It's that time of year where Madden 25 tips take on a new lease of life. With 31 teams doomed to failure when it comes to winning the Super Bowl, Madden 25 suddenly becomes the only way of achieving every fan's dream season. Even Giants and Raiders die-hards can believe in their current roster on the virtual turf. We explain Custom Stems, training camps and much more in your essential Madden 25 tips guide.
1. Roll with one of the top five teams
A no-brainer to kick you off with. Madden 25 isn’t perfect, but it’s a big improvement on last year, with plenty of new features to try out – such as the kicking meter ported over from College Football 25, Switch Stick, and Custom Stem routes – both of which we’ll get to shortly. In order to fully grasp all the fresh additions, it’s worth cueing up a few matches with the game’s top rosters. Mahomes and Kelce make the Chiefs insanely fun, Miami’s speed is a riot on every play, and Ravens QB Lamar Jackson is even more OP than prime Michael Vick. The top five is below, and you can see all ratings on our Madden 25 best teams list.
- 1= Kansas City Chiefs - 92
- 1= San Francisco 49ers - 92
- 3 Baltimore Ravens - 91
- 4 Miami Dolphins - 89
- 5= Dallas Cowboys - 88
- 5= Detroit Lions - 88
2. Use the Custom Stem option with your receivers
Hot routing a receiver at the line of scrimmage has always provided a tactical edge. This year it gets even better with something called Custom Stem, which adjusts the breaking point of your receiver’s route downfield. Before the snap, press triangle (PlayStation) or Y (Xbox), then the corresponding button of the catcher you want to re-route. Now hold L1/LB and move the left stick or D-pad up to extend the distance, or down to shorten it. Finally, release L1/LB to lock in the new route. It’s a spectacular way to exploit man-to-man coverage, or precisely target the back pylon for a TD.
3. Master the Switch Stick
The much-vaunted return of the Hit Stick has scored plenty of hype on defense, but the new Switch Stick is an even bigger game-changer. As that name suggests, it enables you to instantly switch to the closest defender with a flick of the right stick. For instance, if the ball is in the air and you see a slot receiver sloping past your nickel back, you can adjust a CB1 or CB2 to drift inside, and block the pass or take down the WR as soon as he grabs the ball. It’s a super tough skill to master, but elite players are going to do exactly that online – and practise makes perfect. Note that you can only use the Switch Stick in Zone, and can’t switch to a player committed to a blitz.
4. Stop dropping back - and throw the ball away
Madden wouldn’t be Madden without QBs dropping back 15 yards, then launching a downfield heave into double coverage. When it come off it feels incredible – but nine times out of ten you’re being sacked, intercepted, or having the ball batted away. Get used to staying in the pocket, and letting your LT and RT do their jobs. QBs always throw more accurately with their feet properly set. The exception is if you can’t see an open receiver on first or second down: in these circumstances, dash outside the pocket and throw the ball away by pushing in any direction on the right stick. QB play is an element Madden handles well, and the more realistic your approach, the greater the rewards.
5. Take Training Camp seriously
After starting a new franchise, it’s always tempting to fast forward through the meaningless pre-season games and jump straight into the week one schedule. You’re wasting an important development opportunity by doing so in Madden 25. Training Camp offers a series of mini-games which are both fun, and offer decent rewards – but once you’ve accepted the results of a mini-game, it becomes locked and you can’t go back. So be sure to play each of them, and retry until you get either a gold, silver or bronze medal. Do well enough and there’s a chance of turning a Superstar into an X-Factor player. On which note…
6. Know your X-Factors and Superstars
Our Madden 25 best players guide will steer you on this year’s top 50, but it’s important to remember that some perform beyond their stats thanks to X-Factors and Superstar abilities. These can really help when starting out a franchise, or building an Ultimate Team. For instance, both San Francisco and Baltimore have five players with X-Factors – whereas the Patriots are the only team in the entire game without a single of either designation. Players newly upgraded with X-Factors include Jets CB Sauce Gardner (Shutdown) and Lions WR Amon-Ra St Brown (Double Me). See them all in GR’s Madden 25 X-Factors guide.
7. Turn on all the classic Madden tracks
Notice how fave Madden tracks from yesteryear, such as Party Hard by Andrew WK and Green Day’s American Idiot, can be heard in the stadium? You can also add these songs to the main soundtrack, and have them play on menus during Ultimate Team, franchise and so on, too. To do so, click the touchpad (PlayStation) or View button (Xbox) while on the home screen, then R1/RT to bring up EA Music. Scroll down to the halfway point and you’ll see all the old songs, with unchecked tick boxes next to them. Press X or A to fill in the tick box of any you want to play throughout the game. No One Knows, In Da Club, Ruff Ryder’s Anthem: it really is a formidable tracklist. Now time for some Madden 25 celebrations…
