It’s that time of year again, when NFL head coaches and general managers stress-test their squads and fine-tune their playbooks in preseason.
For the fifth season in a row, all but two teams will play three games before the regular season’s commencement on September 4, with the LA Chargers and Detroit Lions each playing an extra game after contesting July’s Hall of Fame showdown (the former ran out 34-7 winners).
Unless you’re in the belly of the beast as a coach or player, you can’t hope to influence proceedings. But smash hit mobile game NFL Rivals offers the next best thing. Launched by Mythical Games in 2023, and officially licensed by the National Football League, the popular release has racked up over six million downloads and is available on both iOS and Android.
As it prepares to enter its third season, the game has seen a series of tweaks and improvements made to enrich the playing experience for newbies and veterans alike. Let’s take a closer look at what’s in store.
New Season, Fresh Changes
The basic premise of NFL Rivals is that players get to assemble their dream squad, made up of trading cards of varying quality and rarity. After building the perfect roster – ideally one made up of Gold- and Elite-tier superstars – they can pit their wits against opponents in dynamic arcade-style matchups that favor judicious decision-making.
As for the games themselves, they’re refreshingly short and action-packed, prioritizing energy and excitement over drawn-out, stop-start play: a stamina system maintains realism by preventing improbably long sprints, meaning players must decide the best moment to turn on the afterburners.
Traditionally, gamers have started off with a base-level team with the goal of gradually unlocking higher-tiered players by winning matches and seasonal challenges. However, ahead of the 25/26 season, the game’s developers have decided to retire Base cards. “We had monsters with 2,000 more PWR than newbies in the same event. That’s not competition, that’s a buzzsaw,” Mythical Games noted in a recent blog.
As a result of this change, base cards are being retired and replaced with Training Points, a type of in-game currency used to upgrade player cards and enhance their performance. Elsewhere, Training Tokens are transforming into Rank Up Tokens, commodities that also help you level up your cards.
Interestingly, the majority of cards earned from in-game packs will start locked, meaning they cannot be sold or traded but rather used to progress one’s individual performance; as a result, pack prices have fallen. (Those looking to sell on the open market can still do so, with the aid of a Mint Token).
Another enhancement is the introduction of Stadiums Mode, where the focus is on total plays per game. With ten stadiums in total, each harder than the next, players are rewarded with ‘crates’ based on wins, league standing, and stadium progress. As for leagues, they will now be seven days long, Monday to Monday, based on player feedback. Squad rankings correlate with each team member’s performance in Stadiums and Events.
Ultimately, this raft of changes has been implemented to make gameplay smoother, competition fairer, and NFL Rivals more accessible and rewarding for players.
What to Expect from NFL Rivals Y3
NFL Rivals is a strategy game, so its target market is definitely the barbershop debaters who like picking over plays post-game. Squad-building is just part of the package, though: you also need to control your offense and defense, launching your attacks while effectively stymying the other team’s.
If you can combine smart strategy with skillful gaming, you stand a good chance of prospering in NFL Rivals. Naturally, there’s an interactive tutorial to help you get up to speed with the game mechanics and controls — and preseason’s the perfect time to practice.
The game’s developers have referred to the aforementioned upgrades as “a clean slate” and more of a relaunch than a reset, with over 800 new cards dropped across 32 teams. As such, the extent to which experienced players hold an advantage over newcomers has been lessened.
There’s never been a better time to dive in, compile a kick-ass team, and experiment with plays. Good luck!
Honestly NFL Rivals is better than the FIFA Rivals version by a mile