The Fortnite Summer Smash returned to Melbourne Park this year as a feature of the Australian Open. The Summer Smash is Australia’s biggest gaming event.
J-Pop star cum rapper ELLY / CRAZYBOY was in town for the Pro-Am where he played trios with Neckokun and CR Ruri. They were one of 30 teams in the 4 match Pro-Am and grabbed Victory Royale in the third match.
“It was exciting, man,” ELLY said. “Ruri did a good job. We were nervous at first, but it was a good game.” ELLY’s team finished eighth in the final results and won $3000 for charity.
But the highlight of the Pro-Am was the 9 player congo line in Match 2. When Zayt started shooting it up he was booed by the crowd.
The trio of Lachlan, Enschway and MrFreshAsian topped the leaderboard at the end.
Photo: Tennis Australia
The next day, the Solos Event hosted 90 of the best Fortnite players from 11 countries, including BenjyFishy, Psalm, Ceice, Elevate, Replays, MrFreshAsian, EpikWhale, and World Cup duo winner Nyhrox. The players competed for a total of $400,000 prize money.
The players were invited to participate by the event organisers instead of having to qualify. The organisers decided that they would not incorporate the map update due out the day before the tournament and would instead play on the last patch.
Breso from Brisbane won the $100,000 first prize. He became the first controller player to win a major Fortnite event. Four of the top 20 players used controller. Breso mainly used a shotgun and had great rotations and aim, though some Fortniters will debate the role of aim assist in his win.
One of the favourites to win the tournament, English player BenjyFishy, 15, wasn’t able to play at his best, placing at 13 on the final leaderboard. Just before the tournament he had talked about his full-on jetlag after making his first trip to the southern hemisphere for the event. “I’ve been on, like, 22 hours of travelling and I was already tired.”
On a local note, Mitch Robinson, winger for the AFL team Brisbane Lions, also competed. In esports, he plays for The Chiefs. Mitch recently switched from controller to keyboard. He had some good moments including taking out World Cup qualifier Jordan.
One of the highlights of the Solos event was the crowd booing Squeakz when he wiggled after a kill. A major highlight was the Match 5 win to 13 year old Kquid and his finish at fifth place overall.
Videos From The Event
AO Summer Smash featuring Fortnite Pro-Am event | Australian Open 2020