 YouTube, what's up man? This is a great idea I have about a question that I get all the time. How can I play in these tournaments? How can I compete for this money? I see these guys winning hundreds of thousands of dollars. I see them winning belts. How can I compete in that? You know a lot of times I get this question, it's too late in the season or it's during the tournament or it's during the EA livestream or something like that. And now is the time man for you guys to gear up and get ready to play in these tournaments. You 10 things you should be doing when man in 21 drops to make sure you're ready to compete in these tournaments. The first thing I want you guys to do is accept and understand. It's kind of a two-part chapter of this video. Accept the game. That's how I feel. Accept the game. Understand what it is. If it's a running meta, accept it. Embrace it. You know because if you try to fight that and your opponent you're just going to dig yourself a hole. Accept the game man. If you feel it's too cartoony or it's too arcade-ish, accept that man. If you're going to get stuck on that barrier mentally you'll never be able to compete at the highest level man. All these guys that you see winning all this money accept what the game is. You know Joke has always won the Madden Bowl at the end of the year and had the best year. He's always one of the best players and he always plays the game to its strength. And that's what I mean by accept. Understand it. And when I say understand, understand what you're getting into as far as competing in Madden. These people are doing this for a living. This is their job literally just to compete in Madden. People are embracing it and people are giving their 150% to competing in Madden. You know this is not a half-assed thing. It's not something people do part-time. Some people do it and that might be your angle to start as a part-time competitive man player. You can do that. I won a belt. I won over $100,000 being part-time competing. So it's not impossible. But you have to understand that you are up against people that are putting as much money as possible and as much time as possible into the game. So you have to understand that and accept that. The same thing about the game. Understand that the game might have a running matter. Understand that Bunch might be the passing formation and accept that. Now it doesn't mean you have to run that or do that or if that's your best way of winning maybe you have to do something else. But accept what it is. Don't complain about the game. Don't use the game as the reason why you can't compete because that's never ever the reason. Alright boys, this is the biggest obstacle you guys have and this is the second of my 10 things you need to do going into Madden 21. Mutt. Mutt. There are so many people out there that say I don't want to pay to have to compete. I don't like Mutt. I don't, you know, I'm a regs player. I don't really want to spend money into Mutt. You have to get over that hurdle. That's a mental hurdle. One, I'll be honest. If you are a football fan, if you are a Madden fan, you will love Mutt. That's why we're here. That's why we all play it. It is absolutely addicting. It's fun. Yes, it costs money or it costs time. Which are the same thing essentially. And I will tell you, if you have never played Mutt, literally when you get the game. There are Madden players that are really good. I've known some that I grew up with, that I play with all the time, that are really good on regs and they play it all year. I'm telling you, when the game drops, do yourself a favor. Literally when it's done downloading, go to Ultimate Team. You know, because the pay to play aspect is so small in the first day, the first weekend, that you can compete. You can start building your team. The longer you wait to make your team, the further behind you will get. Also, man, if you're remotely good at the game, you don't have to spend that much money. You know, obviously you're going to watch the streamers like me in problem and we're going to have the best team the first day. Because that is the position we're in both as streamers and content creators as far as competitors. You know, you don't have to have that. You know, if you're that good at Madden, just get a couple cards, put $100 on the game, or put your time into mutt, embrace it, understand it, learn it. You know, because that is where all the money is, that's where all the viewership is, that is where all these tournaments are, are on mutt. You know, and the sooner you can remove that I don't want to play mutt or everything's pay to play, that mentality, the better you can do in this field. You know, Madden has completely shifted to this mutt mode and completely shifted their tournament focus to mutt. So if you want to compete for $50,000, $100,000 and on the big stage at EA, mutt has to be your main goal, man. And I will never find a person that has actually tried mutt and hasn't enjoyed it. You know, I think for a football fan, for a Madden fan, it's awesome. And it really is, it keeps the game fresh for 12 months out of the year. It doesn't die after the Super Bowl when there's no roster updates or anything like that. How regs is. And you will really enjoy it. I honestly believe that if you are a football fan, a Madden fan, you will enjoy it. And it's where the tournaments are. So if you want to compete in these tournaments and you haven't embraced mutt, I mean that is the first step and I promise you you will not regret it. Third thing right now, money games. No matter how much the leaderboard is popping, no matter how much playing your friends is popping, it doesn't hold the same validity as playing somebody for money. The best site to play for money is PlayersLounge, man. That link is below in my description. Check it out. Make an account. You don't have to play for $20 and pop. You don't have to play for $100 and pop. You can pay for $5. You can enter tournaments for $1. Any bit of experience in a high stakes game will help you become a better player, period. It's a $2 game or a $200 game. It is all more valuable than playing online for free. I promise these guys are sweat boxes and playing other sweat boxes for their $2 or for their last $5 is only going to make you a better man player. Don't be afraid of it. I mean, like I said, putting $20 on PlayersLounge and gambling that or playing against people that are playing for money is going to help you become a better man player than spending $20 on packs that week. So instead of taking my weekly allowance, so to say, for mutt, take that weekly allowance and throw that on PlayersLounge. Check out some money games because it's going to improve you and make you a better player. All right, boys. See now, number four is something I wish I was better at and I understood more growing up is that it's not all about winning. It's hard to say that to yourself or say it to somebody else, but there's so many more positives to this community than just winning. I always would use to factor it out like, do I want to spend $200 and travel entry fees and this, that, and a third to try to win the tournament, which I'm probably not going to win. And I always would tell myself, no, I'm not going to do that because it's not a valuable investment. But as I look back, I said, I wish I would have done a lot more traveling and competing in my teens and my early 20s than I do now because I would have built these relationships that I have that much earlier and been a part of the competitive men scene much earlier than I have. And that's something I encourage you guys to understand that it can be a great experience for you, even if you don't come in the top four, even if you don't cash out $10,000, even if you don't win a belt, I mean, you can have a great experience and make this a great part of your life without actually having to win anything. I mean, there are people that are my friends, that are going to be my friends forever that literally have no chance to ever win a tournament. I mean, it's sad to say, but it's just it's just how it works. I mean, some people are great man players, but they're just not going to win the tournament. You know, and that's OK because they have so much fun in the competitive man side is really part of their life. And it can be for you too. So don't let the fact that you're probably not going to win the tournament holds you back from being part of this competitive scene. Number five, biggest thing. Get a Twitter account. I don't care if it's Johnny Madden, Robby Madden player, whatever it may be. If you have a personal one and you want just a Madden one, get a note. That's all. Twitter is where 90 percent of competitive man talk happens. And if you're not on there, you're going to miss out on when to start playing leaderboards, when qualification ends, when to sign up for club series, what leaderboard you should be playing, what mold you should be playing, what everything, literally everything. You're missing notifications of when the tournaments go live, where to be at, what what discord to be in, what everything. Twitter is the just the communication hub of competitive man. And and for me, like you guys don't know who to follow. I mean, there's there's three accounts. I'll tell you guys to follow for competitive man. Now you can once you follow these accounts, you're probably going to be led down a rabbit hole to follow other ones. One is Madden League ops. Madden League ops is pretty much the base MCS Twitter account. It's gotten better over the years. I still think it's pretty, pretty bland, but they've done a better job. So make sure you follow Madden League ops to myself. And I talk competitive madness, what I do. So I'm pretty sure most of you guys are already following me. And three is joke. Joke will talk about competitive man pretty much every single day complain about whatever he doesn't like, try to get anything else changed. So make sure you follow those three accounts. Madden League ops, myself and Joe. Those are a good starting point if you want to get into competitive man on social media, because if you're not, you're going to miss out on a lot of things and that you don't want to be the guy that's missing out. Because that's part of the reason probably why you haven't been in these tournaments before. Number six, ebooks. Now, a lot of you guys probably just turns your nose up. I don't need an ebook. I'm Johnny Madden. You know, I know how to play the game. I know how to do this. Ebooks are essential for every man player, whether you're your beginner or whatever it may be, it can help you get over to hump and learn how to game works and become a better player. Also, if you're me, I make ebooks, you know, but at the same time, you know, if there's an ebook out there that I can get and I can learn that as well. That can help me become a better player. I've always thought if there's information out there for you and you can, you know, obtain that information and you don't obtain it, then you're a fool. You know, there's always more information available, so go and get that. Once again, this goes back to me spending my money. What could benefit me more as a man player? Is it going to benefit me more to spend this $100 on my mutt team? Or what if I buy four or five ebooks and learn different schemes? Not only for me to run them, but when I play against Timmy Raincoat and he's running the I form pro new scheme that just dropped, I literally know all his plays already. I know what he wants to do against certain coverages because I also have that ebook. Um, so and this kind of go back to acceptance really goes back to the first one. Except what Madden is now Madden is YouTube plays Madden is ebooks. Madden is Twitch watching. It really is. So it goes back to kind of accept that understand it. And if you have the opportunity to obtain that knowledge of plays, play books and popular schemes, do that. I would I would honestly tell you guys that mostly competitive guys probably have access to every ebook that people put out. You know, why would I not want to see what kid is running? Why would I not want to see jokes, new defensive ebook? Why would I not want to add that to my arsenal? No matter how strong my arsenal is, if there's something else I can add. Why not? And I feel like you guys should always take that approach when it comes to ebooks going into man 21. Now, I'll be honest, Madden turf does have the best ebooks. So make sure you're looking out for that premium membership. Number seven, Twitch, watch, Twitch, download, Twitch on your phone. Be on the Twitch website on your PC, Twitch on your Xbox dashboard, whatever it may be, consistently be watching Maddening and in taking that information that's on the screen in Twitch, whether it be myself or problem, probably the two top competitive streamers. You also check out all the TNC boys have been streaming a lot of Madden and they will be super active as far as what leaderboards to play, what mode to play, when to play it. And if if you want to compete, I would see what what mode these guys are playing and just play right behind them pretty much. It's kind of Twitch kind of goes with YouTube and ebooks. I want to watch it. I want to be I want to see what they're doing, see what they're playing against. It's not always about the streamer, what they're using. But let's see what other people are doing that's popular amongst the leaderboard community and what people are doing, offense, defense, special teams, whatever it may be. So Twitch is something if you're not using, you guys can follow me. That Twitch link is below. Madden 21 is going to be unreal with the content, the amount of streaming and videos and everything like that. So be prepared for that and Twitch is the best place to be. Also, man, Twitch is a great spot to meet other Madden players. I think it's a great chat rooms and everything. You'll meet other people that have the same interest in Madden as you. So if you're a loner, if you're by yourself, your friends you play video games with aren't that committed to Madden, but you want to take that next step, I would say the Twitch chats is probably where you'll meet somebody and I'll get into that later with one of the other topics of this video. But number seven, Twitch, make sure you follow me. I mean, who else could you possibly follow? Number eight, leaderboards, grind a lot of leaderboards. You know, if the top 64 qualify for the tournament and you can't get into the top 100, don't stop grinding leaderboards. It's making you a better man player. What's crazy is, you know, you can go into Madden 21 ready to compete and literally not qualify for a single tournament. You can never make the top 100 or any leaderboard, never make the top 200 or any leaderboard. You can do that much grinding and literally not come close to qualifying for a tournament and become a way better man player this year than you have in any other year. I promise that. So when I say grind leaderboards, never stop. Don't look at the leaderboards and say, damn, I'm not top 100. I'm just going to go play mud or I'm going to go play something else. I'm going to give up. That's that's pretty much that's pretty much what leaderboards are. They one million percent make you a better man player. I was always a good man player. I was 100 percent was always good when I started playing, whether it was my friends down the street, manual six, manual eight. But once I got into man 17, man 16, and they said this is the MCS leaderboards to play and try to qualify. Once I got into that player pool and competed against all the other great players, it took my skill level to another threshold. And honestly, I haven't been the same player since they gave us top four to grind for, or let's play 500 leaderboard games. I haven't been the same player. I miss that aspect of Madden. I really do. So for me, grinding the leaderboards is one of the biggest things you can do to become a better man player and start competing. You have to grind the leaderboards to compete. Now go back. Now you're probably asked, what leaderboard do I grind? This is where you follow Twitter. You follow Twitch. You watch all these things and you stay connected. That's the biggest deal. So you understand what leaderboard to play and when to play it. So that's my leaderboards are the backbone of competitive man. And I think they will definitely help you become a better player and never look and say, I can't make it. I quit and we'll get to more of that in the rest of this video. But don't look at the leaderboard and say, you know, my position isn't good enough. I won't be able to qualify. I won't be able to make it. Let me go play something else. Just keep grinding because, like I said, you can literally never qualify for a tournament and become an exponentially better man player this year just from really grinding these leaderboards. Number nine is a crew. Now I'm the first thing I can't get in the crew. Nobody grew up with me. I can't go play with Clef. I can't go play with Joke. You know, kid won't let me in 818. How can I join these crews? You know, and that's probably your initial thought. And when I meet when I say crews, it's kind of like people to play with. And the most important thing with the people you play man with is that you guys have the same goal. You guys have the same end point. You have the same mentality. You know, if your mentality is I want to win a belt and you're playing with Timmy Raincoat, who just wants to have fun, he's not going to be as serious as you. Now, for me and when I talk about these players, it doesn't have to be Skimbo that you play with. It doesn't have to be somebody that great at the game. But if you guys work together and you can figure out this run defense or this pass defense together, it can help you because multiple minds is always better than one. No matter how good you are at the game, multiple minds is always better than one. I've had success from people you guys have never heard of that have helped me more than Bugs or Skimbo or Clef or anybody. You know, so it doesn't have to be the greatest player in the world. You know, if you give one of your friends, man, I need help blocking this blitz. They can figure it out. They can help you. You guys can work together. And if you literally have none of your friends that want to play man on your level, you're a loner. Like I said, the Twitch chat is the best spot to find other people like that. You know, what's up? How are you guys doing? Can I get a game? Can I play a friendly? Blah, blah, blah. Can I get on the mic? One thing leads to another. Twitch is probably the most social aspect of gaming right now. And social, the social aspect of gaming is what what brought me to really be addicted to gaming. You know, I wasn't addicted to gaming until I plugged in the Internet and started talking to people. So but if you're introvert and you're not that type of person, man, but the Twitch chat, you can type, you can text anything and you don't have to be super out there, but you can definitely meet new people that want to play the game just as much as you. But also do not ignore your friends because if they have the same mindset as you, they can help you get better at Madman. But ultimately, when I say crew, I mean, two minds are better than one. So get some help on whatever you need help with. I need help with this running play. I want a new scheme. How can I make this passing play better? Let your friends help you, man, and be open minded to other people helping you and contributing to your own Madden game. Number 10, I made it number 10 for a reason. For me, it is the most important aspect of competing. The most important aspect of succeeding in anything you do, whether if you want to go cut the lawn today, you want to go to the grocery store. You want to win a Madden belt. You want to make a varsity football next year, whatever it may be. This is the most important thing to me and as to leave the excuses at the door. Nobody has ever been successful making excuses, period. And Madden is filled with excuses. I see them every day. I see them all the time. It kind of goes back to accepting the game. But this is a this is my biggest pet peeve in any human being. And that literally this applies to any field. Madden is competing a man for the game sucks. I you know, the game is not good. It's pay to play. You know, I don't have enough time to put in the game. Whatever it may be, there's so many built in excuses that people have ready to fire off the hip if they cannot succeed. And that I'm telling you guys, it will hold you back so much. Not only in Madden, but in everything you do in your life because because you kind of have that to lean on that excuse is something to lean on rather than identifying the fact that you need to get better or you need to do better, you know, and that's what an excuse does. It avoids the fact that you have to acknowledge that you can do better. And that's pretty much why I surround myself and Madden with the people I do because they don't have those excuses. They don't have a reason why they didn't do it other than I have to play better. No matter how many games my friends have lost and how many games I have lost, it's always what can I do better? Not what happened bad to me to cause me to lose. You know, it's never anybody else's fault. It's always your own. And that's the approach you need to make because if you if you have excuses, you'll always have one period. No matter what you do, you'll always have a reason why you didn't make it or reason why you're not good enough rather than trying to elevate your game and trying to understand what you did wrong or why you lost or why you didn't qualify this this this tournament section. And that is what's going to improve you as a person is understanding what you did wrong rather than how you got cheated or how it's somebody else's fault. Like I said, boys, this is the biggest question I get. How do I compete in these tournaments? So if you're doing some of these 10 things, keep going. If not, try to incorporate all 10 of these things into your Madden 21 game. This year is going to be great for Madden and it's going to be even better from a competitive standpoint. So if you have any more questions, please leave them in the comments below. I'll do a whole video answering any questions that you guys have because I don't want there to be any reason why you aren't competing in Madden 21.