EA’s baffling decisions regarding speed potentially killing Madden Ultimate Legends program
Three new Limited Time cards joined another round of Ultimate Legends released Saturday, adding to the NFL Combine promo which dropped earlier this week.
The March 2 edition of Madden Ultimate Team drops yielded two of the better quarterbacks to hit the game to this point, and also provided PS4, Xbox One and PC users with the second stock 99 Speed card in the game.
Of course, it wouldn’t be a content drop without at least one running back being included, as the bloated position added another top-end name in the form of Walter Payton.
Payton certainly isn’t a bad item, as 95 Speed is quite generous compared to some of the Legends cornerbacks and linebackers released in recent weeks, but it’s hard to believe anyone but Bears fans will be excited for this item at this point in #MUTSeason.
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If the argument is to use “Sprinter” and team chems to boost Lane’s speed to more reasonable levels, then why didn’t EA apply the same logic to the likes of Super Bowl Past Legend Ronde Barber (94 Speed), or give 97 overall Team MVP’s Marlon Humphrey or Xavien Howard (95 Speed) similar ratings?
If it’s a matter of not making the Ultimate Legends too overpowered, there has to be a better balance between making an item viable, and completely nerfing it into the ground.
EA, it’s March, there should be no reason an item is unusable in the current meta without spending a plethora of Training Points and acquiring thousands of other coins just to boost it into relevancy. End rant.
Donovan McNabb’s 95 overall Gauntlet card was still relatively viable despite coming out in mid-December, so it’s fair to suggest this version will be one of the better quarterbacks in Madden Ultimate Team for the rest of #MUTSeason.
Arguably the most complete quarterback currently released, McNabb is nearly as fast as 97 overall NFL Combine Marcus Mariota, but possesses almost equal throwing stats to 98 overall Team of the Year Drew Brees. Of course, the Michael Vick problem still remains, as the Ghosts of Christmas Forever iteration is still faster than McNabb and also hits the necessary throwing thresholds.
That might actually wind up being a blessing in disguise, as others could wind up using different chems to improve Ross’ solid base receiving stats, but EA’s confusing decision on when to accentuate a given item’s speed will go down as one of the most confusing conundrums of Madden 19.