It has already been eight years since FC Online (FCO) launched! There is a common perception that the older an online game gets, the higher the barrier to entry. However, FCO is not as difficult as you might think. If you follow these steps, you will be eyeing the Challenger rank before you know it.

One of the most fun aspects of FCO is the process of building your team, which requires recruiting players. If you are new to FCO, recruitment might feel daunting because there are many different approaches, each with its own characteristics. Today, we will look at how to acquire players for your basic squad and how to build your team from the ground up.

Opening player packs is the most intuitive and basic way to acquire players. If you are a beginner manager just getting used to FCO, you can build a starter squad using packs obtained through various events. You can generally get player packs by participating in events, visiting the special shop, or purchasing items. While you can buy basic packs in the regular shop menu, they rarely contain players suitable for competitive play.

Player packs usually have specific conditions for the classes or players they can yield. If you hover your mouse over a pack, you can see a preview of the potential players—usually information indicating you will receive one of the top players from a specific class. While this gives you a rough idea of the expected value, the actual worth depends heavily on which specific player you pull.

Therefore, player packs are a highly randomized recruitment method. It is difficult to target a specific class, player, or even club history and traits. However, players obtained from packs can be used immediately. You can add them to your team, sell them on the transfer market, or use them as materials for agents or trades, depending on the conditions. It is the most intuitive method, but it relies on the fun of randomness. Most of your packs will come from events, and the anticipation of who you might get is part of the charm.

If opening packs is about the fun of randomness, the transfer market is a more practical place to find and bring in the specific players you want. In fact, for experienced users, opening packs is often just a way to get and sell expensive players, while the players they actually use are mostly purchased through the transfer market.

The transfer market is where player-to-player trading happens. If you have a player to sell, you list them; if you want to buy, you place a purchase order. Each player has a base price, and you can offer a price close to that. If a listing matches your buy/sell price, the transaction is completed. Since player prices fluctuate based on market trends, keeping an eye on the market to maximize your profit is another interesting element of the game.

The advantage of the transfer market is clear: you can guarantee the acquisition of the player you want. The game provides search functions based on name, class, position, physical attributes, salary, team color, and more. If the player is listed and you have the BP, you can immediately add the card to your squad. Players acquired this way can also be resold later.

You also need to check for shifts in market trends. Player prices fluctuate with game updates and new class releases, so if you want to minimize losses, it is best to target classes with relatively stable prices.

In reality, trading and agents should be viewed as independent systems. They have different uses and offer different rewards. Trading involves using players as materials to obtain one new player, while agents have different material requirements and conditions depending on the type—sometimes even requiring items other than players.

However, we will introduce them together in this article because we believe they are not systems that beginners need to dive into deeply yet. We recommend using them only after you have become more familiar with the game, or simply using them lightly to claim event rewards.

For trades, you select a scout and input up to 10 players as materials. You will then be presented with a set of results and can choose one to add to your team. Sometimes the reward is BP rather than a player. Using a 'Top Class' scout adds one more option to the list. Think of this as a way to get another chance at a player if you have unused cards sitting in your inventory.

Some managers use this to target specific players for certain positions, such as low-salary goalkeepers. These players are sometimes needed for squad building, but since they are rarely listed on the transfer market, players often repeat trades to try and get them. However, this is entirely probability-based and time-consuming, so beginners do not need to worry about it. It also consumes a fair amount of BP to acquire the materials.

Agents are divided into more detailed categories, which might be confusing at first. There are categories for events, special requests, general requests, club growth, and ICON-related items. Clicking on each agent reveals the requirements, which you must meet to input materials. While trades offer extra benefits for meeting conditions, agents require you to meet them strictly.

Depending on the type, agents require different materials and offer different rewards. Some use special points instead of players, and the 'club growth' category may require training coaches or other resources. Rewards include a mix of player packs and BP. While they can be used to target specific players like trades, beginners should skip them for now. Instead, just check the expected value when a new agent is released. If an agent is particularly good, word will spread, and you can approach it when you have the resources. Of course, it will require a significant amount of BP to secure the materials.

The routes to acquiring players in FC Online are based on the systems mentioned above. As noted, trades and agents do not have high probabilities of yielding the specific player you want. Agents, in particular, can sometimes result in low-value players relative to the cost of materials. Therefore, it is best to refrain from using them excessively until your team is somewhat stabilized.

In the early stages, build your team by opening player packs and using the transfer market. If you pull a player you like from a pack, set them as the centerpiece of your team and recruit the rest of the squad from the transfer market. Sell unused players to steadily accumulate BP. If a player is difficult to sell, using them for trades or agents can be an alternative.

Once you have the players you need, it is time to complete your team. You can enhance your players to make them even better. In FC Online, traits affect player performance, and reaching certain enhancement levels can unlock trait slots. While +5 enhancement teams were common in the past, updates to the trait system mean most players now use squads with +8 enhancements, often called 'Gold Cards.'

However, we do not recommend enhancement unless you are looking for a big win or cannot find the player on the market. You need to fill the enhancement boost slots with material players matching the OVR, and even then, success is not 100% guaranteed. While there are auxiliary systems like enhancement grade protection or retry tickets, it is still difficult—especially from +8 onwards. Therefore, we generally recommend purchasing the players directly.

If you are new to squad building, don't overthink it. Just focus on team color and salary. Of course, focusing only on these might result in poor cost-efficiency, so it is a good idea to check recommended squad information or popular listings. Statistical data like the Squad Daily Chart on the official website will also be helpful. The maximum team salary is now 300, providing more flexibility than in the past, but if you are still short, it is common to save salary on goalkeeper or fullback positions.

If you are struggling to decide on a team, following your passion is a great way to go. If you are a fan of a specific club, just search for players with that team color on the transfer market and place them in their positions. From there, just adjust for the salary cap. We recommend using the squad simulator on INVEN or the official website's squad maker to map it out first. Building a single-club team color with +8 cards will result in a beautiful squad. You can then enjoy the game and upgrade your team whenever you earn more BP. Since there are many team color concepts beyond single clubs or nations, find one that suits you.