u/Ok_Hope9629

Following up on my last post about Squad Battles - today I hopped into the Ultimate Team Weekend League and honestly, the blatant cheating in this mode is just as disgusting, if not worse.

It’s always the same predictable cycle. If I lose, the next match is suddenly a breeze. But the moment I win, the game forces a "harder" match that isn't actually hard because of the opponent's skill, but because the game is aggressively cheating against me. ​Here is the absolute nonsense I experienced during my WL run today. Simple passes refuse to go where I aim. When I try to pass out from the back to relieve pressure, my defenders or goalkeeper hit these weak, slow, underpowered passes. Sometimes they literally pass backwards towards my own goal, basically serving the ball to the opponent on a silver platter. ​This only happens during these artificially difficult matches. Right when the opponent attacks, the game completely freezes for about 3 seconds. When the connection catches up, the gameplay goes into fast-forward mode, and by the time I can control my players again, the ball is already in the back of my net. Coincidence? I don't think so. ​In my last match (about an hour ago), it was literally impossible to score. No matter how many clear chances I created, my attackers could only hit the post over and over again. You can't pass around or dribble past the opponent because their AI blocks everything, and they abuse the offside trap with superhuman timing. There is no way a flesh-and-blood human is executing that offside trap manually with 100% perfection every single time. ​EA needs to make the matchmaking fully transparent because the way it works right now is just an unreadable, fake joke. Who else thinks this way?

I was playing Squad Battles on World Class yesterday.

What I’ve been experiencing constantly in online modes (Rivals, WL) since day one is heavily present here too. What exactly is this? Personally, I just call it cheating.

The stats on the player cards are nowhere near reality... ​During the game, the AI nerfs my players to roughly silver-card level, because a basic gold card on World Class performs way better. All of my players are slowed down. They can't pull off a single skill move or if they do, it's painfully slow. They run slower than anyone else and the AI literally pushes my defenders out of the way even if they are perfectly positioned.

​Matches like this are not a level playing field; the cards I use are completely dumbed down. If this isn't cheating, EA, then what is?? I never see this kind of nonsense in pro matches..."

Does it even matter what kind of squad you have anymore? You can rock a 10M coin team or a full gold rare squad, it feels like the script has already decided the winner before the opening whistle. ​I’ve been grinding Rivals and Weekend League, and the experience is the same across the board. Whether I’m in Div 8 or Div 4, the matchmaking throws "unbeatable" opponents at me. It doesn’t even care about your form-I’ve been 0-5 in WL and still got matched against someone playing like a literal god. ​But here is my biggest issue: I’m convinced 80-90% of these "opponents" are actually AI bots. ​The way they move, the way they react-it’s not a human holding a controller. It feels like I’m fighting a rigged AI that cheats to make sure I lose, no matter how well I play. It’s not a competitive PvP game anymore; it’s a struggle against an algorithm designed to frustrate you. ​If EA FC 27 is going to be another struggle against the AI simulator, it's going straight into the bin ...We’re paying for a football game, not a programmed loss.