At E3, EA Sports announced their new game mode “Draft Champions”. The mode, which will debut in the newest Madden installment, features a rare blend of Madden Ultimate Team and fantasy draft. In the mode, players will go through 15 rounds where they will select a player from three choices to fill 15 positions on the field, the other positions being filled by high 70 overall players. Players will then go through an online or offline tournament where they try to win it all. If players fail to do so, they can jump right back in and create a new team from a different pool of players. Like in every mode, the newest game mode has it’s pro’s and con’s. Here are three pro’s and con’s of the newest “Draft Champions”
CON– The inability to choose your scheme: This con is for the more hardcore online gamers. I have talked to many different hardcore gamers that have their schemes, whether it’s a go to play or a go to set, they all have their way of playing the game. In Draft Champions, you’ll have slim pickings on schemes because the scheme you use will be based on the head coach that you pick and you’ll only have the choice of three different coaches. This could also be used as a positive because it allows you to go out of your realm and forces you to use different schemes.
CON– The slim pickings: Again, this idea can be used as both a pro and a con. To some, the slim pickings could be a challenge they don’t like. They could enjoy the choice of taking Aaron Rodgers instead of Tom Brady like in Madden Ultimate Team. They also could enjoy having the choice to use their own playbook instead of being forced to use another one. On the other side of the spectrum, some, like myself, could enjoy using the different players then what they normally use. Giving this yet another positive.
CON– The lack of leaderboards: Unlike other EA and Madden modes, Draft Champions has been reported to lack a leaderboard. To many people, they would enjoy to have the ability to compare their stats to others who play the game mode. In Draft Champions, you wouldn’t be able to compare yourself to other players in different categories, such as Tournaments won, times played, highest overall. This could prove to be a big downfall to EA as whole as some players could move away from the game mode because of this.
PRO– No pay to win: In the ever so popular ‘Madden Ultimate Team’, if the player has more money they have a higher chance to win. More money gives the player with the controller the ability to open up more packs, giving them the higher chance of packing the better players, giving them the better teams. Unlike Madden Ultimate Team, there is no money involved in Draft Champions. In Draft Champions, you get a variety of players and you can’t increase your odds of gaining a top player using money.
PRO– The mystery of who will come next: Like a fantasy draft, Draft Champions gives the mystery. In the mode, you won’t know comes next. In one round, you can have a middle of the pack QB (think Ryan Tannehill) and 2 top CB’s. You can either take one of the two top CB’s and pass up on the QB in the hopes that there will be a better QB later in the draft, and you never know, there may be.
PRO– The option of offline or online competition: Despite being a big time gamer, I enjoy playing offline in connected franchise mode. In Draft Champions, I have the choice of playing it either online or offline in a tournament type competition. If I draft my team but I’m not feeling like playing online, I can hop into some offline games to either get better at the game or take a break from playing online all the time. This idea works for both the casual gamer and the hardcore, and even professional, gamers because they can either play against real people or just try new player in the offline mode.
Personally, I will be playing this mode a lot. I have been a big fan of the game mode Madden Ultimate Team and this makes the playing field even more level for me, as I have usually been left with a low 90’s or high 80’s team, putting me in a poor situation.
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