Four Fortnite pros banned following cheating scandal

Top Fortnite duos Bucke & Kreo, Slackes & Keys were found to collude during the Fortnite Championship Series finals and will now serve a 60 day competitive ban

Bucke, Kreo, Slackes, and Keys. The players accused by Epic Games of scamming are some pretty big names in the competitive scene. All of the aforementioned players competed in the World Cup finals and have a combined earnings exceeding millions. Bucke is currently signed to pro team Envy, a world renowned organization known for their involvement in titles such as Overwatch, Counter Strike, and (of course) Fortnite

The allegations are pretty hefty, and blood is on everyone’s hands. Let’s break down what is public knowledge and how this affects the competitive community

The Allegations

It is alleged that both duos interacted in what is known as “storm tagging” - basically trading shots at other teams to avoid storm surge being a problem later on in the stacked end game. Usually there isn’t a problem when storm tagging in an organic fashion

The problem arises when these teams conspire to collude in storm tagging for all/a majority of the games during Week 1 of the Fortnite Championship Series finals. Epic has, beyond a reasonable doubt, come to the conclusion that the aforementioned duos had colluded to avoid storm surge

You might think this isn’t a huge problem.. But you haven’t experienced a storm surge if you’re not a competitive player. Storm surge is a sure fire game ender for multiple teams every single game, especially in the finals of FNCS. Having a predetermined way to avoid that obstacle is an unfair advantage

… And the results speak louder than anything. Take a look at the leaderboards as Kreo, Bucke, Slackes, and Keys stand at 1st and 2nd place respectively

The Punishment

The ruling from Epic was a blanket 60 day ban for all offenders. All four players cannot compete in any Epic tournaments for the next two months. Additionally, players are unable to queue for competitive playlists - solo and duo arena

Compared to the “light handed” 14 day ban that Xxif and Rondaldo received after cheating into the solo World Cup finals, Epic has since ramped up the severity of competitive punishments

Community Response

Bucke took the first crack in responding to the cheating scandal in a Twitlonger post

Storm Surge!

Read: https://t.co/4B1IX0LnTY

— Envy Bucke (@BuckeFPS) March 23, 2020

He said ”Everyone has their own storm surge routes/techniques. We know where people land due to maps that are made by third parties. If we have unlimited shield, the impact on our game that taking a bloom battle with another team is very minimal. Our loot route directs us to that one truck with the chest at it. By the time that they are done with their loot route, they end up at the slurp truck and we end up shooting each other since we cross paths. Even when other teams land at slurpy swamp, we bloom battle them because there's unlimited shield. There have been multiple times in scrims/tournaments where we kill each other because we'll get triple dinked or naded.”

When it comes to the community, there’s two schools of thoughts: the ban was justified or it wasn’t

Some pro players have taken the stance that 60 days is too much. Clix was a notable advocate for Bucke & Co.’s case

I don't feel like epic should've acted this fast, I feel like they didn't have a chance to even defend themselves. This 60 day ban is life changing for all of them. None of them are gonna be signed again, and there missing a whole FNCS. 60 day ban was not necessary whatsoever.

— Clix (@ClixHimself) March 23, 2020

But that argument is by far the minority stance. Many believe that Epic has finally “got it right,” as previous competitive punishments didn’t serve a strong enough example to dissuade bad actors

Then there’s the deep end of the spectrum where Liquid Chap lies: “ban ‘em for life”

I still think you should be banned for life when caught cheating in any tournament for money

— Chap (@LiquidChap) March 23, 2020

I’m an advocate for “harsh but fair.” Lifetime bans don’t support rehabilitation, while light bans promote a slew of new offenses entirely. Luckily, I feel confident that Epic made the right move here and can defend their stance in due time. Until then, I will