I have updated the MDW 523 to strikerless given the new engine and added a few tweaks from @Gerrard Argus tactic.
Tested with a side from each of the 7 Englisg Leagues, with 6 of them winning and Burley finishing 6th. The screenshots are from Merthyr who were considered the 24th best team at the start df the season rated 300/1. Sides were ranked between 14 and 24 in the main with the exception of Ebbsfleet who were ranked 6th. They are included as I am playing them in my current save.
Hopefully this improves on MDW 523 as it fell down a bit in the new ME.
Yes, there'll be separate tactic testing on the 26.1 update.
We haven't started re-testing tactics for the 26.1 update yet because the FMRTE app still hasn't been updated to support the latest FM 26.1 public update. As soon it gets updated we start testing on the 26.1 update.
As usual, all the tactics in the HoF will be re-tested automatically and tactics outside the HoF can be re-tested via the "re-test request feature" that will be available as soon as we start testing on the 26.1 public update. Expand
Thanks for the response and a big thanks to you and your team for the great work helping us FM fanatics out thru FM Arena.
In general, the game is still in a beta phase and as we can see it gets patches almost on a daily basis so there's no point in testing anything at the moment.
And mostly important, the official pre-game editor hasn't been released yet so we can't start creating our tactic testing league for FM26.
And when the above is solved then of course, it would takes some time to adjust our tactic testing server for FM26 before we start testing tactics for FM26. Expand
Will there be separate tactic testing on the 26.1 update given there were changes to the match engine and if so is there a plan or a process for which tactics get retested?
A small but important tweak to my last tactic, central Striker is now an F9. Lets him drop back and gives him more freedom to roam. Tested as per MDW 523. This time 5 of the 7 sides won their league, Shrewsbury finished 3rd after a string of injuries including their GK, and Burley managed 4th.
I see you finally managed to overcome the bloody "the tactic could not be imported" issue.
What did do? Could be useful for people. Expand
I didnt realise the title had to be the same as the tactic name. I had started new games and even rebuilt the tactic from scratch. still didnt work. So I downloaded the tactic from your site and noticed the tactic name was the same as the title.
I have tried to take the meta defensive approach OOP and add to the meta attacking approach IP. I ran it with 7 sides from EPL down to Enterprise Nth/Sth. All sides were not given much hope. Ended with 2 leagues won, 4 second positions and Burnley finished 11th.
The tests were done on Holiday and no transfer activity.
@Zippo can you please tell us what formations the AI teams use in your test league and what the margin of error is in your current testing using 1350 matches. I would like to be able to look at which tactics work best against each of the top 5 AI tactics and also which tactics are falling within the margin of error of the top tactics for particular formations
I have attempted to blend a few tactics and make the Into the Void tactic into a more plug and play versionincluding some of the features from Winter 0.2. Seemed to go reasonably well with Burnley.
No transfers in, holiday mode and made it into Europe. Final attempt to fix it
GabBau said: Hey everyone. I know this is off-topic, but maybe someone knows. Could you please tell me how to add first and last names for new regens in the pre-game editor or somewhere else? My friends and I always play in the Kazakhstan League, and we don't like the monotony of regens' first and last names. We'd like to expand the list of first and last names. I'd be very grateful. GPT chat isn't helping at all. Expand
tam1236 said: You can - tested many times. Especially at youngsters and with close positions. Of course it depends on versatility hidden attribute.
In theory professionalism is better - somebody on yt tested that there is no chance to make a good player with low prof. and sometimes it happens when a determination is low. But irl players with really low profess. are very, very few and very, very far between in FM base and in newgen. Balotelli is a lonely knight. And low determination you can see quite often Expand
Oh Balotelli, I remember him. Determination. Professionalism. Not sure.
@ZaZ have you thought of testing some hybrid tactics. I have been using Autumn 0.1 and defensively it is the best in all my years of playing. In ten games I have 7 clean sheets and 3 single goals against in the others. I wonder if you could use the OOP from it and the IP from Winter 0.2, which seems to be the best attack. One DC from OOP could move to MC IP and a DM to ST. Just a thought
This is with Ebbsfleet in Enterprise South. No transfers and using the young GK who is rated worst in the league but with reasonable potential and high consistency. He hasnt been playing when the goals against came, and 2 of the goals were penalties.
MeanOnSunday said: Two things about this. 1) it only works for the first team, SI confirms that general training is not under our control for u21, u18 etc. you can change individual training and intensity but no commitment yet that si brings back ability to edit general training. 2) sometimes advancing time isn’t enough, you may have to completely exit the game and restart it before the custom schedule shows up. Expand
you can put them all in your main squad so they get the training benefits and choose make available for U18s
ZaZ said: I have tried tactics with one DM, but they work the same as FM24. Not completely bad, but apparently two DMs still work better. There is still a long way to test combinations of IP and OOP, though. Expand
I wonder if 1 DM in attack and 2 DMs in defence might be the way to go. I am waiting for the full game before playing with tactics
Prysiu said: Outstanding work on this extensive testing! Here are the key findings for those, who struggle to read this 😉
Core Discovery: Attribute Mechanics
- Attributes = "Propensity (attempts)" + "Success Rate" - Higher attributes make players attempt actions MORE OFTEN, not just better - This can HARM team performance when players ignore tactical instructions to do what they prefer
Why Higher Attributes Can Be Negative - Player with high Passing will attempt more passes (even when inappropriate) - Player with high Finishing will "steal" shooting opportunities from better-positioned teammates - Success rate improves, but overall team performance may decline - Explains the "red results" where attribute increases hurt win rates
AI Manager META Hierarchy Strongest (META-level AI): - Marco Rose (RB Leipzig) - Diego Simeone (Atletico Madrid) - Stefano Pioli (AC Milan)
Weakest: - Pep Guardiola - Most other "famous" managers
Critical Finding: Some AI managers are using actual META tactics and are extremely difficult to beat
Preset Tactics Performance - ALL preset tactics perform poorly against strong AI managers - Even the best preset (GegenPress 4231) only draws with the WORST AI managers - Using presets puts you at massive disadvantage against META AI managers
Extreme META Requirement - Without "extreme META" settings (like "Get Stuck In", you lose 10-20% more than you win against top AI - Small tactical compromises lead to being "overwhelmed" by strong opponents - Every instruction matters at the highest level
Match Management Reality
- "Player Control" vs "Holiday" shows identical xG and actual goals - More shot animations in player control, but same statistical outcomes - Only real difference: team morale boost from "Shouting" - Without shouting, manual control provides zero statistical advantage
Hidden Attributes Impact
- "Important Matches" significantly affects xG to actual goals conversion - "Consistency" confirmed as highly effective attribute - Position proficiency differences (even 18 vs 20) meaningfully impact performance
Revolutionary Implications
- Attribute stacking isn't always beneficial - can create tactical disobedience - META tactics are mandatory against strong AI, not optional - AI difficulty varies drastically based on manager tactical setup - Manual control is largely cosmetic without morale management - Every tactical detail matters at competitive levels
This research explains why "logical" attribute increases sometimes hurt performance and why certain AI teams feel impossibly difficult while others are pushovers. Exceptional scientific approach to testing FM24 mechanics! Expand
My question is, if your team is struggle using the top FM Arena tactic (424) and are behind on xG, what impact is there if you to another meta tactic (say 4231) at half time.
recoba said: You might already know this but FYI the potential AMLR is only a guess made by genie scout. And I often see it estimate players way higher with their potential than what actually happens. It often estimates players already in their early 20s with not so great professionalism reaching their potential, which rarely happens. Expand
I think Genie Scout is a great tool and I still use my Genie Scout ratings. I believe there are 2 main issues with Genie Scout and I use my own calculations to correct for these.
The first is the positional rating out of 20. Genie Scout uses a very low adjustment for this and we know from FM Arena testing that the Genie Scout adjuctment is far too low.
Here is my previous information on this subject Adjustment for Positional Rating
After looking at the percentage impact in the FM Arena Attributes testing table for Playing Position Rating over the last few years, it worked out to be very close to 2.5% per point or 1/40th. Then I calculated what Genie Scout uses for a reduction, which is quite a minor adjustment. I took a download of around 1000 wingers and looked at the differences in ratings against their positional ratings out of 20. Moving from 1/40th to 1/46th was the nearest to the adjustment.
Here is the formula for Excel =A1*(1-(20-B1)/46)
In the formula A1 is the location of the rating you want to manipulate and B1 is the location of the position score out of 20.
This is about 2.17% reduction for each point under 20.
In summary, you will need to allow for the adjustment for their positional rating out of 20 ie you need to multiply their GS Rating by 100% minus the difference between 20 and their positional rating multiplied by 2.17%. For example if their GS rating is 50% and their positional rating is 19, it is 20 - 19= 1 multiplied by 2.17% is 2.17%. Take this off 100% = 97.83% multiplied by 50.00% is 48.91%.
The second is the potential rating. I havent posted about this previously but after reading much information on the subject I use the following.
Adjustment for Potential Rating
For an outfield player, if the players age is under 19 I use the Genie Scout Potential Rating (PR). Otherwise I do an adjustment. Here is my Excel calc. IF(AGE<19,GSPsnPotRating,IF(AGE<26,(26-AGE)/8*(GSPsnPotRating-GSPsnsRating)+GSPsnRating,GSPsnRating))*(1-((20-PR)/IF(PR<11,1,2))/46).
It is slightly different for GKs. But I am sure people can adapt this to meet their needs.
I use different versions of tactics depending on the opposition. Best 424 and 4231 are the top tactics in FM Arena. Change from Attacking to Balanced for BAL, ENE is Energy God of Chaos which I think is available on FM Arena, I move the AM forward to PF Support if I am using a 424. The CTRL approach is the variation from the main tactic.
You will note the home and away columns calculate my starting approach against each side. I do vary the approach during the game depending on how it is going.
I have recruited players to use in the 2 main tactics which is why they rate higher than the other formations for me.
Tested with a side from each of the 7 Englisg Leagues, with 6 of them winning and Burley finishing 6th. The screenshots are from Merthyr who were considered the 24th best team at the start df the season rated 300/1. Sides were ranked between 14 and 24 in the main with the exception of Ebbsfleet who were ranked 6th. They are included as I am playing them in my current save.
Hopefully this improves on MDW 523 as it fell down a bit in the new ME.
Yes, there'll be separate tactic testing on the 26.1 update.
We haven't started re-testing tactics for the 26.1 update yet because the FMRTE app still hasn't been updated to support the latest FM 26.1 public update. As soon it gets updated we start testing on the 26.1 update.
As usual, all the tactics in the HoF will be re-tested automatically and tactics outside the HoF can be re-tested via the "re-test request feature" that will be available as soon as we start testing on the 26.1 public update.
Thanks for the response and a big thanks to you and your team for the great work helping us FM fanatics out thru FM Arena.
In general, the game is still in a beta phase and as we can see it gets patches almost on a daily basis so there's no point in testing anything at the moment.
And mostly important, the official pre-game editor hasn't been released yet so we can't start creating our tactic testing league for FM26.
And when the above is solved then of course, it would takes some time to adjust our tactic testing server for FM26 before we start testing tactics for FM26.
Will there be separate tactic testing on the 26.1 update given there were changes to the match engine and if so is there a plan or a process for which tactics get retested?
Looking forward to the test
I see you finally managed to overcome the bloody "the tactic could not be imported" issue.
What did do? Could be useful for people.
I didnt realise the title had to be the same as the tactic name. I had started new games and even rebuilt the tactic from scratch. still didnt work. So I downloaded the tactic from your site and noticed the tactic name was the same as the title.
My fault. Thanks so much for your help
The tests were done on Holiday and no transfer activity.
Seems to be going ok.
Thanks
No transfers in, holiday mode and made it into Europe. Final attempt to fix it
You should be able to change them with FMRTE
In theory professionalism is better - somebody on yt tested that there is no chance to make a good player with low prof. and sometimes it happens when a determination is low. But irl players with really low profess. are very, very few and very, very far between in FM base and in newgen. Balotelli is a lonely knight. And low determination you can see quite often
Oh Balotelli, I remember him. Determination. Professionalism. Not sure.
Balotelli and the training bib
I can never forget this
This is with Ebbsfleet in Enterprise South. No transfers and using the young GK who is rated worst in the league but with reasonable potential and high consistency. He hasnt been playing when the goals against came, and 2 of the goals were penalties.
you can put them all in your main squad so they get the training benefits and choose make available for U18s
I think it is this one
I wonder if 1 DM in attack and 2 DMs in defence might be the way to go. I am waiting for the full game before playing with tactics
first time using Genie Scout and I'm a bit confused. I got the following two players rated GS as 167 CA (Sall) and 170 CA (Davidson).
When i compare them ingame Sall looks much stronger, having a slight advantage in every attribute.
Can someone explain why GS shows Davidson as higher CA? Thanks
You should read through the GS Guide
Core Discovery: Attribute Mechanics
- Attributes = "Propensity (attempts)" + "Success Rate"
- Higher attributes make players attempt actions MORE OFTEN, not just better
- This can HARM team performance when players ignore tactical instructions to do what they prefer
Why Higher Attributes Can Be Negative
- Player with high Passing will attempt more passes (even when inappropriate)
- Player with high Finishing will "steal" shooting opportunities from better-positioned teammates
- Success rate improves, but overall team performance may decline
- Explains the "red results" where attribute increases hurt win rates
AI Manager META Hierarchy
Strongest (META-level AI):
- Marco Rose (RB Leipzig)
- Diego Simeone (Atletico Madrid)
- Stefano Pioli (AC Milan)
Weakest:
- Pep Guardiola
- Most other "famous" managers
Critical Finding: Some AI managers are using actual META tactics and are extremely difficult to beat
Preset Tactics Performance
- ALL preset tactics perform poorly against strong AI managers
- Even the best preset (GegenPress 4231) only draws with the WORST AI managers
- Using presets puts you at massive disadvantage against META AI managers
Extreme META Requirement
- Without "extreme META" settings (like "Get Stuck In"
- Small tactical compromises lead to being "overwhelmed" by strong opponents
- Every instruction matters at the highest level
Match Management Reality
- "Player Control" vs "Holiday" shows identical xG and actual goals
- More shot animations in player control, but same statistical outcomes
- Only real difference: team morale boost from "Shouting"
- Without shouting, manual control provides zero statistical advantage
Hidden Attributes Impact
- "Important Matches" significantly affects xG to actual goals conversion
- "Consistency" confirmed as highly effective attribute
- Position proficiency differences (even 18 vs 20) meaningfully impact performance
Revolutionary Implications
- Attribute stacking isn't always beneficial - can create tactical disobedience
- META tactics are mandatory against strong AI, not optional
- AI difficulty varies drastically based on manager tactical setup
- Manual control is largely cosmetic without morale management
- Every tactical detail matters at competitive levels
This research explains why "logical" attribute increases sometimes hurt performance and why certain AI teams feel impossibly difficult while others are pushovers. Exceptional scientific approach to testing FM24 mechanics!
My question is, if your team is struggle using the top FM Arena tactic (424) and are behind on xG, what impact is there if you to another meta tactic (say 4231) at half time.
I think Genie Scout is a great tool and I still use my Genie Scout ratings. I believe there are 2 main issues with Genie Scout and I use my own calculations to correct for these.
The first is the positional rating out of 20. Genie Scout uses a very low adjustment for this and we know from FM Arena testing that the Genie Scout adjuctment is far too low.
Here is my previous information on this subject
Adjustment for Positional Rating
After looking at the percentage impact in the FM Arena Attributes testing table for Playing Position Rating over the last few years, it worked out to be very close to 2.5% per point or 1/40th. Then I calculated what Genie Scout uses for a reduction, which is quite a minor adjustment. I took a download of around 1000 wingers and looked at the differences in ratings against their positional ratings out of 20. Moving from 1/40th to 1/46th was the nearest to the adjustment.
Here is the formula for Excel =A1*(1-(20-B1)/46)
In the formula A1 is the location of the rating you want to manipulate and B1 is the location of the position score out of 20.
This is about 2.17% reduction for each point under 20.
In summary, you will need to allow for the adjustment for their positional rating out of 20 ie you need to multiply their GS Rating by 100% minus the difference between 20 and their positional rating multiplied by 2.17%. For example if their GS rating is 50% and their positional rating is 19, it is 20 - 19= 1 multiplied by 2.17% is 2.17%. Take this off 100% = 97.83% multiplied by 50.00% is 48.91%.
The second is the potential rating. I havent posted about this previously but after reading much information on the subject I use the following.
Adjustment for Potential Rating
For an outfield player, if the players age is under 19 I use the Genie Scout Potential Rating (PR). Otherwise I do an adjustment. Here is my Excel calc. IF(AGE<19,GSPsnPotRating,IF(AGE<26,(26-AGE)/8*(GSPsnPotRating-GSPsnsRating)+GSPsnRating,GSPsnRating))*(1-((20-PR)/IF(PR<11,1,2))/46).
It is slightly different for GKs. But I am sure people can adapt this to meet their needs.
I hope this helps someone.
You will note the home and away columns calculate my starting approach against each side. I do vary the approach during the game depending on how it is going.
I have recruited players to use in the 2 main tactics which is why they rate higher than the other formations for me.