Ones to Watch has been tweaked over the years because – whisper it – it wasn’t actually very good, and most of the cards became pointless pretty quickly. It still isn’t exactly amazing, but it is certainly better than it used to be.
The general idea is that players who have been transferred during the summer can be selected for Ones to Watch, meaning they get a special card design and released via packs, Squad-Building Challenges and/or Objectives. Then if they secure an in-form (Team of the Week) card for their new club, the Ones to Watch is automatically upgraded to reflect their improved stats.
This is what is known in FUT parlance as a ‘dynamic’ card, in that it can change according to factors outside the game. But since most OTW players never got an in-form (adapting to a new club is hard unless your name is Erling), last year EA changed the way OTW cards work by adding a ‘Wins to Watch’ feature. As this is a (weird) World Cup year, FC 24’s Ones to Watch cards can also receive a possible ‘Nations to Watch’ upgrade.
Wins to Watch means that if the player’s team wins three matches out of their next eight domestic ties (starting September 30), then they get an additional one-time stat upgrade equivalent to another in-form. So if Man City win 3/8 games, Haaland gets another +1 over and above in-form updates he receives. (Lol ‘if’.)
Nations to Watch means that any player with a Ones to Watch card whose country is involved in the World Cup will receive a one-off in-form upgrade if their team wins a game during the tournament. Tough times for Erling on this front, it seems, due to Norway’s non-participation. (‘Tough times for Erling’ is not something we expect to write on many other occasions this year/decade/millennium.)
Even better, Nations to Watch players don’t even have to be selected for their national team to receive the upgrade, so if Gabriel Jesus somehow doesn’t make it into Brazil’s squad, and his countrymen pick up a win out in Qatar, the Arsenal hitman will still get a +1.
Finally, it is worth mentioning that Ones to Watch players do not receive upgrades based on other promo cards. So if Tyler Adams gets some sort of wild 90+ card in April in a new promo called Factsmashers or whatever, his OTW will not be upgraded accordingly. (Sorry Tyler. If it makes you feel any better, you are in literally everyone’s pre-order OTW pack.)