FC 26 86 Ultimate Scream Al Owairan Player Review

Spooky Season is back again as one of the fan favorites returned to the promo lineup this weekend… Perhaps the most scary thing being the release of the new patch and the mixed opinions that have followed.  Personally I was more of a fan pre-patch despite the fact that this style of gameplay will better suit me and lead to more wins… There was just something exciting about being down 5-0 at half and knowing you were well in the match.

Ultimate Scream Team 1 carried a solid list of monster players to improve squads and certainly Rafael Leão was the most sought after.  Unfortunately this would have stretched the budget beyond any Financial Fair Play audit, and we went for the next best thing in Ultimate Scream Hero Saeed Al Owairan.  Al Owairan is up there with Ultimate Team Legends with a host of memorable cards (probably none as OP as “Marvel” Al Owairan in 23), and the hope was that the pacey attacker could reach those heights this weekend.

The 4-4-2(2) continues to be the formation of choice and once again dictated the positioning of our review, but I think I would have been tempted to try Al Owairan at striker regardless, but there was no decision to make for this one in the end.  The ADVANCED FORWARD+ Role seemed ideal in order to exploit Al Owairan’s Pace, while the FINISHER Chemistry Style was applied in hopes of converting more of the chances created by the speedster.  Finally all was set to see if Al Owairan could be the bogeyman terrorizing defenders all weekend long in the following squad: 

Rating: 9/10

It feels like it is going to be more difficult to score post-patch and yet Al Owairan still managed 4.0 goal contributions per match with 16 goals and 4 assists in 5 matches.  With the nerf to TECHNICAL Dribbling it is the likes of Al Owairan that stand out as solid options to me with the movement towards Pace being King once again in another edition of Ultimate Team.  Another card that overperformed statistics in some areas and generally caused havoc for my Weekend League opponents.

Main Statistic - Pace & Dribbling

Pace Rating: 10/10

Dribbling Rating: 9/10

PlayStyles: Rapid Plus, Quick Step

Skills: ★★★★

Pace is King… and Al Owairan ruled over the pitch this weekend with his speed and quickness.  RAPID Plus on 96 SPRINT SPEED certainly does not leave much room for error as my opponents found out this weekend, I do not remember being caught once in full stride and certainly opens up the pitch on counter attacks especially.  The QUICK STEP + 93 ACCELERATION was not as consistently dominant, but still provided enough pop to get up to speed in a hurry.

No Dribbling specific Playstyles and yet it felt like one of the key weapons during this review.  The FINISHER Chemistry Style plays a big part in this as the 92 AGILITY made left-stick dribbling responsive, as did the 98 DRIBBLING.  In a way it is another win for the Pace on this card that it does not require any additional statistics and therefore other (non-Pace) Chemistry Styles can be selected.  For Al Owairan this was hugely beneficial to the aforementioned Dribbling and the soon to be covered Shooting.

Value/Coins

Value/Coins: 5/5

This one is a bit of a toss up depending on who you look at.  On one hand you compare the 95 Pace, 84 Shooting, & 87 Dribbling and quickly realize that NIF Vini Jr. is about the best comparable with almost mirrored statistics and you pay an extra 100k for the 5 STAR SKILLS on the Madrid winger.  That seems about fair and Al Owairan will likely drop faster in price in the near future.  On the other hand you compare a slightly slower (93 Pace) but otherwise equal NIF Dumornay for under 10k and you start to question the value a bit.  For me the Vini Jr. comparison feels like the closer option and therefore the Price is Right.

Good vs. Bad 

Good vs Bad Rating: 5/5

While the Passing and Physical were not spectacular, they certainly weren’t “bad” either…

+ 4 STAR WEAK FOOT & 96 FINISHING were huge parts of why Al Owairan was so clinical in front of goal, but the host of PlayStyles certainly didn’t hurt either...  From the 7 million coin price tag of Mia Hamm, to the 900 coins for Inaki Williams, there are only a dozen cards that have FINESSE, LOW DRIVEN, & POWER SHOT.  The variety of ways to score is a huge strength here and a lot of them came in handy on the way to 16 goals in 5 matches.

+ The 4 assists are more Pace and Dribbling than quality in Passing.  Yet the 79 VISION & 82 SHORT PASSING were a tad bit concerning going into a weekend where the top of the box looked like an 1800’s line formation from a war… But I was actually pleasantly surprised and don’t remember Al Owairan being wasteful at all in attack.

+ The Acceleration and Agility on this card are so much better than that of a 6’0 | 184cm build and so you get the best of both worlds with the movement of a smaller player, yet the Physical benefits of a 72 STRENGTH bigger player…ENFORCER would have been a nice, albeit random addition as well.  Solid 85 STAMINA for those that go the winger route, wrapping up a well-rounded card overall.

Closing Words

We will have to wait and see how well future attackers continue to do in these post-patch Weekend League installments to better judge just how good this performance truly was.  However, a 4-1 start that was largely carried by Al Owairan’s shoulders, along with the 20 goal contributions seems like an impressive benchmark.  Al Owairan was an excellent way to kick off the Ultimate Scream promo as my opponents will have nightmares of this man’s left boot for many moons to come… Certainly a fun card to consider trying and one that is easily linked into squads.  Hoping you are well.  Cheers for reading.