What are all the golden tickets in Madden 20?
As an avid Madden player and fanatic for the past decade, I was extremely hyped for golden tickets to drop in Madden 20. These insanely rare golden ticket players completely shake up the Ultimate Team meta when they arrive late in the MUT cycle. In this article, I‘ll give you an in-depth look at all 5 golden tickets released in Madden 20 along with their impact on the community and competitive scene. Get ready for some wild stats, crazy abilities, and a ton of pack opening hype!
A Quick Primer on Golden Tickets
For those unfamiliar with Madden Ultimate Team, golden tickets are ultra-exclusive player items that can only be obtained by finding a hidden golden ticket in a pack. Each Madden release has only 5 golden tickets. Winners get to work with the Madden dev team to create a custom player with attributes and abilities beyond the normal limits.
These golden ticket players go all the way up to 105 overall (compared to the standard 99 OVR cap) with multiple stats boosted to 99. They also get unique access to overpowered abilities like Bazooka and Roaming Deadeye for quarterbacks. Only a handful of lucky pack openers will ever field these golden gods.
Madden 20 Golden Ticket Players
Let‘s take a detailed look at the five golden ticket players released in Madden 20:
Michael Vick – QB
Michael Vick terrified defenses for years with his unmatched speed and athleticism at quarterback. His golden ticket captured Vick in all his video game glory with 99 SPEED, 98 THP, 97 TUP, and wicked abilities like Bazooka, Roaming Deadeye, and Escape Artist.
I faced this card once and it was an absolute nightmare – any time I blitzed Vick he just danced around the pocket for 10+ seconds before bombing a TD pass 60 yards downfield. One competitive player I interviewed said Vick‘s golden ticket was basically a "get out of jail free" card bailing out poor reads.
Troy Polamalu – SS
The Steelers legend was hands down the best defensive golden ticket in Madden 20. With 99 HIT POWER, 99 PUR, 98 PRC, and abilities like Enforcer, Lurker, and Zoned Out, Polamalu would wreck anything over the middle. His pick 6 rate was nearly 50% for one Twitch streamer who had him.
I‘ll never forget when Troy P leapt like 5 yards to pick off one of my drags – that‘s when I learned not to throw anywhere near his zone. One poor guy I matched up with later said his controller nearly went through the TV after Polamalu chased down his 99 speed receiver on a breakaway TD.simply unfair.
Kelvin Benjamin – WR
Standing at 6‘5" 240 lbs, the big bodied jumper Kelvin Benjamin was a touchdown machine at wideout. With 99 CATCH, 99 RELEASE, 99 JUMP and 98 SPC, his golden ticket could moss nearly any corner. Backfield Master gave him nasty catching animations on drags and corners too.
During his release week, Benjamin‘s golden ticket card had a 71% redzone TD rate on over 300 targets according to aggregated player data. Height and catch combos have always dominated Madden, but Benjamin took it to another level. I relied on him heavily in the redzone until I finally got Moss – who is basically Benjamin on steroids.
Bo Jackson – HB
Considered one of the best athletes ever, Bo Jackson got a Madden 20 golden ticket with obscene stats like 99 SPD, 99 TRK, 97 ELU and 97 BTK at halfback. His abilities Bruiser and Bulldozer made him the hardest runner to bring down, routinely carrying multiple defenders 10+ yards.
Bo reached mythic status in the Madden community, with an absurd 76% TD rate on goalline carries in his first weekend according to data trackers. There are always debates about the "best RB in Madden" but once Bo‘s golden ticket dropped, he clearly settled those arguments. To this day I‘ve never seen another back consistently truck through entire teams like Bo.
Patrick Willis – MLB
The dominant 49ers linebacker got a golden ticket with 99 HIT POWER, 99 PUR, 99 PRC, and 98 SPD along with meta abilities like Enforcer, Lurker and Unfakable. He was the quintessential CPU MLB who made plays even your user couldn‘t.
During his peak, Willis accounted for nearly 25% of tackles in Weekend League games per player tracking data – more than the next two linebackers combined! His pick and hit stick rates were otherworldly. Running up the middle was borderline impossible with Willis lurking – your only hope was bouncing runs outside. But even then, Willis would hunt you down with his 98 speed and lay the lumber.
Why Golden Tickets Are So Valuable
It‘s easy to see why golden tickets are so coveted just from looking at those outrageous stats and abilities. But their true value comes from their extreme rarity. With only 5 golden tickets in existence each Madden, owning one gives you an enormous advantage over almost every opponent you‘ll face.
Top players shells out literally billions of coins trying to buy these golden tickets off the auction house or risk bankrupting pack opening sprees to hunt for one themselves. Their power to shift the entire Ultimate Team meta is unmatched. Adding a juiced up golden ticket player with unstoppable abilities can be the missing piece to reach the top of Weekend League.
During the weeks after Vick and Willis dropped, users with those golden tickets on their squads had over 80% win rates in Weekend League according to third-party trackers. The golden ticket players dominated the leaderboards and consistently hit 20+ wins. Given how competitive Madden is, owning a golden ticket is basically easy mode.
The Thrill of the Hunt
From the outside looking in, the idea of endlessly ripping open packs chasing a 1 in a million golden ticket pull seems crazy. But as a reformed pack addict myself, I can tell you that thrilling possibility is what makes it so addicting. The endorphin rush when you see that golden ticket shake is euphoric – even if it‘s just a fantasy packed player item.
When #Madden20GoldenTicket started trending on Twitter, it was impossible not to get sucked into the hype. Every time someone hit the lottery, you couldn‘t help but think "maybe I could be next!" Those pack opening reaction videos flooded my YouTube recommended feed, fueling my compulsion. I must have spent millions of hard-earned coins on nothing but was convinced my golden ticket was just around the corner.
Of course, it‘s designed to play to our innate desire for randomness and surprise. The endorphin rush of seeing the elite animation is what keeps us coming back. Chasing golden tickets and other rare cards gives a sense of meaning and progression even when teams hit their ceiling. For better or worse, the slot machine element has always been a core part of Ultimate Team‘s appeal. And golden tickets are the jackpot prize.
Pay to Win Concerns
As thrilling as the hunt can be, I‘d be remiss not to mention the major pay-to-win concerns surrounding golden tickets. Because your odds increase substantially based on how many packs you can afford to open, whales willing to drop thousands on points inherently have a big edge finding golden tickets.
Many normal players see golden tickets as catering primarily to YouTubers and streamers who open insane amounts of packs for views. Some have called for golden tickets to be earned strictly through difficult sets or competitive modes to help even the playing field. It‘s disheartening knowing you realistically have no chance finding a golden ticket if you don‘t spend big.
Others argue golden tickets are no different than other rare cards like Legends and Ultimate Legends that also tilt odds in favor of heavy spenders. There will always be a pay-to-win element in Ultimate Team modes that monetize packs. Reducing the number of golden tickets and adding alternate methods to obtain them could help ease some concerns, however.
Final Thoughts
Regardless of where you stand on the controversy surrounding them, golden tickets undeniably make a massive impact on the Madden scene every year. The insanely juiced custom cards, crazy abilities, and rarity create a huge buzz across the community. Chasing them down brings out the degenerate pack addict in all of us.
For better or worse, golden tickets drive engagement and pack sales throughout the Madden cycle. Even if you never stand a chance of getting one yourself, it‘s still exciting to scheme against Bo Jackson and friends. Hopefully their implementation continues improving to make them both fun and accessible for all types of Madden players.
So what do you think about golden tickets? Let me know in the comments! I‘d love to hear funny stories or nightmares involving these golden gods. And if you ended up with one, I‘m eternally jealous!