With the Winter Wildcards crafting upgrade live and a long reward ladder in place, many FC 26 players are asking whether it is worth pushing hard into completions or whether it is smarter to buy cheap fc 26 coins and focus on instant power upgrades instead. The answer depends heavily on how you use league SBCs and how much time you want to invest in menu grinding compared to simply trading or spending.
The crafting upgrade itself is structured simply: submit a squad of five gold commons and two rares and receive a 78+ x3 rare players pack in return. On top of that, the game tracks how many times you complete this SBC, unlocking a series of milestone rewards at checkpoints such as 10, 20, 30, 50, 70, 90, and finally 100 completions, culminating in an 85x5 group reward. The individual packs at each tier look reasonable, but the total value for 90 or 100 runs is modest compared to the sheer volume of cards invested.
From a pure value perspective, many players consider the milestone ladder “garbage” because the final stretch still only pays out an 81x5 at 90 completions and an 84x3 plus 85x5 at 100. For that number of completions, thousands of club‑stored commons and rares will have been sunk, which could have been redirected into high‑end SBCs or saved for future promos. However, the equation changes when you treat the crafting SBC as a by‑product of league SBC grinding rather than its own dedicated grind.
League SBCs currently sit in a sweet spot where the full cycle costs around 18,500 coins, while the tradable packs alone often return 8,000–15,000 coins back, depending on luck with boards, informs, and meta cards like Marcus Rashford. Many untradeable cards and off‑league duplicates that spill out of those runs are difficult to reinvest back into league SBC requirements due to club limits per team. Feeding those surplus cards into the Winter Wildcards crafting upgrade turns them into new rares, which either go back into league SBCs or count toward crafting milestones.
This recycling loop is why some top grinders rate the crafting upgrade itself as “not bad,” even while criticizing the long‑term rewards. The immediate 78+ x3 packs can help hit promo cards, fodder for future SBCs, or more league‑usable players, closing the circle of value. If you are already binging league SBCs, the crafting completions come almost naturally, making the milestone rewards a bonus rather than the primary goal.
On the other hand, players who are not invested in league SBCs may find the crafting ladder a trap. Spending coins or leftover club stock directly into 78+ packs without the league SBC backbone means you are effectively gambling raw resources for low‑end packs and weak finishing rewards. In that scenario, allocating fodder to key SBCs like 82x10s or future Winter Wildcards players might be a far better path.
The core takeaway is that Winter Wildcards crafting rewards are only “worth it” when tied into a broader, efficient grind strategy. If you are a heavy menu grinder, you will reach 50–100 completions organically; if not, your time and cards may be better spent elsewhere, and using excess currency or deciding to buy cheap fc 26 coins might bring a quicker and more predictable boost to your squad.
Recommendation: FC 26 Winter Wildcards Crafting Upgrade Guide – Fastest and Most Efficient Method
