The GO Malta Esports Festival 2018 Recap: FIFA 19

While for Black Ops 4 we partnered with EEG, for FIFA we decided to coordinate the tournament with Qlash, an Italian esports organisation that has just opened a branch on the island. Together with them, a massive tournament was successfully organized, consisting of 64 participants spread across two tournaments, talent split into Gold and Silver tiers for Maltese and international players. All of which were competing for the €2,000 cash prizes made available. 

Before discussing the action, I'll first acknowledge the exceptional staffing of the FIFA tournament in general, especially regarding guests. Amongst the professionals from across the world, there was the friendly Bulgarian WickyBG, a very familiar name to the FIFA scene. Let's get this done in one sentence; FIFA 10 European Champion, FIFA 11 Bulgarian Champion and Top 6 International, FIFA 13 FIWC Grand Finalist and Top 9, FIFA 15 FIWC Grand Finalist and Top 9 and FIFA 16 Bulgarian Champion. Overall, an honour to have him visiting and even playing a few matches, being such a respected character in the international FIFA scene. Together with him, came our own local star in Kurt Fenech, making a guest appearance and happily spoke to the fans. These guest appearances added tremendously to the environment, and we'd like to thank both of them for attending the event. 

Of course, they weren't the focus of the event; the competition always is. Unlike other tournament recaps, I'll simply have to brush over the Group Stage, as accounting for 16 groups would be quite the headache for myself and anyone reading. Thanks to Qlash, the event was truly massive and this carried on to the bracket of both tournaments. 

In the Gold Tournament, bracket play kicked off with 48 teams, with a balance of Maltese and European talent; with 29 Maltese and 19 Europeans; a fantastic demographic as it gave our local players to try their luck against the rest of the continent - and they happily did. Overall, the top 4 consisted of two Maltese and two international players. Sampi.WickyBG placing second and Dankha finishing third while from Malta, Txrbulance1 claimed fourth while brandsha managed to place first, taking home a total of €1,000. An incredible performance overall from the local talent, placing us at the same level to the rest of Europe. 

In the Silver Tournament, with a similar mix of participants, those placing lower in the Group Stage, the Maltese once again came to play. The top 4 of the Silver are as follows, from fourth to first; ramonramzi_, eliesabb, karl_kurun and then ninutamalta placing first. Although this was a lesser Tournament in terms of skill, credit is still due where it is due.

Overall, the FIFA 19 Open, supported by Qlash, was a phenomenal set of tournaments and a superb opportunity for the evolution of the local FIFA scene. We'd like to thank Qlash one last time, for the event and also for hosting a great stand.