FC 26 89 Festival of Football Captains Pajor Player Review

The Festival of Football Captains promo is upon us with an impressive variety of world wide leaders to improve squads going into another wild west Weekend League.  At first glance I really liked the look and idea of this promo with the full-nation chemistry representing the contributions these men and women have made to football in their country.  Certainly some amazing options with some ludicrous price tags, mixed with some intriguing options at more affordable value.

While there were a few standout selections I am not sure we could overlook the obvious opportunity to see if Claudia Pina may have finally met her match in Ewa Pajor… my initial guess… not likely.  Yet you can see the similarities and the change from Pajor’s FINESSE Plus on her NIF to the LOW DRIVEN Plus on her FOF seems like no coincidence.  From a strictly meta standpoint the LOW DRIVEN would be my preference and I was looking forward to seeing what the Barcelona striker could do across her 5 match tryout.

If you read my Osimhen review then you will know that I have been hyper focused on getting the Silver Brazilians complete this Season after missing out on the majority of Silver ICONs in Season 1.  Last weekend proved a painful lesson in avoiding the meta and I simply could not do that to myself for a second weekend in a row.  Still rocking the 4-4-2(2) and Pajor filled in perfectly with her ADVANCED FORWARD++ Role.  The ENGINE seems like the popular pick for Pajor’s Chemistry Style, but I just could not give up an opportunity to boost her Shooting, thus I went the route of the HUNTER selection.  With everything in place it was time to see if Pajor could at least match the ridiculous outputs of her teammate Pina, leading the line in the following squad: 

Rating: 9/10

One tiny hiccup with this one… With life getting in the way a bit this week I had completely forgotten about my lack of Rivals played and was left starting off this review in the depths of Rivals qualification… And of course came up against two hot streaks in my first two matches.  Thankfully, Pajor not only met my expectations, she completely blew the doors off of them.  While the goals and assists contributions are not staggering, given the circumstances and the matches I was playing it was about as good as you could get.  Perhaps the best compliment I could pay Pajor is that I honestly believe the performance across these 5 matches could not be matched by Pina (who I have played a fair bit of matches with) and that is really saying something.

Main Statistic - Shooting

Shooting Rating: 9/10

PlayStyles: Low Driven Plus, Finesse Shot, Gamechanger, Precision Header

Weak Foot: ★★★★

As close as you can get to a perfect rating despite the 4 STAR WEAK FOOT and  the 9/10 entirely comes down to rules (I don’t like to give a 10/10 without the 5 STAR) versus the evidemce.  I knew I was in for a solid performance when Pajor’s first shot of the review was a left-footed-low-driven rocket across the face of goal off of the post and in.  From there the 13 additional goals came relatively easy and without any real misses to note… Outside of goalkeeper movement that I would blame on my own execution.

The HUNTER is certainly the play with this card and I will touch on the Pace in a bit, but the 96 FINISHING & 91 SHOT POWER were fantastic and the finishing was basically flawless.  I did not have a real opportunity to try the 99 VOLLEYS as much as I wanted, but I can assume with the GAMECHANGER that there are opportunities to see some fireworks in the right situations.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins: 5/5

It is almost a set up for failure when you come into a review comparing an 800k+ card against an absolutely broken 6k card that will certainly go down as one of the most meta options ever.  But I think even more than the comparison the only area I see a lack of value with this card comes from the FOF Captain value… In a way the nation chemistry is basically lost with this card in that there are no Polish links you would want to get into your squad… Outside of Smolarek (who has full Chem anyway) and Lewandowski (whose new and more usable card already has the same full nation boost) there is not much else.  Yet the performances spoke for themselves and realistically it is Pina who is broken and ridiculously undervalued, while Pajor all but lives up to her 800k price tag.    

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

I started off by saying that Pajor matched and even exceeded the performances of Pina and here is where everything went right…

+ I was a bit concerned with the Pace and Dribbling combination with this card going into the review and knew that I would address the Pace with the HUNTER and have to cross my fingers with the Dribbling.  The Pace worked out better than I could have imagined as the 95 ACCELERATION & FIRST TOUCH PlayStyle dove tailed perfectly and led to some incredible bursts out of the dribble and overall responsiveness to movement.  The 94 SPRINT SPEED + RAPID were also a solid match and in general Pajor had plenty of Pace.  The Dribbling was even more surprising with the FIRST TOUCH again at the heart of all good things as Pajor is a left-stick dribbling dream.  Again, it is only the 3 STAR SKILLS (which will turn many away) holding back a higher rating overall.

+ Saving the most surprising for last with the 9/10 Physical rating and certainly want to highlight the reasoning behind that.  Obviously Pajor is not bullying defenders given her height, but that is also where her 84 STRENGTH seems to shine.  Pajor is one of the most jammy cards I have used in the striker position and simply bounces off of challenges that should only go in the defenders favor.

I hesitate to say this is “bad”...

- After using Osimhen last weekend I feel like I really know the results of bad passing and Pajor is nowhere near that low of quality.  The 4 assists were bolstered by her Pace, but the passes were also accurate and generally consistent throughout the review.  The more I think about her through ball for Semenyo’s goal (in the video) the more I think I might be underselling this category, but I also think some might look at the LM/LW position options, then play Pajor out on the wing, and get done by the 60 CROSSING and lack of PlayStyles… So maybe the 8/10 and “bad” title is just about right. 

Closing Words

If I had a match to win right now, didn’t have a budget constraint, and  had to choose between Pajor and Pina… I would be going to Pajor 100%.  Again, I get that an 800k card should outperform an 8k card, but based on my opponents night in and night out that 8k card is really special.  Pajor has a lot of the same qualities and adds a dynamic Pace that feels better on the ball.  The lack of a 5 STAR WEAK FOOT and the debilitating 3 STAR SKILLS (for those with the gift) are also holding back this card from being incredible.  I really enjoyed the review as I am sure you can tell, and I think most would like what they get in return should they take a punt on this card.  I would definitely give her a go.  Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading.