Do tactics really work or this game is pay to win

[InvincibleGinger FC]

This is my personal thought about player versus.

Player A: 120% All skills are balanced around 120%
Player B: 100% White skills above 200%
Player C: 100% Grey skills extreme low ( negative)

Game engine firstly compares players AvQ which gives Player A an edge over other players in the fight for the tackle. Second comparision is based on player's individual skills. The higher related skills in a position, the more players win the duels. Still, you must not forget that there is no matter how high the white skills(i.e 340%), Player C gets a big rating penalty in League, Cup and CL because of the minus skills.

Can you elaborate on what you mean with "rating penalty"?

[RaiKo]

Can you elaborate on what you mean with "rating penalty"?

As @SuperDunk had mentioned above, There are 2 types of simulation engine in the game.

1) League, Cup, CL and Super League: main parameter is total quality of player(the value inside the parentheses.)

2) Association, Events and Friendly Champ: main factor is AvQ(%) of the player.

They are working different than each other. Im not really sure how the things go in #2, but if you have a player who has minus % skills in normal season, that means he probably won't be able to show his maximum potential. There could be a hidden multiplier like new association X0 factor. When this penalty gets involved over the minus skills, Player action in a position where the minus skills are important is completely neutralized and comes to a halt. At this moment, your player may lose the versus and gets an instant rating drop(red).

It's basically a nerf unit to prevent managers from dominating game by the mutant players. That's why mutant players rarely finish their matches with 9s or 10.