On Friday, FIFA 19 will bring a completely new promo with the “Future Stars” event. The focus is on top talents who could become world stars in the future.
This was the “Puzzle”: Just after the TOTY event ended, a new announcement appeared in the game. The only content: The date 18.01.2019. The community was puzzled: What would happen on Friday? Is there a winter upgrade? Or already new OTW cards?
Now the cat is out of the bag: Instead of a known promotion, EA Sports brings a completely new event to Ultimate Team. The “Future Stars” event puts talents in the spotlight who are not yet established stars but could mature into world-class players in the future.
These are all Future Stars cards
Update 18.01.2019, 4 PM – Complete team known: After first introducing the “Future Stars” cards of Phil Foden (88/Manchester City), Vinicius Junior (92/Real Madrid), and Matthis de Ligt (92/Ajax Amsterdam) under the motto “Believe the Hype,” those of Justin Kluivert (87/AS Roma), Houssem Aouar (91/Olympique Lyon), and Dortmund’s Achraf Hakimi (86/BVB) followed on Thursday evening. Since Friday at 4 PM, the complete squad is known. The “Future Stars” are:
- Vinicius Junior (92/Real Madrid)
- Matthis de Ligt (92/Ajax Amsterdam)
- Houssem Aouar (91/Olympique Lyon)
- Phil Foden (88/Manchester City)
- Luka Jovic (88/Eintracht Frankfurt)
- Dayot Upamecano (88/RB Leipzig)
- Lafont (90/Florenz)
- Jadon Sancho (90/Borussia Dortmund)
- Arthur (90/FC Barcelona)
- Kai Havertz (90/Bayer Leverkusen)
- Trent Alexander-Arnold (89/Liverpool)
- Cutrone (89/AC Mailand)
- Bentancur (89/Juventus Turin)
- Grimaldo (88/Benfica)
- Calabria (88/AC Mailand)
- Eder Militao (87/Porto)
- Mendy (87/Olympique Lyon)
- Justin Kluivert (87/AS Roma)
- Guendouzi (87/Arsenal)
- Calvert-Lewin (86/Everton)
- Achraf Hakimi (86/Borussia Dortmund)
This is how the ratings are determined: The ratings represent what EA calls the “Potential future ratings” – that is, the possible rating that players could have in the future. With the boosted stats, the talents can already keep up with elite players today.
This is how the event works – SBCs and packs
Players in packs: The 21 Future Stars will be available in packs from 7 PM. The probability will be as high as that of the normal player cards. Thus, some of the super talents could be pulled even from silver packs.
More SBC players: Additionally, there will be six more talents that can be unlocked in SBCs. Which ones precisely are still unknown. To qualify as a “Future Star,” there are currently only two criteria:
- The player must be at most 23 years old
- The player must not be an established star yet
Moreover, there will be a vote for the final “Future Star.” This will take place this weekend via Player Pick in the game itself. The candidates are:
- Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Crystal Palace)
- Allan Saint-Maximin (OGC Nice)
- Reiss Nelson (TSG Hoffenheim)
- Krzysztof Piatek (Genoa)
- Brahim Díaz (Real Madrid)
These players were expected by the fans: The FIFA community had already been busy guessing. And some were even right: Jadon Sancho from Borussia Dortmund was often mentioned. The attacker is having a great season and has already claimed the POTM award. Other names included Trent Alexander-Arnold (Liverpool), Frenkie de Jong (Ajax Amsterdam), or Kieran Tierney (Celtic).
Logically, the candidate list closely resembles that of the best talents in career mode. Players like Gianluigi Donnarumma or Marcus Rashford were also mentioned, who fall under the age rule.
This is how the community reacts
Players surprised by the new event: Overall, the first reactions on Twitter, Reddit & Co. are mixed. On the one hand, players are happy about the new event and especially new cards. After all, this way players get upgrades that were not present in Team of the Week, Team of the Year, or other promos.
On the other hand, it is criticized that seemingly every player in the game has some sort of special card now. It makes it hard to keep track. Furthermore, the short time since the TOTY event is being looked at critically. This event already showed how frustrating Ultimate Team can be. Now players fear that the new event primarily aims to encourage pack purchases again.
