The grand finals of the Winter Royale just wrapped up. Here's your recap and breakdown of the event.
The Winter Royale was tonight, and those who were looking forward to more swords and airplanes weren't disappointed. Before getting into the recap of each game, here's a breakdown of the point system.
Eliminations
7 kills: 3 Points
5-6 kills: 2 Points
6-4 kills: 1 Point
Big Bonus (every kill after 7 kills): +1 Point
Placement
Victory Royale: 3 Points
2nd-3rd Place: 2 Points
4th-10th Place: 1 Point
Game 1
Game one started with Natty landing and going right for the sword. He picked it up and left the mountain without hesitation. It looked like he was in a great position to make it to the end of the game right away.
Then this happened:
I'm not sure if this is a bug or not. Planes have been knocking us back, sure, but I haven't seem them one-shot someone before. If we count it, this is the first of a few game-changing bugs we saw during the tournament.
It looked like the sword was gone after that. There was even a massive pool of players during the last few rotations, which the sword seemed to limit a bit yesterday.
The first round had some good plays. Aydan popped-off in Tilted Towers - as expected.
Then, as the game was in its closing moments, you heard the rumble from off camera. THE SWORD WAS BACK!
Legedien wins the first game with the Infinity Blade and seven kills. Legedien's kill total made it look like the cast avoided it in the first game after the focus on it yesterday. Still, the surprise entrance at the end was actually pretty entertaining.
Game 2
RuseJT rushed the sword right away and took the same strategy as Natty before him. He left the hill to farm and survive until he could use the sword later.
Back at Tilted, Aydan was looking to run the place as usual. Then Slobings showed up.
Slobings started with a nice flick-snipe on Natty, then busted-in on Aydan. We saw a rare Aydan shotgun miss here, and it cost him his life. Slobings gave a little emote at the end to show that it was all done with love.
One great story from this tournament was Snood vs. his internet provider. His internet went out and he was forced to play the next few games on mobile with a controller. That's a bold strategy, Cotton.
RuseJT made it quite a while with the sword before getting killed. He picked up am elimination or two but didn't do enough to secure himself an elimination point.
During the last few rotations, Mackwood pulled off one of the best grappler plays these eyes have seen. It didn't result in a kill, but it's still worth watching.
At the end of the match, the unthinkable happened. The person with the sword didn't win! 72HRS showed us why he's one of the top players in the game with a heads-up play.
72HRS hugged the middle of the circle with a jump pad and took the heal-off to the next level. He eliminated a player for 50 HP and finished off the blade-wielder.
Game 3
Game 3 started a little slow, but Chap got the sword off-camera and did some damage with it. We saw our first flaming-poop emote come out after a kill. It's always good to see some sportsmanship out there.
After a bit of gameplay, we saw a replay of what went down back at Polar Peak. There was a pickaxe fight, but Chap ultimately got a gun and secured himself the sword.
Slobings invaded Tilted Towers and killed Aydan for the second time, outplaying him yet again. After a few more eliminations, Slobings - a fellow controller player - established himself as someone you need to keep an eye on going forward.
Snood somehow made it deep into the game playing on mobile with a controller as the battle against his internet chugged along.
Chap took it upon himself to prove a point about the sword this game, leading to our first rampage of the day. He alternatively boxed-up and went on killing sprees to secure himeslf seven eliminations with the sword.
After the late-game pandamonium got underway, NistiC caught Chap while he was weak and finished him off. NistiC already had seven kills at that stage, but he picked up the sword and went to work on his bonus points.
Once NistiC died, the sword fell into the storm and out of play. Tyler15 secured the win in the final moments - sword nowhere in sight.
After three games, Tyler15 sat atop the leaderboard with six points - tied with Legedien and NistiC. 72HRS, OutLitLive, and Anthony were in fourth, fifth, and sixth with five points each. NistiC lead in kills with nine.
Game 4
Game four kicked off with another Pickaxe fight. Chap lost his life in the fray, and Aspire left Polar Peak as soon as he grabbed the sword. Flossen - a standout performer from last night - left Polar Peak empty-handed but with five kills.
The rest of the game felt a bit like waiting for the sword to make an appearance again. There were some good plays throughout. Hydra came in with an excellent edit for the elimination, among others.
Finally, ThomDz rolled onto the screen with the sword and two kills. He wasn't able to do too much with it and ended up falling to UwU Rhux who grabbed the blade from ThomDz's dead body.
The sword went MIA after that, as the storm shrank and the 7+ people in the sky abandoned their planes.
72HRS looked like he might roll to another victory until MmateosS edited a wall and took him out. MmateosS went on to secure the victory with one of the most clutch performances of the day.
After four games, the standings stayed relatively similar to before, with 72HRS taking the lead from Tyler15.
Game 5
Game five began with a slow Polar Peak entry for once. Instead of racing for the sword, it looked like players were holding back. It wasn't until a bit later that we found out why.
Shmecked got five kills in that plane and took off with the sword as a trophy. Ayden Killed 100T Kenneth in tilted before getting bodied by Sihllable, who followed it up with a laugh. Aydan couldn't rest easy tonight.
Meanwhile, Saf had to fight off two planes for what seemed like ten minutes. We saw a nice snipe from Spectro on the replay as the plane madness spilled into the mid-game.
Shmecked came back into frame with the sword before dying with seven kills. LyricenFN took a brief turn with it before 72HRS took him out and grabbed the sword for the first time in the grand finals. He already had a high kill total and looked like he could clinch the tournament right there.
FunkBomb got clutch kill after clutch kill, escaping the storm and showing everyone why he's the newest member of Faze Clan. We saw 72HRS take the L in the kill feed, but that didn't tell the whole story.
72HRS actually died to a bug with the sword. He right-clicked, jumped, then died to fall damage.
YungChung was there to pick up the blade and continue where 72HRS left off. He even boxed himself up, leading to one of the funniest moments of the night. YungChung used the "ZZZ" emote to show everyone exactly what he thought of the new sword meta.
Eventaully, YungChung died and Armada Kiwiface got his hands on the blade. Just when it looked like he was about to lose, this happened:
Game 6
What do you know?!? Another pickaxe battle at Polar Peak to kick off the game. No one was initially able to secure the Infinity Blade, as the planes and other chaos made it impossible.
Eventually, MSF Sheep was able to sneak his way in there and grab it. The sword bug resurfaced again, though, but MSF Sheep was able to save himself with one of the best plays of the night.
Aydan got pinched by three or four people in Tilted. It wasn't his night tonight. Snood finally won his internet battle and killed Shmecked in the old club area near where Flush Factory used to be.
We got an excellent Frosty Flights 1v1 from OutLitLIVE and Aipha Bot that ended with an Aipha Bot win. He was able to sneak away from the area with a plane, but it wasn't a happy ending for Aipha Bot. His internet cut out and he got killed by MSF Sheep and his sword.
Vivid continued to show off his skills with a pinpoint pump shot and some picks as people rotated to the zone. The circle closed around a mountain in the winter area, which led to a group of little houses built on the side.
MSF Sheep couldn't escape the sword bug forever. He died with the right-click bug he saved himself from earlier, ending with six kills.
72HRS made it toward the end of the game but died with only three kills after getting double-teamed during the rotations.
LZR Vide was the last one with the sword. He went off with it, securing all five of his eliminations in the game. He couldn't win in the end, though, as NolanLUL snagged his first Victory Royale of the night.
NolanLUL came from behind in the last two games, securing enough points to win the whole tournament. 72HRS, who had a strong outing, came in second.
Top 5:
Nolanlul: 9 Points
72HRS: 8 Points
Tyler15: 7 Points
YungChung: 7 Points
Legedien: 6 Points
Final Thoughts
The tournament was entertaining, but it highlighted some glaring problems with the current state of competitive Fortnite. Items like the Infinity Blade belong in an LTM, not in a $1 million tournament.
The planes were actually one of the problems that didn't get very much coverage. There seemed to be ten planes in the sky in every mid-game, and we saw what Shmecked was able to do with one.
Of course, we can't finish without mentioning that 72HRS likely would have won the whole thing had it not been for the blade bug.
The tournament was supremely entertaining, and part of that entertainment came from laughing at the sword and airplane plays. The regular gameplay took a backseat to some extent, with big plays being overshadowed by the anticipation of the sword's next appearance.
So, are these items bad for the competitive Fortnite scene? Probably, but you're lying if you say it wasn't fun to watch.
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