Every year Madden seems to come out with a new game mode, last year it was the Gauntlet which was fun but the replay value wasn’t there.  This year they’ve come out with probably the most exciting game mode since Madden Ultimate Team, Draft Champions.  What is Draft Champions?  Draft Champions is basically a roulette fantasy draft. The way it works is you start with having a few 60-70 overall players to start your team with and then you get to draft 15 rounds of choosing between three players to build your team.  So the 1st round you may have three 80 overall gold players to choose from and in another round you have to choose between three 95+ legend players. After the draft you play with the team you just drafted for a chance at prizes

There will be a ton of strategy involved with this game mode.  Due to the fact that you only get to draft fifteen players and have twenty-two starters means that your going to have a few weak positions on your team.  I think one of the biggest ways to help be successful in this game mode is to figure out who the really strong Silver players are.  “Madden” guys such as Stephen Hill or Tommie Campbell will completely change the strategy in which you draft.  If the game lets you get by with having an average Quarterback you could forego drafting a Quarterback and make due with a Chris Ponder and help bolster your secondary (Lord knows it’ll need help, check out my Aggressive Catch article for more on that).  Taking a chance on passing a key position that you need for a stud player like a Dez Bryant or Patrick Peterson could make or break the entire draft.  But that’s what makes this game mode so exciting for me.  Do you draft for need or draft for value?

Possibly the most exciting aspect of this game mode is what I believe is the absolute perfect platform for competitive Madden.  Think about it, when you watch a ranked game tournament all you ever see is Seahawks vs Seahawks or in the past few Maddens 49ers vs 49ers.  If you watch a Madden Ultimate Team tourney your going to see a lot of Golden Ticket and Boss players on either team.  Using the best team or best players has always and will always give you the best chance at success in a tournament.  But what I love about the idea of Draft Champions is that everyone is on the same playing field, no one team is going to be so much more powerful than another.  Your going to see a variety of players and also it’s going to require a lot of draft strategy from the players.  Imagine watching a tournament and getting to see who all of the selections of every player and their mindset of why they chose that player.  Of course you might have a draft that has some huge bombs in it such as a Calvin or a 95 Derrick Brooks but everyone is going to have the same opportunity.  I truly believe that this game mode is going to be the future of competitive Madden and I can’t wait to see it grow in the future.

Check Out This Video To Get an Idea of What Draft Champions is All About!