Interview with two of AUSFIFA.com’s finest FIFA players

Interview with two of AUSFIFA.com’s finest FIFA players

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With the recent success of the FIFA Interactive World Cup, Outside90.com writer Campbell Knowles interviewed some of the more experienced FIFA eSports players from AUSFIFA.com, in the form of Brandon ‘Beege’ and a man only known to us as Fhiliblunts aka IN_Fhili.

Here’s what they both had to say regarding the rise of eSports and rapidly growing AUSFIFA.com platform.

Campbell: How did you become a seasoned FIFA eSports player and how long you have been doing it for?

Beege: I’ve been playing competitive FIFA since 2009.

Fhili: I’ve been playing football games since Super Soccer on the SNES and FIFA casually since FIFA 98 (bring back the GK slide tackle!). I’ve been in the world of eSports since 2013 starting in Call of Duty and moved into FIFA the next year because H2H is an individual eSport. Fun fact – never played a game of Football in my life. 

Campbell: What inspired you to become an eSports player?

Beege: I have been playing FIFA since 2005 but it was when the Xbox 360 came out that I got into Call Of Duty and then went on to playing competitively in that on various sites like Cybergamer and from there is how I started doing the same with FIFA and after being successful it gave me a little bit of confidence to go to a LAN where I actually exceeded expectations and finished in the quarter-finals of my first LAN.

Fhili: eSports is that sort of thing where you play in order to improve yourself. There is always someone better than you and on any day, anyone can win. The goal as an eSports player isn’t just to win that one game, it’s to find the flaws in your game and improve a little bit more. The casual gamer will play the game, win 2-1 and rub your face in it. The dedicated eSports player will win 2-1, see that a goal was scored on him, say I can do better and re-watch the game or situation several times to see where his mistakes were made. This striving for perfection is what keeps me coming back.

Campbell: What did your friends and family say to you when you told them you were an eSports player?

Beege: Well the eSport community is now thriving but when I first started and told people about it especially in high school it was never heard of and I used to cop a bit of stick for it being somewhat of a nerd. 

Fhili: To tell you the truth, they don’t care. You aren’t a movie star or some sort of celebrity. My friends really aren’t gamers and the ones that are, are just casual players that I might grind some division with or something similar. One things for certain, my friends don’t want to play FIFA with me.

AUSFIFA Medium Rectangle

Campbell: What does the typical life of an eSports player look like? 

Beege: I’m just a person who really loves FIFA. I still go to my 9-5 job and play for my local club, as well as coach the a junior football side. After I won my first competition the fame and glory was really only bragging rights to mates but it’s a good feeling walking into a LAN or playing in a competition and people are wary of you. 

Fhili: I just play FIFA because I like the game. I’m at the level that I am now solely because I took the effort to look at my mistakes and try my hardest to rectify them. I’ll never say I’m good at the game because I know I can improve all the time. If someone finds the fame and glory, can they please PM me and tell me where to find it?

Campbell: What has been you biggest achievement so far and where could you see yourself in the future? 

Beege: I have won multiple LAN’s in Melbourne but the best achievement I have to my name would be travelling to Sydney and finishing fourth in the ACL ran eSports World Cup (ESWC) a few years back. I did this using a Lewandowski and Götze led Borussia Dortmund and it took a great leg against AUSFIFA.com’s very own Julian Mangraviti to finally knock me out.

Fhili: My best achievement is 3rd at AvT LAN 2016 in New Zealand along with a number of online wins. Where do I see myself in the future? With FIFA I see myself coaching the next guy to play like a beast and win trophies. One day I hope to create an eSports performance analysis organisation that helps people willing to learn and grow to become the best. 

Campbell: What do you believe it takes for a causal player looking to get into FIFA eSports and what advice would you give them for your past experiences?

Beege: This is a really good question as I know there are a lot of casual FIFA gamers who if the7 did turn up for comps and participated in online competitions they would do really well and pull of some upsets against some of the more familiar faces. From my personal experience, I’m very competitive person, there was a stage where I was playing really well in online matchmaking and my mates couldn’t touch me so knowing there was FIFA comps online and LANs happening where I live I wanted to test myself and as I said earlier I made the quarter finals. This gave me confidence and a platform to build on so it made me even more hungrier to keep practicing and get to that next level and win it. That feeling of nerves, adrenaline and all the mixed emotions playing FIFA in a competitive game becomes addictive and once you start its hard to give it up. So my advice would be to dip your toes, have a crack because win, draw or loss playing in these competitions and in a competitive environment will become an addiction while each and every comp you play in you will improve and place better each time. From experience the FIFA community is very friendly and if your a casual gamer, and if you’re reading this then, we would love to have you in our future comps!

Fhili: The casual player just needs to start playing tournaments. Be it a F2P, no prize money/no glory tournament or the big one (FIWC). The probability is that you will lose and your reaction to losing will tell you if you can take it in eSports or you will win and become an eSports addict. The second part is to join a community. The community will share your interests and hopefully drive you to become better. The third and most important part I think is to network. GO TO LANS! Even if you don’t compete, you’ll meet a lot of people involved within the community you are already be involved in. Be it YouTubers, Twitch streamers or organization owners and leaders. If you do compete, it’s where you will get noticed if you go off on the main stage. Networking is REALLY important. On a side note: play the game, A LOT. The casual player just needs to start playing tournaments. Be it a F2P, no prize money/no glory tournament or the big one (FIWC). The probability is that you will lose and your reaction to losing will tell you if you can take it in eSports or you will win and become an eSports addict.


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Campbell: Finally, with EA announcing that they are now creating an eSports division, Spencer FC creating his own eSports team and VFL Wolfsburg signing David Bytheway as their professional FIFA player, where could you see FIFA as an eSport in the next five to 10 years.

Beege: You just have to see how much interest and money there is with sponsors and participants in games such as League of Legends, Starcraft and Counter Strike to see the potential that FIFA can bring and its good that teams like Wolfsburg see a future in this and it can only benefit us in the long run. I still believe it has to be marketed right and we need big sponsors to back and take a serious interest in the eSports scene to see some real growth but sites like AUSFIFA is making it a realistic idea and a central hub for our Australian FIFA community. I can see the FIFA scene being very big in 10 years’ time. 

Fhili: In Europe, I can see FIFA becoming one of the biggest eSports if EA can put a lot of effort and time into it. At the moment they don’t even have a spectator mode so they are way behind the eight ball! In 5 years there will be organisations vying for the best FIFA players in the world to represent them. If I were talking to the young and upcoming FIFA eSports players right now, I would advise them to start a YouTube and Twitch channel and start recording yourself and your gameplay. Organisations aren’t just looking for talent, they are also looking for professionalism and maturity. Build your portfolio now so that when it’s time, you have something to show those guys who want to give you money for playing games like a beast.

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