XSET has lifted the Esports World Cup trophy in the Fortnite category in Riyadh, scooping a $400,000 prize and 1,000 Club Championship Points. The squad, which is made up of Clix, Edgey, Muz, Ritual, Trashy, and Cold, was the only unit to run a perfect streak through the group stage, and in the playoffs, the team almost failed to drop a single map.
This news comes following a rather strange format that saw the Fortnite tournament unfold without including any battle royale content. Instead, these world-class Fortnite competitors played a range of ‘traditional’ multiplayer modes like Hardpoint and Capture the Flag, using Fortnite’s versatile creative platform to enter an entirely new realm of competitive play.
Fortnite, But Different
When you think of ‘Fortnite’, you tend to think about the spearhead of a title that directly influenced the huge popularity spike for the battle royale genre over several years. However, at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh, the tournament unfolded without a single battle royale match taking place, with competitors instead taking part in Hardpoint, Capture the Flag, and ‘Keeper’.
In a dominating display of talent, XSET secured the lead right off the bat, powering through the group stage without dropping a single point, becoming the only team to do so. The squad took down the likes of DRAGONS and Team Falcons to secure the top seed going into the playoffs, at which point the four-man team steamrolled over Gaimin, Heroic, and finally, Exceed.
During the entire event, XSET lost just three maps.
At the other end of the spectrum sat the likes of ZETA and Al Ula, teams that fell out of the running without securing a single map win. Fnatic and w7m Esports didn’t fare much better, netting just one or two map wins before succumbing to the natural flow of the tournament.
We’re fast approaching the end of the Esports World Cup. This coming weekend, we’ll see the likes of StarCraft II, Modern Warfare 3, and FC24 host their grand final stages in Riyadh and next week, the two-month-long event wraps up with a final ceremony.