The FIFA Difference

Posted by: DrDogg

Article By Bryan "Dr. Dogg" Dawson
The DALLAS VENOM and General Manager, Alex Conroy, has had an interesting FIFA run since the Championship Gaming Series inaugural season in 2007. While some may think that FIFA doesn’t have a significant impact on the overall score, there have been many games won and lost over the last two seasons that could have ended differently with a win or loss in FIFA, even if it was only a one point margin. On the other hand, the VENOM made a big FIFA change at the 2008 Draft, and performed significantly better the following season.

In 2007, Alex Conroy drafted Isidro "Novusnaim" Sifuentes as his FIFA player. The team struggled throughout the season, but Novusnaim was one of the few guiding lights in an otherwise unmanageable storm. He finished the season with a record of 8-4 and a +18 point differential. To honor his contributions to the VENOM, he was named team MVP for the 2007 season.

However, the coming of the 2008 season also meant the game would change from FIFA 07 to FIFA 08. After careful consideration from Alex Conroy, he decided that Novusnaim didn’t have the same level of skill in the game compared to his abilities in FIFA 07. He allowed Novusnaim to slip back into the draft pool and picked up Bardia "Barmoa" Moayedi as his new FIFA star.

Barmoa joined Yfran "Eafra" Garcia of the CHICAGO CHIMERA, as the only two FIFA rookies in the league. While Eafra took off and became the number one player by the end of the season, Barmoa didn’t fare quite as well. With a record of 3-9 he didn’t give the VENOM much of a boost, but his point differential was only -8, meaning every game was close. If he didn’t win the games, at least he kept the score close to minimize the damage.

On a star-studded VENOM squad, you have to have a weak link. It would be virtually impossible to have an entire team of all-star caliber players. Luckily Conroy was able to select a FIFA player that may not have been the best, but was focused enough to keep the VENOM in the running for the best record in the league throughout the season.

If the CGS chooses to use FIFA 09 for the 2009 season, Conroy will once again have to determine how important FIFA is to his team’s success. During the 2007 season he had a solid FIFA player, but failed to even make the playoffs. In 2008 he changed his strategy to place the team’s strength elsewhere and it worked out much better for him. Now, with such a strong team, he may have to send as many as five players back into the draft pool. Anyway you look at it, that’s going to hurt the overall strength of the VENOM. Even if Conroy doesn’t go with the best FIFA player next year, another player like Barmoa who can keep the score close, would be a valuable asset. In fact, so long as Barmoa performs well at the Combine, he may even keep his spot or potentially be protected.

Barmoa also helped to keep the team in high spirits with his sometimes odd antics. Conroy is a fan of team barbeques and players who can’t have fun won’t mesh well with the VENOM. The CGS is more than just a gaming event, as a team sport, you have to be able to get along with your team and work together toward a common goal. Barmoa was able to do this and the result was a team that was heavily favored to take home the Dew Trophy.

FIFA is one of the most dynamic CGS games as the changes from year to year can have a significant impact on the importance of the game to a team’s final score. In 2007 we saw several wide margins of victory, but in 2008 a lot of games ended with penalty kicks or with a very close score. If the demo of FIFA 09 is any indication, it looks as though FIFA could have a similar impact in 2009 as it did in 2008, but the CGS officials could decide to change the rules and put the goal keepers on a lower difficulty setting. That would increase the number of goals and make FIFA players more pivotal to the final score at the end of the night.

We’ll have to see what direction Conroy goes at the 2009 Draft. Will it be another superstar like Novusnaim, or a tough workhorse like Barmoa? His selection could be the difference between a World Championship and going home empty handed.