Madden 22 Ultimate Team Beginner's Guide: What to do first in MUT 22 (2024)

Madden 22 has been very active since its launch in August, and while there has been tons of releases for Ultimate Team in that time, it's not too late to get started in MUT 22.

If you're looking for a team that punches above its weight and can hang with the big dogs in MUT, here's how you can start your journey in Madden 22.

*UPDATED* Why a MUT 22 Theme Team could be for you

Madden 22 Ultimate Team has been rolling for months, which means many players have stacked squads that can rough up any new MUT 22 teams.

One way to even the playing field before you get the most premium cards is by building a Madden 22 Theme Team. These MUT Theme Teams are teams made up of players from one NFL team's history.

While many MUT players build Theme Teams for novelty, they do have the tangible advantage of perfect Team Chemistry, which in turn makes your players stronger.

There are many Theme Teams to choose from in MUT 22, and we've covered guides to put these squads together from start to finish.

With that in mind, here are some great MUT 22 Theme Teams to build this year:

• Denver Broncos
• San Francisco 49ers
• Tampa Bay Buccaneers
• Dallas Cowboys
• Pittsburgh Steelers
• Las Vegas Raiders
• Baltimore Ravens
• New England Patriots
• Green Bay Packers

MUT 22 Beginner's Guide

Madden 22 Ultimate Team, often shortened to MUT 22, is the next iteration of a longtime game mode allowing you to build a squad with both the legendary players of yesteryear and the stars or future stars of today.

You will go through a series of challenges and other tasks, often aiming to receive packs with new cards to further expand and upgrade your Ultimate Team.

You may focus on collecting your favorites or building the best team full of players from your favorite franchise, known as Theme Teams, or you might go fully competitive and build a monster squad to face others online.

However you decide to get the most out of MUT 22, there are some good places to start for veterans and beginners alike.

What to do first in Madden 22 Ultimate Team

When you launch Madden 22 and head into Ultimate Team, you'll have to do a little early legwork before you finally get access to the full game mode.

Complete the Preseason Tutorial Challenges

Whether you're at a beginner's level or a longtime veteran, the first thing you have to do in Madden 22 Ultimate Team is take on a series of Preseason Challenges.

These also operate as a tutorial by explaining different facets of gameplay and letting you take on each aspect one by one.

None of these are particularly challenging, except perhaps the final scrimmage if you make a few bad plays, but you'll need to get through them to access the rest of MUT 22.

Open All Packs & Generate Best Lineup

When you emerge from those mandatory starting challenges, you'll likely be prompted to do a LOT of different things, and it can be very overwhelming.

Opening packs and cards for the first time throws a lot of information at you, but don't worry about any of them just yet.

Don't bother trying to decide with every new card or pack what to do with the player or item you've just received, just open everything right away to get a clear view of what you have to start with.

After that, head to My Team and Adjust Lineup, at which point you'll discover a new best friend: the Generate Best Lineup option.

Until you're much further along and have a strong grip on the way you want to place people and build your squad, lean on this. It even gives a Team Chemistry based option if you want to start crafting a Theme Team.

Complete Challenges & Missions for more Cards

While you should have a few strong options, your Ultimate Team isn't going to begin with the best lineup, and you'll want to start tackling challenges and finishing missions to change that.

Challenges are individual scenarios that will often give you extra rewards depending on how you perform, while missions are often intertwined with a combination of challenges and goals for other parts of Ultimate Team.

MUT 22 Game Modes, Missions & more

Everything else in Ultimate Team for Madden 22 falls into one of a few categories, and we're going to run through each to give you a basic overview of what you've got to work within MUT 22.

Challenges

These were discussed above, but they'll continue to add more Challenges and new ones to take on in the weeks and months following the release of Madden 22.

You can face them alone, but you can also invite friends to help you out which will ease the difficulty of some challenges while also allowing you to enjoy the game with others.

Solo Battles

Once you've got a team you wanna test against the best, Solo Battles will let you take on new opponents and rewards each week with lineups from the community.

These aren't yet active in Ultimate Team, but they should follow a schedule with new Solo Battles added using the above update frequency.

H2H Season (Head-to-Head)

This is where the rubber meets the road for the most competitive Ultimate Team players, and that's sure to ring true as MUT 22 rolls on.

You'll take on other players, even friends, in head-to-head games, and can unlock a Salary Cap version once you get to MUT Level 4.

MUT Champions

If you wanna find yourself in the Weekend League, MUT Champions is where you'll take on a weekly Knockout Tournament.

Knockout Tournaments begin on Mondays at 4:30pm ET and end on Thursdays at 4:30pm ET, and they're sure to get more and more competitive as the weeks go on.

Squads

If you wanna make MUT 22 into the ultimate co-op experience, you'll likely be doing that in Squads rather than other modes.

You'll get to team up with friends and take on other squads in Madden 22 Ultimate Team, earning rewards along the way.

Draft

If you're frustrated with playing early on because your Ultimate Team lineup isn't quite as strong as you'd like, a great place to head is Draft.

You'll go through a multi-round draft to build a squad to either take on the computer in single elimination, take on a friend in head-to-head practice, or challenge Ranked Draft after reaching MUT Level 4.

The Campaign

It looks like The Campaign will be the cornerstone of Missions and Challenges in MUT 22, and you'll work your way through multiple weeks worth of tasks to earn tons of rewards.

Working through The Campaign is one of the best ways to start getting pieces to make your Ultimate Team shine, and it may get more added in the coming months.

Ultimate Season

With the game recently launching, we're still in Season 1 for Madden 22 Ultimate Team, and each new one will bring new objectives and rewards.

You'll have a series of goals connected to earning XP to increase your Season Level, and in Season 1 you can already work towards a 91 OVR Season Edition Player.

Ultimate Champion

This year's Ultimate Champion is none other than Kam Chancellor, and you'll have to work through a few missions and objectives to unlock him.

However, it'll be worth the effort as completion will power up your Ultimate champion Kam Chancellor to a 95 OVR card.

Item Sets

While some of your items will serve as fodder to be sold or traded in for something better, you can work towards collecting players to complete certain Item Sets.

The Campaign and Team Affinity are the only two available now, and this is also where you'll find the Exchange option to trade in lesser players for more powerful cards.

Team Affinity & Team Builders

Whether you're trying to earn specific powerful players from certain teams or showing your love for your favorite Sunday squad, Team Affinity is where you'll work on that.

Team Builders 1 is the first version available now, and completing sets will score you 84 OVR Team Builders players that will majorly boost Team Chemistry in your lineup.

Marketplace

You'll crack open your unopened packs in Marketplace, browse the store to purchase new packs with earned in-game currency, or you can use real-world money to supply your in-game currency.

You'll also find Auctions and Trades where cards can be bought and sold from others in MUT 22, and working the Marketplace to buy low and sell high is often a great way to build up in-game currency.