This weekend, Season 4 of the Gfinity Elite Series Delivered by Domino’s kicks off as 10 top esports organisations battle it out to be crowned champions. The Elite Series is the UK’s top flight esports competition for amateurs and veterans to hone their craft and claim the bragging rights as the best in their game.
Over the next 7 weeks, Roma Fnatic, Envy, Hashtag United, Man City Epsilon, Method, ASUS ROG Army, Dream Team Gaming, Nordavind, Excel and Vitality will compete at the Gfinity Arena in London across 3 titles for a combined £250,000.
FIFA 19 returns with a brand new 2v2 format for Ultimate Team alongside both Street Fighter V and Rocket League. This is the first FIFA 19 tournament to feature 2v2 gameplay in Ultimate Team, as well as a never-before-seen player auction. Every team was assigned a budget, which they then used to bid for their players, in order to fill out their squad. These exciting changes to the Ultimate Team format will shake things up as players need to pick a team that complements their playstyle, while ensuring they reserve enough funds to keep a balanced squad. When you combine this with the introduction of team mates, the action will no doubt be intense.
The season begins with these 10 teams being distributed into two groups, facing off in a round robin format. The top 3 teams from each group move on to an elimination stage, which takes place in the final week.
Last season’s FIFA winner, Roma Fnatic, will have a tough task defending their title as two new teams have joined the competition. ASUS Rog Army will bring their European flair, as well as Dream Team Gaming, who have teamed up with Reason Gaming, to enter esports for the first time. Both teams feature leading pro gamers and newcomers that have risen through the Elite Draft. Epsilon have also upped the ante by partnering with Manchester City for Season 4, our second football team to be involved next to Roma Fnatic.
This weekend the action kicks off with Method taking on Excel Esports. Last season, Method put together a breaktaking run that saw them go all the way to the semi-finals thanks to ‘comeback king’ Nathan ‘Zelonius’ Horton. With his departure to Dream Team Gaming, it remains to be seen whether the lineup can match the standards he set as Owen ‘Venny’ Venn steps up to the opportunity. Excel only registered 1 point in the previous campaign, it will be up to Kevin ‘Kev96’ Connolly to redeem himself on this new title.
The debutants Dream Team Gaming face Team Envy in our second match. Most would pick this team as the underdog, but they are stacked with experience as they are represented by players such as Akima ‘Fully’ Byron and Christopher ‘TheeBullock’ Bullock. Hot off the back of an impressive season 3, Envy has opted to look towards some fresh-faced talent with Josh ‘BeastTekkerz’ Ablett and Cina ‘LostInTheWavesz’ Hosseindjani coming through the Elite Draft. Although they may not have the most experience on the big stage, they finished 1st and 2nd respectively in the Challenger Series.
The reigning champions Roma Fnatic will have their work cut out as they are matched up against Man City Epsilon. Conran ‘Rannerz’ Tobin and season 3 MVP Simon ‘Zimme’ Nystedt return to the line-up. Whilst Man City Epsilon bring with them Kai ‘Deto’ Wollin’ and Abdelhamid ‘Mence’ Fares.
Finally, we have Hashtag United going head-to-head with ASUS Rog Army. A previous shock group stage exit for Hashtag is certainly something they will want to put behind them; Ryan ‘Hashtag Ryan’ Pessoa makes his return to lead the team. Former Gfinity champion Fernando ‘Ferperry’ Martinez was a substitute for the Hashtag roster last season and will want to show them the mistake they made letting him go as he lines up for ASUS ROG Army.
The action kicks off this Friday 26th October at 6.00pm BST, you can catch all of the action every Friday on Facebook Live: https://www.facebook.com/GfinityFIFA19