Interview: EA FC 26 was ‘close to perfection’ but ruined by patches
The esports season for EA FC 26 is underway now that the FC Pro 26 Open has started.
Esports News UK caught up with two of Ninja in Pyjamas’ FC pros in Nicolas ‘nicolas99fc’ Villalba and Lucio “HHezerS” Vecchione about the state of the game.
Nicolass99fc is currently the highest-ranked player in the world, while the very talented HHezers just joined Serie A football club Hellas Verona on loan.
The virtual Serie A is looking stacked after former World Champion Anders Vejrgang has joined Como 1907 for EA FC 26.
The pros talk about the state of EA FC 26 since patches, whether the game is good to play competitively, and if Ultimate Team is pay-to-win.
Starting off, we’re at the start of FC 26, how do you find it earning and adapting to the new game each year?
Nicolas99fc: “Yeah FC 26, or every FC game, is a bit hard at the beginning because you have to learn new things and new mechanics. But I think we as professional players we already know, in September, you have to learn and play and play and play.
“You have to adapt to your gameplay, but also to the other guy’s gameplay, you know what I mean? think this year was a good one at the beginning, but now with the mechanics and the people abusing a lot of the different stuff, it’s a bit hard.”
HHezerS: “I feel that every year you have to learn something new, not only about the game but also about yourself.
“So you have to adapt to all the new things and this year I started to work with my coaches, and I think that I changed a lot of my game style.
“I was usually a player who played really fast with a lot of through balls. Now I’m still doing that, but also like keeping a lot of the possession, doing less mistakes in my area, stuff like this.
It’s reassuring to hear that pros also struggle to adapt to the new game each year. On top of that, is it then difficult after each patch?
Nicolas99fc: “I think it depends on the patch, sometimes it changes a lot and you have to readapt again. Like every three weeks the game changes, sometimes a lot, sometimes it’s just a little adjustment in the game.
“As I say, we are professional players, so we have to grind and play; it’s our job.”
HHezerS: “You have one month where you adapt to a patch, you are feeling really good in the game and then the game changes everything, and so you have to adapt again.
“I think that, like when there are new patches, the timing of the defence and passing changes, so like I say, it’s not a new game but you have to play more when there is a patch because you have to adapt your timing to the new one.”
You’ve both had pretty long careers now, how do you think you’ve had like maintained such a long career and stayed at such a high level?
Nicolas99fc: “In the beginning, like FIFA 16 or 17, I think I didn’t have enough experience. I was thinking, okay, let’s enjoy the tournaments because maybe next year is the last one because, as I said, you know, the game is something that’s really hard to adapt to.
But yeah, I think it has gone well because I think every FC game I’ve been there at the FC Pro World Championship. I think the key is the grind and discipline; you need to have the hunger.
“When you are playing good, you have to push yourself to do more and not relax. Yes, we can enjoy the travelling during the tournament and also try to enjoy the tournaments if we win, but then push, push to win one more and one more and one more.”
HHezerS: “Yeah I think that like one of the most important things, outside of the game, is your personality. So I think that like, yeah, I was pretty consistent in the last year but I could be more.
“I expect myself to always be the best so if like I’m not doing good like, I want to keep grinding and be better. I feel that like the most important thing to be consistent is in your mind.
Nicolas, you’re the highest-earning EA FC pro ever, how have you been so successful?
Nicolas99fc: “Yeah, I think it’s as I say, it’s hunger because when you are on the top you need to know how to deal with the pressure and how to stay there.
“Your personality needs to still be hungry, you want to win more and more. That’s my personality and it’s also the same, I think, for people like Anders (Vejrgang), those kind of players want more and you see it when they play and also how they are.”
Also HHezerS, congratulations on your loan move to Hellas Verona. You’ve played with Monza before, what is it like representing a football club?
HHezerS: “I think it’s a great opportunity. I mean, I’m going to play in a league that is going to be harder, but we have to enjoy all the challenges.
I think that football clubs are different from esports clubs, but like you can learn from everyone in everything. Every time you have a chance to work with a football club, you enjoy it because you grew up watching football. It’s something I never expected because I was not born to be a footballer, but I can play for a football club because I’m good at esports.
I feel you, there’s a reason I became a journalist. Coming back to EA FC 26 , what are your early thoughts on FC 26 as a competitive game?
Nicolas99fc: “Yeah, it’s hard because right now, we all are struggling with the difference, in the good and bad sense.
“In the good sense because it’s really hard to manually defend this year, but in the bad sense because the AI is so automatic.
“So sometimes you have to struggle a bit more, like maybe you’re dealing with a mid player, not being disrespectful. You know you should win, but sometimes you’re still struggling. The game is like that right now.”
HHezerS: “I think that this is one of the best games that we have had in the last couple of years. I think that like the 2021 season was the best one, and this is the best one after that.
“I think that this year is a really good game, but I think a patch could make it even better. To make a good game, you have to change a lot of things. I think that this year, to be one of the best games of FC, we need not that much like just a few changes.
“It depends player by player, because everyone plays games from different perspectives, but I think that the game would be a little bit better if there is more balance between attack and defence. Right now, I think that the attack is a lot stronger, but I also know that this is my perspective. I mean, I was always good in attack so I prefer a game that is a little bit harder in attack.”
EA Sports said that competitive gameplay was going to be less random, that EA FC 26 would have a higher skill gap and be more skill-intensive. Do you think they’ve accomplished that?
Nicolas99fc: “Sometimes I think EA want games like that, with a skill gap, but sometimes with some decisions with patches, I think they are listening to more casual people than pros.
“I think maybe they have to, I don’t know, split the game into two different games. Maybe the FC Pro mode should be more manual or something like that. I’m not a developer, I’m not that guy with good advice for those kinds of things. I so think this year that they are listening to people a bit more.
“In the beginning, FC 26 was, as I say, really good. But at the moment, they are not doing good patches for FC as an esport.”
HHezerS: “I think that, honestly, the game at the start was close to perfection. There were no random bounces and everything. Now after stronger and stronger cards were released, there are more rebounds and this can be a problem for the skill gap.
But I think they also said in the Pitch Notes that they are working on these things, so maybe they can fix these little problems for sure.”
What are your thoughts on the current state of the esports scene for FC 26? Is the esport healthy and in a good place, or is it not as good as it used to be?
Nicolas99fc: “I think since a few years ago, we are going down but not badly. I think for the old school guys like me, FIFA 17 and 18 was when the people went crazy with the tournaments watching a lot and also with the social media, the engagement was crazy in that moment.
“Now it’s more like for, the people who are really fans of the players, the people who really know about the game and want to improve. It’s not really for casuals.
“I think we could be better, in the sense that we are playing football in a video game. Football is the most famous sport in real life, so why is it not like too famous in the esports scene?”
“The game at the start was close to perfection”
HHzerS
HHezerS: “I like tennis, and for me, it has the perfect competitive format with the four majors. Maybe you can do that the top 32 players in the rankings are qualified, and from 32 to 108 are going to play in the qualifiers.
“I think that there would be more tournaments, and all the top players will be there every time, which can help the viewership. It’s hard because I mean, tennis is tennis, but we are growing year by year and if we want to talk about a competitive dream season, it’s like that.”
Do you think EA FC esports are pay-to-win? Could a free-to-play player actually compete at a tournament?
Nicolas99fc: “Yes, I think it’s pay to win because you know at the beginning of the game, pros have to spend good money.
“I think yes, there can be less opportunities for some people that are really good, but at some point, I think the top players, even if it is free to play or we are using equal teams, the same ones will be the top players in the end.
“If it was more free to play, I think we would discover more new players, but I don’t think things would change at the very top, it would be the same people.”
Has EA successfully slowed down the power curve this year?
Nicolas99fc: “I think so at the beginning yes, but then they released a few promos.
I hate Evos, the evolutions. I think they are a bit overpowered this year because the curve is slower. For me, Evos should be if you’re a Chelsea or Manchester United fan and want to use your player. But I think in the game the Evos are always being used for the same player.
“Ibanez is a good one right now, and they are using that Evo for that guy instead of, I don’t know, an Argentinian centre back in my case. I hate it a little bit because we are always thinking about how to win, not how to enjoy using a player that you like in real life. And I think right now with the curve, I think the Evos are a little bit OP in comparison with the promo cards.”
Your pro season is starting now, how do you prepare for tournaments? Is it just about playing online games or is it more intentional than that? Do you specifically ask certain players to practice against?
Nicolas99fc: “Usually, it should be practice games and trying different formations and different players. Unlike tournaments, at home we have to play with our accounts so we have restrictions and you have to try players that you like and also decide what players you spend on. We’re allowed, I think, four players rated 88 to 91.
“Also, we analyse our games, our mistakes and we watch a lot of that from home. I’m here right now I’m in Sweden in the HQ, we are doing the same but I think the environment is different, you know now is it’s not my home so it’s different. It’s also in Europe, which I think is the highest level in the world so I’m practising with different kind of guys than in South America.”
HHezerS: “This year I started to work with coaches, which I didn’t do for the start of my career. So we are changing some things like I usually play every day but when there are tournaments, I play more and play more with them.
“When I play with my coaches now, I’m playing like it is a tournament because I think that this will help me. Like, it was not a thing that I was doing in the last years because I was playing loosely at home, really fast in attack and would lose stupid balls so like I gifted some goals. It was not the best way to practice because it was not so similar to how I play in tournaments.”
How did you feel about how things went for you last season and kind of what are your hopes and aims for this esports season?
Nicolas99fc: “Last season I think it went well because I won some trophies and did well in the world ranking, I think I finished second. Now in this one, I’m starting as first in the world, I don’t know if I deserve it or not, but I did really well in the first Cash Cup tournament in November and I won in South America.
“So as I say last season, I think it went really well. In the World Cup I lost in the round of 16, so that wasn’t great, you always are like dreaming about winning the World Cup so at least reaching the semi-finals for me would be okay, but I couldn’t.
“For this upcoming season, the good thing is that because I did well last year in the rankings, I got the spot for the FC Pro Open. So I was already qualified for this season, I’m in Groups and I’m already playing the first major without doing anything. I really feel rewarded you know?
“This season I expect to win a few trophies. I want to enjoy the travels in my daily life you know, but also try to qualify for the World Cup, and obviously I we want to win for sure.”
HHezerS” “Last season, I think that I started really good. I mean, I was pretty close to qualifying for Pro and I lost a penalty shootout, and in all tournaments I was doing good then from March I started to play not that good.
Honestly, my season didn’t end like I wanted so yeah I was a little bit upset about that because like, you want to play the World Cup every year.
“There I started focus and I qualified to Pro Open, I think it’s the most important tournament after the World Cup, so the second most important tournament. So yeah, I’m happy now and I’m focused on the next tournaments with the goal, obviously, to qualify for the World Cup.”
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