Tyler “Ninja” Blevins hasn’t punched his ticket to the Fortnite World Cup quite yet, but his duos partner just did.
The latest round of Fortnite World Cup qualifiers concluded with another 20 players heading to the $30 million tournament. Included on that list were a number of notable names including Huynh “Kinstaar” Duong Huynh, T1’s Woohyeon “Arius” Seo, and Gambit Esports’ Do “Hood.J” Hwan Kim. However, the biggest name on the list is Malachi “Reverse2k” Greiner.
Best known as Ninja’s recent duos partner in the Fortnite World Cup qualifiers, the player took second place in the North America East regionals, earning himself a spot in the event. He finished behind Shawn “ClarityG” Washington.
Though Reverse2k has been under the spotlight for his connection with Ninja, he’s a legitimate talent in his own right. His biggest achievement came in 2018 when he won $86,000 during the Summer Skirmish event at just 17 years old. The moment of him telling his father of the achievement went viral, and he has been a steady presence in online Fortnite tournaments ever since, performing well in a number of events including the Fall Skirmish. The World Cup presents the biggest opportunity of his competitive career and could see him more than double his earnings to this point.
As for Ninja? Well, he didn’t do nearly as well.
Ninja’s Fortnite World Cup Struggles
The popular streamer returned to broadcasting his World Cup qualifier endeavors but once again fell well short of actually qualifying for solos. Some of this can be chalked up to bad luck as he was picked off at range by snipers in two games, but it’s quickly becoming harder to ignore his larger struggles with qualifying.
With seven weeks of qualifiers now done, Ninja still hasn’t managed to qualify for the Fortnite World Cup’s duos or solo event and in most weeks, he hasn’t come particularly close. In each solo qualifier event he has fallen outside the top 50 in the NA East region, far away from the top-six placement required. He has fared considerably better alongside Reverse2k in duos, but still hasn’t managed to make the cut.
Ninja is far from alone in his sorrows, as many of Fortnite esports’ top stars haven’t been able to qualify.
Time is starting to run out for Ninja. There are just three qualifying weeks remaining, with weeks eight and ten being duos and week nine being solos.
