It is summer and the FIFA 22 season is coming to an end. A good time for experiments. That’s why we unleashed the slowest striker in the game on Ultimate Team. So – leisurely.
If you log into Ultimate Team now to play some Division Rivals or FUT Champions, you will mainly encounter one thing: Completely overpowered, crazy super teams.
Thanks to the Futties event, it is currently very easy to get powerful top cards. They are everywhere right now, the Messis, Ronaldos, special cards, and legends that are cheaper than ever before.
In some ways, everything is the same. The players are fast, skillful, agile, and master all the tricks. It’s high time to shake it up a bit, especially now, as the FIFA 23 release approaches.
That’s why we wanted to find out: How well does the slowest striker in the game perform in this environment?
No speed, no dribbling – but plenty of fun
Who is the slowest striker in the game? This dubious honor goes to Luis Guillermo Madrigal, as a quick search on the futbin portal revealed. According to FIFA 22, he plays in the Mexican league and has been given a shocking speed rating of 28. Exactly what we were looking for.
I got the bronze card for 5,000 coins, which is quite high for the slowest player in the game. No matter. I had a good feeling. Madrigal, that sounds like plenty of goals. Right?
So I started the first Division Rivals match with my new attacker up front. With top winger Insigne, I dribbled down the left flank, passing into the middle to de Ligt, who delivered the pass to the man of the hour.
And my goodness: I expected Madrigal wouldn’t start running too fast, of course. But that he would be this slow – I didn’t expect that.
He got the ball at his feet, I pressed sprint and – nothing. With the explosiveness of a retreating cruise ship, Madrigal moved one meter forward. There he was then met by a rushing, probably laughing central defender.
Of course, I wanted to curve around him with a fake shot, as usual. But since this movement also proceeded at maximum slow-motion, my opponent extended his foot and stole the good Madrigal’s ball.
After I successfully regained the ball, I played a combination down the right. This time I chased the ball, as usual, with a steep pass into the final third – directly into the path of Madrigal.
Unfortunately, the good man took a few seconds again to get going. Just enough time for exactly three opponents, who were about twice as far from the ball, to comfortably catch up and secure the sphere.
To summarize: With Madrigal, you definitely won’t win a sprint duel, especially not in the current phase when everyone has crazy cards. He felt basically like an anti-Mbappé.
When I wanted to start running with him for the first time, my gaze immediately went to the top of the screen – where FIFA 22 shows connection issues. It felt exactly as if I just had a damn poor Internet connection. But no: He is really that slow.
Where does the fun come from? Just because Madrigal doesn’t win a sprint duel doesn’t mean I gave up. I really wanted to score with him. So I built up my tactics so that all instructions screamed at the striker: “Stay up front, don’t move, and stick your foot in when it fits.”
And behold: It worked. My team swirled around the penalty area and I tried to get the ball to Madrigal in a way that he would just have to shoot.
Admittedly, this is a massively inefficient way to play. Because it constantly creates good scoring opportunities with other players, where I would actually just need to pull the trigger. But that wasn’t the point.
Instead, I did everything to whip Madrigal toward the goal. And that was a challenge that I found a damn lot of fun. There was something to it, not to play the “usual” plays, but to focus entirely on getting the striker into the perfect position.
And it should actually work:
The funny thing is: Over the course of the games with Madrigal, you somehow get used to his pace. You know exactly: If I turn now, it will take forever. But the opponent doesn’t necessarily reckon with that, because all the other cards on the field are much, much faster and move differently.
I absolutely do not want to say that slowness is an advantage. But it is definitely unexpected for some opponents.
If you are only after wins and rewards, it is probably still a really bad idea to rely on Madrigal up front. But if you just want to have some fun in FUT and do some nonsense: Give it a try.
Speaking of FUT: The FIFA 23 release is approaching, and the changes for Ultimate Team are known – including a major chemistry change.
