FIFA 20 is out this week, so what better way to celebrate than to publish some tips and tricks to get good in this year’s iteration?

For this specific guide, we’ll be focusing on the new Volta Story mode and the FUT mode. We save the best for last because that’s what everyone playing FIFA nowadays want, right? A bunch of rare player cards to form ultimate teams with.

Anyway, let’s start with FIFA 20’s newest mode.

Here’s How It Starts…

Carrying the narrative torch after the conclusion of The Journey in FIFA 19, Volta’s story begins with your customisable streetballer joining a new crew. This is a football game after all, not an interactive exploration of Voltaire, so don’t expect anything other than cutscene stereotypes.

Before long, your pro must go it alone and find a new crew after falling out with the aforementioned stereotypes.

Get To Know Your Modes For XP-Gaining

In addition to story mode above, you can hop into a quick solo or online multiplayer match, or Volta Tour, in which you take on AI-controlled teams of real players from around the world of football. Finally, Volta League offers an analog of Online Seasons mode.

Sort Out Your Team Styles

You are treated to a variety of team styles across Volta modes. The first is Rush Keepers – in other words, the outfield player nearest the goal at the time acts as goalkeeper as needed, in teams of either three or four. This is the most free-flowing of all the available styles – you won’t see play stopped for much here, except genuinely life-threatening challenges, and the goals are the smallest available.

Next is Street with Keepers, which is just what it sounds like: the above rules, but featuring dedicated goalkeepers rather than outfield players rushing into net when play calls for it. Larger goals are found here.

Finally, Futsal offers the more regulated street football variant: five-a-side, dedicated keepers, corners and kick-ons, and a referee with cards in his pocket just twitching to bring them out.

How Big Are These Pitches Again?

Like that wasn’t already enough variables to keep you interested for a while, three different pitch sizes are available. Do you want to cram a 5v5 match into a tiny storage cupboard-sized playing area? You can do that, you crazy person you.

Want some room to stretch your legs and practice skills with time before your marker descends on you? You can also do that sensible option. Walls can be toggled, flick-ons to yourself are possible when they’re enabled, and different playing surfaces affect ball speed and behaviour.

Long story short, Volta mode is surprisingly detailed. Take advantage of it.

Sorting Out Your Volta Team Composition

Whichever of the above styles you play, striking the right balance of players is key in Volta. This is skill-based football, so 4.5 and 5-star skill ratings are a must-have for anyone you field.

There is a lot more to consider, though. If you’re playing with smaller goals, shooting is fully manual. In other words, pretty impossible. Shooting accuracy suddenly becomes crucially important.

Finally, at some point, you are going to have to defend in a Volta game. It’s not fun, and it’s not stylish, but sometimes you just need to stick a foot in and get the ball back so you can start tricking your way to the opposition goal again.

Therefore, defensively minded players with high skill ratings become incredibly valuable – think Marcelo, Dani Alves and the like. This is where your football club knowledge will come in handy.

Autoskill: It’s A Volta Thing

You might be reading all this and be worried at the thought of having to faff about, failing skill after skill in front of an online opponent.

You won’t be this time around: by holding down both triggers on a gamepad, you’ll initiate an autoskill mode in Volta. This gives your players license to pull of silky techniques without you having to squabble with the right analog stick like a Street Fighter player having a sneezing fit.

The idea here is to get all players, regardless of skill level, playing Volta in the spirit it’s intended in: graceful, balletic manoeuvres within a confined space, rather than sprinting 20 yards at full pelt and hoying it at the goal over and over again.

Volta Aerials

Holding down R2+L2 won’t get you everywhere, though. To get the ball off the ground and unleash some impressive aerial feats, a tap in of the right analog stick is required.

Once the ball’s airborne, taps of the right stick control the direction of your aerial touches. It’s not easy, but with some practice, it’s possible to negate the whole opposing team with two or three clever flicks.

Have Fun With Customization

This is a FIFA game after all, and it’s 2019, so of course, there are pages and pages or shorts, hairstyles, and other incidental bobbins to cycle through, unlock, and customise your character with.

Although you’re given an Alex Hunter-style archetype at the start of Volta story, you can go ahead and craft your own potato-headed clothes horse just as the spirit takes you.

Forget Volta mode, I wanna know how to score awesome cards in FUT!