Division Rivals in FIFA 21 distribute weekly rewards in Ultimate Team. However, it seems that for some players it is not worth playing as high as possible – what is going on?
What are Division Rivals? Division Rivals is a competitive mode within Ultimate Team. There are a total of 10 divisions, in which players are ranked based on their skills, the skill rating. Ideally, real FIFA pros are in the upper divisions while slightly weaker players are in the lower ones. This is meant to ensure that players with comparable skills meet. In the upper divisions, the rewards and especially the points for the Weekend League qualification per game are generally better.
Once a week, there are Division Rivals rewards. How rewarding these are is determined by the rank a player achieves within their own division over the week. There are a total of six ranks – the more wins collected, the higher the rank at the end. On the high ranks, the best rewards can be found. Theoretically, it is therefore worthwhile to collect as many wins as possible. Practically, however, it looks a bit different.
Division Rivals has a game limit in FIFA 21
FIFA 21 has an important change: Normally, in the past years, every single game played in Division Rivals counted towards the weekly ranking. This ranking is crucial for determining what rank a player achieves at the end of the week and therefore what rewards they receive.
In FIFA 21, however, only 30 matches per week count towards the ranking. This is part of the FUT changes. After that, only Weekend League points, skill rating, and coins are awarded – but the matches no longer affect the rewards.
This makes each individual win even more important. One can no longer reach the high ranks simply by playing as many matches as possible throughout the week. And this, in turn, seems to disturb some players so much that they prefer to drop a few divisions – that is, intentionally lose.
The highest division is not necessarily worthwhile
What is the problem? The community has been discussing the problem in many threads. One user on the FIFA subreddit described the situation: “Currently, I am a player in Division 1 with a skill rating of 1937.” This has been the highest he has ever had, and he has not been close to falling into Division 2 (via reddit).
He is not good enough to keep up with players who have a skill rating of over 2000, but too strong for players around 1800: “That’s why I will pretty much always remain at this low D1 level. That’s absolutely fine – that’s my skill level, and that’s okay.”
The problem, however, is that with the new 30-game system he has no chance of obtaining the best rewards in his division: “With the current system, I will never reach rank 1 in D1 because I don’t win enough games in D1.” In the past, he could just keep collecting games until he had enough points – that is no longer possible with the limit.
This means that it would be more worthwhile for him to play in a lower division. He compares the reward for rank 2 in Division 1, which he can hardly reach, with rank 1 in Division 4, which would be easier to achieve due to weaker opponents.
- Division 1, rank 2 would give him the options
- 55,000 coins
- or 2 tradable rare mega packs
- or 4 untradable rare mega packs.
- Division 4, rank 1, on the other hand, would give him
- 65,000 coins
- or 1 tradable rare players pack, 1 prime gold players pack, and 1 mega pack
- or 2 untradable rare players packs, 2 prime gold players packs, and 2 mega packs.
This means: Three divisions lower, the player has realistic chances of getting better coins or packs. “Where is my incentive to stay in Division 1 for the next week?” asks the player in his post: “Why shouldn’t I finish my 30 games this week and then demote myself to D4 for next week, where I can easily land in first place without breaking a sweat?”
Basically, Division 1 is comparatively only worthwhile if one can truly reach rank 1 and score an ultimate pack or 80,000 coins there. However, that is quite difficult.
Division Rivals needs a solution
Apparently, some players have already figured out the math, as players often report opponents who intentionally give up matches and leave right at the start – presumably to downgrade. This is another problem because if the opponent gives up, one receives far fewer weekly points than if they win in a full match with many goals. Since one also has the 30-game limit, this is bad – after all, one wants to collect as many points as possible per game.
Last year, FIFA 20 had a problem with intentional relegators. Players drop down in the divisions to complete the objectives in Icon Swaps more easily.
What could the solution be? Several users on reddit are demanding a seemingly simple solution: The rewards in the higher divisions must simply be more worthwhile than in the lower ones. Rank 1 in Division 4 should not promise potentially better rewards than rank 2 in Division 1. Here, the balancing simply does not seem to be right.
Additionally, it is requested that leaving matches positively impacts the “winner” at least (via reddit): “Twice now I have played a game in Division 1 where the other guy is trying to derank. He paused and left, and I only received the points for a draw,” reports a player: “In previous years, that was an annoyance, but now it has a significant impact on what rewards I can actually achieve at the end of the week.”
What division are you currently in? Have you ever encountered players who are actually too good for your division? If you’re looking for tips for FIFA 21, you’ll find them here.
