The 2023 FNCS Global Championship was a Fortnite Battle Royale tournament held in Copenhagen, Denmark, on October 13–15, 2023, played in duos. The tournament was the first FNCS Global Championship and the culmination of the 2023 Fortnite Champion Series, the premier Fortnite Battle Royale competitive circuit. It was held at the Royal Arena and featured a $4,000,000 prize pool. The tournament took place on three days, the first two acting as qualifiers for the third day's Grand Finals, which was won by Cooper 'Cooper' Smith and Matthew 'Mero' Faitel, who were crowned Fortnite World Champions.
Overview Eventual winning duo Cooper 'Cooper' Smith and Matthew 'Mero' Faitel formed in April 2023 after the latter had initially retired but decided to let a coin toss decide if he would play with the former; the coin toss went in Smith's favor. The duo qualified to the Global Championship through a second place finish in FNCS Major 2. At the Global Championship, the duo ended up qualifying for the Grand Finals, despite having been relegated to the Lower Bracket on day one. They then won the grand finals with 330 points and the most total eliminations of any duo, albeit without any Victory Royales. Besides sharing $1,000,000 in prize money, Smith and Faitel were awarded a trophy made by Swarovski featuring the FNCS logo. Polish duo Michał 'Kami' Kamiński and Iwo 'Setty' Zając were often regarded as favorites ahead of the tournament, having won the previous year's FNCS Invitational LAN, but they finished as runners up with 271 points.
Only nine players who qualified for the 2019 Fortnite World Cup went on to qualify for the 2023 Global Championship.
In the day one Upper Bracket, Japanese duo Nomura 'Pepoclip' Yuma and Yamada 'Zagou' Yuto notably circumvented the storm surge mechanic – a mechanic punishing the duos that have dealt the least amount of damage to others – by healing a knocked opponent and damaging him, accruing damage to avoid storm surge, and eventually qualifying to the Grand Finals.
Being a global LAN, the tournament featured a rivalry between Europe and North America. Though the winners were North American, nine Victory Royales were achieved by European duos across the tournament, compared to five by North American duos.
Broadcast The tournament was officially broadcast by Epic Games on Twitch and YouTube in English, Portuguese and Japanese. The English broadcast featured the following team: +RoleKnown asReal nameBroadcast host ZekeZeke MateusStage host FrankieFrankie WardCaster Jacob PRJacob Arce MonsterDfaceJavier Collazo TheBestTacoMelissaAnalyst Kelly LinkKelly Link Leven2kDaniel MiniMinerScott VividNoah Wright The event was the most-watched Fortnite tournament since the World Cup in terms of peak viewership, reaching over 720,000 viewers, but would later be surpassed in that regard by the two subsequent Global Championships.
Qualification Qualification took place in FNCS Majors 1–3 2023, as well as in the FNCS Last Chance Major. Between Majors 1 and 2, the regions North America East and North America West were combined into North America Central. Thus, duos qualified to the Global Championship through all three North American regions. + rowspan="2" Europe North America Brazil Asia Middle East OceaniaEastCentralWestMajor 1(March 2023) Merstach & TaySon Malibuca & Th0masHD Acorn & Cold— Thorik & Boltz Phzin & Kitoz Pepoclip & Zagou QnDx & Rapit Suns & AnonMajor 2(May 2023) Queasy & Veno Vanyak3k & Karmy Setty & Kami Gripey & Flickzy IDrop & Mappi— Dukez & Edgey Cooper & Mero Pollo & Sphinx— K1nG & Fazer Yuma & Jaemon Kalgamer & 7man Sorif & SkitsMajor 3(August 2023) SwizzY & Putrick TruleX & Chico Misha & t3eny Blacha & Mikson Robban & Axeforce Snayzy & PodaSai Vic0 & Pinq Grolzz & Klown Fastroki & Kylie P1ng & Kyry Ajerss & Khanada Bugha & Threats Rise & Eomzo Brycx & Chubs Bacca & Parz BatmanBugha & Rapid Ritual & Reet Muz & Paper Bucke & Okis Source & Yumi 916Gon & Pingu Nuti & Gabzera Stryker & azadasz Boby & Larkpex Stain & DayDus Mkmkpapa & Shelom Mshx & Rew FHD & Hero RepulseGod & Jace Alex & WorthyLast Chance Major(August 2023) MrSavage & Vadeal NeFrizi & Howly Kyzen & Clement Hen & Vaske Vortex & Belusi Fnajen & Moneymaker JannisZ & Rezon kirb1 & fiR3hUNTER Liwshe & Stenno Bylah & Peterbot Cented & Pxlarized Death & Tahi Clix & EpikWhale Kwanti & Tkay Krisp & Noxy Fatch & PaMstou Bully & Shadow Talls & Fishy Diguera & Persa Frosty & WeY Dog & Raru Cl4x & Wickesy Zazi & DFM Adapter & FKS Gazer & Riverr Source: esports.gg
Team changes Russian players Egor 'SwizzY' Luciko, Daniil 'Putrick' Abdrakhmanov, NeFrizi, Vladislav 'Howly' Korobkin and Alexander 'fiR3hUNTER' Vysotsky were disqualified before the event due to the Russo-Ukrainian war. The qualification spots belonging to Luciko & Abdrakhmanov and NeFrizi & Korobkin were rolled down to Charyy & Artur 'G13ras' Gierasimowicz and Lukas 'Cheatiin' Luhn & Wilmer 'Pixie' Juriander, respectively. Other Russian players such as Danila 'Malibuca' Iakovenko were allowed to play because of qualifying outside of Russia. Cl4x could not obtain a visa to compete at the event. Cl4x and Vysotsky's respective teammates – kirb1 and Jack 'Wickesy' Withers – played the tournament together.
At the event, Oceanian Major 3 winners Morgan 'RepulseGod' Bamford and Jace were disqualified from the event due to another player having qualified on Bamford's account. Logan 'Bucke' Eschenburg got disqualified for violating the tournament's Code of Conduct, reportedly specifically for smoking and drinking while streaming at the tournament, which was not allowed. Thus, Eschenburg's teammate Arnel 'Okis' Avdagic played the tournament alone.
Format The tournament began with the Upper Bracket session on October 13 featuring all teams 49 qualified from the regular FNCS tournaments. The top 25 teams from the Upper Bracket qualified to the Grand Finals, while the remaining 24 competed against the teams qualified from the Last Chance Major in the Lower Bracket on October 14 for the remaining 25 Grand Finals spots. The Grand Finals took place on October 15. The Upper and Lower Brackets featured five matches each, and the Grand Finals featured six.
Teams were awarded points for outliving opposing teams, eliminating them, and completing in-game objectives as follows: PlacementPoints1st652nd563rd524th485th446th407th388th369th3410th3211th3012th2813th26 +PlacementPoints14th2415th2216th2017th1818th1619th1420th1221st1022nd823rd624th425th226th–50th0 +ActionPointsEach elimination4Forecast Tower capture3Rift Loot Island capture15
Rules for classification: 1) Points; 2) Total victory royales; 3) Average eliminations in the session; 4) Average placement in the session; 5) Total seconds survived in across all matches
Source: Epic Games
Leaderboards
+ Upper BracketTeamResults by match123451. Acorn Cold652417583463252. Queasy Veno1720296473512513. Reet Ritual2568300193652494. Eomzo Rise10344350172172275. Kami Setty4908457342222176. Alex Worthy113110162851142087. Chico TruleX14128032121341888. charyy G13ras1231103401344801879. Boby Larkpex2923202116318218410. Bacca Parz989419110241017411. Flickzy Gripey1823621214427317012. Fastroki Kylie3537214531319215813. Muz Paper411390887213315614. Malibuca Th0masHD1344803322744014915. Axeforce Robban380536425139214416. Bugha Threats3012722901842913617. Blacha Mikson2111931511109113418. Merstach TaySon532214239132113219. axadasz Stryker1621523609317112620. Pollo Sphinx37023148011249012321. Pepoclip Zagou2821622833507410522. Mshx Rew4541043045023310123. Boltz THORIK3501021212422809924. Misha t3enyy460440312261489525. IDrop Mappi4501231012903109126. FHD Hero270134450271829027. 916Gon Pingu262450170420559028. Cooper Mero2041823924111618829. Karmy Vanyak3kk2312431364902928430. Kyry P1ng3254902324601048231. Batman Bugha Rapid1523601123013828032. Gabzera Nuti401732503601507833. Pinq vic0823304002153707434. QnDx Rapit3123412634301246835. Kitoz Phzin390301763304506636. Source Yumi714304101614306637. 7man Kalgamer3402922412821425638. Jaemon Yuma2211403203212015639. Mkmkpapa Shelom4404002721522115240. Ajerss Khanada4801744904702435041. Grolzz Klown1743102003703015042. PodaSai Snayzy2532501812003604843. Fazer K1nG1904602202322514244. Brycx Chubs3602604202232633545. Okis4302124604404612246. Dukez Edgey4704223703424001647. DayDus Stain2424704704804201248. Anon Suns420381380381330849. Skits Sorif3313504404004704
+ Lower BracketTeamResults by matchPrize money123451. MrSavage Vadeal11413385293182492. Ajerss Khanada4511265131902333. Brycx Chubs1535292350812174. Batman Bugha Rapid3419252430572145. Kwanti Tkay154432601061142006. Gabzera Nuti3115471821321847. Liwshe Stenno66282124370621768. Cheatiin Pixie141162344201001719. Bylah Peterbot211202353907616810. Krisp Noxy480833331553316611. Kitoz Phzin732845024428116212. Pinq vic036139220311130416113. Hen Vaske1x10442010440117515914. Fnajen Moneymaker3801053824704615015. PodaSai Snayzy811623213120214816. Grolzz Klown440652813102614417. Cooper Mero2426311538036114118. Source Yumi543229444016013819. JannisZ Rezon1817215117123413620. Karmy Vanyak3kk1244512206115313421. Dukez Edgey2823001820333113322. Mkmkpapa Shelom280911637446012723. Clement Kyzen9433314118442012224. Cented Pxlarized2301212533025112025. DayDus Stain1904803115512111426. Fishy Talls136251171323241113$4,00027. Clix EpikWhale16414224014021111028. FHD Hero47021434016422410129. Frosty WeY3001541831913229230. 7man Kalgamer251430463413129031. QnDx Rapit2431813032501948032. 916Gon Pingu400460420253807633. Belusi Vortex4103502112311857534. Death Tahi2032734403601426835. Jaemon Yuma3232214801134806636. Bully Shadow430370460433506037. Fatch PaMstou1713401304102615238. Aim Zazi340410351933705039. Fazer K1nG3302913601222714440. Diguera Persa4504002722164304241. Kyry P1ng2244702522713403842. Skits Sorif3703664134804503643. Kirb1 wickesy2611703712812913444. Adapter FKS3513111924504703045. Dog Raru4222324302613902946. Anon Suns2702424703014122447. Gazer River3904404002224401648. Okis4613803904604004
+LegendColorMovementAdvancement to Grand FinalsRelegation to Lower BracketElimination from tournament Source: esports.net