The long awaited moment for everyone (almost) FIFA 21 fans is finally here. As widely announced in recent days, Electronic Arts has finally released the first tranche of Icon Swap, with its first group of icons that can be unlocked through the completion of the challenges. The general operation, for the uninitiated, works exactly like last year: on all game versions, therefore indiscriminately on PS5, Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and Xbox Series X and PC, the Icon Challenges and Icon Challenges 2, which allow you to unlock tokens to be used to unlock one of the various stars of the past made available by Electronic Arts in a "free" way. The challenges are actually very simple: you have to win six online games in the Friendlies “A Championship” with a squad of at least five players First Owner (then released in packs or unlocked via SBC) or five offline games with a squad composed solely of players from the MLS, Eredevise or EFL Championship.
Once the tokens have been collected, you can immediately exchange them for various packages or wait to buy one of the Icons for free, which in this first round are represented by the following players: Thierry Henry, Frankie Rijkard, Gheorge Hagi, Nemanjia Vidic, Davor Suker and Ronald Koeman. Obviously, the players in question are separated by a different number of tokens required for unlocking, and consequently it is necessary to plan your choices well in order to maximize this first wave of Fifa 21 Icon Swap.
Do you have doubts about who to choose and how to move? Don't worry: you are in the right place! We from EpicVideogamesguide.com we want to give you our advice (personally applied by myself), with the hope of helping you as much as possible in the difficult choice.
Worst Option: Thierry Henry at 17 Swap
Okay, okay, on the qualities of Thierry Henry, one of the strongest players in football history, no one can argue, but this is by far the worst option of the whole first round of Fifa 21 Icon Swap. The version in question he is in fact one of the worst of the player who, in general, on the FIFA Ultimate Team goal has always struggled not a little to assert himself, which makes the choice even more "useless". The fact, then, that the choice requires practically all the tokens (you can unlock 18 in all) makes it a truly remote hypothesis, to be recommended exclusively to player enthusiasts, who therefore want to have fun with their favorite, without giving too much weight. to the choice itself.
Best option: Vidic (7) + Suker (11)
One of the juiciest options, and arguably objectively the best of the lot, is the one concerning the Vidic-Suker “combo”. The writer has already tried the first of the two, and can confirm without too many reservations that it is one of the strongest power plants in the whole game: fast, unsurpassed in one on one, discreet in the passages and very resistant, the former giant. United is certainly one of the best, if not the best, of this first round of Fifa 21 Icon Swap and recommending to unlock it is practically a must.
Costing very little (7 swaps) it is therefore possible to combine him with another player, and we immediately hypothesized to put him next to Davor Suker, a striker that we would have liked to try and that, in this way, we could include "free" in our formation. Suker costs 11 swaps, so you have to wait until January to unlock it, but it can make the difference, especially if you are looking for an agile and fast striker with a lot of finalization.
As far as we are concerned, this is probably the best possible combination, able to make you fully “exploit” all the tokens, thus reinforcing both the defense and the attack.
Alternative option: Vidic (7) + Hagi (9)
Do you already have an amazing striker in your team (like myself who let himself be seduced by the charm of the “Ninho” Torres) and, therefore, you don't want to spend 11 swaps for Suker? No problem, we have already studied a valid alternative.
At the cost of 9 swaps, therefore a little less than Suker, another very valid icon is available which, especially in the last edition of the game, represented one of the strengths of many teams, especially in the initial stages of the game. Let's talk about Gheorge Hagi, former star of Romania, who in FIFA 21, for how the gameplay is structured at the moment, can certainly have his say.
Hagi is a fast, snappy attacking midfielder with a pass of surgical precision, ideal for those who tend to play basing their fortunes on the ball turn and, why not, on conclusions from outside (and set pieces), the real specialty of home. Combined with Vidic, which we have already talked about above, and with a strong striker in front you could settle the midfield well, with a player of great qualities but be careful: do not expect miracles. He is, in fact, an excellent player, but certainly not a "monster" capable of splitting games in two.
"Safe" options: Rjikard (14) and Koeman (13)
Do you want to be on the safe side? Well, Electronic Arts has thought of you too. At a cost, respectively, of 13 and 14 swaps, two players can be unlocked with certain reliability, already widely seen in recent years in most fut teams: we are talking about Ronald Koeman and Frankie Rijkard, the Dutch duo who can certainly help you strengthen your team a lot.
In reality, many have used and still use the two players by reversing them in the field (Koeman in midfield, rather than in defense and vice versa), thus maximizing the strength of both players with a simple "click".
Koeman is in fact a perfect halfback: lots of defense, top pass and shot and a great vision, paying only in speed, which obviously makes him less useful as a central defensive.
Different speech for Rijkard: being much faster and less gifted in the offensive phase, becomes a perfect central defender, able to cover the penalty area with class and physical strength like few others around. Let me be clear, the unlocking of one of the two "compromises" the choice of combos and thus becomes a unique choice, so you have to analyze everything well before moving, but if you take one of the two we are sure that you will not regret it. Rather!
Absolutely not recommended: packs!
Okay, we probably say this because we're biblically out of luck, but miscellaneous packages are probably the worst possible option. EA, this year, has decided to include various packages in the Fifa 21 swaps, not only containing Icon, but also Ultimate packages, rare 85+ players etc., thus giving players a lot of freedom of choice. Despite this, and knowing the drop rate of the rarest cards, we feel compelled to advise against this option, since the risk of finding yourself with a fistful of flies in your hand is really high. Sure, you could opt for Vidic + a basic icon pack, for Koeman or Rijkard + various Ultimate packs and so on, but we feel, once again, to play it safe and avoid trying our luck. It could be very good for you, sure, but also really bad, and we would never take that risk.
In short: you have a lot of options. We have tried to simplify your choices a bit and rest assured that reviews from the various players will also arrive, which could help you even more with the choice to make. In the meantime, however, tell us yours: which players will you pick? Did you find these tips useful? Let us know and ... see you next time!
► FIFA 21 is a Sports-type game developed by Electronic Arts and published by EA Sports for PC, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and | , the video game was released on 09/10/2020
Version for PlayStation 5 from 03/12/2020
Version for Xbox Series X from 03/12/2020
