Last year, Superstar and X-Factor abilities were added to the Madden franchise. These new abilities, when equipped for a player, gave a special in-game boost to a specific player when a certain goal was reached. Both are back in Madden 21, including Madden Ultimate Team, but the amount of abilities you can activate during a game has changed. This is thanks to a new mechanic that has been added to MUT, called Abilities.
In a Madden 21 Gridiron Notes article on August 18, the Madden development team detailed this new feature. Simply put, capacity limits are the caps, or limits, that will decide how many active abilities you can have in a game. Last year in Madden 20, MUT players could choose three attacking and defending players (six in total) who could have an active ability.
This year there will be a 10 capacity point (AP) limit at the start of the year. The developers at Madden have stated that there will be times during Madden 21's lifecycle when the AP limit increases. Additionally, it's important to keep in mind that the AP cost of each ability will vary depending on the player's archetype. For example, the Hot Route Master ability will cost 2 AP for a General Field QB, but 4 AP for a Jamming QB.
A preview of what Madden Ultimate Team and Ability Caps will look like in Madden 21. (Image via EA Sports)When it comes to X-Factors, last year's standard will remain the same. Players will still be able to have three X-Factor players both on offense and defense (six in total). However, there will be no AP cost for the default X-Factor abilities. If new variations of X-Factor are released, with different triggers and / or reversals, those new modified abilities may have an AP cost.
Finally, the developers of Madden noted that each card will be able to have a maximum of five active abilities during a game. The amount of abilities a card can have active will depend on this list of levels:
- 80 OVR: Level 1 capacity slot
- 85 OVR: Level 2 capacity slot
- 90 OVR: Level 3 capacity slot
- 98 OVR: Level 3 capacity slot
- 99 OVR: Level 3 capacity slot
