Summer Skirmish Day 2 & Day 3
Days two and three brought viewers more intense qualifying action! The format for Saturday and Sunday’s competition was the exact same as was seen during Friday’s qualifying rounds. Check out the Friday Summer Skirmish Recap for a detailed breakdown of the tournament format, including scoring, matches, tiebreakers, and more. These two days of competition saw many new players breaking out onto the scene as well as many established names attempting to reach the Grand Finals to compete for the top prize of 225,000 USD.
Saturday
The second day of competition started early with the pre-qualifying heats. OT Divine, Kevie1, and Monstcr won each of their respective heats. As a reminder the pre-qualifying heats are only two matches.
Viewers were treated yet again to the dynamic casting duo of CourageJD and Dr. Lupo, who bring incredible insight and analysis to each match. Before the matches kicked off for the day there were a few easter eggs and other pieces added to the broadcast. Earlier in the day the casters, joined by their post-match partner Zeke, had their own competition on the Lazy Links mini golf course. CourageJD bested his competition totaling 31 strokes over the 9 holes on the course. After this the new Limited Time Mode, “High Stakes” was teased along with the new weapon the Grappler.
From here the casters moved on to talk about the gameplay that would be showcased throughout the night. Mention of how critical it is for players to be on their toes at all times, to avoid third partying, running out of materials/ammunition, and many other challenges the players face every match. There was also a discussion of the two major strategies that players had employed the day before. With some players pushing hard early to obtain points for eliminations and others playing the long game to earn points for placement. Both had been executed effectively. Now it was time to jump into the nights matches.
Game #1
The action got off to a fast start with players using the technique of dropping over the water at the edge of the map to pull their parachute at a lower altitude. The spread on the map was amazing as players flew to all corners of the map. Two well known players, Liquid’s Poach and aSaint were both eliminated before the first circle even began to close. The circle generated near Greasy Grove, with nearly a third of it being in the water off the edge of the map. This caused many players to make long early rotations. Of note Ghost ayden made headlines this first match, accumulating 7 eliminations, while playing on a controller. This first game was won by sean was taken, as the final circle closed in.
Game #2
To open the second match of the evening, the Battle Bus took a good path across the map making it easy for players to reach all locations. One key point that was made by the casters early in this match, was the need to tag players for damage even if the player was unable to eliminate them at this point in time. It gives critical information as to how much health a player has left along, as well as making them use up precious materials and healing early on in a game. Again viewers saw Ghost ayden racking up 7 eliminations early, as he went on to finish the game with a total of 8 eliminations. The circle in this game closed in near Tilted Towers allowing for players to use the numerous structures there as cover, not having to use up as many materials. In a somewhat early ending SEN animal was able to claim the final two eliminations as he dropped down on top of Ghost Saf to finish the game.
Game #3
The third match started off as usual with players spreading themselves across the map. Highlighted in this match were several players who stayed or pushed into the storm to attempt to obtain a third or fifth elimination to bring them closer to the Grand Finals. Sometimes the risky maneuver paid off, while others saw players walk away with zero points for the match. We again saw C9’s Hysteria come very close to securing a point but was unable to do so in this match. The circle placed itself partially on the side of a mountain just south of the motel. This forced several players to fight vertically up the mountain. During this point in time Lasius Twitch was able to secure his 7th elimination to gain the three points, just before being eliminated by the storm. aSaint, one of the more notable players was able to third party his final two opponents, to claim victory in the third match of the night.
Game #4
One of the more notable players competing on Saturday was TSM’s Myth. After only securing one elimination in the fourth match, he was eliminated. This brought his run in the Summer Skirmish to an unfortunate end. Again in this game many players had to make long early rotations. Many utilized a few of the various different movement items and features in the game. As the circles became smaller toward the end of the match, many players positioned themselves, so that they were able to move quickly and safely into the next zone. As the final two players faced off Ghost Saf, who finished second place the match before, eliminated his opponent to win the final game of the day. This capped off an amazing run for the Ghost organization with both Saf and aydan playing extremely well on Saturday.
The top finishers for the day were as follows:
First Place: SEN animal
Most Eliminations: Ghost aydan
Winners: sean was taken, SEN animal, aSaint, Ghost Saf
The overall standings for the day can be found below.
Sunday
Sunday was the last opportunity for players to be able to qualify for the Grand Finals on Monday. There were still a slew of big names still left to qualify for the finals, including, C9 Hysteria, FaZe Tfue (NOT TFUE), FaZe Tennp0, and nickmercs, among many others. The three pre-qualifying heats for the day were won by SSG Colton, NRG Kaysid, and WBG Ranger.
Before the matches for the day kicked off the full reveal for the new Limited Time Mode, “High Stakes”, which had been teased on Saturday. The full reveal for the mode can be found starting at the 31 minute mark of the VOD. During this reveal the Grappler was also shown off as the newest item addition to the game. It will be surely be found in many montages over the course of the next several weeks!
Game #1
As Sunday’s games kicked off, viewers saw the highest concentration of recognizable names competing for their spots in the Grand Finals. Liquid Chap rotated early into Tilted Towers, where he was rewarded with a vending machine with Slurp Juice inside. One of the other names in this qualifier is Vapejesus, being one of the standout players from the Ninja Live event earlier this year. Several circles into this game there was a stalemate where no player was eliminated for nearly 3 minutes. As the action picked back up Liquid Chap was able to take down FaZe Tfue just outside of the top 10, preventing him from obtaining any points in this game. However, Tfue’s teammate, FaZe Tennp0 was able to claim victory taking down both Liquid Chap and OT Divine. One of his keys to victory was his ability to save materials for the very end of the match.
Game #2
The second match started with the focus on nickmercs, and his infamous Tilted Towers drop. He was able to quickly secure 3 eliminations earning him a point early on in game two. This match, the first circle was on the far eastern side of the map. This caused many players to make long rotations. During this process several players were eliminated by the storm. FaZe Tfue after being eliminated just shy of the top 10 in the first match, consistently put himself in great position to reach the final few circles as early as possible. He was able to capitalize on this amassing both 6 eliminations and winning the match. This game FaZe back to back wins in this qualifying round!
Game #3
Again at the beginning of the match Tilted Towers was a focal point as 9 different players elected to drop there. Two huge plays were made by SEN rieo and C9 Blind early on. Rieo was able to make an amazing block against several grenades, then follow up with his first elimination for the match. Blind on the other hand after running low on ammo in most of his guns was able to finally get an elimination using a grey pistol. The zone in this game ended up moving to a relatively flat location on the map. This game players with the high ground had a distinct advantage. Later in this game C9’s Hysteria, after competing all three days and not making the Grand Finals, was able to finally secure two points this match after securing 3 eliminations and placing within the top 10. This performance was overshadowed by Twitch Tylarzz who had an amazing performance totaling 10 eliminations throughout the match and taking the game in a heal off to claim 6 points and secure his place in the Grand Finals.
Game #4
Throughout the day players using Keyboard & Mouse as well as those on controller showed off their skills. After winning the third match Tylarzz was eliminated in game four before gaining any points. One of the highlights of the match was the moment Dr. Lupo realized that MisfitsGG Jire had bound his building keys to L-U-P-O. As the match progressed there were many big names left who were still trying to secure their place in the Grand Finals. One of the people who had, had a quiet day up to this point in time was FaZe Jaomock. He reached the final 1v1, while dodging a trap twice, on his way to eliminating Bartonologist to win the fourth and final game of the day. This victory saw FaZe look dominant in the day three qualifiers, taking 3 of the 4 matches played.
After the matches CourageJD, Dr. Lupo, and Zeke filled the air time as everyone eagerly awaited the final standings. During this time a short video of Zeke’s review of the DURRR Burger was showcased. Zeke claimed that the burger had a distinct flavor of Victory Royale, with a “hint of players tears” added into the mix. This clip topped off the incredible showing that Epic Games, the creators of Fortnite put on at PAX West. They set the bar impressively high for other games and gaming conventions in the future.
The final standings came in as an unprecedented and highly unlikely situation occurred. The players who finished in 33rd and 34th positions had come in a dead time, matching up both total eliminations and incredibly average finishing position for the evening. This led to the final tie breaking measure where a coin flip determined that The_Real_Cryohme would take the 33rd spot over SSG Colton.
Below are the standings for Sunday’s Qualifying round. Tylarzz dominated the day taking both first place and securing the most eliminations. The winners of the four matches were as follows, FaZe Tennp0, FaZe Tfue (NOT TFUE), Twitch Tylarzz, and FaZe Jaomock.
Here are all of the finalists by day that will be competing in the Grand Finals in just a few short hours today!
As we head into the final day of the Summer Skirmish at PAX West, this is a reminder that the Grand Finals will start much earlier in the day than the qualifying rounds. The broadcast will begin at 11am PST, with the first of the six matches starting shortly after that. Monday’s Grand Finals can be found live on one of three Twitch Channels. They will be broadcast from the Official Fortnite Channel and then also on the channels of the two casters CourageJD and Dr. Lupo. If you want to check out any other the qualifying rounds you can find the VODs on Twitch as well. Make sure to tune in to catch the last day of the competition, we all know Dr. Lupo will make it after setting 15 alarms to make sure he will arrive on time!