This is why draft mode should be the best thing about FIFA 20

Draft Mode can be found in the menus once you enter FIFA Ultimate Team. FUT Draft is a knockout tournament that allows you to play a maximum of 4 games in the pursuit of the best rewards! The rewards you receive SHOULD improve the further you advance. Unfortunately, this is not necessarily the case 100% of the time, but we will get onto that later in the article. To enter a Draft tournament, you can either redeem a draft token, use FIFA points, or pay 15,000 of your hard-earned FIFA coins. Once you lose you are out. 

In my opinion, FUT Draft should be the best thing about FIFA Ultimate Team. I say “should” because it isn’t right now, but its currently a very good mode, and with a bit of tweaking, I truly believe this would be the mode of choice for a majority of people. Draft Mode is the equaliser. It is the only game mode where it is possible for a competitive player to lose to a causal player, depending on how lucky or unlucky a player gets whilst drafting their squad. In this article, I will be outlining what’s good about Draft Mode, and ways in which EA can make it exceptional.

The great thing about Draft Mode is, you are guaranteed rewards! Unlike FUT Champions, Rivals and Squad battles, you do not need to wait to receive your rewards. You collect that instantly. Some FIFA players have literally spent the whole of the current game cycle just playing Draft Mode and have incredible squads to show for it. Additionally, it is a great way to hoard packs in anticipation for a new FUT promo. 

My only issue with the rewards system is you are not necessarily guaranteed to make a profit from winning Draft Mode if you spent 15k coins (or equivalent) to enter, and that doesn’t sit right with me. Winning four games in a row isn’t easy. I strongly believe you should be guaranteed to make more than what you spent to enter if you are triumphant. With that being said, EA do give you more than 15k worth of packs, so technically you are being rewarded fairly. So maybe this is more of a pack weight problem.

The funny thing about Draft Mode is, as mentioned above, you could win Draft Mode and get next to nothing. Equally, you be eliminated in the first round, and absolutely BANK from your rewards. Unlikely as this may be, I have seen players open first round rewards and pack icons. That’s potentially hundreds of thousands, if not millions in profit from losing! 

That risk vs reward element is likely what keeps players engaged because although you have to spend to enter, the chances are you will leave with packs worth more than you spent. And although you may not make a profit this time or the next, over time its highly likely you would, especially if you consistently make it to the latter stages.

Let’s face it, the majority cannot afford a player like Prime Moments Ronaldo. With the exception of being the 1 in a million who manages to pack him, you are extremely unlikely to play with cards of this stature. Unless of course, he appears as an option during the draft selection process. 

Thanks to Draft mode, everyone now has the opportunity to play with many of the high tier cards in the game. The reason why this is so important is because if gives players incentive. Imagine you used a player you currently can’t afford, and he single handedly destroyed every opponent you come up against. You now have a reason to grind Ultimate Team in the pursuit of this card, with the hope of one day purchasing the player, or even packing him along the way.

Draft Tokens can be redeemed to enter a Draft, but these are extremely rare! Some players have been lucky enough to receive one after being knocked out in the first round of the tournament, but I think they should be much more common. This year I have played countless games and opened numerous packs from FUT Champs, Rivals, Squad Battles & Draft, but I have only ever received 2 tokens. They are nearly as rare as icons!

I think you should be awarded one every time you win a Draft tournament! Or at the very least, implement a 50% chance drop rate. This would at allow you to break even, and therefore weaken the blow if you don’t pack anything good from your rewards.

Equally as important is the try before you buy element. Draft mode reduces the risk of not liking a player you have purchased and making a loss when you try to sell him on. Think about it, a new promotion is out, and a few of the cards have caught your eye. Jump into a draft and select those players (given they appear) and try them out. Now you can make an informed decision and splash the cash with less consequence.

Unfortunately, EA do not like to have SBC (Squad Builder Challenge) cards available in Draft Mode. I see this as a limitation because SBC cards are untradeable. SBC’s tend to be expensive, and once you complete the SBC, you are stuck with the player. For me, FUT Draft would be the perfect environment to try out a player before committing to their SBC, so it’s sad EA only ever implement this near the end of the game cycle. On the other hand, EA do occasionally release a cheaper, loan version of the SBC for this very reason, but who wants to use 11 cards just to get one loan player? It’s a trap!

The matchmaking on Draft Mode is what helps to allow this game mode to be free of toxicity. FUT Rivals is extremely competitive as you are always playing against people on your skill level, and FUT Champions even more so, as you are competing for the best rewards possible, in a competition that increases with difficulty every time you win a game. Whereas in Draft Mode, you can literally come up against anyone with any variation of cards in their line up. The playing field is a bit more even, and you feel less hard done by if you lose. For me, it’s a nice, fun, relief from the emphasis of competition that EA persist on forcing into Ultimate Team.