The Set-Up

These are the basics settings every Madden player should set-up and save. They will save you time, help you win more often, and you won't drive everyone you play nuts waiting for you.

First a side note: Haven't posted since first getting the game because every time I think I have something worth sharing I play someone who beats me so bad I realize I have a long way to go. But, now I'm ready to share. I'm not saying I'm the #1 Madden player out there, but I can hold my own now because I developed a fundamental strategy based on playing the game without cheats, glitches or gimmicks that works for me and I believe will work for you.

All I'm going to do is tell you what I do, and I hope it helps, if you have any feedback please feel free to share, but I'm putting this stuff out there to help people improve their game and in turn, improve mine.

Alright, first set-up the game the way you want to play.

Go to MY MADDEN on the main menu, go to SETTINGS, go to GAME OPTIONS, pick a FAVORITE TEAM, OFFENSIVE PLAYBOOK, and DEFENSIVE PLAYBOOK. It doesn't really matter what team and what playbooks, just fit them with your style. (I almost exclusively use the NE Patriots Offensive Playbook, the NYJ Defensive Playbook, and play mostly with the Green Bay Packers).

Next, you must go to MY MADDEN, SETTINGS, GAME PLAN and set-up your audibles. At this point if you don't have a game plan yet then just look at them and know what they are. If you do have a game plan, set your audibles to some plays that you like out of the formations you run the most. I'll definitely talk more about audibles as this blog grows...they are a requirement for winning consistently.

Lastly, go to XBOX LIVE, go to PLAY, go down to ROSTER (make sure you have the latest roster update....if you've never played go to the quick game option and start a game, you should get a roster download once the match up screen comes up...just back out after the roster download). Now, make all the adjustments you want to your roster, and save them afterwards. Get your best kick returner, punt returner, 3rd down back, any injured guys back in the lineup, and any other adjustments you like (I'll talk more about this in future posts, but the KR, PR, 3DB, and injured guys ane the most important).

Once you have this saved, you can now start a game without wasting anytime setting this stuff up every time you play (it blows me away seeing guys with 300+ games played who have to pick their team, make roster changes, and pick playbooks every game, but when you check their profile, they play the same team and same playbooks every game).

Lastly, if you play online, which if you're reading this you should be doing, you need to go to ONLINE SETTINGS and provide your email address so you can get all the game information and your level information sent to you after each game...invaluable.