This Richardson Combine Card

peatrick said:

Always coming through with the extremely relevant advice.  I lack sufficient historical context to understand these type things -- that seems to be half the battle with this game, figuring out which abilities actually work (or are as described) versus which barely do anything at all.  And none of this information is available from playing the game, we're essentially forced to do homework and/or consult with experts such as Martyr to take us to school on such important topics.

Much obliged, as always.  Thank you so much for educating me/us.  Abilities are essentially everything with the current state of the game (or always, at least the limited time i've been playing again in recent years).

Thanks for that...

if you want to see what Escape Artist used to be like, search for Madden 22 Derrick Henry QB ... that was before nerfing it.

They gave him the best release in the game. Escape artist on him....he could outrun any defensive player in the game. You accelerated by like 50% when you hit turbo with escape artist back then. He had near perfect accuracy and he's Derrick Henry so he'd break tackles also. He and 2004 Vick were probably the 2 most dominant QBs in Madden history

Martyr1968 said:

Thanks for that...

if you want to see what Escape Artist used to be like, search for Madden 22 Derrick Henry QB ... that was before nerfing it.

They gave him the best release in the game. Escape artist on him....he could outrun any defensive player in the game. You accelerated by like 50% when you hit turbo with escape artist back then. He had near perfect accuracy and he's Derrick Henry so he'd break tackles also. He and 2004 Vick were probably the 2 most dominant QBs in Madden history

Awesome, you have no idea how much i enjoy (and appreciate) hearing this type of relevant game-play description, especially from the years, or gosh, decade(s) at this point... that i missed.  That's when i got back into Madden (`22), although I never really dabbled with any Ultimate Team until `23 (finally dropping in around Christmas).  I clearly remember telling my son, "we won't be upgrading to a brand new game of Madden and NBA2K each and every year" heh... i constantly make a darn fool of myself, but here we are -- three years later, I keep buying them, although this was the first year I paid full price for both games.

Undecided if we'll be back next year... kind of looking forward to Elden Ring DLC this June, although by August, we'll see where I'm at, heh.

peatrick said:

Really impressive squad, btw -- but holy hell, get Ray Lewis out of there.  He's sooo slow.  How do you have both Hines Ward and Chuck Howley upgraded to 95 OVR?

Ray Lewis never sees my field unless I’m in 4-4 or goalline and believe it or not he’s made a ton of plays for me. I upgraded both of them and put a 95 in ward to get him fully upgraded. my Sub LB’s are Kam and Lott both at 99 speed with Sean taylor as in that sub lb 3 and dime back role. Every DB on my field has free pick artist. Not big on KO’s so I only rock mid zone on my slot CB adderly. Chase Young 99 speed with ETE and blitz Xfactor all game and furious George 98 speed with unstoppable force ETE el toro and inside stuff. Sapp at DT1 with inside stuff and secure tackler. Kam has avalanche and is an absolute GOD as my user. Idk man I’m having a ton of fun. Will probably sell DRC tomorrow and replace with Mel Blount since that plus 1 speed strat for combine expires tomorrow.

Martyr1968 said:

Escape artist was nerfed like 2 years ago; you can run just as well with him without escape artist ; the pursuit is just too good and the QB acceleration with escape artist is almost the same as without it

EA has become an X factor that isn't OP at all anymore. I'd keep it off of any QB even if you run with your QB.

Wrong man. On old gen escape Artist and human joystick are OP as fuck. We don’t get  any of the new abilities either

Addict said:

Ray Lewis never sees my field unless I’m in 4-4 or goalline and believe it or not he’s made a ton of plays for me. I upgraded both of them and put a 95 in ward to get him fully upgraded. my Sub LB’s are Kam and Lott both at 99 speed with Sean taylor as in that sub lb 3 and dime back role. Every DB on my field has free pick artist. Not big on KO’s so I only rock mid zone on my slot CB adderly. Chase Young 99 speed with ETE and blitz Xfactor all game and furious George 98 speed with unstoppable force ETE el toro and inside stuff. Sapp at DT1 with inside stuff and secure tackler. Kam has avalanche and is an absolute GOD as my user. Idk man I’m having a ton of fun. Will probably sell DRC tomorrow and replace with Mel Blount since that plus 1 speed strat for combine expires tomorrow.

OHHHH snap, they are going to gimp the Combine theme team by removing +1 SPD from that strategy card?  Or they completely removing the strat card, a la how they handled the Zero Chill shit?

My defensive philosophy and scheme basically revolve around various Zone KOs -- with the ultimate goal to have the entire field blanketed by as many KOs as possible.  I tend to agree with you, one or two Zone KOs alone don't make much of a difference, but once you get em applied all the way around (which we finally have plenty of AP to achieve this) it's absolutely game changing.  It is a passing league after all.  I gave up on running Inside Stuff abilities, too easily countered these days, especially with Secure Protector and/or double teams.  Honestly, No Outsiders scares me more lately, getting a quick shed on those outside HB Stretch style runs is devastating to my offense.  =)

I'm spending 2AP total on my D-line, with the other 9AP devoted to DBs.  Now that fatigue/stamina is removed (again) i should probably go back to trying Kam as my USER, although it's been hard for me to give up on Parham.  He's just so elite with that 6'8" frame at 98 SPD.  I love how the Combine cards boost all other players, so i can get that Change of Direction stuff bumped up.  Sucks speed is going away, but having 99 without any relevant theme team was a bit nuts.  Only way to compete with our beloved Superbowl theme teams.  We'll see what happens with TOTY, i guess.

Addict said:

Wrong man. On old gen escape Artist and human joystick are OP as fuck. We don’t get  any of the new abilities either

I think that's basically what he means --  yer still playing the same game from ~2 years ago.  But i thank you tremendously for terming it "old gen" -- for whatever strange reason, it pains me to call PS5 next-gen when it's been out nearly half a decade at this point.  I hated having to unplug my aging PS4 Pro, but sucks we're not able to tinker with our teams as the games are oh so very different at this point.

peatrick said:

I think that's basically what he means --  yer still playing the same game from ~2 years ago.  But i thank you tremendously for terming it "old gen" -- for whatever strange reason, it pains me to call PS5 next-gen when it's been out nearly half a decade at this point.  I hated having to unplug my aging PS4 Pro, but sucks we're not able to tinker with our teams as the games are oh so very different at this point.

This is my final year anyway. It’s literally the same cards and promos year in year out. I’ve won 17 super bowls so far this year but would be way more if I didn’t play Mut champs the first 5 months. All I play now is all pro h2h seasons since there is no leaderboard on all madden seasons. I don’t like how players move on the ps5 so I stayed on old gen. I can easily get a ps5 but the ps4 version plays better imo. To each their own. I’m just happy I came back on a top 100 player in my Super Bowl last night. it was looking really  bleak in the first half especially when I fumbled at the 1 yard line on 4th and goal and he recovered. I never gave up though because I was only down 1 possession. Came back and won 21-16 with DRC getting the game sealing interception with his free acro and PA.

Addict said:

This is my final year anyway. It’s literally the same cards and promos year in year out. I’ve won 17 super bowls so far this year but would be way more if I didn’t play Mut champs the first 5 months. All I play now is all pro h2h seasons since there is no leaderboard on all madden seasons. I don’t like how players move on the ps5 so I stayed on old gen. I can easily get a ps5 but the ps4 version plays better imo. To each their own. I’m just happy I came back on a top 100 player in my Super Bowl last night. it was looking really  bleak in the first half especially when I fumbled at the 1 yard line on 4th and goal and he recovered. I never gave up though because I was only down 1 possession. Came back and won 21-16 with DRC getting the game sealing interception with his free acro and PA.

GRATS on yer huge come from behind victory, that sounds absolutely clutch.  Love hearing about those detailed gameplay scenarios.  ANd i'm 100% with ya on that, undecided if i'll be back.  I didn't have a decade (or more) of recent Madden play, so I almost immediately dropped into the PS5 version once we were finally able to acquire one.  It's basically liek having to relearn the game all over again, but i'm sure you'd adjust fine if/when you were so inclined.  I had to add a second (Digital Edition) PS5 console this year, in place of the PS4 Pro, because of how the games split.

You definitely are not the first person I've heard suggest how they prefer PS4 generation of this game.  Pursuit angles are absolutely horrendous on PS5, but I'm the opposite, hard to go back to ~2 year old gameplay, not that a whole heck of a lot has changed, but there's enough of a difference that what you are suggesting is not unheard of.  I haven't tried DRC, was hoping to get a PS2 style Slot corner, something with both PA & Flat Zone KO for free...

Addict said:

Wrong man. On old gen escape Artist and human joystick are OP as fuck. We don’t get  any of the new abilities either

Ahhh Old gen! I did not realize we were talking about old gen. My bad.

On new gen it's way nerfed.

peatrick said:

I think that's basically what he means --  yer still playing the same game from ~2 years ago.  But i thank you tremendously for terming it "old gen" -- for whatever strange reason, it pains me to call PS5 next-gen when it's been out nearly half a decade at this point.  I hated having to unplug my aging PS4 Pro, but sucks we're not able to tinker with our teams as the games are oh so very different at this point.

Yesh I have 3 next gen consoles (Xbox X) , an Xbox one, an xbox 360 and a PS4. But I play Madden and The Show on Xbox X so when I give any info or opinion it's for next gen, sorry for any confusion.

I remember when I played video games on a commodore 64 and an Atari. I remember before that playing Pong on the Odyssey. Now THAT'S old gen LOL

Martyr1968 said:

Ahhh Old gen! I did not realize we were talking about old gen. My bad.

On new gen it's way nerfed.

Players move like they are in quicksand On ps5. I love usering on PS4. I can take away the entire middle of the field.

Martyr1968 said:

Yesh I have 3 next gen consoles (Xbox X) , an Xbox one, an xbox 360 and a PS4. But I play Madden and The Show on Xbox X so when I give any info or opinion it's for next gen, sorry for any confusion.

I remember when I played video games on a commodore 64 and an Atari. I remember before that playing Pong on the Odyssey. Now THAT'S old gen LOL

I remember playing on PS2 and PS3 and waiting in line at game stop to get my physical copy of the new Madden. Good times…..

Addict said:

I remember playing on PS2 and PS3 and waiting in line at game stop to get my physical copy of the new Madden. Good times…..

Yep absolutely. I still have old cartridges from Atari and nintendo LOL. Buying games digitally now are convenient but there was something to be said about running to the store and seeing that game disc/cartridge/box on the shelf and then bringing it home

Martyr1968 said:

Yep absolutely. I still have old cartridges from Atari and nintendo LOL. Buying games digitally now are convenient but there was something to be said about running to the store and seeing that game disc/cartridge/box on the shelf and then bringing it home

Exactly!