Finding Madden tutorials that jive with your play style is a lot like finding a soul-mate – you need something that fits *you*. Madden is a by-design complex game with a high skill ceiling, meaning there’s a *wide* gap between bad players and the best of the best. Most players hover in the mediocre-to-good range, eeking out a positive win rate, but no real ‘glory’ or dominance as it were.

I am such a player. Having played Madden since 2000, it has has always been my primary game of choice, and I’ve always been…okay at it, especially in Ultimate Team. I’d beat bad players and then lose spectacularly to others, who seemed to know something I didn’t.

This year I vowed to figure out what I was missing, and found countless loud, awkward tutorials about money plays and defenses requiring a bunch of adjustments to function properly. What I wanted – and needed, wasn’t specific plays I could spam, but rather concepts I could implement: Complimentary routes, good ways to stop the run *and* stop over-the-top pass plays.

I succeeded. Finding one semi-obscure YouTubers and two fairly popular ones, I am now in the ‘All Madden’ tier of Madden Ultimate team, got more wins in Weekend League than ever before, and am sitting at nearly 200k coins, with an 86 OVR team…and haven’t spent a dime beyond the game’s 60 dollar price tag.

So who are the YouTube gurus that lead me down this path to shocking success? Read on to find out.

1. Cody Ballard



Arguably the ‘smallest’ YouTuber on this list, Mr. Ballard is ‘chill’ defined. While he’ll break down specific plays and coverages, his ‘gimmick’ is philosophical in nature. His best videos address specific concepts, yes, but more importantly, what players can do overall to improve their game.

Ballard speaks like the assistant coach who has a zen garden and maybe took just a touch too much acid in the 1970s. He addresses football, and Madden specifically, not as a game of Xs and Os but as a game won in the brain. Smart decisions. Intentional football. Staying ‘in the game’ after giving up big plays.

If you’re looking for one-shot touchdown plays and nano-blitzes, look elsewhere. Ballard even addresses this in many videos, stating if you just run plays people *say* are good, you’re never going to *be* good. So when Ballard speaks to complimentary routes, or the top ways to win more games, I listen.

And found success doing so.

2. Mayzomatic

Mayzomatic is my go-to for meta updates and more specific concepts. He’ll breakdown plays, formations, and playbooks that are being run in the current Meta. Specifically his work on the Ace Close above has added several plays to my arsenal – that I *understand* thanks to Mr. Ballard above.

Beyond his quality breakdowns, he does news posts on what’s coming in Madden Ultimate Team, and in those updates will inform you if a card is worth it – and most importantly, let you know that OVR isn’t everything when it comes to madden. His channel is sort of a one-stop-shop. News, tips, and gameplay.

And the editing on his gameplay videos require special mention, with hilarious sound effects. There isn’t a ton of information in these gameplays, but it’s nice to see him put concepts he outlines in his tips and tricks into practice, and call them out when he does so.

Extra special mention goes to the video below, which single-handedly changed my defensive scheming for the better:

3.Jmellflo

If you want your Madden with a dash of insane hilarity, look no further than Jmellfo. Clearly a talented Madden player, Mr. Flo injects a boatload of personality, sass, incredible editing, great tunes, and hype into his content. It’s rambunctious and loud and irreverent, but you also learn things and have a heck of a time doing so.

Primarily a gameplay channel, if you’re looking for Madden to watch while grinding solos, playing weaker opponents, or navigating the nutso UI to complete sets, you can do a lot worse than Jmellfo. What’s cool is he’ll often explain the plays he’s calling and also *call out* what he thinks the opponent is in too. It’s fun to play along.

I don’t mean to downplay how much you can learn here, but the entertainment value is what makes Mr. Flo so good. You learn, you laugh, you get better. Watching game-film and watching how good players play is imperative to Madden 18 success, and Mr. Flo makes that game-film a riot.

While not nearly as tips / tricks focused as the YouTubers above, his tutorial on how to user on defense is invaluable if you want to take your gameplay to the next level:

Ultimately whom you gravitate to, Madden wise, is entirely *on* you. You may find Jmellfo obnoxious, and Mr. Ballard ‘boring’. Who knows. But, these YouTubers, especially combined, seem to cover just about everything you need to know to succeed in Madden on your own. They’re coaches, zen masters, and teammates respectively. They seek to up your game in wildly different, but incredibly valuable ways. They certainly did it for me.

If you’re looking to dive deep into Madden, beat deep cover, get more touchdowns, and play with just a big more swag, take a look back at these videos, subscribe to these channels, and watch your football mind expand rapidly.