATL, STL, MIN, BUF
Silver (2000) – NO, CIN
Gold (3000) – DAL, NYG, NYJ, DET, NE, BAL, SEA, IND

Second, but arguably the most important step for those who have already started their MUT quest and have built up cards, CHECK YOUR EXISTING CARDS FOR POSSIBLE COLLECTION PIECES! I can’t stress this enough, I’ve accidentally halted collections by throwing out what turned out to be a key piece. Third, ask your friends if they have any cards for trade. This saves a TON of coins in the long run, but is not a necessity. Above all else, keep playing games! Collecting is not easy by any means, with and though you do get coins back for each card you put in, the percentage is minimal.

Wait, How Do I Add A Card To A Collection?

This one’s easy! To add a card to your pending collection bank, simply go to “My Cards”, select A(360)/X(PS3) to bring up “Actions”, and select “Send to Pending Collection”. From there, head to the “Collections” tab, find the proper set, then click RS(360)/R3(PS3) to view cards. An easy way to tell if you have a match is if the card turns from dim to lit up, but it will stay that way even after you send the card in. Either way, when you get a match, hit A/X again to drop the card into the set. Note: this WILL remove the card from your roster permanently.

Back to business: Assuming you earn about 800 coins a game, even with my 25,000 coin head start, this collection totals at 32,000 coins. If you’re starting the collection from scratch, don’t fret. Buy one pack of each set (not Ultimate Gold, that costs 9,000), and you should earn 1-2 stadiums per pack (hopefully no repeats.) So, best case scenario, 6/14 are now taken care of at a cost of only 10,000 coins (sounds bad, but total cost of 2 from each tier is 12,000.) 8 cards, 15,000 coins left. Two words: Auction Block…only this time, it’s as a consumer. Typically you can find anything on the Auction Block, including multiple auctions for stadiums at face value. You can buy them out directly, or bid and hope to win. Personally, if bid/buyout are the same price, I take the guessing game out whenever possible and just buy. So, from there, it’s a matter of zoning in on the specific cards left and doing whatever possible to earn enough coins to obtain them through the three methods I alluded to: Trade, Packs, Auction. After you get some sunlight for the first time in hours, sit down, rinse, repeat for the other collections.

Tournaments in MUT

Tournaments in Madden Ultimate Team are a little less fleshed out than I would have hoped, being more or less a round robin of games until a winner is crowned. The rewards are good, and it’s certainly a fun way to test your Ultimate Team against other users for the chance at coins. At the time of this writing, there are four tournaments set up:

No Requirements: 3 Rounds (500 coin reward)
Team Skill 70 or Better: 10 Rounds (30,000 coin reward)
The Gold Club: 10 Rounds (35,000 coin reward)
5 Head To Head Wins: 8 Rounds (40,000 coin reward)

Unfortunately, the user cannot create his own tournament to play vs friends, and hopefully that is something that the MUT team can look at for a possible addition to 13.

What’s Next

The main focus for the next article will be looking into what qualifies as a good or bad MUT trade and some new collections to hit the market this week, as well as taking some of your questions. Find me on Twitter at @RedZoneD25, and stay tuned for more MUT action here at AskMadden.com.