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Source said he plans to push the action this weekend, exacting as much damage and eliminations as he can.
When a Storm Surge activates, it will target and help remove as many opposing players as possible, like the ones who are just looking to survive. Source and his teammate, on the other hand, can slip away to fight in a less-crowded area of battle.
“So we’re going to get Storm Surge early and then play the dead side of zone,” Source said. “And then we’re going to play our game out.”
Source is 16-year-old professional Fortnite player Shane Kelsey of Menlo Park. He was dispensing some strategy that he believes will prove key in going far this weekend in one of the biggest competitions in e-sports history.
He is among the 75 two-player teams from around the world battling in the $4 million Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) Global Championship 2023 tournament running Friday through Sunday, Oct. 13-15, at the Royal Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark.
The top teams out of Friday and Saturday’s matches continue onto the finals Sunday with the ultimate winner taking home $1 million and a jewelry-like, gold-plated trophy.
In the early goings Friday, Source and his partner, 18-year-old Arthur Mijares of Mexico (aka Yumi) stood at 12th place in the upper-bracket section.
Source feels he and Yumi will do well and, with some good breaks, become contenders Sunday.
“I’m pretty confident,” Source said. “I think we could pull out a top 10 if luck goes in our favor.”
Maybe even top 5, his coach said.
That’s because in part Source handles pressure well. “For being as young as he is, it’s pretty impressive,” said Japan-based Carter Kawai, a former competitive Fortnite player himself known as Kahtaz who now coaches Source and other high-level pros. “He’s able to play pretty normally under … the weight of the event.”
But while anything’s possible, Kawai said, winning it all “is going to be very, very tough.”
It’s not just Source’s inner circle that sees his team making a splash in the tournament.
“I think they’re going to be a surprise team,” said North Carolina-based FNCS analyst and Fortnite podcaster Matt K., better known as Panda in the gaming space. “I have them in my top 10.”
Panda described Source as a fast-rising star in competitive Fortnite since bursting onto the scene last year at North America regional tournaments.
Then for this year, Panda noted, Source made the two major Local Area Network (LAN) contests – Gamers8 in Saudi Arabia and now the Global Championship. A LAN event is where players compete on the same network in front of thousands of fans at a large venue such as the 16,000-seat Royal Arena.
“He’s been a player that I’ve been watching,” Panda said. “His play is very, very methodical, aggressive. He’s a phenomenal fighter, has a great mindset. There’s something about him that long term will stand out amongst the pack, and he’s just getting started.”
But Source wasn’t thinking to go pro initially. As it typically goes with many youngsters these days, Fortnite was just a fun online video game he picked up when he was in fifth grade.
“All my friends played, and we all played on mobile,” said the lanky teen with bushy blond hair. “It’s not like I wanted to be a competitive player back then, but I sort of really liked the game.”
The game helped Source get through the height of the pandemic when lockdowns persisted. “He was actually spending a lot more time with his local friends playing the game,” said his father, local Little League coach David Kelsey. “You could hear them laughing and carrying on. And frankly, I think that was very healthy for them all.”
Over time, Source sought to get really good at Fortnite. “I like to think when I play, I play with a purpose,” he said. “So I’m not just playing to have fun. I’m playing to improve on something.”
That kind of mentality drove him “to want to become a pro gamer,” he said.
He did so last year and has so far earned about $20,000 in prize money. He still attends high school – Design Tech in Redwood City, but Source and his family are all in on him to continue his pro gaming career.
“His mother and I kind of talked about it, and we said, look, he’s having a good time with it,” David Kelsey said. “His grades aren’t suffering, and he’s happy. I think it’s important to support your kids in what they love and what they want to do.”
Plus, Source has shown his commitment to his craft, practicing for hours, working on strategies and building big-match experience.
“I think that to be able to compete on a level where you’re one of the best in the world, you don’t get there by luck,” his father said. “It’s a lot of hard work.”
That hard work has paid off with some quality tournament performances, all-expense-paid trips to big contests around the world and other opportunities.
“I want to make this my full-time career,” Source said. “I really enjoy doing it. I think to have a good career you got to enjoy doing it. I’m tunneled in on this.”
Where to watch the Fortnite Global Championship:
Fortnite Twitch: twitch.tv/fortnite
Fortnite YouTube: youtube.com/fortnite