Gamers8 Fortnite LAN ended with dramatic EpikWhale and Malibuca win

Fortnite
August 2, 2022
Jordan Ashley

This weekend saw a bit of an unusual Fortnite event take place. The Saudi Gamers8 Fortnite LAN brought some of the top players together to compete for a huge prize pool. It featured in-person games matches between some of the best Fortnite players. Normally, Epic only holds very limited LAN events each year. This makes any occasion where players are in one room something to watch.

In all honesty, no body expected the finals to be as exciting as they were.

EpikWhale Malbuca Gamers8

Gamers8 Fortnite LAN

The Gamers8 Fortnite LAN saw teams competing for a share of a huge $2 million prize pool. The event was split between Zero Build and normal Fortnite Battle Royale. Epic is rolling out tests for Zero Build competitive, so it’s nice to see some more tournaments pop up for this side of the game.

The Gamers8 Fortnite LAN had some initial issues. The tournament invited loads of big names, like Tfue and Pokimane alongside other Fortnite pros. However, a lot of people didn’t want to attend. Some players even got quite heated on Twitter with those who were still choosing to attend. While there’s a decent prize pool at stale, some players chose not to attend since it was hosted in Saudi Arabia.

The Gamers8 competition isn’t the first event like this. Rocket League has had similar tournaments. In that event too, some notable names chose not to take part. The Fortnite tournament had some players missing like Bugha and Cented were missing. However, the players who did compete included some of Fortnite’s top talent.

Battle Royale Tournament

The final event for the normal Battle Royale game was eventually won by EpikWhale and Malibuca. These aren’t a duo who typically play together. This tournament was the first major they’ve played together as a duo.

Heading into the final game of four days of competition, there were three duos who still stood a chance at grabbing first place. The final match concluded with an epic finish. The players were packing tightly together as the storm began moving. Teams had to smash back through old builds. While the margin or error was almost eliminated. Any mistake in a stacked end game like that would cost a Duo their spot.

EpikWhale and Maribuca were pushing hard in the final minutes. After a tense clash eliminated most of the remaining lobby, the circle became a tiny mess of old builds.

Malibuca and Epik were stuck in the bottom of the builds with next to no breathing room. The two had to move through the storm, grabbing kills from stragglers while keeping themselves alive. This late-game saw the duo playing it risky.

There were just two teams remaining while Malibuca  was down to minimal builds. The duo was briefly separated with opponents taking the high ground. However, Malibuca pulled off  a risky play through the storm with the med mist to stay alive and regroup. The duo then killed the scuttled remaining enemies and took the Victory Royale for the whole tournament.

This was an insanely close final game. The type of match that shows how entertaining Fortnite can be at its highest tier. The two payers performing like this with their first tournament together is some impressive stuff.

No Builds Gamers8 Fortnite Tournament

The No Builds tournament was less stacked than the box fighting over in Battle Royale, but it was an entertaining round too. This tournament saw Pinq and Anas pull off an amazing comeback in the final game. The duo entered the match in fifth place. However, they managed to push their way into the top of the leaderboard in the final match.

A 12-kill game pushed them far up the rankings for the last match. Pinq and Anas took $250,000 for their victory in No Builds.

The Gamers8 Fortnite Invitational had a surprising outcome. EpikWhale and Malibuca’s victory was one of the most dramatic finishes recently. It’ll be interesting to say how this close dynamic plays out at the next official Epic LAN, the FNCS Invitational this winter.