What is the FNCS? – Fortnite Champion Series Explained

The FNCS Major 3 will be our final open event of the year. We’ll get to see the top players in Fortnite competing for their last chance at the LAN. What exactly is the FNCS though?

The biggest event in Fortnite has been here for most of the seasons at this point. But if you’ve not gotten involved yet, then the whole structure might be a bit confusing. With its many Majors, not to mention running different events for different seasons. This is how the whole FNCS works and what you need to know about it:

What is FNCS?

The FNCS is the premier circuit for Fortnite esports. It’s a seasonal event which runs with Majors each season, before a big LAN that closes things out.

It started out as a standard in-game tournament. Quite a bit bigger than the cash cups, but kind of a step below the Fortnite World Cup. It began the season after the Worldwide event. With slightly lower prize pools, but a more regular format. In the years since it’s become a bigger circuit though. With a proper LAN and a sense of progress through the Chapter.

What Does FNCS stand for?

FNCS stands for Fortnite Champion Series! It’s essentially the series of events to find the Fortnite Champion. With a seasonal event, followed by a LAN to find the overall champion internationally at the end of the Chapter.

The Fortnite FNCS name is more branding for the overall high level esports. It doesn’t have some big meaning behind it anymore! Epic’s even used it for a Pro-Am of streamers at once point. The tournament itself is still the most exciting Fortnite event though.

What are the rules of Fortnite FNCS?

The rules are roughly the same as you’ll find in all tournaments. There are quite a few changes from the main pubs game mode. These are the special FNCS tournament rules:

• Siphon – An extra mechanic compared to standard Fortnite. You get some healing over time after each kill.
• Storm Surge – A mechanic in all Fortnite, but rarely activated in Battle Royale. Storm Surge applies storm damage to the team with the lowest damage if too many people survive.

Those are the extra rules, the storm mechanics in particular change things a lot. The other rules for the tournament are mainly for progression. These are a little different from year to year. But the current FNCS runs like this:

Divisional Cups

The opening, qualification stage. Players are put into a Division. Each week, they compete in Divisional Cups. These are larger cups where players get points for survival and eliminations. At the end of the session, their points place them on an overall leaderboard. The highest-ranking teams move forward. In Divisional Cup Tier 1, the highest placing teams move forward to the next round.

Play In

The Play In is the next stage. It’s a more serious time, but still quite open. The teams who qualification from the last spot play in a day two stage. Those at the top move to the Group Stage. It runs roughly the same as the Divisional Cups, but entrants are more limited.

Group Stage

This is where things start to get interesting. The big Fortnite servers get three groups and the others get two. Players compete in a series of five games per day. With the winners of the games moving to the finals. At the end, the top five also move forward. Meaning players should win a game, or perform very well to make it to the top.

Last Chance Qualifier

The final qualification stage for the FNCS. The only second chance teams get. If a squad didn’t make it through the Group Stage, they’ll enter this lobby. It’s two days with six games a day. The winners again move forward to the Majors. It’s a much more unreliable way of getting to the Finals though.

FNCS Grand Finals

This is what everything has been building too. It’s the Fortnite FNCS Finals. Two days, with every region playing over a single weekend. There are six games a day. With players getting points for eliminations or kills.

At the end, the leaderboard decides who gets the Fortnite prize pool along with qualification to the LAN at the end of the year.

Global Championship FNCS LAN

The last Fortnite FNCS event of the year is the Global Championship LAN. This stage is just for the winners or high placing Trios from the other three majors. It’s limited to a single lobby. Just the best Fortnite players from around the world, in one room and one lobby.

Who is the Best Fortnite Player of All Time?

It’s played the same as a Grand Finals. But the prize pool is bigger and competition is much tougher.

Who can take part in the FNCS?

Anyone can take part in the FNCS! It’s an open tournament. Although, the barrier to entry is more skill than anything official. The FNCS is still kept open for everyone, but it’s getting harder and harder to enter. Players now have to make it through the Divisional Cups to get into the proper tournament, which keeps most players out of the event.

Essentially, if you’re good enough to make the FNCS, it still takes luck and six good games in the qualifiers. If you are good enough though, anyone can take part in the FNCS.

When are FNCS Majors held?

The FNCS Majors are now a seasonal event. Every full season of the game gets an FNCS Major, typically in the second half before the Fortnite season ends.

Mini seasons don’t get an FNCS though. In the last two, we haven’t had many tournaments. The last one saw the Pro-Am held, but no big tournament. The two before that only ran Cash Cups.

The fourth (and final) season of each Chapter is a little different too. We get an LAN instead of a Major. This is roughly the same as a Major, but it’s a conclusion to the circuit. It isn’t technically a Major.

At What Point Does an FNCS Become a LAN Event?

The FNCS runs every year with just one LAN! We get three Majors, and a LAN to close things up. Everything outside of the year ending Global Championship is an online Major. The grand international final is the LAN, after all the majors have found the competitors.

This year, we also got an FNCS Pro-Am that was a LAN. That was a random invitational rather than something that happens every year.

Solo, Duos, Trios, and Squads – What Format is the FNCS?

The FNCS has in the past, been run in every format! But over the years it has settled into just a handful of formats. We normally get Duos, or Trios.

Since Blast took over the FNCS, it’s only been these two formats. Duos is probably the most popular form for Fortnite tournaments and esports. It balances the survivability and focus on tactics with the bigger action you get in teams. Solos tends to encourage ridiculously passive play. Squads often gets far too messy.

Trios is the current format. It’s also about as big as the team sizes can get before it gets very complicated.

Although, in the future, we could see the other formats return in the future. It would probably need a change in the exact rules if it goes for squads though. We’ve already seen the storm surge get a bit weird and exploitable in Trios. In Squads, the top teams trading surge would push the cut-off to very high levels. Similarly, Solos has always proven less interesting to spectate for Fortnite esports.

How Can Someone Qualify for FNCS Majors?

To qualify for Majors, all players have to do is enter and come in high at the Divisional Cups. In some seasons, your starting placement is determined by a test cup. But in current Fortnite seasons, we get Divisional Cups. You play in a cash cup style format, with your placement deciding if you’re moving up a divisional, down, or staying put.

At the end of the FNCS Divisional Cups, the players in the top division move forward to the Play In. Get through every round and you’ll make it to the FNCS Major Grand Finals!

How do I Join Fortnite tournaments?

To join Fortnite FNCS tournaments, all you need to do is select the tournament’s playlist and load in on time! But to do that, you’ll need to fit certain account requirements to be tournament eligible. These are the requirements to join Fortnite tournaments:

• Be over 13
• Be over the Rank Requirement for each event (It’s low or most events)
• Compete in 14 tournaments over 180 days to enter cash events.
• Agree to Epic’s terms and conditions
• Enable 2FA
• Be over 300 in account level

That’s all you need to join Fortnite tournaments. The FNCS is a bit different though. There’s a much larger skill gap between your average player and competitors there. So, it’ll take a lot of grinding and practise to make it to the FNCS.