The Weekend League was completely redesigned for FIFA 22 and got renamed to FUT Champions Finals. The community thinks the new playoff system is anything but great. What's wrong with the new mode?
Before the release of FIFA 22, it all sounded pretty fancy. New weekend league, fewer games, exciting playoffs. But it is because of these new features that the community is quite desperate right now. While it's actually quite chill to only have to play 20 matches instead of 30, the playoffs let us suffer a lot. The new mode is being criticized more and more, many FIFA players don't even try to qualify for the FUT Champions Finals anymore. But what's the real problem?
The FUT rewards certainly can't be the reason. They are greater and sexier than they have been in a long time. All you have to do is qualify for the Weekend League. Sounds simple, but yeah. Sometimes it's impossible. It will make you cry. And maybe pull out your wallet as well. The Weekend League playoffs in FIFA 22 are just way too intense.
FUT Champions Playoffs in FIFA 22 – Show Some Mercy For Our Weakest
This Ultimate Team season can be summed up like this – All or Nothing. When you've made it to the FUT Champions Finals, then congratulations! You are part of the 1% richest people in the world. You could even mess up all 20 games, and you'll end up in the fifth rank. And what you get for that 'achievement' is just insane. But if you miss out the Weekend League... you are doomed. Everyone else gets rewarded with tons of coins and packs and players, but you're left behind with your huge pile of... solid players. Nice.
The reason for that is clearly the qualification. You can somehow get together the necessary points to reach the playoffs. This is often a major challenge, especially for people who have to work. But not because of the skill, it's simply because of the lack of time. So no crying there. In the playoffs, however, you are thrown together with some players from all possible divisions. So will you get stomped, my friend. 5 wins out of 9 games are usually not that easy... so have fun then against much stronger opponents!
What would a solution be? Two interesting ideas are circulating in the community right now. One suggestion would be that players who fought their way up to rank 2 and 1 in the last WL are automatically qualified for the next edition. This leads frustrated players to start Division Rivals again and dive into the playoffs. As an alternative, players with rank 2 could be given a head start in the playoffs so that they do not have to play as many games.
The second idea relates to a kind of second Weekend League. Just think of the Europa League. The people who don't make it through the playoffs just start there. Of course, you would get worse rewards, but at least the players have a reason to enjoy their FIFA weekend.
The only question that remains is... Why did EA even decide to change the whole system? The gap between rich and poor in FIFA 22 is widening by missing the Weekend League. And what helps against poverty? Right, money. World poverty solved in 3 seconds. So EA hopes that frustrated players will put a lot of money into their game. I'd be surprised if that doesn't backfire.
