Matched up with some of the finest FIFA players in the world, the eMLS representatives at the 2019 eChampions League more than held their own in the two-day tournament that took place on Friday and Saturday in Manchester, England.
Four eMLSers — eMLS treble winner doolsta (Philadelphia Union), NYC_Chris (NYCFC), AlanAvi (FC Dallas) and FCC_Fiddle (FC Cincinnati) — entered the tournament, one of the premier competitive FIFA 19 events on the calendar.
Of those four, three made the knockout stages of the tournament and two — NYC_Chris and AlanAvi (pictured above) — won their first two knockout games, ensuring their places in the final 8 of the eChampions League, which is set to take place on May 31 in Madrid ahead of the UEFA Champions League final in the same city on June 1.
Just for reaching the last eight, all the players will earn $15,000 and 150 FIFA Global Series points, with even more — all the way up to $100,000 and 850 Global Series Points for the winner — up for grabs in Madrid. Global Series Points will be essential for players hoping to make the Global Series Playoffs in June, which in turn provide a pathway to the competitive FIFA season's marquee event, the eWorld Cup, in July and August.
The tournament's group stage took place in a Swiss format, with all players playing games against up to seven of the 64 competitors that entered the tournament. All players who won four games in the group stage earned a place in the last 32 of the tournament. Three of the eMLSers did just that, with only doolsta failing to advance, dropping his final game after going 3-3 through his first six.
NYCChris nearly suffered the same fate, dropping three straight after jumping out to a 3-0 record, but he won his final game to advance. There were no such issues for FCCFiddle or AlanAvi, who hit the four-win mark with games to spare.
Moving over to the knockout rounds, AlanAvi took a pair of narrow victories, topping Turkish gamer isopowerr 5-4 before beating France's Mence. That set up a tantalizing quarterfinal matchup in Madrid against DrNightWatch, the Bulgarian competitor who caused one of the upsets of the tournament by topping the No. 1 seed (and Xbox world No. 1) F2Tekkz in the round of 16.
NYC_Chris had a somewhat easier path to the quarterfinals, dispatching the well-regarded Roma Damie, 4-1, in his first knockout round match before topping frontaleFIFA in the round of 16, 3-2.
FCC Fiddle had no such luck, though, falling at the first hurdle of the knockout round to France's Vitality Rafsou in a 4-2 decision. In a twist of fate, though, NYC_Chris will have the opportunity to avenge his fellow eMLSer, having been matched up with Rafsou in the quarterfinals when the tournament resumes at the end of May.
