IF and UP FIFA 15 Cards: EA’s False Advertisement

FIFA 15 IF and UP Cards: EA's False Advertisement

CENTRAL POINT is the fortnightly column of FIFA U Team website, written by Hugo Versiani.

You will find here the most hot Ultimate Team topics but also old stuff, described in a very objective and special way.

In this fourth episode, “FIFA 15 IF and UP Cards: EA’s False Advertisement”, the author shows that IF and UP FIFA 15 cards are not good value for money.

 

Hugo Versiani

IF and UP FIFA 15 Cards: EA’s False Advertisement

 

It seems like it’s going beyond the 90th minute, extra time and penalties. FUT players are tired of the Price Ranges discussion. If you play Ultimate Team for a long time, subjects such as price updates and attribute upgrades might be simple for you, but for other people it can be more complex and productive. Did you hear about the TOTS coming out next month? I can’t start talking about TOTS if people still don’t know how they should buy the other types of cards, or mainly the rare gold ones.

With the latest price updates made recently, now is the best moment to discuss this. Also because of some your comments and doubts I decided to write a little bit more about the best way there is to buy on the FUT market nowadays. I want to remind you that the analysis that follows is based on the PC (Origin) platform, therefore other consoles may experience variations.

The player chemistry style cards are consumables and most people use the special ones (shadow, catalyst and hunter) which are normally sold at higher prices, mainly for their contribution on each player’s attributes over the others. Normally defenders are applied the Shadow chemistry style, having their pace and defending attributes elevated by 3 points; midfielders usually use Catalyst, which favours pace and passing in the same way; at last there’s Hunter, which adds 3 points on pace and shooting and is most commonly used on attackers. Notice how their use corresponds to each player’s main attributes for the position.

 
IF and UP FIFA 15 Cards: EA's False Advertisement
 

With the recent changes (Price Ranges), cards with special chemistry styles are being sold on their minimum price allowed, so they end up cheaper or costing the same as those with no chemistry style or a non-special one. Also, look at the number of contracts the player you want for you team has, many can be found with 99 contracts. Pay attention because in the last few days, the players cards that you buy are coming all with only 7 contracts.

Another care you should take is concerning players that received upgrades. Let me explain this by using the Brazilian captain as example, Neymar. For better comprehension, I’ll compare his 86 rated card with his 87 rated one using Futwiz as price database (no advertisement intended) and we’ll also look at his main attributes for the position (pace, dribbling and passing).

The first card, rated 86, has minimum price set to 70.000 coins, maximum 110.000 coins and the following attributes highlighted: pace (90), dribbling (92) and passing (72). The second card, rated 87, has minimum price set to 130.000 coins, maximum 200.000 coins and the following attributes: pace (90), dribbling (93) and passing (73). Taking a look at the numbers on those cards, here’s what’s up: pace wasn’t improved and the other two attributes gained 1 point each, the difference is pretty insignificant. Considering each card’s minimum price, is it worth paying 60.000 more coins for such an insignificant upgrade? This upgrade in disguise has three objectives: lower the old card’s (86) value, insert coins on the market and fool uninformed players (which I hope are way less after this article). In case you want an alternative to compensate these two shooting points, I advise you to use Hunter chemistry style instead of buying the 87 rated Neymar.

 
IF and UP FIFA 15 Cards: EA's False Advertisement
 
IF and UP FIFA 15 Cards: EA's False Advertisement
 

We’ve talked about rare gold cards, now let’s say you have millions in your club. Neymar’s first IF card (rated 88) came out on TOTW 1 and its minimum price is 700.000 coins, 1.000.000 coins maximum and these are its attributes: pace (92), dribbling (94) and passing (75). His second IF (rated 89) came out on TOTW 20 and its minimum price is 950.000 coins, 1.400.000 coins maximum and its attributes are the following: pace (93), dribbling (95) and passing (78). Now between these two we have some significant changes. Now the prices, prepared? Looking at minimum prices, we’ve got a 250.000 coins difference. For this situation, tips will be the same as before. Then you ask: – Which one should I buy for my squad? Central Point answers: – Calm down, we’ve still got MOTM to approach!

 
IF and UP FIFA 15 Cards: EA's False Advertisement
 
IF and UP FIFA 15 Cards: EA's False Advertisement
 

This last card suits people who have so many coins in their club they don’t even know how to spend. 90 rated Neymar is the top card, now the only option for comparison we’ve got here is the best player in the position at his regular rare gold card, CR7. Real Madrid’s winger has got 93 of pace, 91 of dribbling and 81 of passing, minimum price 1.700.000 coins and maximum price 2.600.000 coins. While Njr11 has got 94 of pace, 96 of dribbling and 80 of passing, minimum price 1.400.000 coins and maximum price 2.100.000. What’s 300.000 coins for someone who’s willing to pay over 1 million coins for one player? Both have got excellent attributes, but the Portuguese player stands out for his balance that’s way beyond average, besides few clubs are able to afford the best player of the world.

 
IF and UP FIFA 15 Cards: EA's False Advertisement
 
IF and UP FIFA 15 Cards: EA's False Advertisement
 

You can’t come out with only one conclusion, since we have three types of cards (rare gold, TOTW and MOTM) for the same player. Therefore, in short, the best choice regarding the cost benefit will be the 86 rated card (in case you’d like, apply chemistry style hunter or catalyst). If you’re willing to actually spend a lot, the best quality choice for your LM/LW position is Cristiano Ronaldo (92).

 

IF and UP FIFA 15 Cards: EA's False Advertisement

 

If the same simulation is made for a squad’s starting eleven containing players of the three main leagues (BPL, Bundesliga and Liga BBVA), using only rare gold cards and performing a few position adaptations, let’s see what price difference we’ll get. In the first example, building this team requires from 81.050 coins (minimum) to 186.000 coins (maximum) spent. Now we have the same team, except that all player cards are upgraded, for our second example. Notice that the squad cost goes from 81.050-186.000 coins to 206.200-385.000 coins. Remember: these two examples follow the same line of thought as Neymar’s upgrade’s which was discussed previously. Well then, don’t waste your coins!

 
IF and UP FIFA 15 Cards: EA's False Advertisement

Squad 1: no upgrade

 
 
IF and UP FIFA 15 Cards: EA's False Advertisement

Squad 2: with upgrade

 
 

And just one more tip for those who’ve just started playing Ultimate Team, don’t get ahead of yourself with players being sold with training card attribute bonuses. For a moment you might think you’ve hit the jackpot, when actually you’ve just wasted loads of coins. A quick general rule for buying players on FUT15? Minimum price (in case you don’t know the player’s minimum and maximum price, take a look at this FUT15 price updates article), special chemistry style (shadow, catalyst and hunter) and maximum amount of contracts. Don’t forget. Cheaper IF’s with the best attributes? That I’ll leave for next time!

 
 
 
 
 
 

13 thoughts on “IF and UP FIFA 15 Cards: EA’s False Advertisement”

  1. I can’t say either way on the overall value of the IF concept?? But the SIF welback & sanchez are unbelievable cards. Stats aside? These 2 players make so many more plays than their regular cards. I had the previous Sanchez IF & I noticed a difference not just in stats either. Same w/welback, I had his motm & his SIF is better significantly. If I need they were this much better? I’d pay even more than I did. I think SIFs are worth the difference. The way I see it? An IF card is like having a regular cared w/an attribute booster added every game. I definitely notice a difference, in some more than others.

  2. I think the reason people pay lots for such small upgrades is because there are no other options to improve their squad. For example, UP Boateng is the best bundesliga defender without being ridiculously expensive, like IF Hummels or IF Boateng. People want to improve their squad as much as they can which is why they go for these upgrades, even if they aren’t much better than usual.

  3. I think you are right on target concerning IF players, but in your article you are missing one bit, IMO, every IF, that has a position changed mostly desired, will carry a hefty price that might as well be worth it. Here is an Example
    For a BPL team at the begining of FUT15, your choices for a CAM that had a good combination of passing, strength and speed where very limited….
    Di Maria
    Rooney
    Van Persie
    Mata
    Ozil
    Where all good options with position changes, becouse the great masters of the position Silva and Cazorla where LM. But on TOTW you´ve got those most craved position changes that allow for better chemistry with a hefty price, but worth it…..

    Another example is that if you like Aguero on the BPL there was no other that could compare in speed, balance and shot, even with Costa which is a different type of striker IMO. But when Alexis came in on TOTW as CAM it really helped having a pair of BPL lightning fast, hell of a shot strikers paired up front.

    So as a rule of thumb I would say ” IFs are worth it if there is a position change suitable for the player” Ronaldo and Bale as ST….. sweeeeeeet..
    =9

      1. totally agree at the time of griezmanns upgrade i ahd hoped for a NIF position change however this did not happen so i payed the hefty price of 270k (as i could not afford suarez) and this dramatically improved my squad as i no longer had to use the likes of rodrigo or dos santos

  4. I believe the key question that remains unanswered is “how better are IFs/UPs compared to regular cards?”. How can you compare the two? I’m not talking about the stats, I’m talking about gaming experience. Let’s see an example: Maxim. His normal version card is worth close to 2k. His IF trades close to 10k (discard value for IFs).
    If his IF is 5 times better, you should get the IF. Otherwise, stick to the regular card. But again, how do you determine if the IF is 5 times better??? Take Lacazette; the ratio for this SIF to the regular card is close to 170:2 or astonishing 85:1. How can an IF be 85 times better than his regular card???
    EA has (successfully) established the concept that owing an IF is worth a lot. With that, you have a reason to spend coins or FIFA points and keep the machine going. Rationally, I tend to disagree with EA.
    This analysis may be extended to “comparables”. Is Neuer 45 times better than Adler (the first is trading at 90k, the second is trading at 2k)?

    1. Maxim’s IF may just 5% better than his normal card. But it could cost 5 times. It is also the rule in real world. Bolt just runs a little bit faster than his colleague athletes, he earns multi times and so does his commercial value. CR7 earns 3 times more than Torres, but may be just 15% better. It is always worth paying a big amount for the high-end best if you have the coins. anyway, you can use the same money form an IF Maxim to buy 5 normal one, but cannot have 5 normal Maxim play on field at the same time.

      1. If you have infinite coins it is OBVIOUS that you should buy the high end player. All the discussion is about being worth to spend more on players that have a marginal increase in performance. In other words, how much this increase is worth.
        Regarding the argument that you cannot play with 5 Maxim, again that is also obvious. The real question is: If you have only 10k and a Bronze team, would you upgrade your team buying five 2k good players (Lacazette, Maxim, Guarin, etc.) or an IF Maxim?
        In Brazil we have a saying that “it is better to be poor and healthy than to be rich and sick”. But the best is always being healthy and rich.

    2. I completely agree with you and I am telling that all the time: IF cards are not good value for money. However, their price is not only a reflection of their ingame stats but also their rarity.

      1. it is true that IFs are not good value for money as some only receive a +1 across the board however when you have all the best players in your chosen league(s) the only possibility for improvement is to buy the over priced IFs.

        However i recently bought both Higuain IF and Muller SIF both received massive increase in shooting attributes (4 and 3,4) making these IFs much more worth the extra coins!

  5. By writing this article you have just pushed all the normal cards, that I have been saving up for, to their maximum price – well done !

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