The FC 26 Ultimate Team community is currently witnessing a massive shift in the economy. Leaks regarding the upcoming Team of the Season promo have surfaced across social media, and they are already having a devastating impact on card prices. Players are liquidating their clubs and preparing for an unprecedented influx of special cards entering packs this week.
Why the FC 26 Team of the Season schedule is changing
With the World Cup approaching in just a few months, the developers have had to adjust their usual content calendar to fit everything in. This compression means Team of the Season is starting much earlier than expected. To squeeze all the domestic leagues into a shorter time frame, multiple minor leagues are being released simultaneously alongside the major ones. The current leaks indicate that the Rest of Europe, Eredivisie, and MLS squads will all drop on the exact same Friday alongside the highly anticipated Serie A squad.
This creates a massive amount of new content at once. The leaked squads for the minor leagues contain 14 players each. That is 42 cards from those three leagues alone. When you add the expected 20 or so items from the Serie A squad, players are looking at over 60 special items entering packs in a single day.
We are seeing familiar names in the leaks, such as Ayase Ueda, Joey Veerman, Ismael Saibari, and Mauro Jr. from the Eredivisie. The MLS squad features exciting attacking players like Maximilian Arfsten, Denis Bouanga, and of course, Lionel Messi. Fans might notice the absence of players like Marco Reus or Heung Min Son in the MLS leaks, but that is simply because they did not play the full previous season in that specific league. For Serie A, early information points to Lautaro Martinez and Federico Dimarco leading the charge.
How leaked TOTS cards are crashing the FUT market
This sheer volume of high-rated cards is causing absolute chaos on the transfer market. We have seen the prices of high-tier out-of-pack specials and Trophy Titans icons absolutely plummet over the weekend. For instance, Emilio Butragueno dropped from over 1.1 million coins to around 850,000 coins in just a few days. Ruud Gullit and Ronaldinho are both dropping under the six million coin mark, while Zinedine Zidane is also seeing a massive price reduction.
If you are interested in reviewing the subjective analysis surrounding these exact market movements, you can find the source of the video here to see the original breakdown. The panic selling is incredibly real, as players liquidate their tradeable assets to build up coin balances for the upcoming promo.
The fodder market is taking an equally massive hit. High-rated gold cards and special items used for Squad Building Challenges are hitting rock bottom prices. Cards rated 89 are falling under 5,000 coins, while 90-rated cards sit around 9,000 coins. Even 92-rated items like Birgit Prinz have crashed from 90,000 coins to under 69,000 coins. With over 60 Team of the Season cards about to flood the game, many of them will inevitably end up at discard prices, which will push fodder prices even lower. The developers defenitely need to introduce better SBC exchanges to help stabilize this neglected section of the market.
Smart FC 26 Ultimate Team investment strategies right now
While the market is crashing, there are still smart ways to manage your club. One of the best investments right now is buying Team of the Week cards at their discard price of around 11,000 coins. You can stock them in your club or fill up your transfer list. Even if they do not rise immediately, they are a fantastic long-term hold. As the final Team of the Week release of the year, their supply is completely cut off. They will likely rise to 15,000 or 17,000 coins once the new SBCs start requiring them.
Instead of buying expensive tradeable players, focus on the new Evolutions to upgrade your squad. The new Unbreakable Milestones objective offers a fantastic max 91 Evolution called crunch time. By winning 25 matches in Rivals, FUT Champs, or live friendlies with a player boasting 85 or higher defending, you can unlock an upgrade that gives the Bruiser and Bruiser Plus playstyles. It also adds plus two to defending without increasing the player’s overall rating, making it perfect for cards like Joao Cancelo.
There is also a repeatable backline boost Evolution that maxes out at 87 overall. This gives Anticipate, Intercept, Jockey, Bruiser, and Block base playstyles along with a four-star weak foot upgrade. It is a highly effective way to boost the defensive stats of lower-rated gems like Moïse Bombito or Darlington Nagbe.
You should be very careful with your untradeable fodder right now. The new Icon player pick requires six squads and costs around 180,000 coins. While it does include FUT Birthday icons, it might be wiser to save those resources. The same goes for the Showdown SBCs featuring Noni Madueke and Ousmane Diomande, which feel slightly overpriced given the current market conditions. The Diego Milito Trophy Titans Hero SBC is incredibly cheap at 25,000 coins and might be worth doing just for future Evolution potential, but otherwise, holding onto your packs and fodder is the safest play.
Another reason to hold onto your assets is the potential for a warm-up event. In past years, we received a specific promo right before the main event kicks off. While we have a condensed calendar this year, we could still see daily login upgrades, special objective players, and themed SBCs. Saving your reward packs from game modes like Rivals and the new Ultimate Gauntlet is highly recommended. The Ultimate Gauntlet currently offers some of the best value for your time, rewarding an 88×5 pack for a perfect round, alongside other massive packs and a Trophy Titans player pick featuring Juan Roman Riquelme. Playing these modes and stashing the rewards will set your club up perfectly.
We are also waiting on potential Moments SBCs for players like Sergi Roberto or Jarrod Bowen, along with a baby version of Claude Makelele. With all this content on the horizon, patience and smart coin management are your best tools in FC 26 right now.
Frequently asked questions about FC 26 Team of the Season
When does the new promo start in the game
The upcoming promo is fully expected to launch in packs this Friday.
Which leagues are included in the first release
Serie A, MLS, Eredivisie, and Rest of Europe will drop simultaneously.
How many playstyles will the best cards feature
Most high-tier cards should feature three playstyle pluses to keep the power curve balanced.
Will there be a warm-up event this year
There might be daily logins and objectives released before the main content arrives on Friday.
Here are two alternative articles that could be written based on the transcription:
- How to prepare your club for the FC 26 Ultimate Gauntlet rewards
- The best FC 26 Evolutions to complete before the market crash
