Games
When tokens are available, how to earn them, the best rewards, and tactics!
FIFA 21 Ultimate Team Icon Swaps 2 has arrived, bringing with it the opportunity to grind for 18 more Icon Swap tokens and use them to unlock exciting packs and players, including a few Prime Icon Moments cards! There's a bunch of things to do and some neat rewards, but when are all the Icon Swaps tokens out, what's the easiest way to complete them all, and which rewards should you prioritise? Read on and we'll break the whole thing down.
When is FUT 21 Icon Swaps 2?
Icon Swaps 2 kicked off in late February and runs until 7th May. There will be 18 tokens available to earn through gameplay objectives.
The first nine tokens can be earned through gameplay anytime before 26th March at 5.59pm GMT. The second set of nine tokens will then be available from 26th March 6pm GMT until 7th May at 5.59pm BST (or possibly 6.59pm if EA forgets to factor in British Summer Time).
Icon Swaps 2 rewards are available through SBCs where you submit your tokens. The SBCs are available until Icon Swaps 2 ends, but cannot be redeemed after 7th May, so make sure you use up your tokens before the deadline!
Which Icons are available in FUT 21 Icon Swaps 2?
Once again, EA has released a mixture of packs and players as part of Icon Swaps 2. Let's start with the actual Icon players that you can earn:
- Prime Icon Moments Deco (CM, 91 rated) - 7 tokens - The Portgueuse playmaker is a nice choice for anyone who wants an Icon in a hurry, but realistically he is not a patch on meta midfielders in most areas, particularly Defence and Physical.
- Prime Icon Ashley Cole (LB, 89 rated) - 9 tokens - Another Icon that you can pick up during the first half of Icon Swaps 2, rather than having to wait for the second group of tokens to drop. Cole is a solid left back, but his 2* weak foot and 3* skills mean that there are a lot of better options in his position.
- Prime Icon Moments Marc Overmars (LW, 91 rated) - 11 tokens - Overmars is a nice card. His pace is pretty much maxed out by default, giving you more Chem Style options. The 3* skills is a little limiting, but a 5* weak foot is handy. We are spoiled for left-wing choices in FIFA 21, but if you somehow haven't found someone for this position, you could do a lot worse.
- Mid Icon Laurent Blanc (CB, 89 rated) - 13 tokens - He's not a top-tier choice any more, but Blanc is a fantastic centre-back, and someone you could quite happily throw into your team for the rest of the cycle if you're not too demanding.
- Base Icon Emilio Butragueño (ST, 87 rated) - 15 tokens - Baby Butra is a fun card. There will be so many brilliant attacking options popping up as SBCs and in promos by the time you can afford him, but if you've struggled to find a reliable goalscorer, this is certainly one.
- Prime Icon Moments Roberto Baggio (CF, 94 rated) - 17 tokens - The premium choice in Icon Swaps 2 is the Italian legend Roberto Baggio. Slightly less than max pace even with a Hunter Chem Style is a shame, but he is still going to score for fun, with a 4* weak foot and 5* skills to boot.
Which packs are available in FUT 21 Icon Swaps 2?
The packs available in the second round of FUT 21 Icon Swaps are similar to those in the first, but there are some changes (notably the absence of the guaranteed 85+ pack). Let's look at the packs first, and then we'll start thinking about which combinations it might make sense to target:
- 81+ x25 Pack - 2 tokens - The easiest reward to earn is a dice roll on 25 rare gold cards rated 81 or over. You could end up with a bunch of walkouts, or you could end up with nothing but discard rare golds.
- 82+ x25 Pack - 3 tokens - For an extra token, you get the same pack but with an 82 rating as the minimum. Again, this could be great or it could be a bunch of discards.
- 83+ x25 Pack - 5 tokens - The best of these 'fodder packs' gives you 25 cards rated 83 or over. These at least will certainly help you out with SBCs.
- Base Icon Pack - 8 tokens - For eight tokens, you can get yourself a random Base Icon. Bear in mind that for everyone who packs Eto'o or Carlos Alberto, there will be a ton of people who end up with fairly useless 85-rated players.
- Mid Icon Pack - 9 tokens - Throw in another token and you can make sure it's at least a Mid Icon. There are still a lot of bad outcomes from this one, but the exciting cards start to get very exciting.
- Mid or Prime Icon Pack - 10 tokens - The prospect of getting a big boy Prime Icon will doubtless send people towards this pack. EA also released this pack as a time-limited SBC just after Icon Swaps 2 started and it cost around 650,000 coins to complete with cards bought off the market, so it's nothing to sniff at, even if there are still plenty of duff cards that could walk out of it.
- Prime Icon Pack - 12 tokens - You can guarantee yourself a Prime Icon for 12 tokens, although you're still much more likely to hit a Schmeichel or Inzaghi than a Patrick Vieira or Ronaldo Nazario.
- 91+ Prime Icon Pack - 14 tokens - The chances of hitting a really good Prime Icon are a lot higher with this pack, but it's not a slam dunk. There are around 70 Prime Icons rated 91 and over, and at least 20 of them are valued at under 500k on the Transfer Market.
- Prime or Moments Icon Pack - 16 tokens - The only pack featuring Moments cards as possible rewards will cost you almost all your tokens. Are you willing to grind that much and end up with a Prime Alan Shearer?
Which rewards should you take in FUT 21 Icon Swaps 2?
This is the big question, and it very much depends on what you want and need at this stage of the FIFA 21 Ultimate Team cycle. Let's consider some scenarios.
In terms of players, the only one we would definitely avoid is Prime Icon Moments Deco. He was a wonderful player at his peak, but FIFA 21 doesn't bring the best out of him. All the others -- Prime Ashley Cole, Mid Laurent Blanc, Baby Butra, Moments Overmars, Moments Baggio -- would do a great job in virtually any team. They are not the absolute best options money can buy, but in terms of cards you can earn through gameplay, they are some of the best that we have been offered this cycle. If you're desperately trying to fill one of their positions, they are all worth seriously considering.
As for the packs, we feel as though the sweet spot is taking a couple of fodder packs and one of the Icon packs. These combos speak to us:
- 82+ x25 Pack (3 tokens), 83+ x25 Pack (5 tokens) and Mid or Prime Icon Pack (10 tokens) - Lots of really good SBC fodder and a shot at one of the big boy Icons. The worst case scenario is a bunch of mid-rated cards to throw into SBCs. (For what it's worth, this is the option we're taking on our main account!)
- 81+ x25 Pack (2 tokens), 83+ x25 Pack (5 tokens) and Prime Icon Moments Overmars (11 tokens) - Overmars isn't going to dislodge Neymar from most meta squads, but his explosive natural pace and 5* weak foot means that he is the perfect super-sub for racing at tired defences.
When should you open the Icon Swaps x25 packs?
If you decide to go with fodder packs, then it will be tempting to rip them as soon as you can, but we would urge patience.
First things first, make sure you are opening them when there is a proper promo live. Prime Icon Moments doesn't count -- virtually nobody will pack those cards, and we don't think you can pack Icon cards in these packs anyway! We still have promos like FUT Birthday and of course Team of the Season yet to come, which are much more promising options. The latter is renowned for higher pack weights as EA loosens the strings and lets players flood their teams with end-of-season overpowered blue player cards. If you have the patience to hang onto your x25 packs until the full Team of the Season squad is in packs, you have a pretty good chance of getting at least one in amongst all the fodder.
Secondly, it's worth making sure there are some good SBCs around, because the chances are that you will get a bunch of fodder cards and duplicates, especially if you open multiple x25 reward packs. If there's an SBC player that you really want to add to your club, at least you have somewhere to channel the fodder and dupes.
How to earn FUT 21 Icon Swaps 2 tokens
At the time of writing, there are nine FUT 21 Icon Swaps 2 tokens available to unlock. (The second set of nine will be available through Objectives from 26th March until 7th May). The first nine consist of three that must be completed in Squad Battles, five that use Live FUT Friendlies online matches, and one that requires you to play the Weekend League.
Here's the breakdown:
- "Icon Swaps" (four tokens available) - Three Squad Battles objectives and a Weekend League objective. For Squad Battles, you need to win six matches with 11 UEFA Champions League (UCL) players in your starting squad on at least World Class difficulty, six with 11 silver players, and six with 11 Chinese Super League (CSL) players. The Weekend League token requires you to rack up 18 wins in total.
- "Icon Swaps One Nation" (two tokens available) - Win 7 matches in Live FUT Friendlies: One Nation using only Italian players in your squad (including bench!), and then win 7 matches in One Nation using only Spanish players.
- "Icon Swaps Ligue 1" (one token available) - These objectives must be completed with a squad that has at least 8 first-owned (i.e. players that you packed or unlocked) Ligue 1 players in your starting squad. You need to win 6 matches, score 6 finesse shots in separate matches with a Ligue 1 player, and assist 10 goals in separate matches using a Ligue 1 player. Objectives can be completed separately and you must complete all three to unlock the Icon Swaps 2 token.
- "Icon Swaps Serie A" (one token available) - Similar to the above, this time you need 8 first-owned Serie A players. Here you must win 6, score with a Serie A player in 10 separate matches, and assist with a through ball using a Serie A player in 5.
- "Icon Swaps LaLiga" (one token available) - Identical to the above, but with 8 first-owned LaLiga players, and LaLiga players must be used for the scoring and assisting objectives.
Complete all of the above before March 26th and you should have 9 tokens.
Icon Swaps 2 Squad Battles tactics
Squad Battles is the most gruelling of the Icon Swaps 2 objectives, as you're expected to play on a high difficulty setting, probably using a squad with bad chemistry or at least underpowered players, and the AI doesn't forfeit games, so you're in for the full 15-minute ride whatever happens (and more if it goes to extra time).
Fortunately, the AI in Squad Battles is pretty easy to beat, even when you ramp it up. The trick is to attack very aggressively at the start of the game. Use one-two triangles and try to sprint in behind the sluggish defence, and keep attacking once you score. If you can score three or four times in the first 20 minutes, you will be able to relax for the rest of the match, as the AI doesn't chase the game particularly hard. If you haven't managed to take a big lead though, you may just want to quit out and try another match, because the AI does tend to have periods of dominance in tighter games and you may slip behind.
Remember, you can only earn Squad Battles points (which go towards their own rewards) in 40 matches per week, but you can refresh the matches infinitely if you don't care about the points, and the first squad out of the four in each offered set will be a low-chem bronze team. Even with underpowered players to meet the objective conditions, you should find it easy enough to overcome those teams.
Remember that you can have whoever you want on the bench, too. For the CSL objective, we had bronze players at CB, CM and ST, but brought on Prime Cannavaro, Future Stars Curtis Jones and Mid Kenny Dalglish in the first minute to shore up the team.
You may also be tempted to use loan players here, but remember that unlike Live FUT Friendlies, Squad Battles does use up loans, so if you only have a couple of games left on that TOTY Messi, don't blow them chasing an Icon Swaps Squad Battles token!
Icon Swaps 2 Live FUT Friendlies tactics
The One League and One Nation objectives are the source of a minor controversy in the FUT community. A lot of players see them as "Golden Goal" matches, where the first player to concede a goal should then immediately forfeit the match to help the other player on their journey. This makes the most sense for One Nation, where you just need wins and nothing else counts towards anything.
However, we also know that some players like to use these objectives as an opportunity to use varied squads and cards that maybe crept into the club over time but never made it into their main team. If you hoovered up all the FUT Freeze and Icon loan cards over the months, for example, you can build some really fun squads, as loan cards do not lose matches when used in Live FUT Friendlies. Plus, the One League objectives aren't just about winning -- you need to rack up goals, assists and through balls too. Naturally, then, a lot of players do not subscribe to the "Golden Goal" mentality and prefer to keep playing. This, it is fair to say, has led to some tension between the two groups.
We would simply encourage everyone to show decent sportsmanship where they can. If your opponent goes a goal down and wants to keep playing, that is their right. Pausing the game provocatively after you score isn't a great look. Neither is quitting after someone scores an equaliser, just to deny them the opportunity to win.
In terms of actual tactics for these modes, the fact that some players see it as a Golden Goal mode can be useful, as they are likely to go all-out in the early stages to try and score. If you defend smartly, keep possession and exploit space behind, you may find yourself a goal to the good before you know it. Impatient play also leads to players dragging centre-backs out of position, diving into tackles, and bringing their goalkeeper rushing out prematurely. Watch out for these signs and exploit them.
And while it is your right to keep playing when you concede, it's equally fine to just quit and move on. There's essentially no penalty for forfeiting in Live FUT Friendlies, so if somebody is much too good for you, just quit, shake it off, and try another matchup.
Icon Swaps 2 Weekend League tactics
Finally, the Weekend League. What can we say about the FUT Champions Weekend League that hasn't been said already? If you're not used to it, it can be a heck of a grind, but remember that you have several weeks to earn those 18 wins.
If you haven't tried it before, remember you need 2,000 FUT Champs qualification points – earned through Division Rivals – to enter. You need to redeem entry before playing and can play up to 30 matches between Friday morning GMT and the early hours of Monday. (Entry can be redeemed until Saturday morning if you're late to the party.)
18 wins will be tough to get in a single weekend unless you are very talented, but 11 wins is enough to recover the 2,000 qualification points, so aim for that and then you can always grab the other wins on a subsequent weekend.
The best time to play Weekend League, in our experience, is Sunday evening when people are losing patience and just want to get their games done. You will likely find that opponents who fall behind are more likely to quit.
And if Weekend League doesn't sound appealing at all, then don't do it! You can still earn all the other tokens without playing Weekend League, and that's more than enough to unlock a ton of really good rewards.
