Can someone explain to me "play ball in air" trait?

Does this only determine how often they will take risks on trying to play the ball, like they will dive for more passes near them and trigger the diving animations if they have acrobat?

So if they have the "aggressive trait" they will go after more passes, getting more Ints, but can also make some bad misses, giving up big gains on missed dives?

Where play ball "conservatively" will not take risks to get interceptions, but also wont get beat for big gains?

Does this also impact how often they can trigger knockouts?

So which trait is the best?   I would assume "aggressive"?

Aggressive is definitely the best, balanced is ok. However, I like to get everyone in the secondary to have the Aggressive trait, because sometimes players can feel like they are stuck in mud when they need to attack and high point a ball for an INT. This is particularly important when you are using a shorter player, if they are short, don't have lurk or pick artist and have balanced or conservative play ball trait, they are a liability when trying to get a pick.

toddpack90 said:

Aggressive is definitely the best, balanced is ok. However, I like to get everyone in the secondary to have the Aggressive trait, because sometimes players can feel like they are stuck in mud when they need to attack and high point a ball for an INT. This is particularly important when you are using a shorter player, if they are short, don't have lurk or pick artist and have balanced or conservative play ball trait, they are a liability when trying to get a pick.

I agree with this 100%

I always have it on play ball

Geo7030 said:

I always have it on play ball

They got rid of that option on xbox next gen

toddpack90 said:

Aggressive is definitely the best, balanced is ok. However, I like to get everyone in the secondary to have the Aggressive trait, because sometimes players can feel like they are stuck in mud when they need to attack and high point a ball for an INT. This is particularly important when you are using a shorter player, if they are short, don't have lurk or pick artist and have balanced or conservative play ball trait, they are a liability when trying to get a pick.

Thanks for the info

Does putting Pick Artist on a player offset the  "play ball conservatively" trait, make them just as good as "play ball aggressively" trait?

Geo7030 said:

I always have it on play ball

i USED to "always" enable this toggle setting, as well -- unfortunately, it has been completely removed.  Unsure if that's because it simply does not function as intended (or at all), or what the rationale might be.  EA gonna EA, oof.  What a buggy ass mess we have on our hands.

jimshredder said:

Thanks for the info

Does putting Pick Artist on a player offset the  "play ball conservatively" trait, make them just as good as "play ball aggressively" trait?

It's difficult to say.  In recent weeks i've begun using primarily Zone KO abilities, in place of Pick Artist.  I thought this would result in essentially zero interceptions, however, due to the fact that my DBs (with KO abilities) will tend to get in position to make a play on the ball, so i haven't really missed Pick Artist all that much.  Just this week I added Keenan Allen FS, decided to run him as an outside corner (he's big, tall, fast with amazing coverage stats) and I've got the 3AP Deep Zone KO ability + 0AP Pick Unstoppable Artist, so we'll see if he performs noticeably better than my opposite corner, who is also a FS (Mike Evans) and has Deep Zone KO, but no PA.

Curious what other folks have to say about this stuff.  Inquiring minds want to know.  Really miss that "Play Ball" setting.  Early on in my `23 MUT career i was running almost exclusively the "Play Man" coverage adjustment, hoping to dislodge the ball.  Got burned a few times when my DBs would try to play ball, giving up huge gains, if not 1-play touchdowns.  YMMV.

jimshredder said:

They got rid of that option on xbox next gen

PS5 also

peatrick said:

It's difficult to say.  In recent weeks i've begun using primarily Zone KO abilities, in place of Pick Artist.  I thought this would result in essentially zero interceptions, however, due to the fact that my DBs (with KO abilities) will tend to get in position to make a play on the ball, so i haven't really missed Pick Artist all that much.  Just this week I added Keenan Allen FS, decided to run him as an outside corner (he's big, tall, fast with amazing coverage stats) and I've got the 3AP Deep Zone KO ability + 0AP Pick Unstoppable Artist, so we'll see if he performs noticeably better than my opposite corner, who is also a FS (Mike Evans) and has Deep Zone KO, but no PA.

Curious what other folks have to say about this stuff.  Inquiring minds want to know.  Really miss that "Play Ball" setting.  Early on in my `23 MUT career i was running almost exclusively the "Play Man" coverage adjustment, hoping to dislodge the ball.  Got burned a few times when my DBs would try to play ball, giving up huge gains, if not 1-play touchdowns.  YMMV.

I second this, at this stage KO's and free lurk artists are the way to go. DLine abilities while useful are not as good as the Ko's right now. Pick Artist was big early on. I like Deep out Ko on my deep safety and Deep In KO on whoever generally plays a 3 rec or drops into the middle. Another Deep out on a corner is good and if you have the coin for a free flat zone KO player at the other corner (Sherman right now) that is a pretty great setup. Cheapest 0 AP lurk artist right now is Josh Allen, Warner and CA Ray Lewis are obviously awesome too.

toddpack90 said:

I second this, at this stage KO's and free lurk artists are the way to go. DLine abilities while useful are not as good as the Ko's right now. Pick Artist was big early on. I like Deep out Ko on my deep safety and Deep In KO on whoever generally plays a 3 rec or drops into the middle. Another Deep out on a corner is good and if you have the coin for a free flat zone KO player at the other corner (Sherman right now) that is a pretty great setup. Cheapest 0 AP lurk artist right now is Josh Allen, Warner and CA Ray Lewis are obviously awesome too.

Agreed, whole-heartedly.  My AP breakdown on defense is as follows:

• 3AP Deep Out Zone KO (x2) for both outside corners, typically with Universal Coverage X-factor
  • although i'm currently testing out the Unstoppable Pick Artist X-factor on Keenan.  Mike Evans is my other outside corner for now.
• 3AP Deep Zone KO - from freebie Darren Woodson (in lieu of this, definitely go with Deep Inside Zone KO one either over top Safety)
• 0AP LurkArtist (x2) Fred Warner & Josh Allen

This is the first time all year i've felt liek there's a slight bit of organic pass rush, without having to try and engage in loop blitz or whatever.  Best D-lineman in the entire game is an offensive tackle, while some of the best DBs are WRs, heh.  Merry Christmas.

peatrick said:

Agreed, whole-heartedly.  My AP breakdown on defense is as follows:

• 3AP Deep Out Zone KO (x2) for both outside corners, typically with Universal Coverage X-factor
  • although i'm currently testing out the Unstoppable Pick Artist X-factor on Keenan.  Mike Evans is my other outside corner for now.
• 3AP Deep Zone KO - from freebie Darren Woodson (in lieu of this, definitely go with Deep Inside Zone KO one either over top Safety)
• 0AP LurkArtist (x2) Fred Warner & Josh Allen

This is the first time all year i've felt liek there's a slight bit of organic pass rush, without having to try and engage in loop blitz or whatever.  Best D-lineman in the entire game is an offensive tackle, while some of the best DBs are WRs, heh.  Merry Christmas.

Hey man, I trust your opinion. You really think bakthiari is that good inside huh? You think it's worth swapping out gravedigger for him? I have Perry at the other spot and he's been solid.

toddpack90 said:

Hey man, I trust your opinion. You really think bakthiari is that good inside huh? You think it's worth swapping out gravedigger for him? I have Perry at the other spot and he's been solid.

I wish i could give you a proper point of comparison here, but i haven't used Gravedigger.  I hear he's absolutely fantastic.  Weight seems to matter an awful lot more this year in blocking calculations, across both sides of the ball.  That being said, i believe he meets the minimum threshold (300 pounds) for what we'd want to see.  It's difficult for me to say if this is worth a nearly ~300k upgrade, but here's the direct comparison i'm poking through currently: https://www.mut.gg/compare/#15501237:0,32001713:0

Gimme a couple/few more days to thoroughly test in online H2H play and i'll report back if yer still undecided.  Was a no-brainer for me, i got stupid lucky and pulled both Keenan Allen & David Bakhtiari from the same pack.  Granted, it cost me 2800 points, but well worth it.  I was fully intending to build one and buy one, but problem solved.

For additional context, i'm coming from having Dexter Lawrence and Aaron Donald (Terminator) as my DTs, although i've since moved Terminator to RE/RRE, while using TJ Watt at LE (and RLE).  Bakhtiari & big Sexxy Dexxy are my current DT1/DT2.  Benched Mean Joe Greene.  These were mostly just things i'd acquired through random packs, etc and what i had on hand.  Didn't want to spend big on D-line, as i wasn't convinced pass rush pressure was even feasible this year.  Slowly starting to change my mind.

However, my H2H seasons are still broken, so i haven't been playing online much.  After a month+ i've given up hope on ever having it resolved, uggh.

EDIT: Ohh and i even used the 88 Fridge (Perry) at DT for a minute, next to Javon Hargrave Ultimate Kickoff 88 OVR or whatever promo.  Fridge was quite good, hell i had decent experience with a handful of those 88 OVR All Madden players.  I'm not sure there's much i could help / teach you, you've got a ton of MUT knowledge and are almost certainly ahead of me by miles and miles.  That being said, both TJ Watt & big David have been surprising additions to D-line.  Full squad here, in case yer curious.

peatrick said:

I wish i could give you a proper point of comparison here, but i haven't used Gravedigger.  I hear he's absolutely fantastic.  Weight seems to matter an awful lot more this year in blocking calculations, across both sides of the ball.  That being said, i believe he meets the minimum threshold (300 pounds) for what we'd want to see.  It's difficult for me to say if this is worth a nearly ~300k upgrade, but here's the direct comparison i'm poking through currently: https://www.mut.gg/compare/#15501237:0,32001713:0

Gimme a couple/few more days to thoroughly test in online H2H play and i'll report back if yer still undecided.  Was a no-brainer for me, i got stupid lucky and pulled both Keenan Allen & David Bakhtiari from the same pack.  Granted, it cost me 2800 points, but well worth it.  I was fully intending to build one and buy one, but problem solved.

For additional context, i'm coming from having Dexter Lawrence and Aaron Donald (Terminator) as my DTs, although i've since moved Terminator to RE/RRE, while using TJ Watt at LE (and RLE).  Bakhtiari & big Sexxy Dexxy are my current DT1/DT2.  Benched Mean Joe Greene.  These were mostly just things i'd acquired through random packs, etc and what i had on hand.  Didn't want to spend big on D-line, as i wasn't convinced pass rush pressure was even feasible this year.  Slowly starting to change my mind.

However, my H2H seasons are still broken, so i haven't been playing online much.  After a month+ i've given up hope on ever having it resolved, uggh.

EDIT: Ohh and i even used the 88 Fridge (Perry) at DT for a minute, next to Javon Hargrave Ultimate Kickoff 88 OVR or whatever promo.  Fridge was quite good, hell i had decent experience with a handful of those 88 OVR All Madden players.  I'm not sure there's much i could help / teach you, you've got a ton of MUT knowledge and are almost certainly ahead of me by miles and miles.  That being said, both TJ Watt & big David have been surprising additions to D-line.  Full squad here, in case yer curious.

Hey man, I appreciate it. If I got some coin to blow I might test it out. I gotta get that Deebo for the squad though so that’s who I’m going for tonight. The zero chill tyreek honestly has been a bit underwhelming, probably gonna trade him in and get deebo and maybe buy back Djax for kick returns. Can’t get tyreek to break loose the same way, but djax had 4 tds on kickoffs for me in like 2 weeks so the proofs in the pudding.