From July 26-28, hundreds of competitive Fortnite players will descend on historic Arthur Ashe Stadium in New York to compete in the finals of the inaugural Fortnite World Cup.
The event, which will take place at the main stadium where the US Open takes place, will feature a $30 million prize pool -- one of the largest prize pools for an esports event. The tournament will feature two different competitions: a solo event, which features 100 individual players, and a duo event, which features 50 teams for a total of 100 players. Players ranging in age from 14 to 24 have qualified through taking part in 10 weeks of qualifiers, beginning in April and concluding in June.
Six different regions -- North America East, North America West, Europe, South America, Asia and Oceania -- will send players to the Fortnite World Cup.
In duos, 20 teams will come from Europe, 15 from North America East, five teams from North America West, three from South America, three from Asia, three from Oceania and one from China. In solos, 40 players from Europe will participate, 30 from North America East, 10 from North America West, seven from South America, seven from Asia, five from Oceania and one from China.
Unlike its previous Skirmish series, Epic Games did not release game-changing additions ahead of the World Cup qualifiers. On July 9, Epic Games released an update that includes a new air strike gameplay addition, sparking controversy on social media given the short amount of time between the patch and the World Cup. Whether the air strike mechanic will be available in the World Cup has not been announced yet.
Several notable players and influencers failed to qualify for the Fortnite World Cup. Tyler "Ninja" Blevins, who became the most popular Twitch streamer of all time through his entertaining Fortnite streams, did not place highly during qualifiers and will not participate in the main event in New York. Other Fortnite luminaries, including Team SoloMid livestreamer Ali "Myth" Kabbani, FaZe Clan superstar Dennis "Cloak" Lepore and Team Liquid's Thomas "72hrs" Mulligan, also won't be competing at the event.
Players to watch
Aydan -- duos
Considered one of the best players in Fortnite, the 20-year-old American has made a name for himself, particularly in duos tournaments in the past nine months. This weekend, Aydan "Aydan" Conrad will be competing alongside Ghost Gaming teammate Sean "Sean" Close, after finishing first in the North American West Week 8 World Cup qualifier. Aydan did not qualify for the solo portion of the event.
Aydan is known as a controller player, using a PlayStation 4 controller, unlike many other pros who play with a mouse and keyboard on PC. But that hasn't stopped him from gaining a significant following on social media, including nearly 600,000 subscribers on YouTube and over 1.2 million followers on Twitch. Aydan will be a highly viewed player, as one of the few major influencers competing in the World Cup events.
Clix -- solo and duos
Fourteen-year-old Cody "Clix" Conrod qualified for the Fortnite World Cup five different times, highlighted by placing first during Week 9 of the North American East qualifiers on June 9. The Connecticut-based superstar will be competing in the solo event, as well as with Griffin "Sceptic" Spikoski in the duos tournament throughout the weekend in New York.
In the past six months, Clix has gone from placing on the lower end of solo and duo tournaments to earning a contract with esports team Misfits and becoming a force in each of the World Cup qualifiers he has entered. Heading into the World Cup, Clix will be someone to watch, both in solo and duos.
Funk -- solo and duos
Like Clix, FaZe Clan's Trevor "Funk" Siegler also qualified for both the solo and duos tournaments of the Fortnite World Cup. Competing with Funk in duos will be FaZe Clan teammate Nate Hill, who together took third in the fourth week of the North America East qualifiers.
In the past year, Funk has won the Red Bull Rise Till Dawn event in Chicago in July 2018 and collected several high placements in the Fortnite Skirmish series. Funk placed second in the Fall Skirmish Finals at TwitchCon in San Jose, California, in October. Funk placed third twice, once alone and another time with Hill, in Weeks 3 and 4 of qualifiers.
Benjyfishy -- solo and duos
At only 15 years old, British Fortnite pro Benjy "Benjyfishy" David Fish has become a player to watch in the Fortnite competitive scene, qualifying for the World Cup three times throughout the qualifying period. He'll be teamed with his NRG Esports teammate Martin "MrSavage" Foss Andersen.
Together, Benjyfishy and MrSavage finished first in the World Cup Warmup event for the Europe region in April, and the two have had an impressive 2019. They will be competing against each other in the solo tournament, but in duos, they'll be a force to be reckoned with.
Mongraal -- solo and duos
Another young, British Fortnite star, Kyle "Mongraal" Jackson, heads into the Fortnite World Cup with a significant chance of taking home one of the biggest prize pools in esports history. Mongraal qualified for the World Cup three separate times, once in solo and twice in duos with Dmitri "Mitr0" Van de Vrie.
Since Mongraal began competing in major Fortnite tournaments in June 2018, he has had several first-place finishes, first at the June 15 edition of the UMG Friday Fortnite event and then Share The Love European event in March -- defeating the likes of Benjyfishy, among others. Mongraal and Mitr0 finished first in the European Luxe Cup in late March and third in the World Cup Warmup event for Europe in April.
Tfue -- solo
Turner "Tfue" Tenney is likely to be the most watched player during the entire Fortnite World Cup. Tfue did not qualify for the duos portion of the World Cup, after teaming with Cloak and placing only as high as sixth in the North America East qualifiers. But, Tfue took first in the third week of the North America East qualifiers in April, and his consistency and success over the past 18 months has been nothing short of incredible.
Tfue is one of the favorites going into the World Cup, and given his big audience, he'll be heavily cheered on at the event. In addition to his first-place finish in April, Tfue qualified for the World Cup a second time by finishing fifth in the seventh week of the North America East qualifiers. Given his history of successful solo bouts, it wouldn't be surprising if Tfue is the last player standing at the World Cup.