Ultimate Team players slam FIFA 23 Icon chemistry & demand “easy fix”

Luca Di Marzo
FIFA 23 Icons

Ultimate Team fans are annoyed with the change made to Icon chemistry in FIFA 23 that has reduced their ability to integrate into squads. Players are now offering an easy fix to solve the issue.

Every fan of FIFA 23’s Ultimate Team dreams of packing one of these Icon cards and with the Max 86 Icon upgrade SBC, one is guaranteed to join your squad. However, for the first time in any FIFA game, it’s incredibly difficult to fit Icons into Ultimate Team squads.

In the past, Icons would provide basic chemistry links with any player regardless of nation and league, with extra boosts on the table for those who shared the same nation. Due to the new chemistry system introduced in FIFA 23, the method with which Icons distribute chemistry has also changed.

All Icons in FIFA 23

A post to the FIFA subreddit reveals that many players believe the new method has nerfed Icons as they only provide chemistry to players who share the same nation since they count as two players from the same nation in your chemistry column.

As the OP explains, “some icons are actually impossible to link due to nation and take up a much needed spot in a very restrictive chem system to get your other players to 3 stars.”

This makes Icons who don’t boast one of the game’s popular nations very difficult to get into squads. Even so, if your Icon is from a popular nation but you don’t necessarily have that nation in your squad, you’re simply out of luck.

Players are demanding that EA allow for Icons to contribute to more than just their nation when it comes to chemistry: “Would be an easy fix but doubt EA will listen, could just change every icon to contribute 1 point to every category.”

Others were quick to agree that Icons should offer more chemistry flexibility beyond just a boost to players from the same nation: “Should be +2 nation and +1 to all leagues”

Players find it difficult to comprehend that FUT Hero cards offer more value in terms of chemistry when Icon cards are supposed to be the most sought-after in the game. One player summed up the problem by stating, “yes, it’s dumb that Heroes give +1 nation and +2 league while Icons only give +2 nation.”

There are plenty of creative ways to solve this issue that is severely nerfing Icons in FIFA 23, including one player’s suggestion to allow for Icons to only provide chemistry for one league that you can change using a consumable, similar to managers in Ultimate Team.


We’ll keep you posted if EA decide to tweak Icons in FIFA 23. For more, check out how to claim a free FIFA 23 Ultimate Team Twitch Prime Gaming pack.

Image Credit: EA Sports

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About The Author

Luca is an Associate Editor at CharlieIntel. An accomplished, writer with interests in sports and gaming alike, Luca is focused on Call of Duty and FIFA as a content creator. After earning his BA in English Literature at Concordia University, he began writing for Gamelevate, OddsShark, and H4X. Luca joined CharlieIntel in 2021. You can reach Luca at [email protected], or via X @TheLucaDiMarzo.