We were all expecting the new Icon Pack SBC to land this evening, but the Base Icon Essien SBC was definitely a surprise for the majority of FIFA 23 players. With Icons seemingly losing some of the value in FIFA 23 with the new chemistry system and how fast the power curve seems to be shifting, it adds even more emphasis to the question of if you should complete the new Icon Player SBCs or not.
Base Icon Essien SBC
Essien has always been one of those Icons that can have a great impact in-game and tends to be one of the more valuable options because of that. However, the Ghana link doesn't offer much when it comes to squad building and the 3-star weak foot and 3-star skill moves aren't overly desirable for some players. All of this makes it really interesting when looking at the SBC and whether or not you should complete it. Is it really worth the investment?
For Essien, the positives far outweigh the negatives. The base stats across the board are very ideal, most notably the 83 base pace combined with the Defending and Physicallity sets Essien up to be a usable box-to-box for a couple of months to come, with the option of then transitioning him to the CDM role once he starts to fall under the power curve. The big question that everyone will be asking is, "Is Essien Lengthy?" and you'll be pleased to know that his base AcceleRATE is Lengthy, which means you can put the likes of a Shadow on him to get the pace and defending as high as possible and have yourself an incredible CDM.
Before the SBC was released, Essien was coming in around the 500k mark on the crossplay market and has since dropped to 420,000 coins. This drop is a normal occurrence when Icon Player SBCs are released as people with a tradable version, will sell the card and instead complete the SBC, creating a slight panic in the market.
How much does the Icon Essien SBC cost?
At the time of writing, the Essien SBC is coming in at 431k, please keep in mind that this price can fluctuate in accordance with the FIFA Ultimate Team market. Below you can find all the SBC requirements.
Born Legend
- Exactly 11 Players: Rare
- Exactly Bronze Players
In return, you will receive a Two Rare Gold Players Pack.
Rising Star
- Exactly 11 Players: Rare
- Exactly Silver Players
In return, you will receive a Two Rare Gold Players Pack.
The Blues
- Min. 1 Players from: Chelsea
- Min. Team Rating: 84
In return, you will receive a Premium Gold Pack.
League Finesse
- Min. 1 Players from: Ligue 1 Uber Eats
- Min. Team Rating: 85
In return, you will receive a Premium Gold Players Pack.
League Legend
- Min. 1 Players from: Premier League
- Min. 2 player with minimum OVR of 86
- Min. Team Rating: 85
In return, you will receive a Prime Mixed Players Pack.
Top-notch
- Min. 1 Players: Team of the Week OR FUT Champions
- Min. Team Rating: 86
In return, you will receive a Rare Gold Pack.
87-Rated Squad
- Min. Team Rating: 87
In return, you will receive a Mega Pack.
Is it worth completing the Essien SBC?
Now, is it worth completing the SBC? The first thing to cover is that even if you don't want to complete the entire SBC, please make sure you complete the first two segments as you get two decent packs back for only submitting a Bronze and a Silver squad.
In regards to the pricing from EA, having the SBC come in at 431,000 coins when he was 500,000 coins on the market before the SBC was released, is a fair and reasonable price. With all that said, it's still a tough decision on whether or not it's worth completing this SBC or not.
Complete or Yeet? Complete. The reasoning for this is that it's a well-priced SBC given his market price and he will perform very well in-game as a CDM, and should easily last you for 2 months before the risk of him falling behind the power curve. Just be mindful that there's a chance EA will release a couple of great non-icon CDMs in the coming weeks through the new promos and there could soon be plenty of competition for Essien.
Is it worth completing the Mid Trezeguet SBC?
Trezeguet was the other Icon Player SBC that dropped today, and at a first glance, there was some hope that he might finally be a usable option in FIFA.
In regards to price, Mid Trezeguet was coming in just below 200k on the market before the SBC was released and has since dropped slightly to 180,000 coins. The issue here is that the SBC cost is 202k, so EA didn't really account for any drop in his price and it makes it hard to commit so many coins into an untradable card that is rather underwhelming. Being 4* 4* with the Lengthy AcceleRATE is all well and good until you see the Medium attacking work rates combined with the 68 agility and 58 balance, meaning he won't translate well in-game despite being a little more fitting to the FIFA 23 meta compared to past games.
Complete or Yeet? Yeet. If you need a French ST, just go buy Benzema off the market for 80,000 coins, which will offer you a lot more in-game.
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