Rulebreaker Kulusevski Review

Round 2, Team 2, and once again we were rolling it back with some FIFA 21 nostalgia with a look at the “Piemonte Calcio” man, Dejan Kulusevski.  The Future Stars version of the Swedish winger was nothing short of spectacular during the early days of his release and was a mainstay in a lot of my February squads.  Once again I was hoping that the new and improved promo version could provide a similar “undroppable” performance and leave me with a decision to make going into this coming weekend.  The start was rather shaky as finding links for this card proved difficult.  Of course, links are there and ultimately Milito proved the key to finishing out the hybrid monstrosity I used… but still the difficult nation links and limited usable Juve options did cause a headache and ultimately led to a less than ideal squad throughout the weekend.   I decided that the FINISHER chemistry style would be best and played Kulusevski equally as the ST, LAM & RAM in my 4-2-3-1 formation.  Kulusevski was a reminder of better times all weekend long in the following squad:

Starting Formation:

Overall

Rating: 8/10
Pace Rating: 9/10
Dribbling Rating: 8/10
Shooting Rating: 9/10
Passing Rating: 7/10
Physical Rating: 9/10
Defending Rating: N/A

With only 10 goals and 2 assists across 15 matches, I struggled to appreciate this card across the weekend.  There were certain hindrances that ultimately left me yearning to replace Kulusevski at halftime but stuck with him primarily due to the review.  The difficulty with this card is exactly where to play him in the 4-2-3-1… the size, pace and strength made him an excellent target man… yet his positioning often caused frustration.  While the cannon of a left foot and capable 4 STAR WEAK FOOT made him a threat to finish chances as a LAM/RAM… yet the lack of quickness and difficulty dribbling made him second or third choice compared to those quicker wing options in my squad.  For those that are thriving with Kulusevski, I am curious, where are you playing him?

Main Statistic - Shooting

Shooting Rating: 9/10
Weak Foot: ★★★★

This is both one of the key areas of this card's abilities and also one of the most annoying sections to write in this review.  Kulusevski hits the ball with every ounce of power in his 90 SHOT POWER and with a potency that does the 95 FINISHING justice.  Truthfully I was not all that happy with the 87 LONG SHOTS and felt like the finesse shots were largely nullified by this lack of quality.  But still the 4 STAR WEAK FOOT was brilliant and performed equally on the right foot in these major categories.  But the elephant in the room remains… only 10 goals in 15 matches.  For me, this was largely down to dribbling and positioning rather than shooting and the lack of chances I was able to create with Kulusevski despite knowing his qualities to finish them was a constant frustration throughout the weekend.

Main Attribute - Size

Height: 186cm | 6’1
Dribbling Rating: 8/10
Physical Rating: 9/10

I went with Kulusevski’s size as the main attribute for this review as similar to the Shooting… There is a lot going on in both the good and bad categories when it comes to the size of this card.  Regardless of the 186cm | 6’1 measurements, this card appears huge in-game.  The benefits: you get to experience a very strong card on the ball when mixed with the 81 STRENGTH, the aerial prowess when knocking down balls to teammates was fantastic given the 80 JUMPING & finally the 92 SPRINT SPEED felt eloquently fast as is the case with a lot of taller cards with high pace in FIFA 22.  The drawbacks: you get to experience some extremely slow moments when dribbling despite the 95 AGILITY & 89 BALANCE, the 94 ACCELERATION felt more like trying to roll a boulder down a cliff (difficult to start but fine once it gets going) & that same aerial prowess did not equal goals, which I would chalk up to the 31 HEADING ACCURACY.

Value/Coins & Good vs. Bad

Value/Coins Rating: 5/5
Good vs Bad Rating: 4/5

The market is in the mud, the Rulebreaker 2 extension has decimated their values, and the result is a ridiculously affordable 39k for this card.  Truthfully, when we selected the review this card had 70k-100k written all over it and this drop is actually obscene.  However, the result is also a card that has no business being this cheap and despite any deficiencies is still a fantastic option to add to any growing and improving squad.

I think I have touched on this section a lot so far…  There are a lot of upsides to this card and unfortunately almost just as many downsides.  Perhaps the tipping point between this card moving closer to a 8.5/10 for me would be the 84 SHORT PASSING, 80 LONG PASSING & 84 CROSSING.  In all cases, it just felt that Kulusevski could not find any consistency when moving the football from Point A to Point B.  The 2 assists across 15 matches playing in key attacking areas felt like a massive let down and really shone a light on an issue that I felt too often throughout my review. 

Closing Words

If this card was the 70k I envisioned it would be, it would have been a steer clear from me.  However, for 40k this card all of a sudden becomes an overachiever in terms of value for coins and definitely outshines some of the price point similarities in POTM Simeone and RTTK Danjuma. So for those FUT Managers on a budget and looking to improve on their current attacking lineup I could see this card really bolstering those early stage attacks.  For those FUT Managers with established lineups looking for a cheap beast to put you over the edge, I just don’t think this is the one. And finally for those higher budgets, please stop using and destroying me with SIF Vinicius Junior, that is all.  Hoping you are safe and well.  Cheers for reading. 
 

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