Building a squad in Training Camp: a practical guide

Everything starts in the Squad Store, the card catalogue. Every player has a PYC rating and a rarity — Common, Rare, Epic or Legendary — and you spend coins to buy the ones you want. The tiers are deliberately exclusive: only a rating of 9.0 or higher is Legendary, and 8.0 or higher is Epic, so the very best cards are genuinely rare and the bulk of the catalogue is Rare or Common.

A card's rating is built from recent form, the strength of the player's nation, and their position, then it drives both the rarity and the coin cost. Rarer cards are stronger and pricier, but a clever squad of well-chosen Rares can absolutely beat a half-finished collection of expensive names. New players are handed a free starter squad to get going, so you're never staring at an empty pitch.

Head to Training Camp to assemble your team: one goalkeeper plus five outfield players, laid out on a pitch. You can drag a card from your collection straight onto a slot, or tap a card and then tap the slot — whichever feels natural on your device. The goalkeeper slot only accepts a goalkeeper; the other five take your outfielders.

Balance matters. A team rating is the sum of your eleven, so it's tempting to load up on attackers, but a lopsided side gives away its shape. Spread your strongest cards across the spine of the team, name your squad, and save. The Save button only appears when you've actually changed something — once your team is stored, it tucks away until your next edit, so you always know whether your latest tweak is saved.

You can also stock a bench. Bench players don't start, but they're the cards you rotate in when a starter is tired, which keeps you clashing without buying duplicates.

Each card carries an energy meter shown with a lightning bolt. Clashes drain it, and your eleven needs to average above sixty per cent energy to take the field — Training Camp shows a clear "match-ready" or "needs rest" badge so you always know where you stand. Energy regenerates by roughly six per cent an hour on its own.

This is where bench depth pays off. Instead of waiting hours for a tired star to recover, swap in a fresh card and clash now. Over a tournament the managers who climb fastest are usually the ones who built a rotation, not a single golden eleven. If you're impatient, a coins refill instantly restores the whole team — a fair use of the wallet your predictions and clashes have been filling.

Start with your free squad and play a few clashes to learn how strength translates into results. Spend your early coins widening your options — a couple of Rare upgrades and one or two bench players — before chasing a single Legendary. Predict matches as the Game Oracle on the side, because every point you score mints coins that quietly fund the next signing.

Within a week you'll have a first-choice eleven, a usable bench, and a feel for which matchups your squad handles well. From there it's iteration: clash, see what beats you, and shop with intent.