TOTY Mistakes, Icon Picks & Upgrade Tips (Plus Smarter FC 26 Coins Options)

• Days Since Last TOTY Mistake – 0: What Happened?
• 12th Man & 12th Woman Vote: How Timed Loans Skew Results
• TOTY Festival Flash Rush: How to Maximise SP & Elena Juvet
• New Striker Evolution: Best Players to Upgrade
• Best Upgrade SBCs to Grind for TOTY
• Flashback Frimpong SBC: Is He Worth Completing?
• Icon Player Pick Description Error & Possible Compensation
• Fodder Prices, TOTW Investments & Market Trends
• TOTY Attackers Leaving Packs, Midfielders Entering
• Rumoured Midfielder SBC & Goalkeeper Evolution Leak
• Managing Your Budget, Packs & FC 26 Coins (With ItemD2R)
• Final Weekend & TOTY Grind Tips

Days Since Last TOTY Mistake – 0: What Happened?

The Team of the Year campaign is supposed to be the clean, headline promo of the season, yet we’re already at “Days Since Last TOTY Mistake – 0”. After an earlier SBC issue, another problem has surfaced, this time involving a new Icon Player Pick.

When the Icon pick first went live, its in-game description did not mention Winter Wildcard Icons. Later, EA posted on social media clarifying that Winter Wildcard Icons were indeed included and stated that affected players would be contacted in-game. That wording strongly suggests some form of compensation for users who completed the SBC while the description was inaccurate.

At the moment, the expectation is that these players could receive an additional player pick or equivalent reward. However, it’s important not to chase future errors for free packs—situations like this are rare and unpredictable. The key takeaway is to stay informed, read descriptions carefully, and keep an eye on official channels when a new SBC launches.

12th Man & 12th Woman Vote: How Timed Loans Skew Results

One of the more interesting additions this year is the 12th man / 12th woman vote appearing in packs. When you open the special pack, you receive a player pick with three men’s options and three women’s options. Your choice counts as a vote, and you also receive that card as a 3-day timed loan.

This mechanic looks fun on paper, but it subtly pushes the community towards voting with the meta in mind instead of pure preference. Most players will naturally choose the most usable gold card for Weekend League or Rivals, rather than their favourite in real life.

That’s why cards like Raphinha are viewed as strong contenders on the men’s side—pace, dribbling, and league links all matter. For the women’s vote, whoever is the most meta in terms of pace, playstyles, and chemistry links will likely dominate. The vote runs for three days, and as usual, leaks and community polls might reveal the likely winners before the timer runs out.

TOTY Festival Flash Rush: How to Maximise SP & Elena Juvet

In the objectives tab, the Team of the Year Festival Flash Rush objective chain is one of the best ways to stack Season Points (SP) quickly while also adding a unique card to your club.

Highlights of the Flash Rush event include:

• 4,000 total SP available from the set.
• Play 5 games and score 5 goals to earn the first 2,000 SP.
• Complete the full chain to unlock an Elena Juvet RW card plus another 2,000 SP.

This is the stage of the season where EA heavily boosts SP earnings, effectively accelerating your progress through the season rewards ladder. Even if Elena Juvet doesn’t fit your main squad, she can be valuable for friendlies, objective squads, or as a super-sub.

There is also an evolution linked to the event that boosts stamina and grants the Relentless playstyle. Note that this evolution cannot be applied to Icons, so you’ll have to choose a non-icon player that can take advantage of the extra endurance and playstyle upgrade.

New Striker Evolution: Best Players to Upgrade

The leaked striker evolution has finally dropped, and while it’s solid, it’s not the overpowered upgrade many were expecting. The key restriction is a max 91 pace requirement, and the evolution itself only upgrades pace up to a maximum of 91. That instantly removes some of the game’s fastest forwards from consideration.

What the evo does provide is a meaningful boost to pace and shooting, with a more modest bump to passing and dribbling. Because the dribbling boost is limited and the passing increase is small, this evolution works best on strikers who already have:

• Good base dribbling stats
• Decent or better passing
• Usable body type and playstyles

At around 50,000 coins, it’s good value, but not a must-do for every club. One fun angle is treating it as a potential “Messi evo”: you can take base gold Messi, apply this evolution, and make him significantly more viable in the current meta, especially if you pair it later with an end-of-season finesse-plus evolution (if available on your account).

Whenever a new evolution drops, card prices for eligible players usually spike due to hype, then settle back down. If you’re holding cards that fit this evo, consider selling into that early hype if you’re not sure you’ll use them long term.

Best Upgrade SBCs to Grind for TOTY

During TOTY, upgrade SBCs are the main engine of your pack grind. Right now, two upgrades stand out as particularly strong:

• 83+ x5 Attackers Upgrade
• 85+ x3 Upgrade

Community feedback and pack pulls shared on social channels suggest these SBCs have a noticeably better chance of producing TOTY cards and other high-rated fodder compared to many standard upgrades. The ideal strategy is to:

• Complete them daily if your fodder allows.
• Either open them immediately for current TOTY squads or stack them in your store until the full TOTY team (plus nominees) is in packs.

Which approach you choose depends on your patience and club depth. If you have a lot of untradeable fodder and need immediate upgrades, ripping packs daily is fine. If you’re targeting multiple TOTY cards, holding until all TOTY players and nominees are in packs gives you the best spread of potential pulls.

Flashback Frimpong SBC: Is He Worth Completing?

The Flashback Jeremy Frimpong SBC is a classic example of a slightly expensive, but extremely meta, full-back option.

Frimpong’s Flashback card offers:

• Elite pace for overlapping runs
• Strong defensive and physical stats for a smaller full-back
• Useful playstyles that make him dangerous in attack and reliable in defence
• Good league and nationality links that fit many popular hybrids

Although the SBC might look a bit pricey at first glance, it’s very craftable through the TOTY grind. If you are regularly completing upgrade SBCs and objectives, you can feed duplicate fodder into Frimpong over time instead of discarding it. For most competitive players who use right-backs aggressively, he’s a strong long-term option.

Icon Player Pick Description Error & Possible Compensation

The new Icon Player Pick is currently one of the best value Icon-related SBCs in the game. Unlike the older Icon pick, this one includes both base and special Icon versions, is repeatable up to three times, and requires several squads to complete.

Because special Icons have lower pack weight than base Icons, you should still expect base versions more often. The controversy came from the fact that the SBC description initially failed to list Winter Wildcard Icons as part of the pool. EA later confirmed via tweet that Winter Wildcard Icons were in the reward set and stated that impacted players would receive an in-game message.

Most likely, the compensation will take the form of an extra player pick or a similar high-value pack, but this has not been fully confirmed at the time of writing. An important reminder: don’t rush every new SBC hoping for a bug and compensation. These events are unpredictable, and most of the time, there are no issues at all.

The Icon Player Pick remains available for around two weeks, so you can take your time, grind fodder through upgrades, and decide later if completing it fits your club and coin budget.

Fodder Prices, TOTW Investments & Market Trends

The TOTY cycle always creates volatility, and this year is no different. Several clear trends are already visible:

High-Rated Fodder (89–91)

High-rated fodder has been rising steadily and is likely to continue climbing in the short term as more SBCs drop. If you packed 89–91 rated cards early, you can list them slightly above the going rate and catch spikes when people overpay to complete a desirable SBC quickly.

However, investing heavily at the very top tier is risky, as a sudden crash or content lull can leave you with expensive, hard-to-shift cards. It’s safer to treat your high-rated fodder as consumables to use rather than speculative investments.

Mid-Tier Fodder (84–87)

Mid-tier fodder often dips during Squad Battles rewards and other mass pack-out windows. Those dips can be good opportunities to stock up if you like flipping or preparing for repeatable upgrades and daily SBCs. Look for large undercuts and be ready to sell into hype once a popular SBC appears.

Team of the Week Cards Near Discard

TOTW cards are currently hovering around discard value, making them attractive for low-risk investing. Focus on:

• Higher-rated TOTWs (better for future SBC requirements)
• Out-of-packs TOTWs that won’t be reissued

If a future SBC requires Team of the Week cards, these could rise significantly. Even if they don’t spike, your downside is small as you can quick-sell them for close to your buy price.

Overall Market Direction

The broader market is trending upwards, with various meta cards seeing price rises and successful flips. One surprising pattern this year: TOTY attackers have been cheaper than many expected. Striker prices in general feel softer since TOTY began, which benefits players building squads now, but reduces profit margins for investors.

With TOTY attackers leaving packs and midfielders entering, we may see a short-term bump in attacker prices, followed by bouts of panic selling as players offload cards to chase new content.

TOTY Attackers Leaving Packs, Midfielders Entering

As the promo cycles, TOTY attackers leave packs and TOTY midfielders arrive. This transition has several implications:

• Some holders expect slight price increases on TOTY attackers once they’re out of packs, especially the most meta strikers and wingers.
• Midfielders enter with elite stats and powerful playstyles, potentially becoming the new core of competitive squads.
• Pack weight likely remains similar, but with fewer players opening packs on non-weekend days, TOTY midfielders might end up rarer and more expensive than attackers.

If you’re planning to buy a TOTY attacker, watch the market closely for post-pack-out dips or panic sales. For midfielders, expect high initial prices and slower drops, especially for centre-mids that fit multiple roles (box-to-box, CDM, or CAM) in top leagues.

Rumoured Midfielder SBC & Goalkeeper Evolution Leak

Rumours are circulating about a major midfielder SBC, likely an “honourable mentions”-style version of a very popular attacker who can also play CAM or right-mid. The leak mentions premium playstyle pluses that would make this card incredibly effective in-game and highly attractive to casual and competitive players alike.

If this SBC:

• Is reasonably priced, and
• Has strong links and a meta card design,

then a huge portion of the player base will complete it. That would put significant downward pressure on tradable CAMs and RM/RW options, especially those with similar stats but higher prices. Consider this before investing heavily in that section of the market.

There’s also a leak regarding a new goalkeeper evolution. If released, it could make certain cheap keepers far more usable, which would naturally drag down prices of some currently popular meta GKs. If you’re holding inflated, mid-budget goalkeepers as investments, it may be smart to sell before this evolution goes live.

Managing Your Budget, Packs & FC 26 Coins (With ItemD2R)

All of these SBCs, evolutions, and market moves come down to one core resource: your budget. Whether you are grinding menus every night or playing casually on weekends, how you handle coins and packs during TOTY will shape your club for months.

If you’re short of coins and tired of falling behind, one option some players consider is buying coins from a dedicated trading platform. When exploring that route, you should pay attention to pricing, delivery methods, and reliability. For example, you can compare the current fc coins price on ItemD2R to get a sense of how much budget you’d need for a specific upgrade, TOTY card, or SBC run.

ItemD2R focuses on in-game currencies and items for major titles, including the next-gen football series. If you decide to buy, checking how to fc 26 coins buy safely—through secure payment channels and well-reviewed sellers—can reduce the risk of delays or account-related issues. Many players use external coin purchases to accelerate their progress during expensive promos like TOTY instead of waiting weeks to grind the same amount through Division Rivals and Weekend League rewards.

That said, purchased coins should be treated as a supplement to, not a replacement for, smart club management. The best long-term clubs combine:

• Consistent objective and SBC grinding
• Informed trading and fodder flipping
• Selective spending on promos that truly move the needle

If you do boost your balance via ItemD2R, using those funds to complete key evolutions, meta SBCs, and high-upside TOTY cards will give you more value than random store packs with poor odds. Always consider your risk tolerance, read recent community feedback on any coin seller, and stay within your own comfort level.

Final Weekend & TOTY Grind Tips

With TOTY content rolling, mistakes being patched, and the market constantly shifting, it’s easy to get overwhelmed. Here are concise tips to keep you on track:

• Track official announcements for any SBC description changes, compensation notes, or pack updates.
• Prioritise high-value upgrades like the 83+ x5 Attackers and 85+ x3, and time your openings around full TOTY in packs if you can.
• Use evolutions wisely: target players who already have strong base stats and playstyles rather than forcing upgrades on weak cards.
• Craft meta SBCs (Frimpong, potential big-name midfielder) slowly with duplicate fodder instead of rushing with coins.
• Sell into hype on evo-eligible cards and popular TOTW items instead of buying at peak.
• Be careful with goalkeepers and CAM/RM investments until we see how the leaked evolution and SBC actually land.
• Consider your FC 26 coins strategy early—decide whether you’ll grind only, invest in the market, or top up using an external source like ItemD2R, and plan around that choice.

If you manage your coins, fodder, and time well, TOTY can be the most rewarding period of the entire cycle. Use the current mistakes as learning opportunities, stay flexible as new content drops, and build a squad that remains competitive long after the blue cards leave packs.