With tens of millions of Fortnite players all over the world, whittling them down to the best of the best is no mean feat. But that's exactly what Epic did at this year's Fortnite World Cup, where the world's top players from all major territories went head to head in singles and duos competition to compete for the grand prize of them all. And that's exactly what 16-year-old Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf did when he accrued just shy of 60 points to take the top spot in the rankings and a massive $3 million in prize money.
Bugha's rise to prominence in the first ever Fortnite World Cup was far from prophesized though. He only turned professional in April 2019, taking eighth-place in the duo World Cup Warmup in the North American West territory. He placed first in the first qualifiers for the world cup, but was placed far lower for the rest of the weeks that followed. His highest placing was sixth, with his lowest as far down as 177th.
Game one of the Solo #FortniteWorldCup is dominated by @bugha who picks up 9 eliminations along the way!
Some incredible plays from him through the late circles after he saved his movement to clutch up a memorable Victory Royale.
Watch here: https://t.co/MuOsVmQfx4 pic.twitter.com/L5LEMZVfa2— Fortnite Competitive (@FNCompetitive) July 28, 2019
But none of that mattered come the world cup on July 28, where he took the solo championships after securing a dominating performance against stiff competition. He won the first game in emphatic fashion, setting the tone for the rest of the event. While he didn't win any more Victory Royales, he did place highly enough in the following games that he ended up with 59 points. To give that some context, Psalm, who came second following strong performances and a win in Game 4, only managed to build up 33 points.
Bugha, it seems, is in a class of his own.
