Madden NFL 23 Free-to-Play Ultimate Team Tips: Build the Best Team Without Spending Money

So you’re playing Ultimate Team mode in Madden NFL 23, and are immediately enticed by the promise of putting together your dream roster.  The system is rendered in packs of cards, which you can use to build up your Overall Rating (OVR) and create a powerful roster you can call your own. The mode, however, shares some mechanics in common with gacha titles, and as a result, you can easily be seduced by the presence of microtransactions for packs to get players faster. Never forget, this is an optional mechanic in Ultimate Teams, and you can still build a fearsome roster over the season, so read on for our guide on How to Build Your Ultimate Team Without Spending Money!

Madden NFL 23 Free-to-Play Ultimate Team Tips: Build the Best Team Without Spending Money

Ultimate Team has plenty of packs you can buy with in-game or real money in Madden 23, but you can also earn those packs by taking on Missions, completing Challenges, and leveling up on your Field Pass. You can find all of these in the Ultimate Team menu. Any of these will yield packs with players far superior to your starters, and you’ll quickly bring your rating out of the 60s and beyond by simply using this method. It is a grind, and the in-game coins are very sparsely given out as rewards, but when you complete milestones such as the Team Captains’ challenges, you’ll get invaluable additions to your team. Using this team in additional challenges will let you achieve more milestones, unlock more players, and perform better while doing it.

Additionally, focusing on challenges will unlock greater XP and further subsequent rewards, including packs and more, and can easily be done quickly like with the Headliners challenges. Completing enough Headliners challenges gains you XP for the Headliners Rewards, which also have packs, and even rare players like Derrick Brown, or guaranteed 86 OVR Headliners Hero Fantasy Packs. Seeing challenges through will get you increased levels of rarity in draws, all without spending a cent, but you just have to exercise discipline to avoid using your real funds. Look around long enough, and you’ll see challenges you can complete for more packs, scattered about the menus of Ultimate Team.

Finally, you’ll have a pool of points (green icon next to the coins on the top-right) you can use for packs in the marketplace for free. You should never sit on them, especially when they promise rare card pulls. In-game coins are not overly plentiful, but you can efficiently spend them on things like Daily Gold+ player packs, which cost a measly 500 gold you can easily collect in challenges. Consider the Pro Elite Fantasy Packs among other options, anything you can get multiple pulls of players with a strong OVR and a promise of something rare you can either auction for more currency, or incorporate into your team. Remember, this, and all the above-listed items, are ways you can get players for free.

This concludes our guide on How to Build Your Ultimate Team Without Spending Money! Be sure to check out our other guides on the game! Don’t forget to complete your daily Field Pass objectives!

Madden NFL 23 is available as of August 19, 2022, for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, and Series X|S.