Fray Tackles the FIFA Scene

Frenetic Array is proud to announce that Muzza will be representing Fray in our latest foray into the FIFA arena. Muzza has been playing FIFA competitively since Cybergamer first introduced the game to its ladders. He has won every season on Cybergamer Xbox except one, where he was a runner up. For further information, including ladder information and an interview, click MORE!

He also competes in the PS3 Cybergamer ladder for FIFA, and is currently undefeated this season, and is due to play the grand final in the near future. Therefore, Muzzas admission to the organisation marks Frenetic Array’s first foray into the PlayStation 3 competitive scene! Go crack open a cold one for the occasion! Don’t go overboard though; you still have to keep reading the rest of the article!

Assuming you’re not hopelessly drunk, you may be interested to know that Muzza will also be attending the ACL Sydney LAN next month, will be participating in the WCG Melbourne qualifiers in late August, and a Redbull event in Sydney early September, flying the Fray flag for all three events. Further information regarding those events will be available in the future.

In addition to participating in Cybergamer Xbox360 and PS3 ladders, Muzza is also participating in the ACL FIFA 11 Online Round 2. As of tonight, he has moved up to the Grand Final, and will be playing the last match of the ACL Round 2 at a later date, probably Thursday. Stay tuned for more information!

Below is an interview with the man himself, enjoy.

Interview with Muzza

For those who don’t know you, what is your gaming background and how long have you been playing FIFA?
I've been playing FIFA competitively since the first season on Cybergamer which was back in the days of FIFA 09. The first FIFA game I ever played was FIFA 97.

Were there any other games that you play or have played competitively or was FIFA always your game of choice for competitive play?
I like to play a bit of Gears of War every now and then, though to say I'm average at shooters is probably a huge overstatement of my abilities though; so I just stick to FIFA with my competitive gaming.

You have been largely successful on FIFA, but what, for you, stands out as some of the biggest achievements you’ve had in the FIFA scene?
My biggest achievements would have to be in the Cybergamer ladders. I've won every season on there, except for one where I came second to Morty in FIFA 10.

You actually compete on both the Xbox 360 and PS3 for FIFA, which console do you prefer and which do you feel is the more competitive console?
Personally, I prefer the PlayStation. The controls just feel much more responsive and the gameplay is a bit faster. Other than the FIFA Interactive World Cup, Xbox is definitely the more competitive console when it comes to FIFA though.

You recently decided to forgo the ACL Melbourne LAN to attend the FIFA Interactive World Cup. You were eliminated by the eventual winner, Mark 'skip_1' Azzi. How hard was that loss and do you see him as your biggest competition on PS3?
Obviously the loss was disappointing. It was a very long drive back to Melbourne from Sydney after that. Mark played very well on the day and deserved the result. I can't actually say I knew who he was going into the tournament but everyone in the competitive FIFA community is very much aware of who he is now. Hopefully he'll be coming to ACL Sydney.

You won the first ACL online round quite convincingly and you are the number 1 seed going into the pro double elimination bracket for online round 2. How confident are you that you can come up with the goods with this round 2 competition, and with Crispy being eliminated early who is now your biggest threat?
I'm fairly confident that I can go all the way. With the structure of the ACL tournaments being best of three and double elimination you need to lose at least 4 games to get knocked out before the final. Everybody has their bad games but this means that even with one or two bad ones you can still win the competition. iTz Todd who knocked Cripsy out has proven to be a challenging opponent in the past and beat me in one of my pool games so he's the one I'm looking out for at the moment.

Speaking of Crispy, he was recently picked up by a European organisation: apeX-esports and skip_1 was also picked up by Team Immunity, do you believe that moves like these by organisations investing in FIFA players is a big step forward for FIFA in Australia? And does it reflect just how competitive and popular FIFA is becoming in Australia?
I think it's definitely a big step forward. Competitive FIFA is becoming bigger and bigger in Australia, ACL adding it to their circuit this year has been a big boost. FIFA players getting picked up by organisations should really help to get the word out there and allow the competitive community to grow.

As you mentioned earlier, you did miss out on the opportunity to go to ACL Melbourne, but you will be travelling to Sydney for their event next month. Are there any other events on the horizon that you will be attending? Or are thinking of attending?
I'm hoping to attend the World Cyber Games event in Melbourne which takes place in August.

Would that be for PS3 or Xbox 360?
I'm not entirely sure, to be honest I only heard of it recently. I think it's on the Xbox 360 though.

We at Frenetic Array are very glad to have you come aboard Muzza. Is there anything else you would like to say?
I’d like to thank Frenetic Array and their main sponsor, Razer, for supporting my competitive goals and for giving me the chance to represent the organisation in the FIFA scene.

We at Fray can’t wait to see Muzza performing at his best against some of Australia’s best FIFA players on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3. A big thanks to the man for joining our organisation, and best of luck for your upcoming events!