Fourth overall in the regular season, the Impact’s eSports player aims for eMLS Cup today
32 games and over 15,000 kilometers later, here we are, in the eMLS Cup playoffs. Friday, in Boston, the regular season in eMLS came to a close with matchups between Eastern Conference players and Western Conference ones, for a total of 10 games. The day went fairly well for me, although I didn’t manage to achieve the objective I had established, which was to finish in the top two in the East. Still, the important part was to qualify for the playoffs, and it’s mission accomplished on that end: I’m fourth in the Eastern Conference and I’ll take on FIFA Abe, Orlando City SC’s player, in the knockout round at 1:30pm live on Twitch.
Once again, I was one of the few players who didn’t employ a 4-2-3-1 formation, switching between a 4-3-3 with Cristiano Ronaldo as a false nine, and a 4-4-2 with Zlatan Ibrahimovic and CR7 up top. Of course, Nacho Piatti is an integral part of the squad, having scored quite a few goals for me over these 10 games; his five stars skills were also of use, the Argentine as dazzling on the virtual pitch as he is on the real one.
It was a difficult start to the day, since I had to face four of the five best ranked players in the West. I started against my good friend Edgar from Portland, the finalist in eMLS League Series Two, who I drew 1-1; same result against GGGodfather, the LA Galaxy’s representative, who I faced immediately after. My first win came against AlanAvi, from FC Dallas, mostly thanks to a spectacular Nacho Piatti hat-trick. To finish this challenging start to the day, I managed another draw against Skills_Shack, the young Whitecaps player.
I followed that up with four straight wins against the Sounders, San Jose, Sporting Kansas City and the Colorado Rapids before getting the chance to avenge my eMLS Cup final loss against Kid M3mito. Although I led for most of the game, he scored twice in the final ten minutes to hand me my only loss. It slightly frustrated me and made my last game difficult, even if I escaped with a 2-1 win against JayAdams from Minnesota. The lesson learned is that you need to control your emotions no matter the circumstance, something I’ll focus on doing today during the playoffs.
Can I repeat last year’s performance and make it to the final? I’m definitely counting on it.
