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7 FIFA 18 tricks and tips we learned from Hashtag Ryan's workshop
Pro gamer Ryan 'Hashtag Ryan' Pessoa shared his FIFA knowledge at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere – here's what we picked up.
Ryan 'Hashtag Ryan' Pessoa hosted a special FIFA 18 workshop at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere on Saturday. The FIFA fans who attended learned a lot from the pro gamer, who rose to prominence after an impressive run in last years FIFA Interactive World Cup.
Ryan revealed how he sets up his Ultimate Team, sharing plenty of tips and tricks that players can use to take their FIFA game to new levels. Following this, players were split up into pairs to apply their newfound knowledge in matches, with Ryan watching on and giving tailored advice. There was also an opportunity to play a game of FIFA against either Ryan or Unilad Shellz.
With Ryan dropping knowledge bombs all over the place, there was plenty to learn (and plenty of furious scribbling in notepads). Here are the seven tips that we picked up that will have the biggest impact on your game, beginning with Ryan's FUT tactics.
1. Hashtag Ryan's FIFA Ultimate Team custom tactics
FIFA Ultimate Team gives you a dizzying array of options to determine how your team plays. These settings are split up into the categories of Defence, Build-Up Play and Chance Creation.
Within each category there are several sliders and other settings you can adjust to achieve the desired style of play. Take the Passing slider in the Build Up play category, for example – adjust that to 100 and your players will anticipate long balls and make runs accordingly. Slide it all the way down to zero and they will move closer to the ball for some tiki-taka.
After explaining what all the settings did, Ryan showed us the ones that he personally uses. Here they are:
Defence
- Pressure: 58
- Aggression: 75
- Team-width: 56
- Defender line: Offside trap
Buildup Play
- Speed: 80
- Passing: 40
- Positioning: Freeform
Chance Creation
- Passing: 46
- Crossing: 43
- Shooting: 50
- Positioning: Organised
You can tweak these according to your style, or just leave them as is if you don't want to worry about that stuff. We definitely fall into the latter camp, and if they're good enough for Ryan, they're good enough for us!
2. The best way to stop kick-off goals
Kick-off goals are a big bugbear for a lot of FIFA 18 players. Passing it out wide from kick-off, sprinting down the wing and putting a cross in is an easy way to create a chance – and, fairly often, score a goal.
"People concede a lot from kick-off – it is pretty much impossible to defend," said Ryan. "But the best way to defend from kick-off is – if your opponent is taking quite a while – you should quickly switch to your striker and run him back into central midfield. As soon as he passes back, offside trap and then control your striker and move back. Do not press – as soon as you press you leave gaps in the middle."
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Play Like A Pro – how to score goals in FIFA 18
Video tutorial that provides tips and tricks on how to score more goals in FIFA 18
3. The trick that lets you score directly from a goalkeeper's kick
Goalkeepers aren't usually assist-kings, but Hashtag Ryan could change that with a trick he demonstrated to great effect at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere.
It goes like this – when your goalkeeper has the ball in his hands, run up to the top of the box, then bend his run and go directly to the bottom of the box. This should free up some space for one of your strikers, so when you aim a driven kick their way it often creates a one-on-one with the opposition keeper. To execute a driven kick, just hold RB (R1 on PS4) plus the shoot button.
This trick doesn't work every time. But when it does, it feels borderline unfair.
4. Cause havoc with floated crosses
Crossing is a potent weapon in FIFA 18, and, according to Ryan, floated crosses are particularly threatening, as the goalkeeping AI often struggles to deal with them.
To do one a floated cross, all you need to do is hold down LB (L1 on PS4) while you cross. Ryan also recommends making the cross full-power – that way, you maximise the chance of the keeper flapping at the ball and providing your forward with an easy header.
Note: make sure you have cross assistance set to 'Semi' in the settings, otherwise the trick doesn't work.
Hashtag Ryan shares his FIFA knowledge at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere
© Will Bindloss / Red Bull
5. Create space with off-the-ball runs
Most people know that you can prompt your players to make off-the-ball runs in FIFA by pressing LB while you are in possession. What's less commonly known, however, is how you can use this mechanic to free up space for your forward even after his run has finished.
Ryan says that after the run has taken the player offside, he'll return to his initial position, but in the process he'll have shaken off his initial markers. This frees up a good amount of space, potentially creating a shooting opportunity for your forward once he's received the ball.
6. Use CBs with complementary work-rates
In FIFA 18, players' work-rates are critical, as they determine where your players will typically position themselves on the pitch. Ryan warned against having two centre-backs with the same work-rate because you will end up being vulnerable to one-twos that can send a striker clean through.
"It's best to have one CB who's High/Medium and one who's, say, Medium/Medium," said Ryan. "If I was using Ferdinand and Ramos, it's better for me to defend because Ferdinand will stay in his position with Medium/Medium, while Ramos will be forward to always intercept because he has High attacking work-rate."
Unliad Shellz at the Red Bull Gaming Sphere
© Will Bindloss / Red Bull
7. How to save (almost) every penalty
It was actually Unilad Shellz who gave me this tip, just before demolishing me 5-0 in a game that thoroughly dashed my hopes of becoming a FIFA pro.
Anyway, when you're attempting to save a penalty, it's pretty difficult to get a read on where your opponent is going to put it – unless you're looking over at their controller, that is. But it turns out there's an easier way. All you have to do is pay close attention to where the player taking the penalty is looking. This will follow the direction of the shot almost exactly, allowing you to make sure you dive accordingly.
Just don't tell your friends you know this. If you do, they'll be able to fool you by aiming one way before changing the direction of the shot at the last second. Best to keep this one a secret.
