PSA: Best VALUE Quarterback in the game... and Shadow-Nerf???

For anyone not already aware, please do not snooze on this Doug Williams, he's IMO still an S-tier signal caller, gets the same release as Bo Jackson (Combine QB) who is objectively THE best quarterback in the game right now.  I don't think that's even up for debate... but Douggie fresh at ~150k (on PS5) feels liek an absolute steal.

Of course you'll start hearing about shadow-nerf this, that, the other... same conversation seems to have just started creeping up regarding Bo, as well.  I don't believe it for a second, nothing in this game is consistent, i feel liek all the chatter about shadow-nerfing is mostly just the inconsistent, buggy-ass mess we have all come to know (and love?) as Madden Ultimate Team.  YMMV, obviously use whoever YOU prefer.  At a certain point, your playstyle and personal preferences (and favorite players/teams) will dictate what you want to do with your roster, but seeing as how this is the single most important position in all of MUT and all of sports, I'm sure there are questions about who or what to use.

And the 6AP god-stack i would encourage for most (assuming you are trying to field a competitive online H2H roster):

• Hot Route Master (1AP)
• Set Feet Lead (4AP)
• Gift Wrapped (1AP) -- yes, GW is still necessary, especially if you ever hope to throw any high point passes.  Blame EA, don't shoot the messenger.  It's basically akin to not having Pick/LurkArtist on your defenders, it's that big of a difference, IMO.  Sadly, we need abilities so our professional athletes can simply catch the dang ball, oof.
• Bonus: Roaming DeadEye (2AP) -- if you're already comfortable throwing perfect "blue" passes with every ball, this is totally not necessary.  Otherwise, get outside the pocket, briefly let up on the speed boost and bombs away.  Thank me later.

Doug's (and Bo Knows) Traditional 4 release is widely regarded as the best in game.  That QB Style throwing motion is so buttery smooth and the ball comes out QUICK, so much so that the Gunslinger ability is completely optional and definitely NOT necessary.  Doug without Gunslinger is better than Mahomes 99 OVR MVP card with Gunslinger. Let's discuss, please feel free to change my mind.

Hope that helps someone out there in MUT-land.  Be safe, be nice, be fun. . . 🏆🏆🏆

Personally, I'm not a believer in shadow nerfs. But I also wouldn't be surprised if EA does them given that it could help sell packs. 

I believe some of what people call shadow nerfs are just old cards being compared to new cards which are slightly better. 

I also think that there's some confirmation bias going on. If you just bought a new card of course you're mainly going to be looking for things that make your purchase seem worthwhile. Same goes if you're looking to move on from a card, you might look for the smallest mistakes that would justify selling the card.

Would love to see some data to settle this once and for all.

I believe shadow nerfs happen, but idk about this year. However, LAST year I recall that the LTD Legends Joe Flacco was 150% shadow nerf‘d after about a week. He came out at rental price cuz of a store offer and he had an awesome release and ability stack so everyone had him. Then all of a sudden he started playing completely different, blatantly missing throws. I think it was around January last year

Breakluna said:

Personally, I'm not a believer in shadow nerfs. But I also wouldn't be surprised if EA does them given that it could help sell packs. 

I believe some of what people call shadow nerfs are just old cards being compared to new cards which are slightly better. 

I also think that there's some confirmation bias going on. If you just bought a new card of course you're mainly going to be looking for things that make your purchase seem worthwhile. Same goes if you're looking to move on from a card, you might look for the smallest mistakes that would justify selling the card.

Would love to see some data to settle this once and for all.

All good points here. I think this is how it goes 99% of the time

Breakluna said:

Personally, I'm not a believer in shadow nerfs. But I also wouldn't be surprised if EA does them given that it could help sell packs. 

I believe some of what people call shadow nerfs are just old cards being compared to new cards which are slightly better. 

I also think that there's some confirmation bias going on. If you just bought a new card of course you're mainly going to be looking for things that make your purchase seem worthwhile. Same goes if you're looking to move on from a card, you might look for the smallest mistakes that would justify selling the card.

Would love to see some data to settle this once and for all.

Outstanding points, each and every one you made.  I would tend to agree with basically everything you are suggesting here.  Also, i'd absolutely LOVE to see some data to help back any of this up -- i guess the only way would be to make a ~100 of the same throw from practice mode on the day a card drops, then try to repeat the process another 100, or so time a few weeks later to compare the results.

Not sure i have it in me to prove that EA is too lazy and pathetic to make actual in-game updates, but at the same time... stranger things have happened, i wouldn't put it past EA to do something sneaky and under-handed, especially if they think it could somehow improve their bottom line in this all important "make or break" year.  I'm absolutely guilty of getting those rose-colored glasses whenever i'm fired up about adding a new card to the MUT squad.  That brief dopamine rush is really something, but typically only lasts 20-30 minutes, if not less.

xxRaiderGang21xx said:

I believe shadow nerfs happen, but idk about this year. However, LAST year I recall that the LTD Legends Joe Flacco was 150% shadow nerf‘d after about a week. He came out at rental price cuz of a store offer and he had an awesome release and ability stack so everyone had him. Then all of a sudden he started playing completely different, blatantly missing throws. I think it was around January last year

Ahhh, unfortunately last year (`23 cycle) was my very first time playing MUT and i only started tinkering leading up to Christmas, so the entire game was absolutely overwhelming for me last year -- wasn't til probably late JAN/FEB before i started to settle in and begin enjoying the grind.  Although, i've probably put in a ~1000 hours since then, oof.

EA has a track record of NOT communicating slight changes they make, even the patch notes barely begin to explain what they're doing.  Wouldn't require much effort to adjust a few sliders, but gosh, with how terribly inconsistent this game is, it's so difficult to tell.  It's still amazing to me that there's a comp scene where dudes are playing for tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars.  I tend to want to smash my controller in a fit of rage-disorder and that's just playing recreationally in the comfort of my own home.  Imagine grinding all the way to MCS finals, only to face more of the same RPO cheese we see at all levels, oof.

I'm certainly open to any and all possibility, i don't doubt what you are saying about Joe Flacco, not one bit.

peatrick said:

Outstanding points, each and every one you made.  I would tend to agree with basically everything you are suggesting here.  Also, i'd absolutely LOVE to see some data to help back any of this up -- i guess the only way would be to make a ~100 of the same throw from practice mode on the day a card drops, then try to repeat the process another 100, or so time a few weeks later to compare the results.

Not sure i have it in me to prove that EA is too lazy and pathetic to make actual in-game updates, but at the same time... stranger things have happened, i wouldn't put it past EA to do something sneaky and under-handed, especially if they think it could somehow improve their bottom line in this all important "make or break" year.  I'm absolutely guilty of getting those rose-colored glasses whenever i'm fired up about adding a new card to the MUT squad.  That brief dopamine rush is really something, but typically only lasts 20-30 minutes, if not less.

It's definitely a decent amount of effort required for something that might not even be conclusive. Even if the evidence showed that there's no shadow nerf that the shadow nerf believers could just claim that's because EA didn't nerf that particular card. So anyone interested in testing this would probably have to test multiple different players.

I know I do it as well with cards I'm excited for. Pretty sure everyone does. We're only human.

For those that do not belief that EA nerfs cards, how do you explain away the Jerry Rice fiasco from last year??

I love Doug. Took him as my bnd and I run HRM and GW and him for 2ap total.   He's been money for me and i have him at 73% completion percentage with average passing yards of 11.3 over hundreds of h2h games.   No reason to move on anytime soon.