With storylines aplenty, the NA West region ultimately provided an exciting finish to the Fortnite Champion Series. The dominance of Benjamin “NRG Edgey” Peterson, Brodie “rehx” Franks and Evan “Liquid Cented” Barron began in week one of the qualifiers and never seemed to end. Another talented trio seeking victory was the team of Hayden “100T Elevate” Krueger, Davis “100T Ceice” McClellan and River “Liquid Riversan” Handley. Many of the top teams survived the FNCS Semi-Finals, which secured them a spot in the finals to decide the NA West Fortnite Season X Champions. Little did we know that a lesser-known trio would triumph over the top NA West teams.

As match six came to a close, jayrosez, held back dog and buubee defeated the best NA West trios in all of Fortnite en route to victory. If nothing else, their unlikely path to the finals did not exactly project them as the best trio in the NA West region. Not much is readily available in terms of information on these outstanding players. What we do know is that their insurmountable effort over 6 matches in the Grand Finals secured first place in a talent heavy spread of players.

FNCS NA West Heat 4

Out of the four heats played, jayrosez, held back dog and buubee qualified out of Heat 4. With 45 points over 6 matches, this trio won a technical tie-breaker over the recognizable names of 100T Arkhram1x, Bloom Falconer and TSM Vinny1x. The Fortnite Champion Series rulebook indicates that,

“Tiebreakers will be determined in the order presented here: (1) total points scored; (2) total Victory Royales in the session; (3) average eliminations in the session; (4) average placement per match in the session; (5) total seconds survived across all matches; and finally (6) a coin flip.”

Jayrosez, held back dog and buubee averaged 4 eliminations per match in Heat 4 to the 3 eliminations of Arkhram’s trio. Seeing as both trios had 45 points, this moved Jayrosez and company safely into the Grand Finals, albeit just barely.

Grand Finals: Match 1

Our eventual NA West Champions started off slow with 0 eliminations and a 17th place finish in match one. Surprisingly enough, this match yielded no points to jayrosez, held back dog and buubee to start the NA West Grand Finals. In most cases, this sort of deficit is hard to come back from. Many teams that begin with no points get lost in the fray. However, with reluctance and a little bit of RNG, the best of the NA West turned their situation around.

Grand Finals: Match 2

Jayrosez, held back dog and buubee rebounded nicely in match two. This match produced 6 eliminations and a 7th place finish for the unassuming trio. Match Two put this trio on the board with 9 points. Although it does not seem like much, 9 points after a 0-point match is important in terms of a trio’s momentum. It was at this moment that, jayrosez, held back dog and buubee began to flip the script and surprise the NA West field.

Grand Finals: Match 3

This trio did not fear the spotlight of intense competition. They moved into Match Three knowing exactly what needed to happen for them to take control of the leaderboard. Between the three of them, they amassed 9 eliminations and secured a 3rd place finish. Overall they accumulated 18 points in just this one match, bringing their overall total to 28 after three matches. Edgey, rehx, Cented, Ceice and Elevate did not let up, however, despite this jump to the top of the leaderboard. Jayrosez, held back dog and buubee needed to put an exclamation point on their statement to the NA West region.

Grand Finals: Match 4

The Heat 4 qualifiers needed an exclamation point, and they delivered it and then some. In match number four, this trio stunned onlookers with 10 eliminations and a Victory Royale. As if the Match Three performance was not enough, jayrosez, held back man and buubee created even more of a gap between themselves and the other contenders. Ten eliminations and a Victory Royale amounts to a 25 point performance. This brought their grand total after four matches to 53 points with only two matches remaining. To call this a favorable position is an understatement, but the other top dogs of NA West were not quite out of it.

Grand Finals: Match 5

If Match Four was an exclamation point, Match Five produced an additional 23 exclamation points on top of that. Jayrosez, held back man and buubee followed up their Match Four showing with yet another Victory Royale. At this point, no one expected to see a barely qualified team showing up the professional Fortnite players out of NA West. On top of the Victory Royale, this trio tacked 8 more eliminations on to their overall total. Back-to-back wins are not common in competitive Fortnite, which makes this run all the more special. With 53 points coming into match four, this trio added another 23 points, bringing them to 76 for the championship. Only one match stood between this trio and competitive Fortnite supremacy.

Grand Finals: Match 6

Jayrosez, held back dog and buubee were in a prime position to put on their crowns as Season X Champions. Their final match played out conservatively, with the three players earning just 2 eliminations along with a 15th place finish. With many teams in striking distance, this trio stood amongst the rest and kept composure through the final match. Although they earned no placement points, jayrosez, held back dog and buubee still secured the victory. Ceice, Riversan and Elevate controlled their own destiny in the final match. Unfortunately for Ceice, he was last remaining for his trio and could not achieve the Victory Royale due to a lack of resources.

Unprecedented Run

Other regions constantly overshadowed the NA West region through the entirety of Season X. With Edgey, rehx and Cented controlling the qualifying weeks, many predicted them as the Season X Champions. The beauty of Fortnite is how quickly the momentum can shift from one team to another. Going into Match Six, all of the top 5 trios remained in the running. For jayrosez, held back dog and buubee, they ran the proverbial gauntlet and truly earned all 120K USD and the title of Fortnite Season X Champions.

Make sure to follow jayrosez on Twitter (@jay_rosez) and Instagram (@jayrosefn) and also held back dog on Twitter (@RealGTEdog) and Instagram (@gtedog).

Image VIA: Epic Games