Issue007Nov2018

T E K K Z
F 2 p do g
a s to
c l a i m
e s h is
Stak
 LETTER
FROM THE

2 Esports World Football

EDITOR
 Issue007Nov2018

T E K K Z
F 2 dog
im as top
shis cla
Stake

Publisher
Justin Lawson
justinlawson@blackknightmedialtd.com
Tel: +44 (0)203 750 6028
Twitter: @esportsWorldFC

Editor
Chris Lafferty
As you may have noticed, Donovan ‘F2 Tekkz’ Hunt is once chrislafferty@blackknightmedialtd.com
again our cover star, having won the FUT Champions Cup Tel: +44 (0)203 750 6024
in Bucharest we thought it only right to catch up with the boy
wonder. Having been a complete unknown in Barcelona,
Twitter: @esportsWorldFC1
Bucharest was a different story, he was many peoples
favourite, but did that bother him? Not at all. He swept Designer
everyone aside to take the trophy in spectacular style. Steven Lafferty
design@blackknightmedialtd.com
We also have a number of great interviews including another
couple of fan favourites NFG Dragon and Nicolas99FC.
Tel: +44 (0)7843 811 240
Twitter: @NotAFIFApro
In the Nordics we spoke with Chnewar Sabrizzi of Nordavind www.esportsworldfootball.com
and Svenis13 of DreamHack about the thriving FIFA Scene in
the Nordic region and the eSuperliga.

www.esportsworldfootball.com 3
14 Chnewar Sabrizzi
We speak with Sabri Nait Sliami, Captain
and player for Nordavind
COVER STORY
8 F2Tekkz
F2Tekkz proves that Barcelona was no fluke taking home the Bucharest
FUT Champions Cup

NEWS
6 News round-up
Get all the latest news from the world of FIFA

INTERVIEWS
10 NICOLAS99FC
One of the most consistent players on FIFA 18 talks FIFA

12 DragonFIFA
We speak with DragonFIFA as he embarks on the next part of his esports
journey

18 Team Bundled
Melvyn Wolthers, Founder and Managing Director of Netherlands based
esports agency, Team Bundled talks to Esports World Football

20 Joel ‘Svenis13’ Hildingsson

Tournament operator at DreamHack, the team behind the newest addition
to the Global Series, the eSuperliga in Denmark

22 Adam Ryan
Team Bundled star Adam Ryan talks tactics and advice for aspiring gamers

24 eMLS
We talk to eMLS stars John Oliveira and Abraham Valbuena

28 Ask the pros

We ask the experts the important questions

34 Pro Clubs
VPGW Premier team No Fuchs Given eSports and Team Lucid talk about
their gaming experiences

www.esportsworldfootball.com 5
 Tekkz too good
F2Tekkz has won the first FUT Champions Cup of the FIFA 19 season
Having won the Xbox Final against Ajax Dani with scores of 4-1 and
2-2, he moved on to the cross-console final with Joksan Redona the
PlayStation Champion for the overall title.
Tekkz and Joksan winning their individual console finals meant they
had both secured 1500 Global Series Ranking Points solidifying their
positions at the top of the FIFA EA Sports rankings and that should
be enough points to secure a spot in the final 64 Play-Offs on the
Road to the FIFA eWorld Cup Finals.
PlayStation winners very rarely win a cross-console final and this was
no exception.
In the cross-console FUT Champions Cup Final, Tekkz was taking
on Joksan who had earlier this year on FIFA 19 won the PlayStation
Continental Cup and is one of the best defender and manual goal
keeper users in the tournament.
The first leg was played on the PlayStation with Tekkz utilising a 4-2-
3-1 formation and scoring first in the 77th minute to take the lead. A
beautiful finesse finish from Pele into top bins.
A Eusebio header followed by another from CR7 and suddenly on his
away console Tekkz was 3-0 up.
Moving over onto the Xbox, Tekkz took an early lead with two
minutes on the clock to make it 4-0 on aggregate making it an uphill
battle for Joksan. Viera and Gullit were absolutely dominant in
midfield. Somehow they seemed to work a little bit better for Tekkz!
Lisa Manley signs
for No Fuchs
Not much is known about Lisa but she has already built up a solid
twitter following as a Fulham player. With the backing of the NFG
team we can expect her to really develop her FIFA game play.
On announcing the signing No Fuchs Given said they were proud to
In the 27th minute a chest and volley from Ronaldo made it 2-0 on
Xbox, there was no way back for Joksan especially when on 31 in-
game minutes played it became 6-0 on aggregate.
He did pull one back out of nowhere just before half-time to bring it
back to 6-1 on aggregate.
The final score on Xbox ended up 4-1 and 7-1 on aggregate as he
took the cross-console crown.
David Bytheway, ex-pro FIFA player and now Esports manager at
Digital Sports Management added “Don’t think I’ve ever seen a more
unpredictable attack as what Tekkz has on FIFA 19”
We saw expert analyst and player Mike LaBelle comment “Major
congrats to @F2Tekkz Deserved Victory & @JoksanRedona also
played an amazing tourney. Repped NA Strong. Drinks on Tekkz... Oh
wait...”
The ‘Oh wait’ being in response to how young our champion is.
With previous Esports World Football cover star Chu Boi pointing out
“Barcelona clearly wasn’t a fluke. Congrats to @F2Tekkz for winning
Champions Cup 1! think we definitely saw the two best #FIFA19
players in the world right now. Tekkz unstoppable tho.”
be signing their first female game changer to the NFG academy.
Lisa added “I’m so proud to announce that I have just signed for
@NFG_eSports . I want to thank @FuchsOfficial @trevkeane @
comealoid for making this happen. I can’t wait to get started.”

LaLiga
back again
The official Spanish League Championship tournament,
produced by LVP is returning. Kicking off on December 3.
In collaboration with EA, LaLiga is increasing its involvement to bring
a bigger, more exciting tournament where top players compete for
prizes including €10,500 for the winner, €5,250 for the runner-up and
€2,625 for the semi-finalists. In addition, a €1,000 prize will be on
offer to the winner of the King of the Hill match. Modest prizes by
esports standard and miniscule compared to La Liga riches.
The second edition of the tournament brings a more competitive
format and longer season which is great for sponsors Banco
Santander, Orange and Allianz.
Virtual LaLiga eSports Santander is an Official League
Partner qualifying tournament within the FIFA 19 Global
Series. The regular season will consist of 9 rounds of open
competition. Each round lasts 2 weeks, starting with online
qualification and leading to a live showdown for the finalists
of each round at the LaLiga Barcelona studio.
During the regular season, points will be awarded for the best
performing competitors, and after the 9 rounds have been
Virtual LaLiga eSports Santander completed the 16 highest
ranking competitors will be invited to the Virtual LaLiga eSports
playoffs which lead into the Grand Final on May 11th.
Norway moves
into esports
Norway have become the newest nation to have an official esports
team as they announced that they have three players who will
represent the country in international matches across the globe.
They will be competing in an eFriendly vs the French National team
on the 18th of December in Paris, France.
Norway have announced three players that will be on the team
the first of them is Magmus M. Kristiansen better known as
Nordavind Hyper. He’s arguably the best player in the country and
recently competed at his first LAN event the gfinity elite series
in London. So he has experience that could be absolutely vital
although he is a very young player who is only 17 years of age. He
took to Twitter and He said “I’m very happy to announce that I’ll
be on the Norwegian National FIFA Team! It is a big step for my
esports-career, and I’m more than ready to put in some big results
for my home country Lately, I’ve been in good form and I hope I can
continue it @nff #sterkeresammen”
The second player on the team goes by the name of Arkan
Resul. Known on twitter as ArkoFIFA he has had nine Top 100
finishes over the course of his FIFA career and also one T100
monthly finish on FIFA 18. This weekend he hit 29-1 securing
himself a T100 spot and showing that he is hitting his form at
the right time with a clash vs France coming up very soon, he
wrote on twitter “This is a big dream for me. Very happy to be
able to represent my country on a national level, can’t wait to
meet the squad and for our debut vs France in December!@
nff_info”
The final player on the team is Sondre Voktor! He’s been getting
Elite 1 on FUT Champions and recently went a respectable 2-3 in the
recent qualifiers competing against some very big names. He took to
Twitter and said “I’m very happy to announce that I’ll be on the first
Norwegian National Fifa Team! It is a big step for my esports-career
@nff @nff_info @nff #sterkeresammen
#eSports”
We are interested to see how the trio will
get on against France who are international
powerhouse and have some of the best
players in the world on their team.
F2 TEKKZ
“
I don’t play against my friends
anymore it’s too easy!
From Barcelona to Bucharest
F2Tekkz bags another trophy
F2Tekkz proves that Barcelona was no
fluke having won the first FUT Champions
Cup of the FIFA 19 season in Bucharest. We
caught up with the wizzkid for a quick chat
You went to Barcelona as an unknown,
how did it feel to go into Bucharest as one
of the favourites?
I quite liked being one of the favourites because it showed that
people rate me as a player. Although the expectation that comes
with being a favourite does add extra pressure to do well.
Who was your toughest opponent at the
FUT Champions Cup in Bucharest?
Prooownez because he was the only player to beat me in the
Swiss rounds.
You said the best person in FIFA will be
the person who wins in Bucharest, are
you the best?
I hear your trophy from Barcelona is in your
bedroom by your desk any plans on building
a trophy cabinet?
I’ve moved house a couple of times since winning Barcelona so I’m
just waiting until I’ve got time to decide on the perfect spot.
Whats it like being part of the F2?
It’s great being part of TheF2, they have given me support with
building my social media channels and they will be supporting me
in all my upcoming tournaments.
How much better can you get?
You can get always get better so we’ll have to wait and see how I do
in future tournaments.
When and where is the next tournament
you be participating in?
Bucharest again this weekend for the PGL Cup, followed by the
second FUT Champs Cup in London the weekend after.

Did you watch the tournament? :)

How satisfying was the win against Joksan

on the PlayStation, which in many ways
was the away leg?

It was very satisfying winning on my away console because I could

relax a little going into the second leg.

When was the last time one of your friends

beat you in a game of FIFA?

To be honest I don’t play against my friends on FIFA anymore

because it’s too easy and becomes boring.

guy
t against this
The ePremier league is coming rumours are Would you be
T Champs
you’re representing Liverpool? at the next FU ?
Cup in London
Is this even a question :)

www.esportsworldfootball.com Esports World Football 9

 s

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9
e a n s

9
o m

S
y n a m

A
a n d

L
n t i ni

O
A rge

C
h e

I
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“
Winning in Amsterdam was
great, but i want more!
www.esportsworldfootball.com Esports World Football 10
The main man at Amsterdam in last
years Global Series Playoffs talks FIFA
The Argentinian impressed in every What was it like playing at the O2 in
tournament during FIFA 18. He went on to London?
win the Playoff Finals on PS4 in Amsterdam
and he was one of the favourites going into The O2 was a great location, the setup was terrific. FIFA eSports is
the eWorld Cup where he narrowly lost in heading the right direction and I’m happy to be part of it.
the PS4 Semi-final. With such consistency
Nicolas99fc will be a major player during
the FIFA 19 season. How do you get ready for an event?

How did you get into FIFA?
I used to play PES until the release of FIFA11. I looked up some
reviews and I decided to give it a go, since then I caught fire and am
fully focussed on FIFA.
When did you turn pro?
It has been a long process. In FIFA17 I received my first reliable
salary, which enabled me to invest more time into the game.
Transfermarkt signed me for the FIFA18 Season, something I’m
still grateful for, and it was from there that I had the opportunity to
become a full-time-player. Right now I am at FC Basel 1893 eSports,
I’m reaching new heights when it comes to their support, I’m very
happy to be part of the FCB-eSports-Team.  rival this year?
I’m mainly focussing on FUT as practice. Playing FUT on both
consoles, which takes some time. The pressure is always up there
and I value that as the best way to practice. Obviously Division
Rivals and matches with friends are part of my procedure as well.
I also talk to my friend Diegog96, who is also represented by my
agency KiNG eSports, he is always helpful.
What’s the next tournament you we be
participating in?
On a national level I have one at the end of the month.
Internationally I’m waiting for the first tournament to be announced.
Who would you say is going to be your main

How are you finding FIFA 19? The competition is really tough,
which is why I won’t come up with
Well, there are always elements of the game I like and dislike. a single name. There have been
Overall I can’t complain. I started with a strong 60-0 streak in FUT- so many players out there that are
WL and am feeling comfortable. performing at an outstanding level.
I’m investing my resources into
What do you make of the new Icons in FIFA 19? myself – always trying to develop
and adapt to what is coming up.
There are some new icons that are really good, Cruyff and Best for
example. I have tried them and I love them.

Who are your go to players?

My current team consists of: Courtois; Alba, Varane, baby

Ferdinand, Valencia; middle Vieira, Pogba, middle Seedorf; Neymar,
baby Best and middle Cruyff.

What was it like winning in Amsterdam?

Simply amazing. I’ve been playing my heart out and it took me a

while to finally lift a trophy. It was great but I want more.

www.esportsworldfootball.com Esports World Football 11

NFG
Dragon
We speak with Sean Allen of DragonFIFA as he
embarks on the next part of his esports journey
having just signed for No Fuchs Given eSports
In 2016 Sean ‘Dragon’ Allen was the FIFA Interactive World Cup
runner up and is hoping to reach the same heights in 2019.
Over the past couple of editions of FIFA he has been grinding away
on the various game modes ‘FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT)’, ‘Weekend
League’, ‘Division Rivals’ and just trying to be more successful at
tournaments. There has always been a lot of differences between the
FIFA’s and FIFA 19 is no different. In fact some say it is even more
different and harder to adapt to than previous versions.
12 Esports World Football
Since FIFA 17, qualifying and tournaments have all been through
FUT mode and this has led to some players investing heavily in their
teams to create the best squad possible, we have also seen many
YouTubers with squads full of Icons performing well on ‘Weekend
League’. Many people comment about how it is pay to win, but once
all the top players have similar squads it still comes down to ability,
adjusting to the game and the dreaded EA servers.
Commenting on FIFA 19, Dragon adds: “If the game is moving slowly
and you’re a fast build-up player then it is not going to suit you very
well. You have to adapt. A few years ago I was a really fast build-up
kind of player but this season I have had to adjust and I have slowed
myself down and become a bit more patient.”
wwwesportsworldfootball.com
“I feel like I am improving at just the right time.”
Dragon left Lightning Pandas in September and was looking to
compete in Bucharest at the FUT Champions Cup for the first time in
a long time as a ‘free agent’. Even tweeting out that this would be his
first tournament without the backing of an esports team.
It was, he stresses, not a ‘come and get me’ tweet although it ended
up with the same result, with NFG eSports reaching out and in a very
short space of time sign him up.
So after a very short spell as a ‘free agent’ we now find him on the
books of the largest esports organisation. Dragon signed for No
Fuchs Given eSports, the team led by Christian Fuchs, Premier
League Winner with Leicester City Football Club. A team that has
players based all around the world, academy players and now has
moved into ‘Pro Clubs’ with VPG teams competing in both the
midweek league and weekend. Their latest announcement sees them
moving into the Late Night league.
This move for Dragon coming out of the blue will have added to
Dragons confidence as he travelled off to compete in Bucharest.
FIFA 19 sees Dragon hitting a rich vein of form having had a fairly
average 2018 narrowly missing out on qualifying for the FIFA eWorld
Cup Grand Finals. When speaking about what he puts his improvement
in form down to he said: “I think it will be down to me being in a better
frame of mind personally and I feel more motivated this FIFA.”
“The ability to adapt and the maturity that comes with having played
for 11 years certainly helps. I feel I am able to know how and when to
adjust, change my style of play to get the win better now” he added.
Speaking about FIFA 19 in general, Dragon feels that the game is a
good version, it has a lot of plus points but there are inconsistencies
that annoy him. Many of these inconsistencies seem to stem, for him
and others, from the servers which this season have been continually
slated online.
Referencing the example of when he plays at certain times of the
day and how the game performs better or worse depending on time
he said “it is very inconsistent, if I am playing at 3pm, practising on
Division Rivals it is fairly responsive but this totally changes when I
play in an online tournament at say 6pm”.
That said, Dragon appears to be a fan of the game.
There is a lot of criticism about FIFA 19, possibly down to the pros
blaming their own lack of skills in adapting to the new format.
Dragon, however, feels a lot of it is justified. In citing another example
he discusses the speed of the game when playing ‘Weekend League’
at 6am compared to qualifiers during the day “the game play was
flying, like quicker than I could adjust to, however earlier the previous
day in qualifiers it was really slow”.
www.esportsworldfootball.com
The servers in Europe seem to be a little better and the matchmaking
is better than elsewhere in the world. We see pro’s complaining
regularly about one bar connections and being put up against people
from countries such as Iraq.
Before Bucharest, Dragon had said he was most looking to
competing again at an event and just getting back in the thick of the
action. These FUT Champions Cups are where every gamer wants to
be, in with the chance of winning and making a name for themselves.
The last tournament Dragon had competed in was the FIFA 18
Qualifiers in Amsterdam, the final chance to make the FIFA eWorld
Cup Finals and that did not quite go according to plan.
Many of the tournaments are starting off in Swiss Format before
going through to the knockout stages. With the Swiss Format one
has to get three wins before getting three losses. As soon as you get
the three losses you are out of the tournament.
Dragon added: “I am not a big fan of the Swiss Format as there is a
lot of waiting around in between matches. If they can figure out the
draw quickly so there is less waiting around time, it would not be
too bad.”
Outside of backing himself, Dragon’s top tips for the recent
Bucharest based FUT Champions Cup were Gorilla and F2Tekkz.
Gorilla because he is one of those players who usually turns up
at tournaments and F2Tekkz because he was on such good form
running up to the event. Outside of his two fellow British esporters
his next favourite was Raseck.
Well we all know how the tournament went and on the form he took
into the event it was no surprise to see F2Tekkz take the crown.
Dragon is going to have a superb season and with the backing of
the new organisation behind him we can only see him going from
strength to strength competing back at the top.” EWF
Ronaldo or CR7? Ronaldo
Icon or In-Form? Icon
Blanc or Ferdinand? Blanc
Youtube or Twitch? Twitch
4-3-3 or 4-2-3-1? 4-2-3-1
Tekkz or Gorilla? Gorilla
Esports World Football 13
Chnewar
Sabrizzi
We speak with Sabri Nait Sliami, Captain and
player for Nordavind about the Gfinity Elite
Series, FIFA 19 and the Nordic FIFA scene

www.esportsworldfootball.com 15
You are the FIFA Captain and player for the
team. Tell us about your journey in esports
to get to this position?
I began playing on FIFA 08, I was a casual gamer at first with a decent
ability level but at this time the esports scene wasn’t as big as it is now.
My journey into competitive esports starts with FIFA 15, I
played many tournaments and joined my first team (Snake
esport) during the FIFA 17 season with the appearance of FUT
Champions. I started the streaming at this time and there were
not many streamers with competitive gaming experience so I
had a lot of viewers and I started to be known in France, then
after a few months Eclypsia wanted to sign me as a streamer
and Pro player full-time.
In FIFA 18, I managed to qualify for the FUT Champions Cup in
Barcelona and Nordavind came and shared with me the project of
building a FIFA roster. This is how it started and I am really thankful for
the trust that our manager, Stein put in me and today I am proud to see
what we’ve achieved together and of the team, my family.
cene in the
The esports s
is very strong
Nordic region
at present
What do you think to FIFA 19?
To be honest, FIFA 19 has potential, and in my opinion it’s better
than FIFA 18 but we need to get more updates to fix the bugs.
Anything you would change?
First of all the servers! EA SPORTS needs to fix the servers, because
16 Esports World Football
no matter which connection you have you will freeze many times
in-game and there are some days where it is unplayable especially
on Xbox one!
What is your preferred formation and who
are your go-to players on FIFA 19 so far?
My favourite formation is the 4-2-2-2 in this FIFA it’s a very balanced
formation and allows you to play with several tactics.
My essential go-to players are Patrick Vieira and Ruud Gullit, if you
have them in the midfield you are confident!
What do you think to the Weekend League
only being 30 games?
Well only 30 games on the ‘Weekend League’ is a good thing for the
players who play on both consoles or it’s a good thing if you want to
hang out with your friends or your family. Personally, I prefer when
we had 40 games because for me the Top 100 was deserved if I am
allowed to say and now it’s much easier.
What do you think to the new format for
Gfinity Elite Series?
The new format for the Gfinity Elite Series is interesting, we have to
play the 2v2 format so we have to communicate and try to find the best
way to win the game together, for me the communication is the key!
The other new addition to this series was the auction. For the
auction I think that for some one who does not play FIFA it’s is now
more enjoyable to watch a game with different teams so yeah! It’s
cool for the show.
The esports scene in the Nordic region is very strong at present,
why is this? (the new eSuperLiga, the Gothia eCup, Marcuzo going
to The North etc)
Well esport has grown with an incredible speed, it expanded
quickly and the Nordic region was in it since the beginning. If
we talk about other games, but now its FIFA’s time. We have
the new eSuperLiga, the Gothia eCup and some exciting teams
adding to their roster. The Nordics as a region has to adapt with
the other regions so not to be overtaken.
And Heit’s always pleased to see somebody like Marcuzo, Agge
or our young talent Hyper signed in clubs or in a professional
esports team
Any specific aims for this season?
The only one is to put Nordavind on the roof of the world!
#Nordawin
wwwesportsworldfootball.com
17 Esports World Football
18 Esports World Football wwwesportsworldfootball.com
Bundled has been organising gaming events on every imaginable scale since 2001 and
are big player within many aspects of the gaming industry, advising various club from the
Dutch Eredivisie. Bundled also manages top esporters, within and outside the Netherlands.
Founder and Managing Director Melvyn Wolthers talks to Esports World Football

Tell us a little bit about Bundled? Depending on if we have the same idea on what we want to
achieve, he can be added to the team.
Bundled is a full service esports media agency. Started around
2001 with small pro evolution soccer events and nowadays working What’s the team’s biggest achievement so far?
for Feyenoord, Ajax, Wolves and many other clubs and brands.
We are specialized in managing esporters, producing content and Last season we have participated in every big FIFA 18 tournament
events. The past years it hasn’t been clear whether we have been a with several players. Also, many of our players have joined clubs
management organization or an esports team, but with our strong over the past season, which they’re really proud to represent.
Bundled team this season we are proving to be both. Besides
having big talents like Adam Ryan and Tjardo Paliama onboard, we
also have more experienced players like Abruccio and Ben Remez
(currently 3rd in the world on XBOX) on our team.

What’s your role?

I’m the founder and managing director of Bundled. I predominantly

focus on Bundled’s expansion and its transfers of players.

You recently formed a partnership with

Premier league team Wolves, can you tell
us more?

Via one of our contacts we got in touch with Wolves. After having
several good meetings with the Marketing department, we
partnered and placed two of our top eSporters with them: Torin
p
ntly teamed u
Page and Flavio de Brito. 

Bundled rece
om the
with Wolves fr
Are there any other professional teams
that you are involved with? ue
Premier Leag
Yes, we are involved with, among others, Feyenoord and Ajax.
Besides, we are in advanced stages over negotiations with
multiple big clubs in different competitions.

What players do you currently have on
your roster?
We currently have 23 FIFA-players from 4 different continents on
our team. They vary from 16-year old talents to full-grown, top-
performing esporters.
How do you go about choosing players to
represent Bundled?
How big can eSports get?
esports concerning FIFA is only just getting started. I think the
esport games in Asia, where it already sells out stadiums, is a good
example of where it can go. Also, it will become a more integrated
part of professional clubs’ core focus areas, where it will also shift
more from a marketing to competitiveness orientation.
What’s in store next for Bundled?

Most of our potential players get scouted via our own players. If We are currently expanding internationallyand it is all
one of our players plays against a talent, he’ll say: “Mel, you should happening at a rapid pace. Besides recently expanding to the
really keep an eye out for him.” We’ll then follow his performance UK, we’re now also far in the process of expanding to more
for a while and let him play test games against our own players. European countries and other continents.

www.esportsworldfootball.com Esports World Football 19

DreamHack
supports
Denmark
We talk to Joel ‘Svenis13’ Hildingsson, Tournament
operator at DreamHack, the team behind the newest
addition to the Global Series, the eSuperliga in Denmark

20 Esports World Football

Denmark has launched the eSuperliga, tell
us about this?
It’s finally here. Denmark being one of the strongest FIFA nations
out there really deserves a league with a calibre like this. With
$50,000 in prize money with pro points for later qualification, the
league is played every Monday and Tuesday and started on the 5th
November. Every team faces each other one time in a BO2. With
some interesting details such as a coin toss happening before
the game to determine the match-ups. Inspired by the Champions
League, away goals are in place. All clubs in the Superliga except
one team is a part of it, and three from the division below the
Superliga. Everything is played in a modern and cool studio with
on-site crowd cheering.
What is DreamHacks involvement?
The league consists of a great collaboration between Discovery
Networks Denmark, the Danish Football League and DreamHack.
DreamHack has a lead on the project itself, having created after
extensive knowledge and research in the relevant parts. Being one
of the biggest esport companies in the world, I have found myself in
a great position to also help with my personal FIFA experience. We
provide technical and a lot of general support so that in the end, the
production is fantastic.
What makes the eSuperliga different to
other events?
The esport and FIFA passion in Denmark is something different.
Seeing the Danish Prime Minister opening the CS event Blast
Pro Series proves that. The eSuperliga is what all the almost 6
million people in Denmark deserves. Having all top football clubs
coming in to FIFA needs a platform for them to exist on. With
early viewer numbers from the first league day showing 76,000
unique viewers only from TV, it basically shows how all the hard
work has come. The studio itself is something different as well,
you must look at it yourselves.
Which of the teams do you feel are set up to do
well in the eSuperliga, who is your favourite?
The general standard in the league is high with Denmark already
having around 20 players FUT Champs verified. One of the most
impressive details is that every player has returned home to the
league. Marcuzo revealed his Man City -> FC Copenhagen (via
North) move only hours before the league was about to start. Agge
and Marcuzo at FC Copenhagen are obviously favourites, but as
they tied against Bacha/Hassan in the second round, it showed how
close the league will be.
To be honest, I could probably name almost 8-10 teams that could
win it, so the important part for all teams now is to make top 8 to
secure playoffs.
What else is DreamHack involved in within
the FIFA scene?
DreamHack is one of the longest standing companies that has
been a part of the FIFA scene. Around 2010, they started their
involvement with tournaments at their festivals. Several years of
National Championships, hosting the first Swedish football club
FIFA battle and hosting the first ever third-party tournament in the
FIFA Global Series. It was held at DreamHack Winter 2016 and saw
pros from all over the world fly in.
Tell us about your main role as one of the
tournament operators?
My role for DreamHack is perfect. I get to help on all side of the
FIFA projects which is where I personally feel I can be of most
help. A tournament is so much more work than most people
imagine. Having a serious format is obviously important, but to
make sure everything surrounding the project is “FIFA friendly”
is sadly something that almost always gets underrated. As I am
still in school for a few more months, the role suits me very well
at the moment.
You had some previous experience with the
Gothia eCup, what did you learn there that
has helped?
Yes, that experience had everything in it. Running the whole online
qualifiers with players from all over the world, helping about with
player management and social media.
It was a good fit for me and great to be making sure a tournament
on my home country Sweden had the standard it should have. Then
running the whole week on site in 30 degree heat, Gothenburg was
certainly one of the highlights of the summer.
What would your dream job be within esports?
I am forever grateful and happy for every single opportunity I get
within the FIFA esports world. I would love to see DreamHack
doing more and more FIFA and just seeing where that takes me
from there.
However, I want to contribute as much as possible to the scene.
And to get the biggest impact, EA is an important factor. But if that
means working with them or cooperating, we will see. I just hope
that after my school is finished on the 15th of June 2019 – I can
work full time with this!
That is why it is important for me to follow all aspects of the scene
and maintain an objective perspective. And every day I want to
improve myself, to strive for perfection and be able to elevate the
FIFA scene. So what I will do in 5 or 10 years, I have no idea – But
as long as it is FIFA esports, It is a success!
www.esportsworldfootball.com 21
 ADAM RYAN

Talks tactics and advice

22
10
Esports World Football wwwesportsworldfootball.com
What is the most effective method of seeing
out a close match in FUT Champions?

The most effective method is definitely switching to a wide

formation, lowering your team depth and setting players
instructions to come back on defence. You should also look to try
and retain as much possession of the ball as possible in key areas
and try not to misplace or attempt any passes with an element
of risk, this means your opponent should see you are holding the
ball and become too offensive and drag players out of position
meaning you can go for the killer blow or alternatively keep
switching the ball from side to side until the final whistle. This has
to be done, show no respect to the opponent in the later stages of
a match it is the key to getting more wins in weekend league and
all pros do it

What is the best way to structure your

FUT Champions 30 matches per weekend?
The best way to structure it is just play when you feel confident and
ready, there is nothing worse than leaving too many games till the
last minute and forcing yourself to play when you are angry or don’t
want to. But the best way to avoid burning it is to play 10 games on
the Friday, 10 games on the Saturday and 10 games on Sunday, while
having various breaks in between. It is vital that you take a break
after a loss it makes all the difference. If you play straight after a loss
you are in the wrong mindset and will play much worse and different
than normal.
What is the best way to improve your game
to eventually get onto a pro level?
Practice against players who are better than you or at least on the
same level. Something that really helped me improve was playing
against the very best and also analysing the best. This allows you
to see effective patterns that they are using and if you can master
them and implement them into your own game you will become a
better player. Make sure you trust your own ability and have enough
variability to make yourself unique. Another thing that helps is just
grinding out FUT Champions. It allows you to come up against many
different formations, tactics, play styles and levels of players so you
can see if what you are doing is effective and lastly if you’ve hit 27
wins in weekend league the best way to improve is by competing in
the qualifiers available to you, these are basically like playing at a
LAN event against the very best and it let’s you see what level you
are on.
What is your favourite formation?
My favourite formation is the 4-2-3-1 I think it provides a good
balance between defence and attacks and it is very effective
against all formations and hard to counter act. It’s very good
for creating openings for first time finesse shots and also cut
backs from the wings which is very much meta in FIFA 19, I
put my CAMS on stay forwards and my full backs to stay back
meaning I’m deadly on the counter and can turn defence into
attack quickly.
What advice would you give to someone to help
them obtain a good team without FIFA points?
Play squad battles as boring as it is it’s a good way to make coins
and a sacrifice you have to make if you want a good team but can’t
afford to use FIFA points. Have two squads to rotate between this
means you don’t need to spend money on squad fitness cards saving
you 50k per weekend league. Do SBCs and chance your luck they are
a great way of getting coins and if you get lucky you can make some
serious coinage and revitalise your FUT.
Is FIFA 19 better than FIFA 18?
Wow, now that’s a though one! Honestly I think they are both
just as bad as each other but FIFA 19 is better because you can
move the goal keeper and use timed finish which increases the
skill gap. With a few patches I think FIFA 19 has the potential to
be a very good game.
How often do you play FIFA?
I’m spending around 12 hours a day around FIFA. Most of the time
I’m playing matches or building squads, but I also spend a lot of
time analysing matches trying to find what I did wrong or could
have done better.
I also spend a lot of time watching other pros trying to learn new ideas
to further improve my game. Since I’m playing both consoles I tend to
switch between the two. I also spend a large amount of time on twitter
and Instagram talking with pro players in group chats and also just
interacting with the FIFA community.

www.esportsworldfootball.com Esports World Football 23

Time for a
Revolution
John Oliveira
John Oliveira, hailing from Massachusetts,
became the New England Revolution’s first
signing, Oliveira talks to Esports World
Football about his FIFA journey and the
upcoming Gaming Frog Tournament

“
I’m Brazilian
so it’s in my
blood
You play for New England Revolution how
did you get signed?
They held a in person event at the Prudential Center here in Boston
and I showed up and who.
You competed in this years eMLS Cup how
did that go?
Not great for me, I didn’t get a chance to get into the knockout
rounds unfortunately. It was the first LAN event where failed to get
past the first round so the feeling sucked. Going to take that to the
next one and make sure it doesn’t happen again.
Tell us about how you got into soccer?
I’m Brazilian so it’s in my blood, you could say I was born into
it. The first real memories I have of watching football was a
little bit of the 98 World Cup, the iconic Seleção jerseys left an
unforgettable impression in my mind. The Santos team of 2002
also sticks out to me. Robinhos 8 stepovers in the final are
something I’ll never forget watching.
What’s your favourite edition of FIFA?
Hard to say now, I’ve played so many of them it’s hard to
differentiate them all after a while. I’d have to say it was one of 12,
13 or 14.
What do your friends and family make of
you being a pro player?
Good question! They are super supportive and think it’s really cool
how I get to make money from playing a game, especially when I
get to travel for competitions. It’s changed a lot now to be honest.
When I went to my first event in FIFA 17 they didn’t know much
about it and were somewhat sceptical, but now with the eMLS
growing and competitions popping up everywhere with bigger and
bigger prize pools it’s hard to ignore.
What do you make of this years FIFA?
Not going to lie, I’m not a big fan. I like the additions they’ve made
to try to improve gameplay but the application could have been
better. Content wise, it’s superb, lots to do if you are a casual player.
What’s your goal for this FIFA season?
I want to win eMLS Cup. Don’t think many people would book me as
a favourite so I would love to cause an upset take home that cup.
Any advise for players who want to go pro?
Its not easy, kids now see all these organizations and get excited
because they love playing FIFA too. The reality is you have to put
in a lot of time to get to certain level. You have to actively seek to
get better, hold yourself responsible for your own results and make
conscious effort to improve. It’s mentally draining so you gotta
have your head in the right place at all times.
Who are your goto FUT players in your team?
It’s got to be Neymar. His skills and weak foot set him apart from
everybody else. But for me it’s just the fact I’ve been watching him
IRL since he came onto the scene at Santos as a teenager. From
being considered a “youtube” player by many to now being one of the
best in the world, it’s great and he’s just as good in the game too!
Tell us about the upcoming tournament
that GamingFrog are hosting?
It’s really cool they’ve got everything up and running and are
supplying us with this platform to be able to compete. Growing up
I’ve always wanted to compete against other people in FIFA but
I never got the opportunity until EA actually started sanctioning
events, with GamingFrogs app everybody who wants to compete
can, so it’s awesome! This competition is going to be a nice warm
up for the eMLS events coming up in the beginning of 2019, I’m
super excited about and can’t wait to compete.
 to go
buena ready
Abraham Val co m ing
the up
all the way in na m en t
ur
GamingFrog to

Abraham Valbuena
Orlando City
Abraham Valbuena became Orlando City’s Tell us how you got signed for Orlando City?
first official eMLS competitor this year
and went on to compete for them in the Orlando had scouted me since my first regional qualifier in 2017.
inaugural eMLS Cup, amongst other FIFA They contacted me about signing for them for future events and of
tournaments in 2018. course I couldn’t turn it down.

Originally from Venezuela but now residing
in Miami, Valbuena, started playing FIFA
against his two brothers 15 years ago and
began playing FIFA competitively in 2016.
Since that time he has gone on to be one of
the best FIFA players in North America.
You competed in this years eMLS Cup how
did that go?
Not as well as I’d hoped. My wish is to always win it all but
unfortunately I made it as far as the quarter-finals. It was a great
experience and I will definitely take what I learned at that event and
apply it to eMLS 2019.

What do you make of this years FIFA?

I think the game is focusing a little too much on realism than it really
being a “video game”. There are alot of wonky mechanics that leave
too much room for bad luck and unrewarding gameplay.

26 Esports World Football wwwesportsworldfootball.com

What’s your goal for this FIFA season?
My main goal is to become the World Champion. That’s the goal for
this FIFA season.
Are there any Orlando players that you
would like to challenge to a game of FIFA?
Chris Mueller or Dom Dwyer for sure.
Who is your main rival in the eMLS?
Well, ATL UTD just signed Rated_Hugo. He’s always been a good
friend of mine. But he’ll definitely be my rival in the league. Should
be interesting to see how it goes this year.
Did you play Soccer before you got into FIFA?
As a Venezuelan, baseball was always my #1 sport. It wasn’t until
www.esportsworldfootball.com
I was around 11 or 12 where I began kicking the ball around. Now I
can say I’ve got a few tekkers on the pitch.
Who is your favourite Icon?
I would have to say that Nedved is my faviourite icon at the moment.
He is outstanding.
What formation do you use?
I usually go for a 4-1-2-1-2 formation.
Tell us about the upcoming tournament that
GamingFrog are hosting?
I’m extremely excited. This feels like the first major tournament not
held by EA in a long time. There are some big names participating
in this competition. And there’s no one better to organise it than
GamingFrog.
Esports World Football 27
Ask the pros
Where we talk to the experts

“
28
What is wrong with the
EA Servers?

Esports World Football

 “
Sabri Nait ‘ChnewaR’ Sliami
EA SPORTS needs to fix the servers,
because no matter which connection you
have you will freeze many times in-game
and there are some days where it is unplay-
able especially on Xbox One!

“
Reece Rusher
The question should be what is right with the
EA SERVERS.... I can be playing some really,
really good FIFA where everything feels fine,
the term I like to use is Electric! But this will
only last for an hour if I’m lucky... The servers
need to be dedicated there are too many times
where I play the game and my players just do
not turn! It’s seems to be when more people
are on the game, such as at night time in the

“
EU region.

Emre Benli
The servers are just overloaded. EA need
more dedicated servers and then there comes
the delay and the in-game lag. It is just not
good enough.

www.esportsworldfootball.com Esports World Football 29

“
@Fizzy_EFC
The servers are not fit for purpose right now.
They are ok for causal gamers who just
pick the game up and play with their friends
etc. But at the top level there is too many
inconsistencies, the game feels different from
game to game. Only way to play on smooth
gameplay is to stay up late and play through-
out the night.

Siddh Chandarana, Team Ozil M10

In my opinion, the issue with the servers
is the biggest issue we have within the
game right now, smooth and responsive
gameplay would fix almost everything. For
us in Asia we have basically 1-2 second
delay every game which makes it impos-
sible to play. We have a good connection
but then we have to wait until for example

“
@DistrictGMiE90
I honestly have never experienced it as bad
as this weekend (3-4 Nov). Surely, they have
to acknowledge what’s happened and work to
make sure it never happens again.
Midnight when the traffic is less but then
this year it’s delayed throughout the 72
hours. If they want the game to grow, they
have to invest in the servers. The game
right now is not responsive enough to take
it forward.

30 Esports World Football wwwesportsworldfootball.com

www.esportsworldfootball.com Esports World Football 31
 “
Dragon
The game is a good version, it has a lot of
plus points but there are inconsistencies
that annoy me. Many of these inconsist-
encies stem from the servers and how the
gameplay is different at different times of
the day.

“
Josh Sarembock
The servers are a joke. The fact that you can
DC and get straight back into FUT shows that
it’s a joke because you don’t even fully DC
from servers, only partially. Also controller lag
caused by server issues is a huge problem.

I’m talking FUT. To put it into perspective I was

just 5/5 for ‘Weekend League’ and had two

“
DCs in a row. I’m tired of this BS.

@NFG_hibidi
Servers have been a huge problem for
years. In any other company, the head of the
operations team would have been fired long
ago. EA HR needs to do something about
non-performing staff.

www.esportsworldfootball.com Esports World Football 32

 VPGW
Seeking Managers

Do you have what it takes to lead a team to glory in

the illustrious VPG Weekend League?
Are you committed to sticking with your
team and do you strive for success?

Do you want to test yourselves against professional

teams such as the likes of
WGN, Oxford, Scunthorpe
to prove that you are the best?

Contact
@boarvpg or @DanTV24_
for more information and get set up ready for Season 11!

#WheretheChampionsPlayr
Established in 2013, Team Lucid tells us
about the origins of Xbox’s strongest Pro
Clubs team and the future of the scene.
Tell us a little about your history?
The Team Lucid name came around like it would with any other
club. A few friends joining up and bringing ideas together. We tried
to come up with a name that best describes our football ‘expressed
clearly, bright and easy to understand’.
We were established in 2013 and started competing in early 2014
on competitive sites like VFL / VFL eSports.
We have 13 players on our roster with years of experience in ‘Pro
Clubs’ which gives us a big advantage against a lot of teams.
Everyone in our team has Twitch channels and Twitter accounts to
reach out to our supporters and to show how we are getting on. We
have grown our reputation for being very skilled at our esport and
are widely known because of that.
You have played in both VPG and VFL
leagues, how do you compare the two?
The competition is not there on VPG but it is a very well run
website. We are aware that it is very big over on PS4 and who
knows, maybe we will be over there again at some point.
VPG also involve cash prizes which should attract people over
and you would think this gets everyone’s attention but not
one competitive team’s that we know of were involved in that
Tournament / League which made it very easy for us to win.
On the other hand, we are very happy with the competition on
VFL eSports as we’ve notice “Pro Players” coming over and
trying their hand at Pro Clubs and doing well. We had ‘Fully’
who is a very well known ‘Professional’ FUT player playing for
us in a tournament last FIFA and we could see him making a
appearance again in the future.
Who is managing the team?
The managers of the team are Robert Hattersley and Imran
Hussain, they are commonly known as Hatters and Ran. They have
been growing this team at a fast pace, winning trophy after trophy
and have started trying to grow the team on social media with
giveaways, goal of the night clips and tournament updates. They
have a vision of where they want to see this organisation going and
they feel like it on the right tracks.
What league are you in and who do you see
as your main competition?
We are competing in VFL eSports and we feel like Vivid and
Nasty could be our top competitors. A lot of very good teams
have dropped out this FIFA as they are struggling to adapt
to the new game play, which leaves us with these two as the
highest quality opponents.
Vivid are coming off a tournament win on VFL eSports and we are
looking to take it straight back off them.
Nasty is built on very good individual players but struggle as a
team however, they will give us problems for sure.
What formation do you like your teams to play?
We play with the 3-1-4-2 set up as we feel it works well with our style of
play and everyone is happy with where they are playing. This formation
worked wonders for us last year with us winning two tournaments.
How did you do last FIFA season?
Last FIFA season we won everything. We won 3 Super Cups and a
Elite League on VFL eSports which seen us take home £350 and
then tried VPG and took it by storm with a League win which seen
us take £200 home. Some of our players even played in some twitch
tournaments and won some money from them. Our players love
competing and if there is something there to be won, we will do our
best to win it.
Where would you like to see Pro Clubs develop?
We would like to see Pro Clubs developed in small areas as we
think it has got everything except something NEW!
www.esportsworldfootball.com
We would like a weekend league system added, custom stadiums,
custom badges, something more to custom kits, the list goes on.
The main thing is that they need to add something. Competitive
Pro Clubs like ours cannot just sit here and stand with VFL eSport
tournaments every month or so when we could have a weekend
league system which rewards us for beating the best out there.
There is a huge amount of potential in this game mode and we just
don’t understand why EA Sports don’t jump at it!
Has it got a future with LAN Events?
100% Pro Clubs has a future in LAN events as VFL eSports are
doing one on the 2nd-3rd of February and over in Argentina and
The Netherland they are holding huge LAN events which we see in
our dreams. LAN events will be a regular thing next year without a
doubt as there is profit in it and this is what the community want!
Do you like what you have seen from FIFA 19
so far?
Gameplay is fun but there are shots, passes and saves that you
could do last FIFA that you can’t do this FIFA, we had to adapt to
this FIFA and change our way of playing slightly but there are not
big issues with gameplay at all. The new active touch system and
timed shooting has added a bit of skill to playing Pro Clubs which
is what even Professional FUT players have been asking for and we
see more skill based features being added in future FIFA titles.
What would you like to see EA do for Pro Clubs?
Nothing has been added as I’ve already said and I don’t get why they
couldn’t have just added SOMETHING! People have been digging
at EA for a while to make the game mode as competitive as FIFA
Ultimate Team by adding a Weekend League system, add Custom
Boot Packs, Custom Stadium Packs, Custom Kit Packs and Hairstyle
Packs. Why isn’t this a thing? These packs on Pro Clubs would open
EA’s eyes and make them focus on our game mode a little more and
we would see big changes to the mode if they were added.
The main thing we would love to see is the Weekend League
system, they could make requirement like “6/7 Players
Minimum” or “4/5 Players Maximum” or even “11 Players
Minimum” People don’t understand how many teams there are
out there who would make this work.
The top teams could then get invited to a LAN event to
compete on a live stage, oh and I know what you’re thinking
“EA SPORTS would never send 11 Players to a LAN event, it
would be too expensive” well, yes, it would be expensive but
it has potential to blow up and I could see it happening for
sure in the future.
Esports World Football 35
NFG
STEPS
INTO
PRO
CLUBS

36 Esports World Football wwwesportsworldfootball.com

NFG Pro Clubs is the new child of Christian
Fuchs, Leicester City left back. We speak
to team manager Connor Redden to see
what we can find out
Tell us a little about your history Connor?
I originally started playing ‘Pro Clubs’ back on FIFA 17, what led me
into the game mode was through a friend of a friend who started
playing in one of the VPG leagues which I understood to be as
a competitive league for ‘Pro Clubs’. Although, I had not played
within ‘Pro Clubs’ before I thought I would give it a try.
Now two years later I’m still playing in the same league that has
made me love ‘Pro Clubs’ and FIFA more in general. I would talk
about the clubs that I have played for but I don’t remember all of
them because it has been so many seasons.
Right now I am fully committed to managing the Weekend side
of NFG Pro Clubs and I also play for Emrys United eSports in
VPG midweek.
What inspired Mr Fuchs to look at ‘Pro Clubs’?
I’m not entirely sure. But if I was to think like him I would say
he believes that competitive gaming within ‘Pro Clubs’ can
become a more relative thing just like competitive gaming
in FIFA Ultimate Team and he believes that ‘Pro Clubs’ can
become a more popular game mode through this. There is
certainly a market for both modes.
How did you get the opportunity to lead the team?
I got the opportunity through my good friend and co-manager of
the team Luke Pentecost. I was originally managing my own team
in VPGW called Titans United then Luke messaged me the idea of
helping him bring NFG in to the VPGW system as well as the VPG
midweek system to compete in.
Will we see any of the NFG roster of pro’s
such as DragonFIFA turn out for the Pro
Clubs team?
I can’t promise anything as this is a decision to be made by the
pro players themselves but if there is a possibility of bringing any
of the NFG star players in we will be ecstatic to have them and
welcome them into the team with open arms.
www.esportsworldfootball.com
How did you go about bringing the team together?
Luke and myself are both focused on acquiring some of the best
talent that we can find in ‘Pro Clubs’ . But we also brought some of
the players that play in the NFG midweek team to compete in the
weekend side too.
What formation do you like your teams to play?
I am a fan of two main formations but these depend on how our
players play individually. I like either the 4-2-3-1 or the 3-5-2. These
two formations are also popular with other teams because of how
effective they can be in games.
“I would like
to see EA
pay more
attention to
Pro Clubs”
What do you like about competing at
the Weekend?
I like how difficult it is to play. The fact that every team has to
earn their wins and it’s no walk in the park for any club. I also
like how organised the admins of this league are. They aim to
keep all games on schedule and make sure all of the results
are used correctly so no team takes any sort of advantage
against their competition.
How would you like to see EA develop
‘Pro Clubs’?
I would like to see them to just pay as much attention to ‘Pro
Clubs’ as they do with FIFA Ultimate Team. They’re constantly
adding new features in Ultimate Team and Career Mode even
added ‘The Journey’ story mode in for the past few FIFA’s but
they seem to not add much in to ‘Pro Clubs’ even with the
high number of players who only buy FIFA just for the ‘Pro
Clubs’ game mode.
Esports World Football 37
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