The Stats Zone
· Trystan Pugh

FIFA 19 – Gfinity FUT Champions Cup Preview

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AT A GLANCE

When? December 14th-16th

Where? Gfinity Arena, London, UK.

Are tickets still available? https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e...

Where can I stream the tournament? The entire competition can be streamed on EA Sports’ official Twitch, YouTube, Twitter and Facebook channels as well as Gfinity’s official Youtube and Video channel. The schedule is as follows:

Friday December 14th – 13:00 to 21:00 GMT

Saturday December 15th – 13:00 to 21:00 GMT

Sunday December 16th – 13:00 to 21:00 GMT

The broadcast will contain live commentary from some of your favourite FIFA casters such as Brandon Smith and Richard Buckley, both of whom will be casting their third major event in as many weekends.

Can I follow the tournament on Twitter? Updates will be provided on the official Gfinity Twitter page, along with the EA Sports official Twitter page and the brand new competitive EA Sports Twitter page which focuses specifically on FIFA eSports. Also be sure to search the hashtags #FIFAeWorldCup, #GfinityFUT and #FUTChampionsCup as well as looking up Gfinity FUT Champions Cup in the Twitter search bar. Don’t forget to follow your favourite players competing in the tournament, along with their respective clubs/organisations who are likely to provide real time updates on their progress.

THE LOWDOWN

Tournament Format and Schedule

Thursday - a round-robin group stage played away from the cameras

Friday - Xbox One knockout bracket up until semi-finals (14:00 UK start)

Saturday - PS4 knockout bracket up until semi-finals (14:00 UK start)

Sunday - Console semi-finals, final and cross-console Grand Final (13:00 UK start)

Are there rules regarding what teams/players can be used for the tournament?

Each game will be played in the FIFA Ultimate Team mode, with each player free to use their own UT in the competition.

Who will be competing in the tournament?

A total of 64 players around the globe have qualified for the Gfinity FUT Champions Cup through the official FIFA Global Series online qualification tournament, which took place back in November.

What prizes are up for grabs?

A total cash pool of $100,000 is on offer at the Gfinity FUT Champions Cup that sees the winner take home a total of $50,000. Perhaps even more important though is the opportunity to collect vital FIFA Global Series Points, with more points up for the grabs the higher you place at the tournament. These points will see them rise up a newly created FIFA Global Series rankings leaderboard for their respective console. At the end of the season, the top 16 ranked players from each console according to the Global Series rankings leaderboard will qualify for the 2019 FIFA eWorld Cup. The winner of the Gfinity FUT Champions Cup will win a total of 1,500 FIFA Global Series Points. The total amount of prize money and global series points awarded for each finishing position at the tournament is below:

Winner - $40,000 + 1500 GSP

Runner-up - $20,000 + 1500 GSP

3rd-4th - $10,000 + 850 GSP

5th-8th - $5,000 + 625 GSP

9th-16th - 450 GSP

THE PLAYERS

The Gfinity FUT Champions Cup will take place in London at the Gfinity Esports Arena. It will be the first official FIFA Global Series event to take place in London since the FIFA eWorld Cup Grand Finals at the 02 Arena.

Unsurprisingly coming into the tournament, one player is at the forefront of everyone’s minds and many professional FIFA players’ nightmares. Donovan “F2Tekkz” Hunt in just two weeks has already doubled his accrual of major trophies in the FIFA 19 season that he won last campaign on FIFA 18. The 17-year-old Brit secured double delight in Bucharest, winning the first FUT Champions Cup of the season, before taking home the PGL Cup the week after as predicted in our preview of the event. This weekend he returns to home turf as he looks to make it a hat-trick of titles and further cement himself as the best FIFA 19 player in the world today.

Another player we tipped for a strong performance at the PGL Cup last weekend was eDevil and FIFA eWorld Cup Grand Final runner up Stefano Pinna. Whilst the PSV Eindhoven player may have fallen at the final hurdle again, losing out to “F2Tekkz” in the grand final, it was fantastic to see the Belgian back on the big event stage. Pinna has proven himself to be amongst the best in the business right now and is currently 2nd in both the PS4 FIFA Global Series rankings leaderboard and The Stats Zone’s very own FIFA eSports PS4 player rankings leaderboard. He’ll be hoping to go one step further this weekend and bring home a trophy of his own.

The one PS4 player who sits above Stefano Pinna in both rankings leaderboards is the PS4 Continental Cup champion and Epsilon eSports player Joksan Redona. The North American has continued his offline exploits online, showing no signs of cooling off his red hot start to the season. Could this be the event where he exacts revenge on “F2Tekkz" for beating him in the FUT Champions Cup Bucharest Grand Final?

One of four Danes to be making the trip to London this weekend is former FIFA eWorld Cup (FIWC) champion August “Agge” Rosenmeier. The North player is never far off the winning podium when it comes to offline events and has started the season relatively well, with 861 Global Series ranking points. A tournament win this weekend would see him almost treble that total so it’s a big few days ahead for the experienced pro. He’ll be hoping any pre Christmas ailments stay away for the time being!

The last player we’re focusing on is the reigning FIFA eWorld Cup champion Mossad “Msdossary” Aldossary. So far this season the world champion has yet to hit the heights of that magical few days at the 02 Arena. After disappointing at the PS4 Continental Cup, Aldossary was narrowly beaten in the PGL Cup by Spencer “Gorilla” Ealing at the quarter final stage of the Xbox One knockout bracket. However, while the Rogue eSports player may not have fond memories of Bucharest, being back in the same city which hosted his greatest ever achievement could be the perfect catalyst to get his season up and running!

THE PREDICTION

We’d like to apologise for perhaps playing it safe with this Gfinity FUT Champions Cup prediction. Right now though, it is simply difficult to bet against “F2Tekkz” making it a hat-trick of major tournament wins on FIFA 19. So far he has been in a league of his own, beating anyone that has come in his path. He was pushed close by “Gorilla” last weekend, but managed a comeback win of a standard that perhaps only he is capable of right now. If you don’t believe us, ask Harry “HashtagHarry” Hesketh!

In the interest of providing our readers with a differential selection, we are also drawn towards the fairytale story of “Msdossary” coming out on top once again in London and taking home his third UK-based trophy of 2018. The world champion has the overall game to beat any player in the world and won’t be fazed by the challenge of toppling “the best player on FIFA 19".

Click here for a full breakdown of the road to the FIFA eWorld Cup 2019

Click here for our latest FIFA eSports player rankings

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