FC 24 Versus Fire Raheem Sterling Player Review - Cop or Flop?

Ladies and Gentlemen… It’s promo day. The very first promotion of 2024 is here and it is the FC Versus promo! It’s had a slight revamp on last years version with this time having both Fire and Ice versions in packs at the same time.

A pretty nice team has been released with the likes of Neymar and Son leading the team with a Sergio Ramos making his return to everyone's teams as well! But in the SBC section today we have what is probably one of the more interesting cards that has been released today and that’s because we have two different SBCs to choose from. This player is of course, Raheem Sterling and he is a man of both fire and ice. 

The card i’ll be looking at today will of course be the Fire version of Sterling, this one is a little strange because to me, the fire trumps the Ice version massively and i’m struggling to see any aspect that would make picking the Ice version up worthwhile.

You can check out the card here!

Quite a bit to unpack here but first things first, a nice pace and shooting upgrade from the Inform version of Sterling as well as a weak foot upgrade from 3 to 5. This Sterling can also play either side of the wing or striker if you fancy it. He also comes with the very favorable Power Shot Playstyle Plus.

Sterling dropped directly into my main squad running in the attacking trio alongside Mbappe and Martinelli. These three were absolutely rapid and left the entire opposition in their dust. This may seem a little overkill but I opted to run the Hunter Chemstyle on Sterling. It completely maxes out his Pace and Shooting. Believe me, in-game it absolutely shows because he was near unstoppable.

Here are the following segments to unlock the Winter Wildcard Wright SBC:

#1 - Chelsea
# of players from Chelsea: Min 1
Squad Rating - 84
Pack Return - Premium Gold Pack

#2 - England
# of players from England: Min 1
Number of TOTW Players: Min 1
Squad Rating - 85
Pack Return - Jumbo Gold Pack

#3 - Top Form
Number of TOTW Players: Min 1
Squad Rating - 86
Pack Return - Prime Mixed Players Pack

#4 - 86-Rated Squad
Squad Rating - 86
Pack Return - Rare Mixed Players Pack

#5 - 86-Rated Squad
Squad Rating - 86
Pack Return - Rare Mixed Players Pack

#6 - 87-Rated Squad
Squad Rating - 87
Pack Return - Prime Electrum Players Pack

#7 - 87-Rated Squad
Squad Rating - 87
Pack Return - Prime Electrum Players Pack

This SBC definitely is not cheap and one of the things that is playing heavy on my mind is the announcement that came today for TOTY. We know voting starts on the 8th so we know that in a few weeks TOTY will be here. So is it worthwhile dropping a huge amount on an SBC so soon before>

How did he perform in-game?

+ Pace of course is the main factor here, he is so rapid on the wing.
+ Shooting is a big plus on this card as it seems all the upgrades this card has received favor that stat. With the weak foot boost, PowerShot playstyle, and shooting upgrade, this guy just does not miss.
+ Dribbling is also really impressive on this item, he’s incredibly agile thanks to the 98 agility. He controls the ball so well and keeps it stuck to his feet.
+ The positioning was pretty good too as he was always in open space ready to receive the ball but also he cut back on defence a lot and managed to take the ball to make a quick counter.
/ Passing on this card was okay but nothing special, I almost felt he may have been better suited in the striker role but he’s so good at running down the wing.
- Strength is obviously a bit of a let down on this card as being on the shorter side and having 71 strength meant he was getting out muscled a lot. Especially by those bigger defenders.

Raheem Sterling - Cop or Flop?

This card was incredible. No beating around the bush here. This is a good card. I think back to when the TOTW item dropped and for a short period, everyone was running that card. This feels very similar. He plays so well in-game. But the biggest issue for me is right now, a lot of people are saving packs ready for TOTY, so the timing here is what is making this one so difficult to justify picking up. 

On the one hand, it’s unlikely we may get a special Sterling for some time and with this SBC having 20 days to complete, he should overlap onto TOTY which means that down the line he should get cheaper with a mass amount of packs being opened all at once. As for now? I would say this card is absolutely worth completing but whether or not you complete this before TOTY just depends on how well he fits into your squad and whether or not there is a player you may be expecting to come that may replace Sterling.

For me, this is a Cop. I haven’t really talked about the Ice version of this card at all and that’s simply because I personally feel that the Ice Version is absolutely not worth it and is a near pointless card. I think these SBCs would have made more sense to be a Player Pick between the two because there is no way anyone is completing both.

Verdict = COP