Should pickaxing towards opponents be considered teaming?

Due to the lack of mobility items in season 11, players have resorted to swinging their pickaxe at one another to signal a rotational “truce”

The problem only recently gained traction; players are frustrated that the lack of mobility items creates unnecessary zone RNG. When Chapter 2 arrived, a majority of the loot pool was purged. Among the items vaulted were (literally) every rotational tool: launch pads, bouncers, and shock waves

Now the problem has reached new heights, as Mongraal highlighted a scenario where about 10 players rotated into the next safe zone right next to each other… Oh and by the way, this was a solo game

you know something is fucked up with the game balance when everyone decides to pickaxe swing to rotate. it's nearly impossible to play solos with 1500 mats so people decide to do this: from r/FortniteCompetitive

Players are quite divided by this dilemma - let’s break down both sides

Pickaxing is teaming

Pickaxing should be considered teaming because Epic Games has listed teaming through both verbal and non-verbal communication as a bannable offense. Tucked away in their terms of service, this is what you’d see

The most important thing to note here is that Epic specifically went out of their way to recognize non-verbal communication can still lead to teaming. Although you might not be in a call with LittleTimmy11123, linking arms with him on the battlefield for a nice stroll to the next zone may very well be an infringement of the rules

YourFellowArab commented on the issue in a rather… interesting way. In a Twitter video, he 200 IQ jebaited an opponent by fake-pickaxing and instantly whipping out an SMG for 150 damage

I DON'T CARE WHAT YOU THINK...

Pickaxing is TEAMING! pic.twitter.com/CJjyHoOkP8

— Arab (@YourFellowArab) November 21, 2019

If this isn’t modern ingenuity, I don’t know what is. Orgs, sign this man real quick

UnknownArmy has also been a vocal adversary of the pickaxe movement. In a tirade, he announced to his Twitter feed that anyone trying to “collude” with him would be met with a big ‘ole serving of L2

Stop making me W key if you pickaxe at me your dying cuz im not colluding

— Unknown ( Undefeated in 1v1s ) (@UnknownxArmy1x) November 21, 2019

Pickaxing is not teaming

Pickaxing should not be considered teaming because there isn’t a specific victim that would be negatively affected. For example, teaming up with another player to eliminate someone else is a blatant form of teaming. But since everyone has to rotate by foot, it’s simply impossible for a majority of players to survive without a temporary truce

If Epic set a precedent banning pickaxe rotations, it would lead to a slippery slope. Consider a full lobby focusing one edge zone rotator… wouldn’t this also be considered a form of teaming, if we were to go by the rule book? If anything, full lobby spray would be even more incriminating than rotational truces since the former gangs up on a single person, whereas the latter doesn’t

Issa from Ghost Gaming brings up an alternative viewpoint that hasn’t been considered yet

what are you supposed to do then lol shoot everyone you see? if someone actually gets banned for this im done

— issa (@issa) November 21, 2019

If not shooting an opponent is inherently wrong, EVEN when disadvantageous to do so, a heavy handed ruling in this case could extend to many other situations. There are countless scenarios where letting a player pass by without engaging is the smarter play, mid-game rotations just happen to be one

My opinion

I’m reluctantly siding with “not teaming” on this one. With everything considered, elite players are stuck at a crossroad. Play passive with fellow rotators and get to zone safely, or charge at the first guy you see with a very high probability of getting eliminated

The real solution here is to add a smidge of mobility back into the game. A launch pad would do the trick perfectly. It’s a community item, meaning multiple players can recycle it in a way that feels less… shady

Should this behaviour be considered teaming? Let me know your thoughts on Twitter