When it comes to promotions in the earlier part of the FIFA Ultimate Team game cycle, Rulebreakers is known for delivering some absolute gems. EA has kept that theme running in FIFA 23, as Rulebreakers Team 1 looks absolutely incredible. For a quick explanation of how Rulebreakers work, a player will receive a decrease in one particular stat category but then receive huge boosts elsewhere. In a lot of cases, this helps to take a player from being unusable, to being high meta. Now, let's dive into all the players featured in FIFA 23 Rulebreakers Team 1.
Cristiano Ronaldo Rulebreakers
It is fair to say that this is the player that everyone will be hoping to pack over the next week. Coming into FIFA 23 there were worries that the pace decrease would make Ronaldo unusable, however, things changed when the new AcceleRATE system meant he could be Lengthy with the Architect chemistry style. EA has reduced his shooting by 3, but he has received boosts everywhere else. The most notable is the +13 balance, which will help him feel less stiff in-game. There's not much more to say, it's Ronaldo and he's super easy to link thanks to being Portuguese and playing for Manchester United.
Gerard Piqué Rulebreakers
Time to take a trip back to FIFA 20 when Piqué was given a crazy pace boost for his Rulebreakers SBC. This card looks to be even better. He loses 3 shooting, which doesn't matter as he's a CB, and picks up a +27 pace increase along with solid boosts elsewhere. The agility and balance are still a little rough, but you can pop a Shadow chemistry style on Piqué and have a cracking CB. The only thing that does worry me is the High Attacking and Medium Defensive workrates.
Edin Džeko Rulebreakers
Now, this card looks AMAZING. With how the game plays right now, Džeko being featured in Rulebreakers is absolutely perfect. They've reduced his passing by 3, and in return have given him +26 pace and a huge +16 agility and +25 balance boost. He's 6'4, has a 5-star weak-foot, and the finesse shot trait. He should be exceptional in-game and it will be very interesting to see what price he settles at. The Bosnia and Herzegovina links are a little tricky, but there are plenty of meta Inter players to link him with this year, Barella, Skriniar, and Gosens for example.
Leonardo Bonucci Rulebreakers
Continuing on the Serie A theme, we have another Serie A CB in the promo team this week. This time around it is Bonucci from Juventus, and it's fantastic to see him get a usable card so early in the game cycle. He and Chiellini were always plagued with being too slow to be used in FIFA and it would often take months and a bit of luck for one of them to receive a boosted card. He has taken a small hit to his dribbling stats, which still hold up very well for the current power curve, and in return gets a huge increase in his pace and stamina. It's worth noting, he will be Lengthy regardless of what chemistry you apply, so smack a Shadow on him to get the pace and defending as high as possible and enjoy having a great CB for months to come.
Nabil Fekir Rulebreakers
Still, having nightmares of his RTTK SBC from last year? Well, let me introduce you to the Rulebreaker Fekir. They have reduced all of his dribbling stats by 3, but it looks like his dribbling is still well-rounded enough to be powerful in the current meta. Compared to other players, there's nothing really crazy to note from the boosts he's received, other than the fact they're pretty solid. If you've got a French or La Ligateam, here's hoping you pack him as he should slot nicely into any team.
Kalvin Phillips Rulebreakers
It already seems like Phillips will be one of the more affordable options from Rulebreakers Team 1, and that's likely due to his pace being under 80 and most immediately overlooking him. However, there is potential for this card to have a good impact in-game, and with the English and Man City links, there shouldn't be a problem getting him into your team. He's taken a slight Physicality decrease for a big boost everywhere else. With the High defensive and medium attaching work rates, this could very well be your new CDM option.
Wilfried Zaha Rulebreakers
There seems to be quite a common theme of EA reducing a specific stat by 3 in Team 1, and in the case of Zaha, it's his dribbling that takes that hit. It will go under the radar slightly, but the big boost here is in his Physicals with +12 stamina, strength, and aggression, which for someone that can be moved to a central location, could make him a fantastic option as your ST or CF. There is a chance that his reactions will let him down though, as he only has 72, so be careful about spending big until you see some player reviews.
Jesús Navas Rulebreakers
Jesús Navas tends to be one of those players that is great in real life, but never translates well into FIFA because of his height and low strength, and he's the exact sort of player that deserves to be included in a promotion like Rulebreakers. He takes the -3 hit to his passing, which remains great for a fullback at this point in the game, and gets a stellar overall boost. He has picked up a +35 boost in strength and +18 in jumping which will help with the shortcomings he has being 5'8"... no pun intended. In regards to links, the only Sevilla player really worth linking would be Bounou, who is a beast in-game. Outside of that, there's a bunch of Spanish and La Liga players you can use to work him into a team, Rulebreaker Piqué being one of them.
Héctor Herrera Rulebreakers
It's only 30 minutes into the Rulebreakers promotion at the time of writing this, and Herrera is already under 15k. This is largely due to how difficult it will be to link him, as you will be relying on Mexico and MLS links. Right now that means you're forced into having Dempsey, Donovan, Campos, Lozano, Marquez, or Hernandez in your team to get links. While all of those players are still usable, it's a lot to go through just to get one player on chemistry. Chemistry issues aside, it actually looks like a good card, and if he plays anything like his RTTK card in FIFA 21, then you should be pleasantly surprised.
Ben Godfrey Rulebreakers
It is honestly quite surprising to see Godfrey coming in at under 100,000 coins so soon after being released. Yes, the Everton links aren't much to write home about, but being English and playing in the Premier League in general normally brings a bit of a tax. Honestly, his boost makes him look like one of the best CB options in the Premier League at the moment. There might be some worries with the Strenght and Aggression not being insanely high, but an Anchor chemistry style will help those along quite nicely. He can also be started at LB if you either want to play him there as a defensive fullback or need to move him around to build chemistry in your team.
Przemyslaw Frankowski Rulebreakers
Again, another player that it's somewhat surprising to see so cheap. Frankowski is already under 15,000 coins but he looks to be a little bit of a gem and I'll explain why. People will initially undervalue him as he's a right-footed LWB, but he can actually play RWB as well. Unfortunately, for those of you that prefer a 4 man defense, he can't play RB. However 3 and 5 at the back systems are popular and strong in the meta, and you need players that can do it all. Frankowski is close to having at least 80 in every stat, so having him as your RWB or RM actually looks to be a wise decision. He will be a bit more difficult to link, but it shouldn't be too much of a stretch to get him on at least 2 out of 3 chemistry.
Aurélio Buta Rulebreakers
To round off the players currently available in packs as part of FIFA 23 Rulebreakers Team 1, we have Aurélio Buta. Keep in mind, there will be more players coming into packs during the mini-release on Sunday. Aurélio Buta can play almost anywhere on the right side of the pitch (RM, RW, and RWB), which makes him very flexible for those that like to change formations regularly and have someone that can play as a wingback or a wide midfielder depending on the formation. Being 82 rated he does lack in some areas, but overall this actually looks like quite an interesting card to try out, and fills a gap for Bundesliga RM options.
Romain Faivre Rulebreakers SBC
Our first Rulebreaker SBC player also arrived this evening, and it's Faivre from Lyon. He's lost a touch of defending but received a healthy boost everywhere else. With the addition of being French, it means Faivre will be incredibly easy to link into your team and provides flexibility for squad building as he can play both wide and centrally (RM, RW, and CAM). At a first glance, I wasn't overly sold but now I'm considering if he might be worth picking up, the big question is: should you complete the Rulebreakers Faivre SBC?
Paulinho Rulebreakers Objective
The final player to feature is the new Objective player, Paulinho, who is actually quite interesting to look at. Initially, there's a concern as the stat he's been lowered in is dribbling, which already wasn't overly high, but when you look closer EA has actually made his dribbling better overall. He takes the following decreases: -3 Agility, -2 Balance, - 2 Ball control, and -2 Dribbling, but he is given +10 reactions and a +5 composure increase, which is a trade-off you should be more than happy to make. He's then also been giving big boosts everywhere else, so is the Paulinho objective worth completing for you?
We are still very much early days of FIFA 23, and although EA has been making a number of mistakes, some quite big, at least the team that works on promotions seems to be hitting the nail on the head so far. Every single player featured in this team has been given a boost that makes them usable, and outside a couple of players that are lower in value because of their lack of links, I'd be excited to pack pretty much any of the players featured in Rulebreakers Team 1.
Will you be opening your packs now, or saving them for the mini-release on Sunday? Let us know.