The FIFA professionals Cihan and Benny Ratzlaff thoroughly tested FIFA 21 in the beta. MeinMMO interviewed both of them and asked: What makes the game different from FIFA 20?
Here are the professionals: Cihan Yasarlar (27) is a professional FIFA player from the eSports agency eSports Reputation and is under contract with VfL Bochum. Over the past years, he has secured several titles, including winning the virtual Bundesliga and the ESL.
Image: VfL Bochum
Benny Ratzlaff, on the other hand, is just at the beginning of his career. The 18-year-old is under contract with L4K eSports, plays for Team Paranoia, and is close to breaking into the virtual Bundesliga. He also knows the soccer field well from the real world: Until recently, he played for FC Energie Cottbus in the U17 Bundesliga, before a cruciate ligament tear prematurely ended his career.
Both players had the opportunity to test the Ultimate Team mode of FIFA 21 in the beta. It should be emphasized that this is not the final FIFA 21 build, and the game may still change before release. Recently, EA Sports published a list of changes that are to be made before the release of FIFA 21.
Nevertheless, the two pros were able to observe several changes compared to FIFA 20. Since there is no demo this year, we at MeinMMO asked the pros: What makes FIFA 21 different from FIFA 20?
1. FUT in co-op is fun, but chaotic
FUT in online co-op: FIFA 21 offers several new features in Ultimate Team. This includes the ability to play Ultimate Team online in co-op. A feature that was well received by pro Benny: “I played a bit with a friend. As a change, it’s a very good mode,” says the pro, who adds: “It’s still a bit chaotic, it felt like every game ended 5-5.”
Particularly in defense, coordination needs some fine-tuning: “As an individual, you might have slight advantages in defense.”
2. Creative Runs could become important
With the new Creative Runs, players can influence the running paths of the passing player after a pass. According to Cihan, this could become a powerful gameplay element – once you get the hang of it: “The new feature is a bit complicated. I tested it a few times, and it’s still something to get used to,” says Cihan.
No wonder, as you control an additional player during the runs with the right stick: “You have to work at it. But I am really excited.” Benny used the feature mainly during attacks down the flanks: “I passed to the right-back and then ran through with the left-mid/right-mid. That works pretty well.” Once you have internalized the runs, completely new offensive possibilities arise. Also in our test the runs were extremely strong.
3. Players block strongly – too strong?
In defense, there are a lot of new block animations for defenders – maybe a bit too strong: “I have to say, it felt like I was in the opponent’s penalty area 50 times, and 48 times it was defended,” says Cihan. Defenders do a lot themselves when it comes to preventing shots at the last moment: “I managed to shoot, but it always got deflected or blocked. They definitely need to improve that.”
“Cihan is right about blocking,” agrees Benny: “Otherwise, defending has remained the same.” In AI defense, for example, both could not notice any significant differences.
4. Finally, headed goals again
In FIFA 20, it was almost impossible to score goals with headers from crosses. Running down the flanks and crossing the ball was therefore relatively unpopular and not very successful. That could change again in FIFA 21: “They improved the crosses, as well as the headers. So you can come from the flanks normally again,” reports Cihan from the beta.
Also, when you played the ball sharply into the middle (R1 + X), it was successful: “I played a lot down the wings, as the R1-X passes were very OP, especially when played sharply into the penalty area. In FIFA 20, the opponent just cleared the ball away.”
5. Which tricks are worth it in FIFA 21?
The “Drag Back” was an extremely powerful tool last year that many players used to outplay opponents and retain possession. It was one of the most important tricks in FIFA 20. And in FIFA 21? “The Drag Back has become much harder. They are not as effective as they were this year,” reports Benny.
This is also because the Drag Back could simply be performed with R1 in FIFA 20. But now the new dribbling technique “Agile Dribbling” is there: “The new dribbling takes some getting used to,” says Cihan: “I think the R1 dribbling is very effective in the penalty area, especially if you want to make a change of direction. Players like Messi will master that very well.” Close ball control is also possible – perfect if you’re under pressure and definitely don’t want to lose the ball.
Speaking of tricks: The 5-star skillers also seem to have been extremely powerful in the beta. Cihan illustrates this with the trick “Elastico”: “The Elasticos were really OP. If I had a 5-star skiller, I did it up to three times in a row and then scored the goal,” says Cihan: “This will probably become a very important skill move. Especially with Neymar and Mbappé, who execute it very quickly.” The ball roll is also strong again.
6. Pressing as a tactic is strong – but not all the time
Team pressing could become very popular again: “Team pressing was also OP. You barely had options to get out. The opponents pushed up completely,” reports Cihan. When the tactic is activated, players rush towards the opponent with the ball – as in FIFA 20, this was strong, but cost a lot of stamina. And in FIFA 21, there will be a limitation: “Now a limit runs out. I find that relatively good, because then you can’t constantly have team pressing on,” says Benny. A strong tactic, but one that cannot be played over 90 minutes.
Whether these points will be fully transferred from the beta to the finished game remains to be seen. However, both got a feel for the game in the end: “The game itself plays overall not too badly,” summarizes Cihan: “I felt that the players move better, and there are better running paths.”
He wants to make a final judgment only when the finished game is there: “I think they are not quite done with the game yet and will still invest time in the coming weeks.” Benny saw it quite similarly: “The first two weeks after release will be decisive. That’s when you’ll see which tactics and formations are the best.”
Anyone who is already eager to build a team for FUT 21 doesn’t have to wait much longer. The Web App for FIFA 21 is already on the starting blocks and will likely be released soon.
