EA promised FIFA 23 players more FUT content on Sunday and the developer delivered. The World Cup Stories promo continues with a mini release of four new items, three World Cup Stories players, and one Icon SBC for legendary Barcelona defender Carles Puyol. Was the wait worth it and are these new FUT items any good?
The World Cup Stories FUT promo began on Friday, Dec. 2, and to say that opening came with a bang would be an understatement. EA released 16 World Cup Stories players alongside seven new Icons all at the same time, giving FIFA 23 players plenty to drool over during the weekend. Not only that, but EA warned players that more content would be coming just two days later.
The new content is here, so how useful is it? The three players that are awarded World Cup Stories cards are French striker Olivier Giroud, Spanish center back Aymeric Laporte, and Japanese left back Yuto Nagatomo. To be clear, all three are on par with the quality provided by the Friday pack of cards, which is pretty high.
Compared to more basic versions of those players, they are significantly more useful. Giroud and Laporte’s problem was always the agonizingly low pace that rendered them unusable even at the start of the FUT 23 season when pace wasn’t as impactful as it is now. That’s why the bulk of their improved stats for these World Cup Stories cards come in the form of pace. Giroud in particular gets a casual +43 pace compared to his base gold card and +40 on his prior best In-Form version.
Nagatomo’s buff is much more balanced, as he already had decent numbers across the board. That being said, this balance does not make his regular World Cup Player version any more useful than base Giroud or Laporte. The significant buff across the board that EA gave the Japanese veteran changes all that, and his World Cup Stories card is definitely viable in FUT now.
The final piece of content players received is an Icon SBC. The legend players can acquire is Carles Puyol and the price of around 170,000 coins is a good initial sign. Sadly, this SBC’s value, even at this relatively low price for an Icon, isn’t too high. Despite a 91 OVR, the former Barcelona captain is seemingly underrated by EA in key areas like pace, passing, and dribbling. It’s a strange thing to do with a defender known for a good touch on the ball and high agility, but that’s what we got, and it’s not worth the hassle.
EA has promised more content to hit FUT before the end of the World Cup Stories promo on Dec. 9. This latest release is a good indicator for the quality of these future FIFA 23 releases, even with the letdown that is the Puyol SBC.
Published: Dec 4, 2022 03:57 pm