West Ham United’s pro FIFA gamer Alfie ‘AC RedLac’ Calder faces a huge test of his FIFA eWorld Cup qualification prospects on Saturday and Sunday.
The 19-year-old FIFA professional is competing in the third Global Series Qualifier event in the Europe West region, hoping to pick up FGS Points – in essence, ranking points – to push his season’s score further up the table.
And having acquired 75 FGS points with a strong showing at the first qualifier, an early exit in the second means that RedLac will require a strong event on Saturday and Sunday to further his path to prospective individual glory this season.
At the end of the season, the top-ranked players in the Europe West leaderboard – plus those who perform well in partner leagues including the eChampions League and ePremier League – will go into 128-player FGS Play-Offs, which take place 1-3 July, before the top 32 performers in that competition advance to the FIFAe World Cup.
“I’m excited. I haven’t had a competitive event for a few weeks now so I’m buzzing to get back into it,” RedLac told whufc.com.
“To get to the play-offs this season, I think you’ll need around 250 points maybe, maybe a bit more. I’m on 75, so a top-16 finish in this Qualifier would keep it in my hands.
“My target is a top-16 finish in this Qualifier, which would keep it in my hands to get a top-eight finish in the last one and reach the play-offs. That would leave it in my hands, whereas if I went out in the Swiss rounds this time, I’d need a top-four, which is dangerous.
“That adds pressure, but we’re just going to go for it and hopefully we can do it.
“I’ve started playing three at the back recently because it’s been good at countering formations. The last few days it’s not been working as well, I’m not sure why, but play-style wise, I’m just going to play my own game. I’ve added a few shot-cancels and new skills so I’ll just try and beat people as best as I can.”
The first day of competition, which kicks off on Saturday morning, sees a Swiss stage system employed, where up to eight rounds of doubled-legged matches were played; as soon as a player reaches three losses, they are dropped from the following round of games.
On Sunday, the qualified players are seeded into a Single Elimination Bracket based upon their ranking from the Swiss standings – each match played over two legs, as per the Swiss rounds.
You can follow how RedLac gets on, plus get more exclusive Gaming content, via West Ham Gaming’s channels.
For more exciting FIFA 22 and gaming content this season, follow the official @WestHamGaming accounts on Twitter, Instagram and Twitch.
