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MusclePharm

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Beta Details:

 

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Starting July 25 and running up to and including August 1, the NHL® 18 Beta will be available to play on Xbox One and PlayStation 4 for players who have registered. This will be your only chance to experience NHL® 18 before it hits stores  September 15th, 2017.*

 

Register now for the NHL® 18 Beta.

 

*Must be 18+. Internet connection, EA Account, and Xbox One or PlayStation 4 Console required to participate.

 

Modes In The NHL® 18 Beta

EA SPORTS HOCKEY LEAGUE

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Lace up your skates and jump into 3-on-3 and experience the speed, skill and creativity of the today's NHL. Bringing authentic NHL 3-on-3 overtime to EA SPORTS Hockey League, you can now choose to play 3-on-3 full matches, opening up more ice for you and your teammates to get creative, pull off big plays, and showcase brand new skill moves. With more space to attack - and to make mistakes - 3-on-3 EASHL is higher stakes with more competition and skills.

Whether you're playing in the new 3-on-3 format or the traditional 6-on-6 matches, you'll earn experience to unlock items for your skater and/or club to customize your player, team or home rink.

NHL THREES

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Jump in and experience EA SPORTS™ NHL® THREES, an all-new 3-on-3 hockey experience with bigger hits, faster action, bigger plays, beautiful dangles and more goals. Inspired by fun, pick-up-and-play arcade sports games, NHL® THREES is all action with no offsides, no icing and every penalty sends you straight to center-ice for a penalty shot and the chance to earn a crucial goal. 

 

You'll have to wait until NHL® 18 launches to play the THREES Campaign, but you won't want to miss playing NHL® THREES versus any way you want to in the NHL® 18 Beta, online or offline, co-op or competitive. 

ONLINE VERSUS

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Play NHL 18 online and feel the the speed, creativity and action of today's young NHL superstars with new Creative Attack controls and an all-new Defensive Skill Stick. New Creative Teammate A.I. now leverages all the same creative deking and passing plays that you do, creating smarter plays up and down the ice. The A.I. will also use the new Defensive Skill Stick, making them more effective teammates in your own zone.

https://www.easports.com/nhl/news/2017/nhl-18-beta-details

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These are the features?.. Wow... This game is going to be garbage. Literally nothing big.

  • Better Dekes 
  • Better defensive stick control
  • 3 on 3 mode
  • Better Visuals
  • offline co-op (how hasn't this been done yet?)
  • More multiplayer.

That's it? Really? That's a weak list. That's the most meh list I have ever seen.

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Hut Rookies Unveiled:

 

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Brand new to NHL® 18 Hockey Ultimate Team™ are HUT Rookies! These special edition player items feature the top Young Stars in the NHL.

 

Get the Connor McDavid HUT Rookie item and your favorite team's* HUT Rookie item by pre-ordering NHL® 18 Young Stars Edition or NHL® 18 Young Stars Deluxe Edition.

 

Check out below for all 31 NHL® 18 HUT Rookie Items and let us know what one you are looking forward to the most!

 

*You will receive the HUT Rookie item from the team you select as your favorite team before entering NHL® 18 Hockey Ultimate Team for the first time

NHL® 18 HUT ROOKIES 

Anaheim Ducks - Rickard Rakell

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Arizona Coyotes - Max Domi

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Boston Bruins - David Pastrnak

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Buffalo Sabres - Jack Eichel

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Calgary Flames - Matthew Tkachuk

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Carolina Hurricanes - Sebastian Aho

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Chicago Blackhawks - Nick Schmaltz

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Colorado Avalanche - Nathan MacKinnon

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Columbus Blue Jackets - Zach Werenski

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Dallas Stars - John Klingberg

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Detroit Red Wings - Dylan Larkin

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Edmonton Oilers - Leon Draisaitl

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Florida Panthers - Aleksander Barkov

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Los Angeles Kings - Tyler Toffoli

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Minnesota Wild - Matt Dumba

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Montreal Canadiens - Alex Galchenyuk

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Nashville Predators - Filip Forsberg

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New Jersey Devils - Pavel Zacha

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New York Islanders - Josh Ho-Sang

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New York Rangers - Jimmy Vesey

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Ottawa Senators - Mike Hoffman

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Philadelphia Flyers - Ivan Provorov

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Pittsburgh Penguins - Jake Guentzel

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San Jose Sharks - Tomas Hertl

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St. Louis Blues - Robby Fabbri

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Tampa Bay Lightning - Nikita Kucherov

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Toronto Maple Leafs - Auston Matthews

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Vancouver Canucks - Bo Horvat

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Vegas Golden Knights - Calvin Pickard

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Washington Capitals - Evgeny Kuznetsov

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Winnipeg Jets - Patrik Laine

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https://www.easports.com/nhl/news/2017/nhl-18-hut-rookies

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Creative Attack Dekes Deep Dive:

 

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New Deke Branching 

Deke branching gives you control to choose how you string deke combinations together into fluid dangles based on moment-to-moment decisions and reaction time. 

 

In NHL® 18, you can perform different moves from each state you are in before deking. This allows you to react to the defender’s position and use a Creative Attack Deke to get around them. For example, when you’re in the toe drag state you can choose to go off your near skate, put the puck between your legs, or flip back to the forehand side to dodge defenders.

 

Additionally, the new deke branching allows you more control with moves like putting the puck off your skates. You can now target what direction you want to go with the puck using the left stick in your deke, allowing you more creative control over your moves in the game.

 

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New Creative Attack Dekes

Between The Legs

Over the past few years, players have been pulling off highlight reel plays by passing or shooting the puck between their legs. In NHL® 18, you will be able to pull off the exact same moves that you see NHL stars leveraging to create different passing and shooting lanes.

 

Backhand Heel Drag

The Backhand Heel Drag is a powerful move when used properly. You can use it to outwait a goalie or defender to get around them, take a wrist shot or pulling off a cheeky flip to beat the goalie against the momentum of the play.

 

One-Handed Tucks

NHL players are always finding a way to pull off a creative finish to their dekes, and that includes the classic one-handed tuck. In NHL® 18, you can do a one-handed deke to cut around a defender or go for a stylish one-handed tuck deke that goes against your momentum like you see happen on breakaways and in shootouts at the NHL level. Timing is key with these moves as the speed and direction of which you are skating will make or break how successful the deke is.

 

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Mastering the Skill

Creative Attack Dekes in NHL® 18 range in difficulty. Some dekes, like toe drags and windmill dekes, are easier to pull off. Others, like the old favorite Tap-Back Deke, are harder to pull off but come with a greater reward. 

 

Knowing when to pull off a deke is just as important as being able to pull the move off. When you are deking, you are more vulnerable to body checks and stick checks. If you make a mistake, your opponent can strike on a counter-attack.

 

Additionally, player attributes also have an impact on their ability to pull off the new creative attack dekes. They could lose the puck outright, flub the deke mid move or have their shots and passes impacted at a higher rate the lower their skill and the less control you have going into the move.

It takes time, practice, and skill to pull of the correct moves. They’re more effective with the more ice you have and will let the player’s skill shine in authentic 3-on-3 EASHL.

https://www.easports.com/nhl/news/2017/nhl-18-creative-attack-dekes

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Defensive Skill Stick Deep Dive:

 

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Defensive Skill

With the introduction of new Creative Attack Dekes that give you more control offensively, we needed to implement a defensive tool that allows you to counter the control offensive players. The Defensive Skill Stick provides the ability to cut off the opponent’s passing, shooting and skating lanes by pressing and holding the poke check button then using the right stick to control the direction.

 

By allowing full control over your stick on defense, you can keep your stick extended to angle off an attacker or sweep your stick to cover a zone. Additionally, you can target your poke checks by pressing down on the right stick when you are using the Defensive Skill Stick.

 

When you are using the Defensive Skill Stick, you cannot hit or pickup the puck. In order to do so, you need to release the poke check button and you will be able to either deliver a body check or pick up a loose puck that you poked away from a defender.

 

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New Controls

When implementing the Defensive Skill Stick, one of the things we had to consider is where other controls would go. For example, the Puck Chop mechanic used to be performed by combining a poke check with a direction on your right stick. With the Defensive Skill Stick being activated with the press and hold of the poke check button and using the right stick to have control over it, we had to test and come up with a new button combination for the Puck Chop mechanic.

 

After testing and playing around with control schemes, the Puck Chop mechanic is now accomplished by pressing down on the right stick and then pointing in the direction you want to chop the puck.

 

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Improved One-Knee Blocks

The addition of the Defensive Skill Stick also allowed us to improve our one-knee shot blocks. When you are in a one-knee shot block, you can use your right stick to control your stick and body positioning to help block off passing lanes. This is most effective when you are killing a penalty as it allows you to block shots and passes while maintaining your position on the ice.

 

The Defensive Skill Stick lets your knowledge of the game and positioning shine through on defensive side of the puck, allowing you to shut down your opponents with defensive skill. 

https://www.easports.com/nhl/news/2017/nhl-18-defensive-skill-stick

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Creative A.I. Deep Dive:

 

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Improved A.I. Analysis

We have improved a teammate’s ability to find you on a breakout through redoing our A.I. passing analysis and player positioning and paths on breakouts. They now have the ability to use bank passes and different pass strengths to find you – whether it is an off-the-boards bank pass or a soft through pass for you to skate onto. 

 

Additionally, the A.I. will now look at more passing options than ever before and will be in better position to make a pass or receive one. On top of attributes like Offensive Awareness and Passing, the A.I. will also factor in a player's handedness, speed, offensive pressure and the risk versus reward of a player when making a pass. The A.I. will also take more risks if the potential offensive return of a pass is greater than the risk.

 

With the A.I. passing being redone, we also looked at and improved upon all of their offensive analysis, including determining when it is best for them to skate, shoot, pass or even use a Creative Attack deke.

 

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Access To Your Tools

The Creative A.I. in NHL® 18 will leverage all the tools you have available to you. From the all-new Defensive Skill Stick to Creative Attack Dekes, the A.I. will showcase their skill more. 

 

With the puck, the A.I. will utilize the same Creative Attack Dekes tools that you have access to. From simple moves like windmill dekes to more advanced moves like one-handed tuck finishes, the Creative A.I. will execute Creative Attack moves based on their attributes and likeliness to pull them off.

 

On the defensive side of the puck, the Creative A.I. will leverage the all-new Defensive Skill Stick to help shutdown the opposition. From blocking off passing lanes to being in better position to intercept a pass, the A.I. will showcase their defensive skill. 

 

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THREES Influence

With a smaller ice surface in NHL® THREES, we had to readjust and rework the A.I. to make sure they reacted to the smaller playing environment intuitively. This allowed us to improve our A.I. across all modes so they are able to read and react to plays better. 

 

One of the major areas where THREES helped improve the A.I. was on rushes. The majority of rushes that happen in a regular NHL game also happen in THREES. Whether it's a 3 on 2 or a 1 on 1 rush, the A.I. across all game modes will read and react better to rushes. 

 

Offensively, the A.I. is more dynamic in how it picks the players to take part in a rush. Attacking A.I. defenders will evaluate whether or not they should jump into the rush to create a scoring chance or to sit back at let their forwards take control. Additionally, neutral zone and offensive zone entries were improved upon and the A.I. will take offensive pressure, game situations and your strategies into account more effectively now. Finally, both side and middle offensive zone entries were worked on and the A.I. will factor in the handedness of players to help recognize where they should position for a pass or a shot.

 

Defensively, the A.I. has been reworked to track players on the rush better. Also, the A.I. defense's ability to transition from rush defense to set up defense has also been improved. Defensive skaters who are trailing the play will hang out and cover the point based off of pressures and A.I. strategies. For example, A.I. on Tight Point will set up higher on a rush after reentering the defensive zone to cover the points. Finally, the defensive A.I. has better man-to-man defense, will provide better strong-side pressure and will also set up in the neutral zone to force more lateral puck movement.

 

With there being more rushes in THREES, we were able to spend more time learning and reworking the A.I. on both sides of the puck. Additionally, THREES helped us improve player avoidance in all situations and 5 versus 5 play for in-zone set ups both offensively and defensively. The A.I. will set up for one-timers or other opportunities in the zone based off what is happening in the zone. Whether it's driving to the post to create a back door pass option or hanging in the high slot to unleash a one-timer, the A.I. is able to read and react to the play better in all zones.

 

It is a fine line in providing the A.I. the proper tools to read and react to the play to be better teammates while also not allowing them to dominate the play. Overall, the Creative A.I. in NHL® 18 will provide more options on offense and defense and are better suited to read and react to plays in all situations and modes.

https://www.easports.com/nhl/news/2017/nhl-18-creative-ai-deep-dive

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Just now, Joejoeyjoel said:

Wow... it's NHL 17 with a couple new dekes and the ability to move your stick around defensively. This may be the first year I skip on purchasing in a long time. 

I always hold out hope that things will change but they never do.  I am with you on not buying it this year which will probably be the first time in 10 years.

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