Are there any NMS players left?

Because pretty much everyone I run into online must've spent hundreds or more on this game already. 
Maybe its recency bias but lately everybody I run into has at least DK, a 2M receiver, LTD Luck and other cards that on 2-3 positions combine more coin than others have on their entire squad. I know the gap between heavy spenders and NMS teams is usually bigger early on in the game in will shallow towards the end but I dont remeber it being this crazy in the past couple of years where you see so many teams with multiple cards that cost millions. 

This is not supposed to be a discussion about if you should spend or not. 
Im just puzzled about the fact that the community seems as aligned on this being as terrible of a game as we've seen and so many saying they wont give EA a penny while also running into more god squads than "normal" teams.

I bought the bundle with Madden and CFB25 so there were some mut points included but outside of that I am NMS. 
Currently 87 OVR and 600k. No trading or market work, just playing and a bit luck with rewards.

🙋🏼‍♀️🙋🏼‍♀️ 85 over all with only 2 million coins in the bank. Running nothing but BNDs and 83 Lamar Jackson at qb. 

Playing Champs is a very miserable experience for me. It’s not fun trying to stop a 6 million coin offense with budget ballers this year.

im NMS and i have luck and DK, if you win champs a lot you get quite a bit of coins, sitting on 3m and stock in players too NMS

PBateman said:

Because pretty much everyone I run into online must've spent hundreds or more on this game already. 
Maybe its recency bias but lately everybody I run into has at least DK, a 2M receiver, LTD Luck and other cards that on 2-3 positions combine more coin than others have on their entire squad. I know the gap between heavy spenders and NMS teams is usually bigger early on in the game in will shallow towards the end but I dont remeber it being this crazy in the past couple of years where you see so many teams with multiple cards that cost millions. 

This is not supposed to be a discussion about if you should spend or not. 
Im just puzzled about the fact that the community seems as aligned on this being as terrible of a game as we've seen and so many saying they wont give EA a penny while also running into more god squads than "normal" teams.

Does "hundreds" seem like a lot of money to you?

I have spent about $200 on the game this year, mostly just to start my team.  I won't spend any more the rest of the year as I'm sitting on about 6 million coins plus a stacked team.

To me, spending a few hundred dollars on my primary hobby per year seems very reasonable.

As for the gameplay, I don't agree with a lot of things EA has done with the game, but I still enjoy playing most of the time.  

However, I can definitely understand someone not choosing to spend extra money on a product they feel is subpar.

That being said, I find it funny that  some people brag about being NMS, then spend hours on the game grinding for a return rate of approximately $1 per hour.

As for your complaint about others having all of the top expensive cards, it seems to me that most of the best cards have become extremely affordable.  You can definitely field a competitive budget squad.

I'm still rocking with 85 Josh Allen who goes for <50k.  90 Champ Bailey and 90 Jamar Chase go for about 350-400k.  88 Jason Taylor and 87 Micah Parsons are each about 100-150k and play amazing.

If you feel overwhelmed by other people's teams, to be honest they probably just take the game more seriously than you do.  If you don't want to spend money, I would definitely suggest working to improve your skills at the game as you can make a lot of coins just by winning.

I play a lot of nms clowns who feel its necessary to make that shit even their teamname

and they always have absolute godsquads

You'll never believe me but I'm NMS (minus 100 EA gave me for banning me last year) have an 87 team and 11M.
I should add I grind solos like made. I dont always do WL or solo battles but try to when I get the chance.

Spent $550 - have all the cards I want - none worth over 1 million - I only get players I like and I can’t stand DK. Have an 89 team plus 4 million coins. still can’t win more than I lose in champs - constantly get beat by people with crappier teams than me. Part of that is lack of skill although I play a lot, part of that is that I don’t run meta stuff and am constantly changing my playbook because I like running different plays - but when I need 10 yards I sometimes have trouble finding a play I know will work or a defense that stops a spammer. If I had to play for 1 million dollars I would use my go to playbooks where I know all the plays for each situation but I can’t force myself to always use those plays just to win.

dswkauli said:

I bought the bundle with Madden and CFB25 so there were some mut points included but outside of that I am NMS. 
Currently 87 OVR and 600k. No trading or market work, just playing and a bit luck with rewards.

I'm also NMS save for the Madden/CFB bundle and I'm sitting at an 88 (with no $$$, admittedly). I feel like this year it has been pretty easier to stack up coins/cards/training without spending money than in the past. Or maybe I'm just older than I was during Madden 17 and have better discipline about wasting my coins, lol.

NMS and have an 87 team with just over 3 million. Only points I've spent are the ones included with the Madden/CFB bundle. There are no cards on my team that arent BND, LTD or platinum. Gambled and had a few lucky pulls from mystery packs etc. and completing sets.

Should I really be surprised that this thread—despite being entirely neutral and explicitly stating it’s not about pros and cons—has turned into a discussion about money, proportionality, making fun of others, and so on? It’s really sad that this topic can’t be discussed more objectively among adults. Apparently, there are sensitivities on both sides

CNIZZOTE made a solid point—having a better team doesn’t guarantee winning. I recently went 18-2 and 15-5 in Champs with just an 86-rated team. However, the discussion wasn’t about whether the game is 'pay to win' (which I don’t believe it is), but rather my personal observation that there seem to be more teams around early in the year that one would consider a "god squad". Teams that at least in prior years I'd argue would not have been obtainable without buying a lot of packs.

I have always been NMS.  87 team and 5 million in coins.  I stopped playing H2H years ago.  To each their own regarding NMS or not.  From a NMS team building standpoint I don't find this year to more challenging than in prior years.  There have been a lot of good BND cards this year.  I still am using Pennix, a couple 88 RPs, and some of the Hispanic month players.  I also tend to stock my team with as many LTDs close to rental value, so that I can protect against the inevitable depreciation as higher rated cards are released.

It is still easy to make money in the AH, even if you can't see the overall rating most the time.  So yes, NMS is probably still viable for people with good stick skills (not me) and are willing to put up with all the nonsense in H2H.

Anything more than the Standard Edition is money spent for a leg up on everyone who doesn’t buy points. I don’t care who you are. You’re paying to win.

I'll buy cheap packs once in a while but the $20 and higher packs are too expensive for me.