Pitch Notes: FUT Champions Weekend League
As part of the Pitch Notes series, this article will detail all of the changes we are making to FUT Champions and the Weekend League for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC version of FIFA 19. Check out the Pitch Notes entry on Division Rivals to learn more about the new FUT mode. In FUT 19, we’ve addressed a range of FUT Champions features from the way you qualify, to the way you play, to the way you can learn from the best.
FUT Champions Overview
When we designed FUT Champions Weekend League, we had some key goals in mind. We wanted a place for the best in FUT to compete for the best rewards available in the game. Additionally, we aimed to find some of the very best FUT players out there and invite them to our competitive gaming events.
With those goals still in mind, we wanted to announce that the FUT Champions Weekend League is going to benefit from some exciting changes and new additions in FIFA 19.
Weekend League Qualification
The introduction of Division Rivals gave us an opportunity to improve Weekend League qualification. In FUT 19, we’re introducing FUT Champions Points as part of Division Rivals – every game you play in Rivals will take you one step closer to qualifying for the Weekend League using these Points. The number of FUT Champions Points earned for each game is dependant on your performance and current Division. The better you play, the more points you earn. Each Division has a multiplier on your FUT Champions Points, so the higher the Division you are in, the faster you’ll rack up Points. Instead of the high pressure of Daily Knockout Tournaments, the new qualification system through Rivals will give more players a chance to compete. Plus, every game played in qualification also helps you earn rewards as part of the Division Rivals Weekly Competitions.
Another change that the new FUT Champions Points system allows us to make is giving you greater choice over when to play in the Weekend League. In FUT 18, when you won a Daily Knockout Tournament, you immediately qualified for the Weekend League starting that Friday. The new points system allows you to choose when you want to play; once you’ve earned the points to qualify you can redeem them immediately, or you can hold on to them and redeem them before the start of the Weekend League in which you want to play.
Weekend League Re-qualification
The FUT Champions Points system also allowed us to change how Weekend League re-qualification works. Last January, we dropped the number of wins required to re-qualify to the Weekend League in FUT 18 from 18 to 11.
In FUT 19, we’ve built on this approach by granting FUT Champions Points based on performance in the Weekend League. Starting at tiers with 11 wins or more, the rewards earned will include the full amount of points required to join another Weekend League. Additionally, every tier below 11 wins also includes some FUT Champions Points that will get you closer to another attempt at qualifying for the Weekend League.
Weekend League And Division Rivals
Division Rivals is a brand-new way to play online in FUT 19 , learn more in the Rivals Pitch Notes article.
When designing Division Rivals, it was important for us to make sure that both Rivals and FUT Champions complemented each other enriching the experience for both modes. One of the key goals was ensuring that players didn’t feel penalised for playing Champions over Rivals or vice versa.
With the likelihood of coming up against tougher opponents in the Weekend League we wanted to ensure that your Skill Rating, which determines your Division in Rivals, remained unaffected by the matches you play in Weekend League.
Whilst your Skill Rating remains unaffected by playing the Weekend League, each game played will earn some Weekly Score in Division Rivals helping you improve your standing in the Rivals Weekly Competition. That means that every game played in the Weekend League contributes to unlocking to rewards in both the Weekend League and Division Rivals.
Total Games Required
From the start of FUT Champions in FUT 19, you will have the option to play up to 30 games during each Weekend League on PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC. We believe that this reduction in total number of games strikes the right balance for our FUT Champions goals, allowing the best players to compete for the best rewards each weekend while also reducing the total amount of time required to complete matches in the Weekend League by 25%. We’ll detail what these changes mean for Competitive FIFA in FUT 19 in the coming weeks.
Rewards
While reducing the number of games for Playstation 4 and Xbox One players in each Weekend League from 40 to 30, we’ll maintain the same level of rewards every week per tier, ensuring that Weekend League continues to be the place where you can earn the best rewards in FUT. Increasing the maximum number of games from 25 to 30 for FUT Champions on PC will, for the first time, allow players to earn the same level of rewards for playing the Weekend League as console players.
At FUT Reveal we announced the inclusion of Player Picks, giving players more choice over the content with which they want to build their dream squad. Weekly Reward Player Picks will be replacing the Monthly Reward Packs from FUT 18, giving you a choice between which red FUT Champions player items you want to add to your squad.
With the changes to Weekend League qualification, which give you greater choice over when you play, it only felt natural to change the monthly rewards and make sure you earn the right level of rewards for the weekends that you do play in, and not penalised for the weekends that you don’t play in.
Matchmaking
There has been some confusion regarding matchmaking in FUT Champions in the past, so we wanted to provide some insight into this and help explain the system.
The first important goal for FUT Champions is to ensure that every weekend is a clean slate for players to compete for wins and rewards. To do this, we use something called ‘form’ as a key driver of matchmaking in each Weekend League.
Everyone starts each weekend fresh at zero form, moving up or down with each win or loss. In football terms, match form of W/L/W/W/W would result in a +3 form. Players with similar form are then paired in matchmaking.
The result is that players that are better than average in the Weekend League (which is already a very skilled group of players) will quickly boost their form. The higher their form gets, the more challenging the competition becomes. Only the best of the best can consistently beat players with high form and attain Elite and Top 100 status.
The second key piece to matchmaking is location. Players are matched based on their location and proximity to our dedicated game servers to ensure quality matches.
Champions Channel
We introduced the Champions Channel for the PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC versions of FUT 18 and continue to make improvements in FUT 19 to help you learn from the Top 100 finishers every weekend in FUT Champions. One of the major changes we are making to Champions Channel is the addition of controller inputs, which allows you to see buttons the top players are pressing in every scenario of play, including during instant replays. On top of button inputs, we’ve also included the ability to skip between stoppages in play in a replay and jump ahead / backwards on the timeline, allowing you to have greater control over the replays you want to watch.
We are excited for the future of Weekend League and FUT, especially the inclusion of Division Rivals and the new qualification system. It’s shaping up to be a great year for online play in FIFA 19.
-Tyler Blair and the FUT Development Team
FIFA 19 is available for pre-order* for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
*Conditions and restrictions apply. See GAME AND OFFER DISCLAIMERS FOR FULL DETAILS.
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