Aydan Banned for Smurfing in Arena Fortnite

Popular Fortnite pro player and Streamer Aydan was banned for using his smurf account in Arena.

Epic recently introduced skill-based matchmaking to Fortnite to help even the playing field. They now match similarly-skilled players across all platforms to help give everyone the best Fortnite experience.

Of course, this has led to above-average and top-tier players creating smurf accounts. For those who don't know, a smurf account is a low-level account that people use to get into lower-skilled games.

A lot of above-average players use smurf accounts when they get their main account to a high level in competitive modes. I have, for instance, used a smurf when I've reached my own personal skill ceiling in games like Overwatch, Apex Legends, and even Fortnite.

This usually isn't a problem for players such as myself. I'm above average, so I'm going to blow through the lower levels of competition but will start encountering fair games after a handful of matches.

I, like many other players, use a smurf as a way to protect the rank of my primary account. I'm nervous that I've reached the height of my rank, and don't want to lose it.

When pro players smurf, though, the results are a bit different. These players are at the top levels of competition, which means they can rack-up kills for several ranks before coming close to something that could be considered fair.

This is exactly what Ghost Aydan did. He used a smurf account to get high-kill games in Arena Mode.

That was until Epic caught on and banned his smurf account.

Aydan was just banned from Fortnite for "Exploiting" aka smurfing to get easier games. Throughout the night he was mocking and laughing at his viewers who were asking him to stop. He even laughed after being banned repeatedly saying "that's comedy" what do you guys make of this? pic.twitter.com/wtQYNXXBkd

— The Fortnite Guy (@The_FortniteGuy) October 1, 2019

Players like Aydan use smurf accounts for a few reasons. They can avoid the long wait times of high-level Arena matches, and they can get some solid content.

Aydan got 41 kills in the match before he was banned. A 41-kill Arena match has to be close to the highest of all time.

While most people aren't taking this infraction as seriously as The Fortnite Guy seems to be, it's good to see that Epic is taking steps to ban smurf accounts.

Aydan was just having fun and trying to make some content by going bot hunting in low-level Arena. This was not fun for his 41 victims, however, and Epic took note.

This ban - in part - shows Epic's dedication to the skill-based matchmaking system. It only works if everyone is appropriately ranked, and smurf accounts throw a wrench in all of this.

Aydan's main account is safe and his smurf only received a 24-hour ban.

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