Learn the best tips, tricks, and strategies to start Madden Ultimate Team mode in Madden NFL 22. More commonly known as "MUT," Madden Ultimate Team is Madden NFL 22's unique gaming experience that combines the best features of football and gaming. For those unfamiliar or new to the series, MUT is essentially the gaming version of Fantasy Football, packed with solo challenges, collections, head-to-head multiplayer experience, and more.

Madden NFL 22's Ultimate Team has a lot to offer for those who really want to sink their time into a competitive experience. Regardless of the level of experience from MUT's in older Madden NFL games, it can be a lot to look at and determine where to start. This guide will point newbies and veterans in the right direction for getting started, and where they can continue to branch out.

Related: Madden NFL 22 Review: Modest Improvements Across The Board

Madden Ultimate Team begins with solo challenges right away as a soft introduction for how they work and the rewards they provide. Once the MUT menu is available, categories for things to do are split into five different tabs called Play, Missions, Marketplace, My Team, and Competitive. Each tab has a few different activities and things to manage within it, so be sure to check them all out and read each description. Primarily, however, stick to the Play tab in the very beginning. This is where the Madden NFL 22 features, like Player Challenges, Solo Battles, and Head-to-Head Season content, are located, as well as more items like MUT Champions, Squads, and Draft.

Madden NFL 22: Ultimate Team Starter Guide

Madden NFL 22 Review

Both Challenges and Solo Battles are going to be the primary ways to earn coins for MUT in Madden NFL 22. After completing the introductory Challenges, the next thing to worry about is completing the Ultimate Team campaign and Gridiron Forge challenges. The campaign will go through an entire NFL season to build up a player's team. A lot of the basics and advanced mechanics are taught step-by-step in "The Campaign," so be sure to give it thorough attention. Gridiron Forge is where players can test their team for even higher rewards, working their way from Tier 1 to Tier 20 rewards. These Tiers reset, and Gridiron Forge indicates when the new Forge will arrive (there is a new one nearly every month and a half).

After spending some time in Challenges, the next places to look towards are Solo Battles and H2H Season. Solo Battles offer new rewards every week, but they are tougher to complete without spending that time in The Campaign. H2H Season pits players against players for ranking, and as the season continues eventually enough wins will lead to the Madden NFL 22 Super Bowl. More wins equal better rewards as teams reach the playoffs and beyond. Salary Cap is another ranked mode under H2H Season, limiting the roster cost that players can use to build a team.

MUT Champions, Squads, and Draft are the final items under the Play tab. MUT Champions is a weekend league that features a limited number of games to climb up a ladder ranking. Squads bring two or three players together to take on other teams. Lastly, Draft is another player vs player mode where every match is comprised of freshly drafted teams. Unfortunately, the rewards for both Draft and Salary Cap have been greatly reduced in Madden NFL 22, and are hardly worth the time of anyone trying to build a great team.

Tom Brady walks into the field in Madden NFL 22

The Missions tab is where goals are completed to gain additional MUT levels, and earn the Ultimate Champion - Kam Chancellor. The Ultimate Champion has additional goals to power him to 95 OVR. Team Affinity is located in the Missions tab as well, where Team Captains and Team Builder activities can be completed. Look through the challenges and what is needed to complete them, but starting off these aren't activities that need to be worried about at the beginning of Madden NFL 22's MUT.

The MUT Marketplace has a couple of items, including the "pay to win" Fantasy Packs. It's also the place where unopened packs will be located, as well as where Auctions & Trades takes place in Madden NFL 22. Auction & Trades is where players can literally Auction or Trade-off their players in order to earn more Coins or buy players to add to their roster. This is for earning players that aren't awarded through Solo Battles. The Auction Browser has a number of parameters that can be set when searching for players, including teams and quality of players, so be sure to check out the settings.

The My Team Tab is exactly what it sounds like, adjust the team's line up under this tab. It's also where the Game Options settings are located, and where the team can be renamed. Sets are another part of My Team, where six certain OVR power players can be exchanged for one of two better OVR players. In Madden NFL 22, OVR refers to the rating of the card (player) and is not based on the respective player's actual skill in real life. Sets are best to be revisited after the solo Challenges are played through, allowing Madden NFL 22 to award good player cards for completing them.

Madden NFL 22 Stefon Diggs Gameplay

Each player card is going to have players with proficiency in some skill, be it speed, technical ability, offense, defense, etc. From early on, the best stats to focus on are speed and technical ability. In addition, the higher the OVR number of a player card, the better the player is overall. Keep these things in mind when building out the team and divining into the more specific aspects of MUT in Madden NFL 22.

Regardless of what path anyone chooses to take their Ultimate Team on, the most important thing for getting started in Madden NFL 22's MUT is to focus on the Play tab, specifically The Campaign under Challenges. The other activities aren't going to bring as much prosperity in the way of Coins or OVR team level if this isn't completed first. After The Campaign Challenges are completed, all of the other aforementioned tabs and activities are going to make a lot more sense. Learn MUT through The Campaign, and strengthen it from the activities that follow after.

More: Madden 22 Early Access Extended On Xbox Following Timer Glitch

Madden NFL 22 is available on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Google Stadia.