College Ultimate Team (CUT) can be tough to hop into, but everyone is a beginner in something at least once. This guide is aimed toward players who are new to the game, with minimal CUT or MUT knowledge. In this article, I'll be focusing on the broader aspects of CUT, rather than gameplay specifics, and sharing what I've learned as a recent CUT beginner myself.
What should I start with, and how do I improve my team?
The best thing you can do to improve your team is play the game. There's plenty to do throughout the week and season that can all go toward improving your team. Here's a breakdown of what I think you should focus on when starting in CUT.
Solos, Events, and Head 2 Head
These three game modes will be where you spend the bulk of your time and how you will earn most of your coins early on. In Head 2 Head, you'll face off against other players, in Solos, against the CPU, and in Events, it varies. When first starting, I recommend Solos and CPU Events. Most players in Head 2 Head will have built good teams, and it's tough to be competitive against them when your team consists of low OVR players.
Solos - Earns fewer coins than Head 2 Head, but you'll play against the CPU. Solos has three difficulties: Freshman, Varsity, and All-American. The higher difficulty solos reward more coins, but the difference is honestly minimal. A 5-win Freshman season will earn 5500 coins, while a 5-win All-American Season will earn 6500 coins.
Events - These are limited-time game modes, and depending on the event, they can be Head 2 Head or against the CPU. Event rewards can include player packs, tokens, or specific players. Certain events may even have special house rules that affect how the match is played. It's always a good idea to keep an eye on what events are currently running.
Head 2 Head - Typically has the best coin rewards of the three options, but will be the most difficult of the three, as you'll be playing against other players. You'll earn coins for each game you play and for completing win objectives. Win enough games in a season and you'll be promoted to a higher division. The higher the division you're in, the better the rewards you'll earn.
Challenges
Challenges, especially those tied to programs (ex. Stars of the Week), often reward coin packs, tokens, and BND* player packs. When you're just starting, player packs are a great way to fill out your team with better players.
*BND stands for Account Bound. Players who are BND cannot be sold on the Auction House or used in sets.
Objectives
Objectives in CUT are tied to the Field Pass (See Below) and Programs. Program objectives often reward coins, coin packs, tokens, player packs, and sometimes specific players. Most objectives are pretty easy to complete just by playing the game. There will be some that require you to play certain modes or with certain players in your lineup. However, these requirements usually aren't too bad.
What is the Field Pass?
Much like most other Live Service games, the Field Pass is a Season Pass with free and premium rewards. The pass can be leveled up by completing daily, weekly, and milestone objectives for Field Pass XP.
Field Pass rewards
The notable rewards in the Field Pass are trophies, coins, player packs, and, in the higher levels of the pass, the Field Pass Player and a Season Upgrade Token. Both of which are obtainable with the free version of the pass.
Trophies can be used to buy Seasonal players, Player packs, and, near the end of the season, a Coin Exchange pack. The exchange pack will give you a random 250+ Coin quicksell item for 100 Trophies. At the end of a season, remaining Trophies will be converted into coins at a rate of 1 Trophy to 5 Coins.
The Field Pass Player is typically a higher OVR player. However, as it's a reward later in the pass by the time you unlock them, you may or may not need them. The Season Upgrade Token can be used to upgrade any Seasonal player, from the same season, up to a specified OVR once the season is over.
What is training, and how do I get it?
Training is an in-game currency used to upgrade players, equip abilities, and buy player packs in the store. As far as I know, in CUT, training can only be gained by quickselling players. The amount of training a player sells for is determined by their OVR. These values can be found Here.
*To learn what specific abilities do and which players can equip them, Click Here
If you're going to buy packs with training, I have two recommendations. The first is the pack that contains the highest OVR players of a program. The second is the Platinum Opportunity packs (if available). These will give you either one of the players mentioned above or a Platinum player, who quicksells for coins instead of training. These values can be found Here.
*It's important to remember that BND players who can be quicksold, sell for 1/4 the value
Auction House Tips
Use the tools available to you
Buy low, sell high, and use the live price tracking to help you achieve that. You can search up any player in the CFB.FAN database and see current auctions, recent sales, and sale statistics.
Buying training
On our prices dashboard, you'll see the cheapest training by OVR. When buying players on the auction house to quicksell for training, you'll want those going for as close to the target price as possible to get the best value for your coins. To go to the prices dashboard, Click Here.
Rental Limited Editions
Older cards will be power crept and lose value. Limited Edition (LTD) cards quicksell for 250,000 coins. The idea behind "rental" LTDs is to buy them as cheaply as you can because they'll always have a value of at least 250,000 coins. So rather than paying 350,000 coins for a player who might end up worthless, it's more like paying 100,000 coins for a Limited Edition.
*LTD players usually release with new content drops, are only available in packs for a limited time (usually a week), and quicksell for Coins. They'll always be marked with an LTD on their card.
What are Scheme and Theme Teams?
All players come with a Team chemistry (ex. Minnesota) and a Scheme Chemistry (ex. 3-3-5). Each chemistry boosts specific ratings, and having more instances of that chemistry unlocks different tiers of boosts. You can see all chemistries in the game, their boosts, and their requirements here.
These boosts are quite beneficial in-game. For example, a chemistry might provide +1 Speed to all players with the Air Raid Chemistry. If you want to look for players with specific chemistries, you can check out the best line-ups by chemistry here.
It should be noted that players can be given any team chemistry for 25,000 coins. You can do this in the upgrade tab of a player. Once a player has been upgraded using 5 training, it unlocks the ability to switch team chemistries.
Final Thoughts
There's a lot that goes into College Ultimate Team, and it would be impossible to cover everything needed in one article. Playing the game is the best way to learn, but if you have any questions, you can always ask in the comments below, in the Forums, or in the CFB.FAN Discord. There are knowledgeable people in the community, and someone out there will know the answer.
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