Icon Swaps 2 is now live in FIFA 22 Ultimate Team! That means EA Sports is offering a range of grindable rewards including Icon players, packs and picks, as well as those ever-so-tempting heavyweight fodder packs, which are almost guaranteed to net you walkouts and special cards from whichever promotion is running when you open them. Here is our complete guide to Icon Swaps 2, including timings, the best reward combos, and how to earn the tokens efficiently.
When is Icon Swaps 2 out in FIFA 22?
Icon Swaps 2 went live on Monday, February 21, at 6pm GMT, and will continue for two months. During that time, FUT players can earn up to 18 Icon Swaps Tokens by completing gameplay objectives. The first nine are available to earn between February 21 and March 21, and the second nine will be available between March 21 and April 21.
Rewards are available to claim throughout the whole period via Squad Building Challenges, but anything that requires more than nine tokens will only be redeemable once more than nine tokens can be earned in the game.
Just to be ultra clear, the first nine tokens expire once the second nine become available. If you wait until the second batch of nine tokens before you start grinding, you will permanently miss out on the first nine. This might be obvious to most people, but the game doesn’t exactly do a fabulous job explaining the ins and outs of Icon Swaps, so we mention it to be cautious. Don’t miss out on your chosen Icon because you were too slow!
Icon Swaps 2 rewards in FIFA 22
Once you’ve earned your Icon Swaps 2 tokens, there are a bunch of different things for which you can exchange them, and if you earn enough tokens, you can claim multiple rewards. For example, if you earn all 18 tokens, you could unlock the Prime Icon Pack and the 91+ Mid or Prime Icon Pack. Here is the complete list of Icon Swaps 2 rewards:
- 2 tokens – 81+ x25 Pack
- 3 tokens – 82+ x25 Pack
- 5 tokens – 83+ x25 Pack
- 6 tokens – Mid Icon Thierry Henry (90 LW)
- 7 tokens – Prime Icon Xavi Hernandez (93 CM)
- 8 tokens – Prime Icon Pack
- 9 tokens – Prime Icon Hristo Stoichkov (92 ST)
- 10 tokens – 91+ Mid or Prime Icon Pack
- 10 tokens – Prime Icon Moments Steven Gerrard (92 CM)
- 11 tokens – Prime Icon Marcos Cafu (93 RWB)
- 12 tokens – Mid or Prime Icon Player Pick (1 of 3)
- 13 tokens – 92+ Prime Icon Pack
- 14 tokens – Prime Icon Moments Fabio Cannavaro (93 CB)
- 15 tokens – Prime Icon Player Pick (1 of 3)
- 16 tokens – 92+ Prime or Moments Pack
- 17 tokens – Prime Icon Garrincha (94 RW)
What are the best Icon Swaps 2 rewards?
Based on where we are in the FUT cycle, the low cost of excellent promo cards, and the fact the more expensive rewards won’t be available until the end of March at the earliest, we would struggle to recommend any of the Icon player choices. You may even have better cards in your club already. If you did the Flashback Benzema or Icardi SBCs, for instance, then you arguably have a better player than Prime Stoichkov for that position.
Garrincha’s five-star skills mark him out as a possible exception, but will he feel that way in April when FUT Birthday brings new five-star skillers? Probably not, and you won’t be able to unlock him until around then. Prime Cafu is the closest thing to a good choice, a potential endgame right-back, but he eats up most of your tokens and will feel outmatched by Team of the Season cards just a few weeks after you can finally unlock him.
With that said, if you like the look of one of the Icons, feel free to ignore our advice! The cards are still fun, and not everything has to be about min/maxing your club. Stoichkov is a real bulldog of an attacker, and Xavi is a living legend.
If you are skipping the Icons themselves, you are probably wondering which combination of Icon and fodder packs to collect instead. Here are a few suggestions, based on having unlocked all 18 Icon Swaps tokens:
- Prime Icon Pack + 81×25 + 82×25 + 83×25 – This is probably the optimal combination. Do the Prime Icon Pack now for fun, then unlock the fodder packs in time for FUT Birthday or Team of the Season. At the very least, you end up with a ton of high-rated gold cards useful for SBCs.
- 91+ Mid or Prime Pack + 82×25 + 83×25 – Similar to the above, although you have to wait until the second wave of tokens hits before you can unlock the Icon Pack. You can unlock the two fodder packs in the meantime.
- Mid or Prime Player Pick + 83×25 – Depending on your preference, you could take the 83×25 here or you could take both of the lower-rated fodder packs instead. The Player Pick gives you three choices, which is a bit like opening three Icon Packs at once, albeit you can only keep one of the items.
- Prime Icon Player Pick + 82×25 – Removing the Mid Icons from the above will cost you access to the highest-rated fodder pack, but it’s still a nice option.
- 92+ Prime or Moments Pack + 81×25 – This is a huge dice roll, even though the potential rewards are greatest. You have to ask yourself: will you be happy to have spent so many hours grinding all 18 tokens just to end up with 92-rated Peter Schmeichel and a bunch of 83 and 84-rated gold cards? Because that is (arguably) the worst-case scenario, and it will happen to somebody!
Icon Swaps 2 token objectives
Tokens for Icon Swaps 2 can be earned by completing objectives online and offline. These are split between Live FUT Friendlies (online) and Squad Battles (offline), and there is also the ever-controversial requirement to win 13 matches in FUT Champions to unlock the final token in each of the two token batches.
At the time of writing, the first set of nine tokens are available for completing these objectives in FIFA 22 Ultimate Team:
- FUT Champions online objective – Win 13 FUT Champions matches. This can include Playoffs matches as well as Finals (Weekend League).
- Ligue 1 online objective – Construct a squad of Ligue 1 players (including bench) and take them into battle against other players in Live FUT Friendlies: One League mode. Eight of the starting XI should be first owner. You need to win 6 matches, score in 10 separate matches, and assist 5 goals with crosses. The latter is the most challenging element.
- Serie A online objective – Build a Serie A squad (including bench) for One League. Eight of the starting XI should be first owner. Win 6 matches, score a finesse goal in 6 matches, and assist with a through ball in 5 matches. The easiest of the lot.
- La Liga online objective – Full La Liga squad (including bench) for One League. Eight of the starting XI should be first owner. Win 6 matches, score in 10, assist with through balls in 5. Straightforward.
- Silver Squad Battles objective – Win 6 Squad Battles matches on World Class difficulty (or higher) using a full silver starting XI.
- German Squad Battles objective – Win 6 Squad Battles matches on World Class difficulty (or higher) using a full German starting XI.
- Eredivisie Squad Battles objective – Win 6 Squad Battles matches on World Class difficulty (or higher) using a full Eredivisie starting XI.
- Liga Portugal Squad Battles objective – Win 6 Squad Battles matches on World Class difficulty (or higher) using a full Liga Portugal (previously known as Liga NOS) starting XI.
- First Owner Squad Battles objective – Win 6 Squad Battles matches on World Class difficulty (or higher) using a full starting XI of first-owner players. This can include loan cards, but remember that Squad Battles use up a loan each time.
The second set of objectives, which go live on March 21, are likely to be split between online and offline modes in the same proportions, but if the past is any indicator, then it will be One Nation online friendlies for a few specific countries, while Squad Battles will call on different leagues and nations to spice things up. Watch out for social media leaks to help plan your squads ahead of time and avoid paying over the odds to assemble them.
How to earn Icon Swaps tokens fast
The above list of objectives may look a little overwhelming at first blush, but there are ways to speed up the process. By combining some of the Squad Battles objectives and subscribing to the unwritten ‘golden goal’ rule of One League, a grind that could take many hours can be reduced to just a few. Heck, you might even have fun in the process!
For the One League objectives, the main thing to know is that most players are playing ‘golden goal’. When someone scores, the other player quits out. Not everyone will be doing this, so be patient with opponents, but if you commit to the idea then you will save time.
You also need eight first owner cards in each squad for the One League objectives, but remember that you can make subs. If your first-owned options aren’t looking great, don’t be shy about buying a few better cards on the market and bringing them on early doors. Subbing on TOTY Honourable Mentions Jonathan David instead of that first-owned 83 Kevin Volland may take a few seconds each time, but it will save you matches in the long run.
Squad Battles is where you can really save time. If you have coins, then hold your nose, go onto the transfer market and pay the exorbitant sums it will cost you to buy German Eredivisie silver players for your first XI. You can then tick off three of the objectives in one go, meaning you play six Squad Battles for those three tokens rather than 18. Sell the players straight afterwards to recoup most of the coins.
If you have 11 first owner Liga Portugal cards, which seems pretty likely for a lot of players, then you can play another six matches with those cards to knock off the other two objectives.
There is nothing special you can do to speed up the FUT Champions process, so it’s best not to worry about it. Our only advice would be that if you typically complete Playoffs with games to spare and click “End Playoffs”, make sure to play them all this week instead, just so you hoover up any possible wins before getting the rest in Weekend League.
FIFA 22 is available on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S and Nintendo Switch.
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