Fortnite Zero Build is a revolutionizing, fast-paced, and skill-demanding game mode introduced as a limited game mode back at the beginning of Chapter 3, Season 2. As the name suggests, any form of structure building is disabled in Zero Building, forcing players to match their skills in an open field. The overwhelmingly positive reception of the game mode resulted in the return of many players and long queue times. Although Zero Build reignited the love for Fornite in many returning players, the mode was initially only available for a limited time. However, seeing the unconditional love for Zero Build and its outright success, Epic Games decided to bring back Zero Build permanently, reinstating it in the v20.00 update.
Image Credit: Epic Games
On April 30th and May 1st, Twitch Rivals hosted the Twitch Rivals: Fortnite Zero Build Showdown II event. Fortnite Zero Build Showdown II featured three separate regions – Europe, the Middle East and Africa (EMEA), Latin America (LATAM), and North America (NA). Each region had thirty-three teams competing in six Fortnite games. The prize pool for each region was $100,000, with the first team winning $21,000, the second one $15,000, and the third one $10,500. The players with the most eliminations also received an additional $700.
Teams were awarded points depending on their placement. For example, players ending the round in 2nd to 5th place were awarded 15 points and extra points for each elimination, with the number of points awarded decreasing by three for every placement tier (6th to 10th place were awarded 12 points, 11th to 15th place were awarded 9 points, and so on). The winner of each round was awarded with eighteen points along with additional points gained from eliminating other players.
The items banned from Twitch Rivals were:
- Tanks
- Tents
- Armored Battle Buses
EMEA and LATAM
The biggest names participating in Fortnite Zero Build Showdown II from the EMEA region were Bella “GirlyBella” Huss, Hugh “DestinysJesus” Gilmour, Olivia “Loeya” Sigg, and Xiunder. However, according to the casters, the favorites were the teams led by Amar “Amar” Al-Naimi and Marin “MrSavage” Foss Anderson.
The team led by Giorgio POW3Rtv Calandrelli dominated game one, easily eliminating six players and taking over the map. During game two, MrSavage’s team had the upper hand until they realized GirlyBella was hiding and waiting for the right time to strike them. Unfortunately, Mr.Savage’s team swiftly eradicated their competition, leaving GirlyBella alone and surrounded. In her final effort, GirlyBella jumped out, trying to strike Mr.Savage’s team down, but she was rapidly taken out.
Game three was a clear-cut POW3Rtv victory due to taking the high ground early in the game. The fourth game was complete chaos that ended with a climactic open-field bang, allowing KayzahR to take the win. Game five was a nail-bitter since, as the storm was closing in, only two teams were left, led by Kamil “ewroon” Lachowski and Aleksa “Queasy” Cvetkovic. But, ewroon, against all odds, managed to blast Queasy’s team from the map with a shockwave.
The final game got the fans sitting on the edges of their seats since POW3Rtv’s team was eliminated early in the game, allowing the Solary team to catch up. The French gaming org needed over twenty eliminations and a win to clinch first place in the event, and though they won the round, they ended up being just a single point behind POW3Rtv‘s team.
The team captained by Leonardo “loud_leleo” Arcanjo clearly dominated LATAM, with the next contender being 39 points behind them. The team undisputedly won games one, two, and six, while consistently ranking above the average in other matches.
NA
The North America Twitch Rivals event was stacked with talent, with Acorn, EyaPixie, Turner “Tfue” Tenney, Nicholas “NickEh30” Amyoony, and Zemie participating in the tournament. However, in this unbelievably competitive environment, Michael “Shroud” Grzesiek and Ali “SypherPK” Hassan were the caster’s favorites.
Zemie confidently overtook game one due to his intelligent high-ground positioning. During game two, Tfue was the last man standing against Alex “AlexRamiGaming” Ramirez. In spite of investing a lot of resources to stay alive, the surrounding storm eventually forced Tfue to give in. Game three was a clean and swift win by the team led by Mack “MackWood” Aesoph.
Since the beginning of game four, it was evident that the match would be an intense fight between Team Acorn and Team Zamie. In a final open-field stand-off, Team Acorn took down each member of Team Zemie and snatched the win right under their feet. Team SypherPK ran the show in game five with a whopping twenty eliminations.
Game six, similarly to EMEA’s final game, was a blast. Since Zamie’s team was out of the game relatively early, everyone believed that this was Tfue’s opportunity to win. However, Tfue’s team was heartbreakingly eliminated when they encountered HeadShotChick’s team, leaving Team Zamie in the first place in the overall standings.
