You hear it all the time when playing Madden, “That guy had a dominant scheme” or “His scheme kept me guessing the whole game” but what does that really mean and how do you go about creating your own scheme? We’ll try to answer those questions and give you the basics of forming your own scheme on offense in Madden 16.
Lets first start by defining exactly what a scheme is. A lot of people have different definitions but most competitive Madden gamers agree that it has a few core components:
- Each play in the scheme must be called out of the same formation
- Your opponent should not be able to identify the play you are running before you snap the ball
- It must be easily repeatable
Generally, you will also want to have at least 1 pass play and at least 1 run play in each scheme although it isn’t required. A scheme should also not be specific to only one team. If you can only run the scheme with the Seahawks, it probably isn’t a very good scheme. Some of the most common and overused schemes in previous Madden games have been out of shotgun tight, strong close, and singleback bunch. I’m sure anyone who has played a lot of Madden is all too familiar with those schemes.
Now that you know what a scheme is, lets break down in a little more details how you should go about forming your own scheme…
Any good scheme should include 4 different types of plays:
- A zone defense beater
- A man defense beater
- A solid run play
- A quick pass to use against a heavy blitz
If you can find 1 play of each out of the same formation that you set up the exact same way, you will have a scheme that will be nearly unstoppable in Madden 15. At that point it comes down to pre-snap reads and knowing your opponents tendencies. Once you identify man or zone as well as whether your opponent is blitzing or dropping a lot of guys into coverage, you can then call your play accordingly.
If you aren’t great with putting together your own scheme and need a little help, below are some resources we have at Madden-School to help with that process.
- Our Madden 16 Offense Tips section will have some detailed breakdowns with videos
- Our Madden forum has plenty of experienced Madden gamers sharing some of their best plays
Hopefully this helps you hit the ground running when Madden NFL 16 comes out on August 25th. If you have any questions or feedback, please leave a response in the comments section below.