There are so many colours that it can be complex to understand the role of each card. In this guide, we explain to you, each player card. Welcome to our FIFA 18 Players Cards Guide.
FIFA 18 PLAYERS CARDS
? Tradeable | ⛔ Untradeable | ? New Card
REGULAR CARDS
? DAY 1 CARDS
? TRANSFER CARDS
? UPGRADED CARDS
IN FORM CARDS
? TEAM OF THE WEEK CARDS (TOTW)
SPECIAL CARDS
⛔ AWARD WINNER CARDS (POTM & POTY)
? FESTIVAL OF FUTBALL
⛔? FIFA eWORLD CUP
? FUT BIRTHDAY CARDS
⛔ FUT CHAMPIONS CARDS
?? FUTMAS CARDS
⛔ FUTTIES CARDS
? HEROES CARDS
?? ICONS CARDS
? MAN OF THE MATCH CARDS (MOTM)
? ONES TO WATCH CARDS (OTW)
?? PATH TO GLORY CARDS
⛔ PRO PLAYERS CARDS
? RECORD BREAKER CARDS (RB)
⛔ SQUAD CHALLENGES CARDS
? ST PATRICKS DAY CARDS
⛔? SWAP DEALS CARDS
? TEAM OF THE SEASON CARDS (TOTS)
? TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENTS CARDS (TOTT)
? TEAM OF THE YEAR CARDS (TOTY)
? ULTIMATE SCREAM CARDS
? WORLD CUP CARDS
EXTINCT CARDS
? MOVEMBER CARDS
⛔ STORYMODE CARDS
FIFA 18 Players Cards
Introducing you to the FIFA 18 players cards
The FIFA 18 players cards are the most important and also the most complex of the game. They are essential so that you can play. Before any game, you will need to fill the starting eleven slots but also the seven slots for substitutes. Without that, you cannot play. That’s why the starter pack gives you, at least, 18 untradeable players.
If you want a specific player, our suggestion is that you go and search for him on the market using the player filters. This way you will only spend coins on cards you don’t have and you will be equipping your club according to what it needs. Obviously the cards you get from packs should also be taken into account. However, if you think they are not necessary, put them on the market and get a few coins from them or use them to submit SBCs.
You can keep as many player’s cards as you want in your club, as long as there are no duplicates. You can have them duplicated on the transfer list or targets, though. In this case, the only limit you have is the list’s maximum capacity that can be increased with the respective EAS FC catalogue items.
Every time you get a player card in a pack or you buy one in the FUT transfer market, you need to send it to your team if you want to use it. In order to do that, you just need to select ‘send to the active squad‘. If you cannot find the card in your squad, and if you are sure that you have not discard it or send it to the transfer list or transfer market, then it is because probably your squad was full and you have send it to the club. In that case, look for it in ‘My Club’ and swap it for another player.
It is not possible to improve the rating or the stats of any player card, except using training cards. However, it only lasts for one match. If you have found a card very similar to a card you own but with a different rating, stats, league or club it is because it is a different card category.
Regular Players’ Cards
DAY 1 CARDS | TRANSFER CARDS | UPGRADED CARDS
Regular cards are the most basic ones. Every player must have one. All other cards are modifications made from these ones. At the beginning of the game, all the FIFA 18 players cards belong to the regular category. These cards have the innate characteristics and attributes of the player.
As the game progresses, users can change many of the card features such as the preferred position and preferred chemistry style. However, these cards are still considered regular cards. Only the game system can create non-regular cards. It is important to notice again that it is not possible to improve the rating or the stats in a permanent way.
Day 1 Players Cards
?️ FUT 09 | RATING: ?⚪⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ????
When the game goes out, every player has his own card. In FIFA 18 Ultimate Team, there are more than 16,000 day 1 cards, corresponding to as many players. They are always in packs, for the whole the year, except when it is being released another card of that player. When a card is released for the first time and assigned to its first owner, it comes with fitness 99 and seven contracts, except for the players of starter pack that have 45 contracts.
The ratings and the stats of regular cards are calculated according to the player’s performance and popularity in the previous 365 days. The card with higher ratings is the one of Cristiano Ronaldo.
Every single day 1 card can be of two types: common or rare. Most of the gamers think that the rare cards, with its bright and with the luminous aspect, are better than the other ones. They believe that the rare cards were created to help players to distinguish easily the best cards. It is not absolutely true. The rare cards are items that have something unique. In the case of player’s cards, for example, the rare cards are assigned to players that have something that no other player has. It can be the tallest goalkeeper of his league, the only player from a country in a particular league or even a CB with an exceptional attribute compared to players with a similar overall. These cards are usually more valuable than the other ones but mostly because their discard price is also higher.
Transfer FIFA 18 Players Cards
?️ FUT 11 | RATING: ?⚪⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ??⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ????
In order to keep the game updated, Electronic Arts replicates in to FIFA 18 Ultimate Team what is happening in the real transfer market.
When a player moves from his club to another one in the real life, EA Sports releases a new card of this player: the transfer card. The only difference you will find between the new card and the old one, the regular version, is the club and eventually the league. In everything else they are physically identical to the originals, including the ratings and the stats which remain unchanged.
These cards are released two times in the year: during the Winter Transfers Season, on January and February, and during the Summer Transfers Season, from July to September. In any of these cases, the cards are released as the transfers are occurring.
Upgraded FIFA 18 Players Cards
?️ FUT 13 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ??⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ????
As we already have explained, it is not possible to improve the stats of any regular card. However, if a player stands out in the real world, in such a way that his card becomes strongly outdated, Electronic Arts comes to justice introducing a new type of card.
The Ratings Refresh are usually released in February with the goal of adjust the players’ rating and players’ attributes to the reality. They are physically identical to the originals, except on rating and stats.
These cards are usually assigned to the best players of the first half of the season. They must have played well in a consistent way throughout this period and not only in few games, showing that their old regular card was really outdated. The average rating increase to these cards are 2 points, which is explained by the fact that they are only assigned to players who had a marked development and not to minor adjustments.
As soon as upgraded cards are released, they replace all the respective regular cards that are supposed to be released in packs until the end of the game. That is, the only card you will find in packs is the new one but you may find both cards in the transfer market.
In Form Players’ Cards
One of the features that makes this game mode so interesting is its dynamic component. During the season, and depending on the players’ form in the real world, EA releases In Form (IF) Cards that change the players’ attributes. To own one of these cards is like having a player in your team with potential to play permanently as well as he did when he stood out.
Team of the Week Cards
?️ FUT 11 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ???? | AVAILABILITY: ??⚪⚪
Every week EA Sports selects twenty three players of any quality based on their good real life performances on the previous week and joined them in a single team. That team is called Team of the Week and you can play against them in the ‘TOTW Challenge’.
To each one of the players of this team, it is assigned a new black card which becomes available in packs for a week, replacing the corresponding regular card. In other words, in the week a player gets his TOTW cards in packs, it is impossible to find his regular card there. Your odds of pulling a TOTW card from a pack are exactly the same ones of pulling the regular card of that player in another week.
The ratings and attributes of TOTW cards are usually boosted in one, two or three points compared with the regular or the previous special card. The position of the players in these cards may change if, in the previous week, they played really well in a different position.
Special Cards
AWARD WINNER | FUT BIRTHDAY | FUT CHAMPIONS | FUTMAS | FUTTIES | HEROES | ICONS | MOTM | ONES TO WATCH | PRO PLAYERS | RECORD BREAKERS | SBC | ST PATRICKS | TEAM OF THE SEASON | TEAM OF THE TOURNAMENT | TOTY | ULTIMATE SCREAM | WORLD CUP
Over the years, EA has introduced in the game several new cards, keeping it that way fun, challenging and… very colorful. Usually, these cards highlight the most informed players, but there are also cards that, for example, celebrate the best players of football history or reward the best competitive FIFA players. We will explain each card one by one.
Award Winner Cards
?️ FUT 17 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ???⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ???⚪
The award winners of different leagues are rewarded with unique items, featuring boosted stats. These cards are untradeable and you can only get one of these if you complete the specific squad building challenge. Usually, award winner cards can be of two types: POTM or POTY.
Every single month, EA Sports makes a selection of the most in form Premier League players of the previous month. The award is decided by a combination of a public vote and those from a panel of Premier League experts and current club captains. The winner receives a purple FIFA 18 POTM card with two or three points boosted.
Sometimes, when a domestic league ends, EA Sports also releases a award winner card for the Player of the Year of that league, with significant stat increases from his previous card.
Festival Of FUTBall Cards
?️ FUT 16 | RATING: ? | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ?
It looks that Electronic Arts will release Festival of FUTBall themed cards but we don’t have much more details about how it going to happen. For who doesn’t know, this event was released for the first time ever during the Euro 2016 and Copa America Centenario. It featured iMOTM cards releases, classical international heroes, featured tournaments, two team of the tournaments and mystery packs.
FIFA eWorld Cup
?️ FUT 18 | RATING: ? | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ?
Electronic Arts will release FIFA eWorld Cup themed cards but we don’t have much more details about how it going to happen. For who doesn’t know, FIFA eWorld Cup is the final stage of the FUT Competitive game mode.
FUT Birthday Cards
?️ FUT 17 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ??⚪⚪
The FIFA 18 FUT Birthday card is a themed card created to celebrate the Ultimate Team anniversary.
Featuring current players who were fan favorites in previous versions, each FUT Birthday Squad member has upgraded ratings reminiscent of their past FUT item and a brand-new item type. These cards work in a very similar way of regular cards but they replicate the attributes based on players’ skills and flair during the peak of their careers.
FUT Champions Reward Cards
?️ FUT 17 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ???⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ⚪⚪⚪⚪
FUT Champions cards reward the best players of the FIFA competitive game mode. Every month, Electronic Arts replicates the TOTW cards of the previous month and release them on the FUT Champions monthly rewards. These special cards are not boosted. The only thing that is different is their colour.
They are available in gold, silver and bronze qualities, according to the difficulty of the achievement and they are delivered on the first Thursday of each month.
FUTMAS Cards
?️ FUT 18 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ⚪⚪⚪⚪
FUTMas is a festive promotion created by Electronic Arts to celebrate the Holiday season. For the first time ever, themed cards will be associated to this event. These items are only available via Squad Building Challenges, three for each day of the FUTmas event and based on the player’s jersey numbers.
FUTTIES Cards
?️ FUT 15 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ???⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ?⚪⚪⚪
FUTTIES are special award in-form pink cards chosen by the FIFA community. They are a kind of FUT Oscars in which FUT fans get the chance to vote in a number of various categories for their favourite players.
By completing the FUTTIES Nomination SBC, you will also receive a pink FUTTIES Nominee item with base stats of the player you voted for. The player with the most completed Nomination SBCs will win each category. Their FUTTIES Winner item will then be made available with boosted stats (one to three points) and feature a gold trim to signify their accomplishment in a separate Winner SBC. Completing the Winner SBC is the only way to get the Winner item. Nominee items do not get an automatic upgrade.
Heroes Cards
?️ FUT 15 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ???⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ??⚪⚪
The Heroes cards were created to reward a heroic contribution during an important match such as a league derby, winning promotion to a higher league, or saving his club from relegation.
These special cards are available in packs for 24 hours or one week. During this period, the Heroes cards replace the corresponding regular cards. Their ratings and attributes are usually boosted in one or two points, compared with their last card.
Icons Cards
?️ FUT 18 | RATING: ???⚪ | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ????
FIFA 18 Icons are the new name of the old FIFA Legends, now available for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch and PC. The players of these cards are some retired greatest football players of all time. It gives you the chance to play with, for example, Pelé, Thierry Henry or Diego Maradona in you team. Each one of these players have 3 unique versions, each representing a period in their career. Two will be in packs from launch while the third, the Prime ICON, will be available at a specific time during the season.
The ratings of these Day 1 white cards ranges between 86 and 95. Unlike what happens with the other players, the Icons can’t receive new cards improving their stats. Their chemistry also works in a different way.
Man of the Match Cards
?️ FUT 12 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ???? | AVAILABILITY: ??⚪⚪
Orange MOTM cards don’t have any periodicity and are assigned for standout performances in real life cup fixtures. They usually become available in packs for only one week. During this period, these special cards replace the corresponding regular cards. The ratings and attributes of MOTM cards are usually boosted in one or two points, compared to their last card.
There are two types of MOTM cards: dMOTM, domestic man of the match cards, used for domestic cups played by clubs; and cMOTM, continental man of the match, used for continental tournaments played by clubs.
Ones to Watch Cards
?️ FUT 17 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ??⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ??⚪⚪
The Ones to Watch cards are assigned to a very limited selection of young players who have moved to new clubs during the transfer windows. They are announced on early October (Summer Edition) and early February (Winter Edition). These black cards replace the regular player cards in specific times and boost in rating and stats every time they get new TOTW, MOTM, TOTT, Hero or Record Breaker cards. Opposite to almost all other FUT cards, the OTW ratings and stats are not fixed. They increase or not depending on the player’s form.
These cards are perfect for who like to trade and watch real football.
Path to Glory Cards
?️ FUT 18 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ??⚪⚪
The Path to Glory cards are assigned to a very limited selection of players which presence on Russia defending their national teams is still insecure. These blue cards replace the regular player cards on the second week of November and March, and boost in rating and stats every time they get new TOTW, MOTM, TOTT, Hero or Record Breaker cards. Opposite to almost all other FUT cards, the PTG ratings and stats are not fixed. They increase or not depending on the player’s form.
These Live Items are a kind of OTW cards. The only difference is how the players are picked and how they can become Selected items. Once 23-man national squads are announced in early June, players who have made their country’s final squad will have their Path to Glory Contender item automatically updated to be a Path to Glory Selected item. The selected items will continue to get upgrades based on certain national team performances throughout the summer.
Pro Players Cards
?️ FUT 12 | RATING: ???? | FREQUENCY: – | AVAILABILITY: –
Pro Players cards are assigned by EA Sports to professional football players that play FUT 18 in a bid to make friends and gain exposure.
Each professional player chosen by EA has his own Pro Player card. This special card is unique and cannot be sold. That is, you will not find them in packs neither in the transfer market. If you play against someone with one of these cards that’s because you are playing against a real professional football player.
To all these cards were assigned a 99 rating and unrealistically high attributes, that usually are greater than 88.
Record Breaker
?️ FUT 12 | RATING: ???⚪ | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ??⚪⚪
Record Breaker cards are assigned for players who break records within real life football matches. Most goals scores by a national team, most clean sheets, fastest hat-trick, most consecutive matches scoring goals or most header goals in a specific league are just a few examples.
These extremely rare cards are usually available in packs for only one week. During this period, the RB cards replace the corresponding regular cards in packs. The ratings and attributes boost of Record Breaker cards depend on their original ratings and the particular record that is broken. The higher is the original rating, the lower is the boost.
Squad Challenges Reward Cards
?️ FUT 17 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ???⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ??⚪⚪
FIFA 18 Squad Building Challenges cards are unique items that players can get completing specific challenges. They can’t be found in packs. These cards are only available as rewards and for that reason they are untradeable.
These special cards are only available in the game when specific challenges are live. They usually boost the regular cards with one or two extra points, compared to the lastest card of the player.
St Patricks Cards
?️ FUT 15 | RATING: ?⚪⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ??⚪⚪
The FIFA 18 green cards are awarded to a selection of the best Irish players to celebrate the St Patricks Day.
The only difference between the St Patricks cards and their respective original NIF cards is the colour. During the period of the promotion, usually five days in mid March, a selection of player’s cards pulled from packs are released on green instead of their normal colours gold, silver and bronze. There is no boost in the stats or in the attributes.
Swap Deals Cards
?️ FUT 18 | RATING: ?⚪⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ⚪⚪⚪⚪
Swap Deals cards were released for the first time ever in FIFA 18.
Swap Deals player items are special untradeable FUT items with the same rating as the player’s basic item and each item is only available for a limited time. You can use them to complete specific SBCs and get even better players.
Team of the Season Cards
?️ FUT 12 | RATING: ???⚪ | FREQUENCY: ???⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ??⚪⚪
Every year, EA Sports builds teams based on the players real life performances on that season. Unlike what happens with the TOTY, in the TOTS the players are chosen by their performances in the season and not for the full calendar year. Instead of releasing a single team, the Team of the Season is made by around twenty squads, each one from a popular league or region.
To each one of these players it is assigned a new blue card, replacing the corresponding regular card on packs for a limited time (from 3 to 7 days). The ratings and attributes of most of the FUT 18 TOTS cards are usually boosted from five to nine points.
Team of the Tournament Cards
?️ FUT 16 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ??⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ??⚪⚪
Since many years ago, EA is rewarding the best players of international tournaments with special cards. However, it was only on FUT 16 that they assigned a brand new specific card to the most informed players of these competitions. The ratings and attributes of these cards are usually boosted in one or two points, compared to their previous card.
In FIFA 18, it is expected to see the TOTT cards assigned to the best players of European Champions League – Team of the Groups Stage (TOTGS) and Team of the Knockout stage (TOTKS).
Team of the Year Cards
?️ FUT 12 | RATING: ???? | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ??⚪⚪
Every single year, EA Sports builds a team of players based on their real life performance on the previous year. The players of this TOTY are selected from the voting of FIFPro, the world wide professional footballers association.
These player, who are supposed to be the best ones of the world, are upgraded with blue TOTY cards which become available in packs for a week. The players ratings and stats of the FIFA 18 TOTY cards are usually boosted in six or seven points, which is a great bonus since these were already the best players of the game.
Ultimate Scream Cards
?️ FUT 17 | RATING: ??⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ??⚪⚪
To celebrate the Halloween, Electronic Arts introduced in FIFA 17 a brand new card. These cards are assigned to a selection of players chosen based on exceptional real world performances, records and FUT attributes, and released all at once in a single FUT squad of 23 players with upgraded ratings as unique items.
During the Halloween period these player “come alive” and get ratings boosts, making them utterly terrifying. However, these boosts are temporary. As soon as this period ends, their ratings revert back to match their initially released upgrade. After the Halloween period, the only difference between the Ultimate Scream cards and their respective original NIF cards is the colour and a small boost.
World Cup Cards
?️ FUT 18 | RATING: ?⚪⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ????
Electronic Arts will release special World Cup themed cards for the most in formed players in this competition. New special cards will be assigned to them on regular FUT.
The World Cup has its own FUT, with a new database and refreshed ratings and stats. Since there is no transfer market in this game mode, the cards can only be found in packs. Everytime a player stood out in a World Cup match, his cards receives an upgrade, which is also valid for current owners. You can know more about this clikcing here.
More Players’ Cards
FIFA 18 Ultimate Team also features a type of card that can’t be classified as a regular, TOTW or special card.
Concept Cards
?️ FUT 15 | RATING: – | FREQUENCY: – | AVAILABILITY: –
Introduced first in FUT 15, Concept squads allows you to populate your squads with players you don’t own to see how they fit. You can even go directly with a single click to the transfer market to buy the player you need. It is a powerful squad planning tool that allows you to plan future squads using any FIFA 18 player. You can use Concept Squads, for example, to plan your next Transfer Market buys, find replacements for players and test out different Chemistry combinations.
In Squad Concepts there are two types of cards layout: if you already have them in your club, the cards look normal; if you do not have them, the cards look grayish and the cards are named concept cards.
Extinct Players’ Cards
Compared to last year, there are two types of player’s cards that will not feature on FIFA 18: Movember cards and The Journey.
Movember Cards
?️ FUT 17 | RATING: ?⚪⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ???⚪
To promote the Movember event, Electronic Arts introduced in FIFA 17 a brand new card. These cards were available in packs for a full month, featuring a selection of players who participated in this campaign. During this period, they replaced the corresponding regular not coloured cards.
The overall ratings of these players cards were boosted up to one point. The only attribute that was boosted in the Movember cards was the physical and always with 5 extra points.
No Movember cards should be released this year.
Storymode Cards
?️ FUT 17 | RATING: ?⚪⚪⚪ | FREQUENCY: ?⚪⚪⚪ | AVAILABILITY: ????
This black card was assigned to everyone who finishes ‘The Journey’, the storymode of FIFA 17. It was untradeable, which means that you could not sell it.
The only thing that changed in this card was his club. Everything else kept unchanged, including the player’ name, Alex Hunter, the stats and the overall rating.
This year, you still receive cards for completing The Journey but they are not special.
New Stuff
What has changed over the years
For experienced Ultimate Team gamers, most of what we have published here isn’t new. In that way, we have created this short chapter to show you what has changed:
FUT 17 >> FUT 18
✔️ FIFA 18 design applied to FUT 18 cards
✔️ Added the Icons cards
✔️ Added the World Cup cards
✔️ Added the FUTMas cards
✔️ Added the Path to Glory cards
✔️ Added the Swap Deals cards
❌ Removed the Movember cards
❌ Removed the Storymode cards
❌ Removed the Legends cards
FUT 16 >> FUT 17
✔️ FIFA 17 design applied to FUT 17 cards
✔️ Introduced 10 new legends
✔️ Added Halloween cards
✔️ Added Movember cards
✔️ Added FUT Birthday cards
✔️ Added Storymode cards
✔️ Added One to Watch cards
✔️ Added FUT Champions rewards cards
✔️ Added Squad Building Challenge cards
FUT 15 >> FUT 16
✔️ FIFA 16 design applied to FUT 16 cards
✔️ Introduced 8 new legends
FUT 14 >> FUT 15
✔️ FIFA 15 design applied to FUT 15 cards
✔️ Introduced 15 new legends
✔️ PHY replace HEA in basis attributes of players’ cards
FUT 13 >> FUT 14
✔️ Added Legends cards
✔️ New cards design
✔️ IF cards improved in the same proportion as upgrade cards
✔️ Added untradeable cards
✔️’Level’ was named ‘category’
✔️ ‘Category’ was named ‘type’