There’s no better feeling than building a competitive team from scratch in College Football 26’s Ultimate Team. However, by opting for a “no money spent” (NMS) approach, you can make this experience much more rewarding.
Here, you have to work your way up with a smart strategy, a little patience, and resourcefulness to get the purest form of the Ultimate Team experience. To help you with that, let’s break down everything about going NMS in CFB 26. From coins to cards, we’ve got it all here.
What Is The No Money Spent Mindset?
Going “no money spent” typically means staying away from microtransactions and not spending your real-life money in any aspect of the game. To achieve this, utilizing every in-game opportunity is key as it will grant you all of the coins and player cards crucial to building your Ultimate Team.
That said, the following are the ways that can help you earn crazy rewards without dedicating a single penny to microtransactions.
The Foundations
Starter Pack
Your Ultimate Team journey begins with a base-level starter lineup. While these aren’t top-notch cards, they are enough for the early game modes.
Early Objectives
Prioritizing early objectives should be your first step. Complete onboarding challenges and tutorials, as they not only grant you packs and coins but sometimes player upgrades as well. This is vital for going NMS.
Filling Every Position
Use your initial rewards to build a promising starter lineup. You can achieve this by focusing on positions that make the biggest difference — QBs, offensive line, and defensive backs.
Leveling Up With Free Players
It’s possible to stay competitive in the game without spending, as there are many methods to earn coins and packs. In this step, the strategy is to focus on completing solo challenges and field pass milestones to get some free upgradeable cards. Use these to level up your team and complete further challenges.
Ways To Earn Coins And Rewards
We mentioned earlier that there are plenty of ways to earn coins in the game. Here are some of the best methods to get rich quickly.
Head-to-Head And Online Sessions
While solo challenges remain the lifeblood for going NMS, competing online can be valuable as well. Each head-to-head victory and completion of seasonal playoff achievements rewards you with coins and cards. Similarly, if you’re hunting high-tier awards and large coin payouts, winning ultimate team runs is the way to go.
Nailing Special Modes
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House Rules: This mode guarantees more rewards at a lesser risk. House rules offer limited-time events, such as “First to 15 Points” and “Only one play per drive.” These come with a different set of rules, offering more rewards without impacting your overall win-loss ratio. Whenever you see a House Rules event available, take part in it and give it your best shot.
- The Gauntlet: Although this requires a good initial team, The Gauntlet can reward you with large payouts if your lineup is solid enough. The ticket here costs 50,000 coins, but if you manage to win it, you can expect 500,000 coins and premium packs in return (rewards may vary across seasons and updates.)
Free Player Acquisition Methods
The Field Pass And Milestones Rewards
Each mode pitches into your Field Pass progression, which includes milestones such as yards, interceptions, and wins that refresh weekly. As your XP builds up with each milestone completed, you’re rewarded with all the goods required for an NMS approach, eg, packs, coins, upgrades, and more.
Daily Logins And Community Events
Don’t forget to log in daily! Remember, our goal here is to leave no stone unturned when it comes to collecting rewards. A daily reward may sound like a couple of hundred coins, but it can provide packs or bonus items, which are vital for upgrading your ultimate team.
In addition to logins, ensure to participate in limited-time seasonal solo challenges or community events, such as Conference Clash, Study Hall, or Standouts. These can give you an edge by providing one-time powerful cards (usually 85 – 87+ OVR) that can significantly elevate your lineup.
Strategic Approach In The Marketplace
The marketplace is an NMS player’s best friend, and timing plays a crucial role in buying and selling cards. Since fewer players mean less competition, consider purchasing high-end cards late at night or early in the morning, when there are fewer players online.
Similarly, when selling, always consider the timing. The mid-week is when the market is at its best, as more users want to complete their team builds before the weekend. This translates to better bids. Additionally, if you are sure that certain cards would be of no use, it’s wise to snipe them and harvest some coins, rather than letting them sit in your inventory.
Things To Consider While Team Building
Choosing The Right Players
A high-rated card usually translates to a better player, but your judgment shouldn’t just rely on the overall rating. Look for special abilities on the card as well, because some of them are far more valuable than the slightly higher rating. This is especially true for wide receivers, quarterbacks, and defenders, as they highly depend on individual performance and player-specific qualities.
Plus, even if you do get a high OVR card, ensure that the player matches your playstyle, since their power would be useless without a proper command. If it seems like they don’t fit in your squad, sell the card to get coins instead.
Upgrading Crucial Positions
With Field Pass rewards, coins, and trophies in hand, you must spend these resources on meaningful upgrades. Even if you have promising players at all the other positions, but your quarterback and O-line are mid-tier, your offense won’t be as effective or consistent. Therefore, it’s better to upgrade the important positions first for immediate improvement in results.
Additionally, adopt a tailored approach during upgrades. If you are more of an offense-first type, then invest in skill players. If you prioritize a strong defense, focus on strengthening your front seven and secondary.
Chemistry And Playbook Choices
Try to stimulate chemistry between players for the sake of stats and in-game performance. You can achieve this by signing up players from similar colleges or selecting the right playbooks.
Speaking of playbooks, even without spending money, you can try different offensive and defensive books and choose the one that suits your personnel. By doing so, you can elevate your game with less famous but effective schemes.
More To NMS Grinding And Optimization
Maximize Every Reward Path
Look for challenges that can be done simultaneously so you don’t have to grind for long. For example, if one objective requires you to “rush for 200 yards” and another one asks you to “win five solo challenges”. Complete both of these tasks in one go by focusing on rushing through each of the solo challenges.
Similarly, for a more optimized approach, don’t get into deep challenges too early. Begin with easier solo challenges and work your way up to gather as many resources as possible. Invest in significant upgrades so you can pursue the bigger opportunities that you weren’t ready for in the past.
Community Engagement
While College Football 26 players are deeply committed to the community already, for those opting for the ‘no money spent’ approach, it’s crucial to stay in touch.
Rack up your Discord/Reddit/YouTube feeds with NMS-related content, such as the latest coin-making methods, market trends, and glitch reports. As a result, you’ll be aware of the best practices that are performed by real people showcasing promising results.
With that being said, this guide is complete. At this point, you should be aware that going NMS in CFB 26 isn’t limited to just saving coins. Instead, you have to remain strategic in a lot of aspects of the game. So, go out there, put your heart and soul, and make a name for yourself on the field.
