FIFA 20 Summer Heat: all you need to know about EA's 'best of' promo

FIFA 20 Summer Heat is over, but what a campaign it was. To find some positivity in a season like to no other, it saw EA bin off the traditional FIFA 20 Futties promotion, and instead offer up a wealth of boosted cards both old and new, along with some other surprises – like a 91-rated Daniel James. How did it all work? Get your studs into our FIFA 20 Summer Heat guide to find out.

FIFA 20 Summer Heat: what is it?

FIFA 20 Summer Heat replaced FIFA 20 Futties, the traditional end-of-season blowout in EA’s footballing juggernaut. It did so because most football seasons restarted in the summer following a three-month break, brought about by the coronavirus pandemic. Hundreds of special cards were reintroduced to packs, while new SBCs and objectives enabled you to bolster your club with further boosted cards. Tanguy Ndombele (Tottenham Hotspur) and Ferland Mendy (Real Madrid) were the first two players made available in such a way. Daniel James (Manchester United) was released in similar fashion on 17 July.

FIFA 20 Summer Heat: which cards have been re-released?

181 cards were included in the first set of FIFA 20 Summer Heat items re-released into packs. 30 were from the Copa Libertadores kick-off squad; 26 were FIFA 20 Headliners; 22 were FIFA 20 OTW cards; 24 were FIFA 20 Shapeshifters; 15 came from the Winter Refresh; and the rest were FIFA 20 TOTW cards from weeks 1 to 16.

As of Friday 17 July, a staggering 286 re-released cards are available in packs, for one week only. You can see the full list on the official EA website.

FIFA Summer Heat: Are there new SBCs?

Yep. Many proclaim Squad Building Challenges to be even more enjoyable than actual on-pitch gameplay, and they could be used to score Summer Heat Fan Favourite items. These are cards only unlocked via now-deleted SBCs, brought back with even greater stats. The first one was Spurs midfielder Tanguy Ndombele, whose old Ones To Watch card was boosted to a 93-rated gem only available via SBC. It was available until Tuesday 23 June.

A 93-rated Divock Origi could be acquired as one of the early July rewards, before they were updated again. Other SBCs included Ante Rebic (Milan, 93), Arturo Vidal (Barcelona, 94), Danilo (Piemonte Calcio, 92), Jordan Lukaku (Lazio, 92), Andrea Belotti (Torino, 93) and Simone Verdi (Torino, 93).

FIFA 20 Summer Heat: What can I unlock with player objectives?

Similar to the new SBCs, in-game objectives were used to score superior versions of cards which had been put to bed a while back. The first of these belonged to Real Madrid’s French left-back Ferland Mendy. You initially unlocked his 85-rated Futmas card by completing a single objective: winning five matches in Rivals. You could then upgrade him gradually to 87, 89, and finally 93 by ticking off further sets of in-game tasks. The toughest of which was the final one: getting assists with 89-rated Mendy in ten separate Division Rivals wins. Hardcore.

Bruno Fernandes of Manchester United was released in similar fashion in earlier July, but is sadly no longer available.

In mid-July Fernandes' team-mate Daniel James was added as an objectives-based reward. His card is a cracker - enjoy that 99 pace rating, folks - but sadly not upgradeable.

FIFA 20 Summer Heat: What else is new?

EA introduced ‘Summer Showdown Special Items’ focussed on one titanic clash each week. Here’s the official explanation: “Each week we'll highlight one real-world football match by releasing a special FUT Summer Heat player item via Squad Building Challenges for one player on each team from the highlighted matchup. The special Summer Showdown item from the winning side will receive a permanent +3 OVR stats boost. In the event of a draw, both items will receive a +1 OVR boost.”

FIFA 20 Summer Heat: do I get any free stuff?

Yes! Assuming you’ve played at least some FIFA in recent weeks, you received at least one free pack – AKA the FIFA 20 Summer Heat engagement reward.

Here’s the message I got first time up: “Please enjoy a Rare Mega Pack, the Tier 3 reward for logging in to FIFA 20 Ultimate Team between 148 - 234 days since the start of FIFA 20."

"The reward you’ve been given is based on the number of days you have logged in to FIFA Ultimate Team since launch."

Two more sets of rewards followed on June 28 and July 17, depending on how often you logged into Ultimate Team between now and then. I scored another Rare Mega Pack in the latter, containing TOTS Frenkie de Jong. Not a bad freebie, that.