FC 25 Trailblazers Trinity Rodman Player Review

Team 2 of the Trailblazer promo and it seems like EA have managed to get the balance right with price range options, which will hopefully be a sign of things to come.  Of course there are always going to be extremely low end options that are immediately discard along with extremely expensive cards… But it is nice to see the mid-tier get some love with options this week.

Having looked at the mid-tier last weekend we bump it up a notch this week with the ever popular Trinity Rodman.  Rodman has been a solid option from Day 1 with her NIF, which was quickly accompanied by her TOTW, and soon after the FULL POWER EVO added further to the amount of users.  Now the Trailblazer promo has offered yet another version to the mix and was immediately our focus this weekend.

If you have been following these reviews then it might be clear that finding the right formation for me has been a bit of a struggle (if you have the magic formation please share in the comments as I am desperate for some answers).  The 4-4-2 and 4-3-1-2 have both been good, but not great, and so this weekend I was onto the 4-1-2-1-2 in hopes of better results.  One immediate feature of Rodman’s card is both the versatility in positions and the presence of Role + across the board, which opens up a lot of options for those building squads.  For me the 4-1-2-1-2 requires INSIDE FORWARD and so playing Rodman as the RM and getting the ++ Role felt like a no brainer… Similarly the application of the FINISHER Chemistry Style and unlocking of the MOSTLY EXPLOSIVE AcceleRATE also felt like an easy decision.  With all selections made the hope was for a smoother Weekend League with Rodman running the wings in the following squad:

Overall 

Rating: 9/10

I have to be completely honest that giving a card the TRICKSTER PlayStyle Plus and putting them in my hands is like giving POWER SHOT to a GK… And for that alone I might be more inclined to look at the Inform + FULL POWER EVO if I was wanting Rodman long term.  Yet regardless of PlayStyle make up one thing is clear, Rodman is an absolute beast in this game.  I mentioned wanting a more pleasant ride through Weekend League and with Rodman at the wheel it was smooth sailing through the 5 matches (6 with an early rage quit).

Main Statistics – Dribbling

Pace Rating: 9.5/10

Dribbling: 9.5/10

PlayStyles: Trickster Plus, Flair, Rapid, Quick Step, Relentless

Maybe Thee perfect card to have on the wings… Rodman was an absolute menace for my opponents wings backs across this review as the more pressure they applied the more Rodman was spinning in behind and causing issues.  The Dribbling is the key component here as the 99 AGILITY & 90 BALANCE create the perfect storm to unleash the various ways Rodman can hurt opponents

Option 1: If L1 Speed Burst was nerfed, no one told Rodman, the MOSTLY EXPLOSIVE AcceleRATE, QUICK STEP PlayStyle & 95 ACCELERATION are an amazing tandem and immediately made my opponents uneasy as I watched them back off the Spirit attacker more and more throughout the match.

Option 2: The RAPID PlayStyle & 96 SPRINT SPEED meant one stick tap and I was away down the wing causing opponents to play catch up and inevitably over committing to the line opening up the middle of the pitch.

Option 3: You could actually utilize the 4 STAR DRIBBLING & TRICKSTER PlayStyle Plus… Working on it.

All in all the only small issues throughout the review was the feeling like the EXPLOSIVE AcceleRATE was holding back the RAPID and Pace from reaching their maximum potential… I know that all CBs in the game catch up like the roadrunner, but this felt a bit different.  The other issue would be the lack of 5 STAR SKILLS which always keeps me short of 10/10 Dribbling, but this is as close as it gets.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins: 4/5

11 goal contributions in 5 matches of Weekend League from a deeper lying position is about as good as it gets and Rodman has a plethora of attacking options that would suggest a 5/5 is almost a given here… But it is still 900k.  Then you add the fact that Inform Rodman exists for 300k and after the FULL POWER EVO is only a single boost away from this card makes it a difficult full send for me.  Garnacho RTTK is another close comparable and outside of a PlayStyle Plus there is not much to separate them… That and with one upgrade all but guaranteed and three more home matches with a new manager… There is a real chance Garnacho is upgraded twice with a ++ Role as well for only 400k

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

Maybe the most shocking part of this review is coming up, so I will lead off with it.

+ It wouldn’t surprise anyone if this card was physically outmatched throughout the weekend… But surprisingly that was far from the case.  The 85 STRENGTH on this card works some wild magic and I honestly do not remember Rodman losing many physical battles.  Maybe even more unbelievable is the consistency that Rodman wins headers against opposing wingbacks as the 92 JUMPING had Trinity looking less like Rodman and more like Muggsy Bogues throughout the weekend.

+ The FINISHER Chemistry Style was once again causing opponents issues as the 99 FINISHING & 89 SHOT POWER combined for decent consistency.  The 4 STAR WEAK FOOT and lack of a POWER SHOT PlayStyle left one or two would be goals out on the pitch, but all in all a consistent Shooting performance.

In the end there was only one negative part of Rodman’s game, but truthfully it was in the back of my mind in the Value/Coins section screaming out that you can’t pay 900k for a card that can’t pass.

- The Passing in FC25 is ruthless at the best of times and it is clear that PlayStyles and statistics reign supreme, so it is no wonder that Rodman struggled with Passing at times given the zero PlayStyles and relatively poor Passing numbers.  The 85 SHORT PASSING was hit and miss depending on the situation while the 74 LONG PASSING was more miss than hit.  In the end the 5 assists can all be attributed to Rodman’s Pace and Dribbling which made those assists more difficult to miss… while the 83 CROSSING had its moments (both good and bad) as well.

Closing Words

Do I think 900k is too steep in the end? Yes.  Was this card a huge reason why I started the weekend so successfully? 100%.  Can you find similar options for half of the price? Absolutely.  The key word is similar and not the same as Rodman did feel extremely unique in certain situations on the ball this weekend.  In the end I still can’t recommend saving up for this card given the price tag and difficulty linking that Spirit star without having completed the Morgan, Dunn, Watt SBCs (as a side note Julie Foudy is hands down the worst value ICON I have used this year and it is not even remotely close).  I would suggest your coins are better spent on more accessible options, despite how enjoyable it was to use Rodman throughout the weekend.

Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading