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Fortnite: Professional Players Accused of Stream Sniping During FNCS Semi-Finals

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Fortnite: Professional Players Accused of Stream Sniping During FNCS Semi-Finals

Accusations of stream sniping from Fortnite pros are rocking the professional scene right now.

Week One of the Fortnite Champion Series for Chapter Two is underway, but not without controversy. With a piece of the $5M USD prize pool and a spot in the Finals up for grabs, every match holds much more importance than before. Unfortunately for Davis “100T Ceice” McClellan, Hayden “100T Elevate” Krueger, River “Liquid Riversan” Handley and Hydra, they will not participate in the FNCS Week One Finals due to evidence of stream sniping. The alleged stream sniping came at the hands of Williams “NRG Zayt” Aubin, Rocco “Ghost Saf” Morales, Tyler “HighSky” Tereso and Josh “TSM Commandment” Roach. The players mentioned above qualified for the Week One Finals, whereas Krueger and his teammates did not.

The Accusation

Krueger of 100 Thieves narrated Aubins’ gameplay. He concluded that the opposing professional team methodically rotated and picked them off to eliminate their qualifying chances. As Krueger pointed out , the squad of Aubin, Morales, Tereso, and Roach rotated and positioned themselves perfectly to wipe the former NA West squad. Later on in the clip, Krueger also indicates that he believes Morales’ pause while looting suggests that he is tabbing out to view the opposing player’s streams. For Kruger and company, they ultimately finished semi-finals in 121st place. Well short of the top-25 needed to qualify for the Finals of Week One.

The Response

NRG Esports’ Aubin composed his response to the stream sniping accusation in a Twitlonger shortly after the semi-finals concluded.

“Here is what happened :

Last patch, Middle island got removed and we have NO loot if we land risky, we need North Bridge to have barely enough loot to play.

Multiple times Riversan/Ceice/Elevate/Hydra fought us there. We were going through the last two games and we saw Riversan die in the killfeed, we decided to push craggy since we know they land there and we killed them. We didn't push cause we hate them or anything, its almost the same thing as fighting off spawn.

Also for the people saying we are stream sniping, there isn't five way out of Craggy, you can clearly see me going into Craggy, and I didn't see anyone, Commandment was at the bridge and spotted their boat, and then I went for a flank.”

Stream sniping is a serious allegation in the current state of esports competitions on all streaming platforms. In the past, we’ve seen many professional Fortnite players fall victim to stream snipers in the middle of tournaments. It is not often that competitors at the level of Aubin face stream sniping claims. For Krueger and his teammates, there’s no way of proving that Aubins’ team committed the act. Aubin is synonymous with not streaming tournaments to eliminate stream snipers and potential strategy mirroring.

Twitter Heat

A conflict between Aubin and Hydra escalated rather quickly on Twitter, with Aubin defending his stance. The NRG Esports competitor continued backing up the idea that his squad saw Handley’s gamer tag in the elimination feed and took advantage. This allowed Aubin and company to nullify a potential crossing of paths as each team rotated into the next safe zone. Stream sniping is an unfortunate risk that comes along with high-level esports competitions. Whether Aubins’ team knowingly committed the act or not, this is something that professional players have to deal with every stream.

What’s Next?

Former Secret Skirmish Champion, Timothy “Bizzle” Miller of Ghost Gaming, chimed in on the stream sniping and griefing allegations. NA East is one of the prevalent regions in competitive Fortnite — and these players have learned each other’s habits through months of competition. This situation ultimately poses the question; will the former NA West squad will stream the FNCS Week 2 qualifier. This decision would be the ultimate counter to what they believe is an instance of stream sniping. It does not seem likely that Krueger and his teammates will alter their strategy. Aubin and his squad are eligible to qualify during the Week One Final after placing inside the top 25. Only time will tell what will come of this situation. But we can safely assume that Aubin, Morales, Tereso and Roach will face no discipline without suitable evidence.

Avatar of Matt Pryor
Matt Pryor
Matt is a graduate of Southern New Hampshire University. He appreciates all esports titles but primarily focuses on Fortnite and Call of Duty. Matt continuously analyzes gameplay and plays the games himself to better understand in-game decisions by the best players in the world.