Shroud explains why Fortnite isn’t for him

He has given Fortnite Chapter 2 a try, but it doesn’t sound like the Twitch sensation plans on going pro any time soon.

Ex Counter-Strike professional turned streaming superstar Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek has taken some time to play the latest Fortnite update and see what it’s all about. Best known for his near perfect aim, Shroud seems to be a God at any game he touches.

Fortnite isn’t brand new to Shroud, he played a decent amount in the earlier seasons and even competed in the original batch of Friday Fortnite tournaments. As a seasoned Battle Royale player, his game-sense is always going to be top tier, and with countless hours of PlayerUnknown’s Battlegrounds experience under his belt his positioning and awareness are on point.

However, Fortnite is unique. The building and editing mechanics make it a completely different beast, and this is where Shroud draws the line. Playing Squads with Nick “NickMercs” Kolcheff, Tim “TimTheTatman” Betar and Nate “NateHill” Hill, he opened up about his feelings on Fortnite. Speaking on the competitive side of the game, he told them “It’s fun to watch, but I could never be on that level”. Nick and Tim were quick to disagree, telling him that he could definitely get there if he put in the time.

It isn’t just Shroud who has this problem. The mechanical skill of professional and even average level Fortnite players has come so far that for anyone new it must seem nearly impossible to climb to the very top. This isn’t necessarily the case though, all the tools are there to help you develop in these areas, it’s just a case of dedicating the time to practice. For sure, if Shroud was to spend hours in Creative mode everyday grinding to perfect his builds and edits, a gamer of his calibre may well eventually start to catch up with the pros.

For Shroud, this really isn’t even a thought. As someone who prefers first person shooters and has a lot of success playing Apex Legends, he would rather stick to what he enjoys. He told his Twitch chat “I’m not going to lie, playing this game (Fortnite) makes Apex look three hundred times better”. With Call of Duty Modern Warfare dropping in a few days’ time, Shroud will have his hands full with games to play so it’s not likely we will see him back on the Battle Bus any time soon.

The question is, for someone who for whatever reason is yet to try Fortnite, or hasn’t played since the early days, is it too late? The answer, not at all. Skill-based matchmaking opens up the opportunity for people to learn the basics of the game without being instantly destroyed by a sweaty soccer skin the second they land. They can perfect their mechanics in Creative mode and watch pros gameplay on stream, along with YouTube guides on anything you can think of.

With Epic Games continuously devoting so much money to Fortnite tournaments, the competitive scene is only just getting started. No doubt this time next year we will be talking about players who are currently unknown, maybe even some who are yet to play a single match?