It’s no secret that with every new FIFA title there is a new meta too. There’s always one area of the game, a formation, or a tactic that dominates all else, and while it seemed for a short moment that FIFA 23 had possibly avoided this trap, that’s quickly unravelled. In a nutshell, all shall kneel before FIFA 23 Lengthy players.
While being described as ‘Lengthy’ sounds rather undaunting and quite innuendo-prone, the reality is that it is probably the most important aspect of FIFA 23 right now, and Lengthy players (particularly attackers and defenders) are dominating the early meta.
For those still wondering what on earth a Lengthy FIFA 23 player is, here’s a quick explainer. Lengthy is one of the three new acceleration types introduced into FIFA 23 with the AcceleRATE system (along with Controlled and Explosive). The Lengthy attribute is given to players that are typically strong and tall (van Dijk, Lukaku, and Pogba are examples). In theory, it means they will not reach their top speeds very quickly, but they will be able to stay at their top speed for much longer than other players which can help with things like chasing down a striker that is through on goal.
As it turns out, Lengthy players are rather busted right now. The drawbacks aren’t really being felt in-game, so you can have towering centre backs and brutally strong strikers that can still outrun most players even if their pace and acceleration stats are inferior. This clip of Gerard Pique completely blitzing 95-pace Vinicius Jr is a perfect example of what’s going on right now.
The beauty is though that by using Chemistry Styles to alter your players’ stats, you can actually gain the Lengthy attribute on dozens of meta players that don’t have it based on their standard stats.
The likes of Karim Benzema, Cristiano Ronaldo, Federico Valverde, and Marquinhos can all become Lengthy if given the right Chemistry Style and the right amount of chemistry in your squad, either bumping them up their status as a desirable card or simply making them even more terrifying than they once were.
The maths behind AcceleRATE can be quite confusing (this blog post on Futwiz does do a great job of explaining it though) but typically, you want to increase your player’s strength so that they get the Lengthy trait (note that players have to also be over 174cm tall to get the trait). The best chemistry styles for doing that are Architect, Anchor, and Marksman, although there are others that add to your strength stat.
The positive is that the Lengthy acceleration style is allowing players with sluggish sprint speed stats to compete in the meta (something that can’t be said for previous years of FIFA), but it’s also turning already quick players into Usain Bolts that are impossible to defend against.
There’s a strong chance that this will be nerfed in a patch soon, but for now, add some Lengthy players to your squad, read up on the best FIFA 23 formations and tactics, and watch the Division Rivals wins flood in.