FIFA 19 Ultimate Team: What are Flashback players and how to get them

Some recent stars of the game are available in limited-time Squad Building Challenges, with boosted ratings flashing back to their peak performances

FIFA 19 introduced another new exciting promotion in Ultimate Team, with Flashback Players now joining Icons, Ones to Watch and other special cards to help complete your squad and take on the Weekend League.

These are limited-availability players that can only be won from completing Squad Building Challenges (SBCs) in the week of their release. They celebrate a player’s past achievements and “flash back” to their peak rating, thus giving them a huge boost in statistics from their original card.

They are different to the FUT Birthday cards, which usually arrive in March every year and are a collection of former fan favourites with their ratings from previous editions of FIFA. Instead, they have new ratings that are specific to FIFA 19, adding to the excitement for gamers when a new player is announced.

The first Flashback Player released was Atletico Madrid full-back Juanfran, who received a special upgraded version celebrating his 2013-14 season. This was followed up by a special Mario Gotze, recounting his World Cup win in 2014.

These two initial Flashback Players got massive boosts to their ratings, making them extremely desirable for FIFA 19 players, especially ones with La Liga or Bundesliga squads. Juanfran’s overall rating jumped from 80 to 87, with his pace a much more appealing 87 score. Gotze’s boost was not as impressive, but now has an 87-rated version with improved stats in every aspect of the game, making him useable as a forward or midfielder.

Juanfran’s SBC dropped in mid-October while Gotze’s followed up at the start of November, indicating that Flashback Players will be available every second or third Friday for a four-day limited period. This should continue throughout the season, with eager fans on Twitter and Reddit already predicting which players could get Flashback cards.

Flashback Pedro was introduced as the best reward during November’s FUTSwap promotion and will be available at the end of the month once all FUTSwap 2 items are released.

Flashback Players are not available in packs, in the store, or on the transfer market. The only way to get these special players is to complete Squad Building Challenges during their limited period in the game. If you do not complete the SBCs within the time limit, you will never be able to get this version of the player.

Depending on the overall rating of the card, you may have to complete multiple SBCs to win the reward. Each SBC also has a smaller reward e.g. a Mega Pack or Players Pack to give you something in return for submitting your squads.

Like all SBCs, if you submit a player into the squad, you will lose it from your club – so only submit players you can afford to lose! The SBCs also have particular requirements e.g. Gotze had one squad which had to be at least 84-rated with German players and another 84-rated one which needed at least one Bayern Munich player.

The Flashback Players received in the SBCs are untradeable, meaning you cannot put them up for auction on the transfer market and you will get 0 coins if you decide to discard them by quick selling.

So far there have been three Flashback Players released. The SBCs can be completed by anyone in FIFA 19, but are only available during a small window, so if you want them, make sure you snap them up before they are gone!

Juanfran’s Flashback SBC ran from October 12 to October 16 while Gotze’s began on November 3 for four days. It is expected that new Flashback Players will be released every two or three weeks in future.

Another Flashback player was released as part of the November FUTSwap promotion. Chelsea winger Pedro received an upgrade to 87 overall and is available through the FUTSwap SBCs. In order to get Pedro, you need to collect 14 FUTSwap items during November. There are only 14 available, so you need to play a lot of FIFA 19 to get them, as some require high finishes in Squad Building mode, while others are rewards for completing Daily and Weekly Objectives. 

They are also only available with their current club and country rather than the team they played for during the period the card is flashing back to. For example, Mario Gotze was on the books of Bayern Munich when he scored the 2014 World Cup winning goal, but his Flashback card is for current club Borussia Dortmund.

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