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Another high-profile squad has joined the burgeoning Fortnite competitive scene. In a tweet that echoes the Fortnite Battle Royale motto, and Team Liquid’s own statement earlier this week, OpTic Gaming announced that they’re ready to drop in. Audiences can look forward to seeing Kenneth “BaldyKun” Anderson, Robert “WizKay” Simone, Marco “MarkyWap” Soto, and Dade “Dramas” Lesch fight for the ever-elusive Victory Royale. In a press release posted on Greenwall, the team showed they are brimming with confidence. MarkyWap states, “We just kind of took the scene by storm,” and reminds audiences that they hold numerous in-game records.

https://twitter.com/OpTicGaming/status/1004882697351618560

OpTic Gaming and the future of competitive Fortnite

OpTic’s roster has a deep history of competitive play, even if not necessarily rooted in battle royale games. The majority of the team originated as Call of Duty players; BaldyKun claims he began playing Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 competitively at the age of 11. The players then independently made their way to H1Z1, where they experienced the battle royale genre for the first time. It was in this game that the now-teammates first met one another. A self-professed 4,000 hours (each) later, WizKay, MarkyWap, and Dramas switched to Fortnite.

These players have already shown extreme commitment to their game titles of choice. In their Greenwall press release, MarkyWap even admits that the past four months of his life have been dedicated to Fortnite. 

Meanwhile, other members of OpTic Gaming have been embracing Fortnite in their own ways. Aside from streaming, another member of the organization, Davis “Hitch” Edwards, hosted the third “Summertime Showdown” tournament. With a $5,000 prize, 50 co-ed duos duked it out in a race to score the most eliminations per match. This tournament was endorsed by Turtle Beach, and featured noteworthy players such as Ali “Myth” Kabbani of Team SoloMid. Though Fortnite does not have a competitive mode of its own, players such as Hitch have taken it upon themselves to fill the void. Furthermore, events such as UMG Gaming’s Friday Fortnite draw millions of viewers each week, fostering the competitive community in advance of Epic’s own plans. With the Pro Am 2018 less than a week away, and $100 million in prize money attached to Fortnite’s pro scene, this stormy island is about to get a lot more crowded.