A new NFL season means a new year for Madden NFL gamers to take to the virtual field and test their skills against the best.
It begins with the Madden Championship Series' Ultimate Kickoff tournament, the first of the season to pit the top competitors against each other as the official start of the competitive tournament circuit. On-field action begins Wednesday at 7 p.m. ET and concluded on Friday, Sept. 9. The matches will be streamed on Twitch and YouTube.
This year's Ultimate Kickoff tournament includes the return of the Madden NFL 22 champion, Henry, who faces off against JackOregon in the first of four quarterfinals. The remaining three will see Big Gucci take on DCroft, Young KIV versus DatBoi, and NoahUpNxt versus Drini.
Based on the early season power rankings, the biggest surprise in this group is JackOregon, the only player to rank outside the top 20 in the MCS power rankings. He'll face quite a test in Henry, a phenom in the Madden ranks, who rose to the top last year and has earned over $470,000 in winnings with a record of 62-14.
The final eight competitors have a chance to win as much as $50,000 from a prize pool totaling $180,000. This is just a warmup, though. The total prize pools increase in value with each of the four MCS tournaments, with Ultimate Madden Bowl participants battling for a shot at a $250,000 first place prize, the greatest sum possible from the $1 million pool.
Between now and then, players will compete for coveted places in the Ultimate Thanksgiving and Ultimate Wild Card tournaments (prize pools for each are $260,000). And with each triumph, they'll see their standing in the power rankings increase -- or fall, depending on the outcome.
The Madden Championship Series identifies and narrows down its competitors by measuring the performance of Ultimate Team players participating in competitive ladders, then finalizes its tournament lineups via online elimination games played prior to the official start of tournaments.
There are plenty of heavy hitters fighting for their place among the best in Madden. Tune in Wednesday and Friday to see how this year's first MCS tournament unfolds.
