Sitting at a gaming chair decked out in his Fnatic jersey, a young guy from Devon, England opens FIFA Ultimate Team (FUT) packs, searching for the best players. He’s energetic, he’s focused, and he’s ready to dominate FIFA 23.
GLHF sat down with Donovan ‘Tekkz’ Hunt, pro FIFA player and the most decorated champion of all time, for his thoughts on the title, which is dominating the games charts.
The interview has been edited for clarity.
Tekkz plays FIFA for UK-based esports organization Fnatic. He said started playing FIFA at just 4 years old, “Maybe FIFA 06, FIFA 07? I used to play with Liverpool, that’s my first memory. I remember trying to spam long shots with John Arne Risse. That’s pre-FUT as well, I just used to play Career Mode.”
Tekkz burst onto the FIFA esports scene aged just 16. Now 21, he’s splitting his time between home and Fnatic’s Shoreditch HQ whilst preparing for his 6th installment of the game on the pro scene.
FIFA 23’s revolutionary gameplay is making waves with casual and professional players alike. HyperMotion2 animations, ArcheTYPE running styles, and focus on passing over pure pace has created a completely different experience, and Tekkz admits that gameplay isn’t to his strengths right now.
“So at the moment, I’m just trying to adapt to what’s good, he said. “You know I’m patched right now a little bit with no left stick dribbling, but that’s fine!”
Tekkz has identified lobbed-through balls as the current FIFA 23 meta, which you can read about in his top tips feature.
“I’m hoping for a gameplay update because you can’t left stick dribble,” he continued. “One of my best attributes is left stick dribbling so…they’ve taken me away from me! I don’t like it! I hope that lobbed-through balls are not as effective because it’s not where I specialize.”
The frustrations of being behind a meta came through. “I like to press and when I press someone and I get a through balled in behind, that’s my biggest hate,” he explained. “It happens all the time but we’re trying to adapt.
“But for me, I can’t really sit there and wait for it [an update] because then I fall behind,” Tekkz conceded.
When it comes to being the best in the world at FUT, building a talented squad is vital. Tekkz reflected on his first FUT, where signing big-name superstars was his tactic, without knowing if they’d be any good for the gameplay meta.
“I think my first Ultimate Team was FIFA 12 – I didn’t know anything! I didn’t have any of the best players. If I see they were high-rated like Xavi I’d just buy him. He’s got 50 pace and he’s 5 feet and 5 inches midfield, so he can’t do anything. But it’s Xavi so I thought he’d be good.”
But in FIFA 23, who is Tekkz rating?
“It’s a bit of a boring answer but Mbappé – he’s fast, he’s good, he’s got five-star skill moves,” he claimed.
One card making waves in FIFA and in real life is Manchester City striker Erling Haaland. Surprisingly, Tekkz isn’t a fan of him in-game.
“I hate him! I hate coming up against him. He’s so fast you can’t catch him and he’s just so big as well. He’s 6 feet and 4 inches or something [Haaland is 6 feet and 5 inches]. You tackle him and the ball bounces back to him every time.”
So is Tekkz using Haaland? “No, I don’t like him! Forget about me – because the way I play, I like to do skills. When I get the ball to Haaland, who’s three-star three-star (skill moves rating and weak foot strength), against good defenders it’s hard.”
Coming up against players with Haaland’s card is inevitable, but Tekkz reckons he’s got the solution. “My favorite defender, Van Dijk, the last couple years you haven’t been able to use him because he’s been way too slow,” he said “With [AcceleRATE] lengthy, he’s fast now and you can use him. At 6 feet and 4 inches as well, he’s actually the only guy in the game that can stop Haaland to an extent.”
He’s happy with improvements to 1v1 situations and defensive realism, too.
“Not many of your shots get blocked. If I do a skill move in the box it’s harder to get blocked now,” he beamed.
What does the life of a FIFA pro look like in the early days of the game cycle?
For Tekkz, it’s been 17-hour days in Fnatic HQ working on playing, creating, streaming, and adapting his game.
“My day yesterday [Oct. 3, 2022] I woke up at 10 a.m. I got to the office at 11; then I was here until 4 a.m. I’m just playing, playing, playing, streaming, recording, and then watching other people to see what they’re doing. It’s long days and late nights just trying to improve.”
One thing he’s not focussed on is his competition. “When FIFA comes out, I don’t really like looking at what everyone else is doing. The first day comes out because I just want to do my own thing, see what’s going on, and see what works for me.”
Fnatic athlete Diogo Mendes will pick up the controller alongside Tekkz in competition this year, and that’s someone he has looked to.
“Because Diogo is in the room with me, I’m sorta learning with him too.
”If I play someone or someone in the FIFA scene is doing good at that time, you watch what they’re doing, and then you bring it into your own game.
“I’ve been playing a lot of pros…everyone’s near enough at the same level right now. Yeah, no one’s really broke away.”
The first pro FIFA tournament this cycle is the inaugural EA Sports Cup, a 2v2 competition which Fnatic will be competing in. Tekkz is seen as one of the senior pros on the scene now, and he’s been trying to work out what to do when esports is back.
“Going into our first 2v2 tournament, I don’t really know what to expect,” he explained. “If there was a 1v1 tournament coming up, it would just be sitting deeper and hitting through balls.
“I wanna win the 2v2 trophy with my teammate Diogo. I’d love to win 2v2! We’re good enough. I think we were arguably the best team last year —we just got unlucky in the tournament at the end.”
Alongside Tekkz’s dominance in esports, he has also grown a huge audience online. He has over 1.5 million followers across social, with over 700,000 subscribers following his YouTube channel. When asked for any other goals for FIFA 23, he stated “I want to be a proper YouTuber!
“I already was but like a better one who uploads way more and does better quality videos,” Tekkz added.
While chatting, Tekkz also revealed that FIFA isn’t the only EA Sports franchise that he’s mastered.
“Oh, I used to be top 100 [in Ultimate Team competitive play] on Madden too!” he let slip.
Tekkz used to be top 100 ranked in Madden 20 running a broken meta play and chatting to pros, having played Madden since Madden 15.
“I was talking to a few pros at the time, and I just got what was good. I wrote it down on a piece of paper, and then I picked my plays,” he said. “I used to just do an HP stretched out on the right-hand side and flip it to the left-hand side,” he added. A man of many talents.
The FIFA 23 Global Series kicks off on Oct. 17, 2022, and you can watch along on the EA Sports FIFA Twitch and YouTube channels.
Tekkz represents Fnatic, the number one esports organization in the world. He’s been a Fnatic Athlete for two years and has won four FIFA Championships in that time, including the eChampions League.
Want to try FIFA 23 for yourself? It’s available now on all major consoles and PC.
Written by Alex Bugg on behalf of GLHF.
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