NRG Fortnite player MrSavageM turned the Grenade Launcher into a good weapon in yesterday’s World Cup Europe Qualifiers.
He was on low ground with eight players alive and 18 shots in his launcher. Despite this weapon being strong enough to take down a player who has no shields, it’s impossible to aim and predict the grenade path accurately before it explodes. But MrSavage did just that.
He shot his grenades on the ground in front of him to make them bounce before they hit his opponents, which is a good strategy to make their path less predictable for opponents. He took down top European players who were contenders for qualification, such as Atlantis’ Mitr0. For his victory play, as the storm approached a huge mountain, MrSavageM used his Shadow Bomb to wall jump and climb the mountain, leaving his opponent behind to die to the storm.
MrSavageM’s accomplishment shows what off-meta Fortnite looks like. A usual approach to a loadout in such an important match would include a Rift-to-Go for vertical mobility and a Rocket Launcher for explosive damage. MrSavageM instead used two alternatives that are far more inconsistent and require the player to plan their game to execute it with the desired outcome. The Shadow Bomb, despite providing mobility, doesn’t send you to the sky to glide like the Rift-to-Go, but it also doesn’t leave a portal for your opponent to chase after you like the Rift does.
His choice of weapons and the outcome of his play might have been influenced by the lack of vehicles in yesterday’s qualifiers. Epic disabled The Baller, the best vehicle in Fortnite, along with all others for the finals due to an issue that prevented players from entering or exiting them. Since The Baller has been such a key item for late-game rotations, its exclusion from yesterday’s matches was certainly key for this play.
MrSavageM has qualified for the Fortnite World Cup Solo Finals, which are set to take place from July 26 to 28 in New York. He’s also qualified for the Duos competition with his NRG teammate benjyfish.
