The 2020 eMLS Cup presented by Coca-Cola and PlayStation returns on Sunday (10 am PT | Twitch, Twitter, MLSsoccer.com) and Portland Timbers player Edgar "RCTID Thiago" Guerrero is in the mix as he battles it out for part of the $20,000 prize pool and title.
Here's what you need to know.
How did we get here?
The top 11 competitors in total season points after the first two eMLS events of the year (League Series One Philadelphia and League Series Two Portland) already qualified for the final stage of the tournament, with the top four earning a first-round bye. RCTID Thiago, on the strength of his run to the semifinals at eMLS League Series Two held in Portland last February, earned the 11th seed in the knockout rounds for Sunday and will face the LA Galaxy's Giuseppe "Godfather" Guastella.
Last Friday, the remaining 14 remaining players played in a single-elimination, Last Chance Bracket with Columbus Crew SC's Graham "Crew96Skamzz" Ellix coming out on top to grab the 12th and final Playoff Bracket seed.
How do I watch?
All of the day's games will be streamed on Twitch, Twitter and MLSsoccer.com.
How are the rosters constructed?
In all previous eMLS tournaments, players were allowed to use a mix of Icon (retired soccer legends), Team of the Year, In Form and other special FIFA Ultimate Team player cards as long as three MLS players were mixed into the squad.
This time around at the 2020 eMLS Cup, it'll be an all MLS roster.
With Team of the Season So Far cards released in FIFA 20 back in May, there are 11 new high-rated MLS cards now available for players to use. These include a 96-rated Carlos Vela, a 94-rated Josef MartÃnez, and a 92-rated Nani. Because of this, all eMLS competitors will be using a full squad of MLS players. Each team will only be allowed a maximum of eight MLS Team of the Season So Far cards in the starting XI, and the remaining three players must be MLS gold, silver or bronze cards. So, does that mean MartÃnez or Alejandro Pozuelo could be suiting up for the Green and Gold? Could be.
So who's playing?
FC Cincinnati's Gordon "Fiddle" Thornsberry is the No. 1 seed and won both the League Series One event in Philadelphia in January and the League Series Two tournament here in Portland in February. Atlanta United's Paulo Neto, who joined forces with Franco Escobar to win the eMLS Tournament Special in May is a contender, but not to be counted out is RCTID Thiago, who beat both of them in regular season early round action back at LS2 in Portland.
eMLS Cup had originally been scheduled to take place at SXSW on March 15 before it was postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, due to changes announced for the EA Sports FIFA 20 Global Series, in which eMLS was an official league partner, Global Series points will not be allocated to eMLS Cup competitors.
