Breso, the first player to win Fortnite LAN event with a controller

Australian Fortnite pro who goes by the alias Breso won the Australia Open Summer Smash 2020, this Sunday, to become the first-ever Fortnite professional player to win a LAN event with a controller.

The Fortnite competitive scene is dominated by players who used keyboard and mouse as it offers more precise controls, which is exactly what can help any player elevate his game to a higher level. Despite that, however, there are outliners who swear by controllers as their preferred device, partially due to the added aim-assist which goes hand in hand with all shooter games that are played with controllers.

While such players are in minority, they have managed to prove controllers have a place in the competitive Fortnite meta and Breso is a prime example of that, having put up a dominant performance at Australia Open Summer Smash 2020, where he pocketed the title and with that became the first player in the history of the competitive Fortnite to win a LAN tournament with a controller.

Breso is a lesser-known Australian Fortnite player, who has started his career as a Fortnite pro in March 2019, when he played at Luxe Cup – Oceania, which marked his first appearance in a professional Fortnite event. At the said event, Breso played alongside another Australian player Belfys and finished 126th. He later participated at the Fortnite World Cup Oceanic qualifiers but failed to make the cut. He narrowly missed out on qualifying for the Duos World Cup, having finished sixth in Week 10 alongside Dylan.

In months that followed, Breso continued to participate in Fortnite tournaments where he produced a mixed bag of results. In November he finished third at Friday Nite Fortnite: Chapter 2 Season 1 – Week 1: Oceania and won the Fortnite Champion Series: Chapter 2 Season 1 Week 1- Oceania. Earlier in January, Breso also claimed a fourth-place finish at Platform Solo Cash Cup – Console: Chapter 2 Season 1 – Week 9: Oceania.

At Australia Open Summer Smash 2020, Breso played exceptionally well throughout the whole tournament and secured six eliminations, four of which in the final minutes of the match. His consistency throughout the event helped him accumulate 52 points, which was 15 above the runner-up Looter and 19 points above the bronze medalist and Counter Logic Gaming member Reza "Symetrical" Ebrahimi Manie.

Due to Breso's dominant win with a controller, the almost-forgotten debate about the aim-assist was once more brought up. It was debated before whether using a mouse and a keyboard is really the superior way to play Fortnite, given that controllers provide players with an aim-assist mechanic, thus making their shots, in theory, more accurate.

Aim-assist is mostly found on shooter games which are played on a console, with one of the prime examples being Call of Duty. The mechanic has been implemented to compensate for the restrictive movement console players have to deal with, as it is much tougher for players to move and aim using the console's thumb sticks compared to PC players who use keyboard and mouse.

Many esports pros and prominent personalities have talked about the alleged unfair advantage that is provided to controller players in the form of an aim-assist and it was Team SoloMid player Mack "MackWood" Aesoph who gave his two cents earlier this Sunday, claiming that it’s sad to see Breso’s achievement will be overshadowed due to the fact he won with a controller.

"Controller players will still say they are at a disadvantage though," said MackWood.

"However I am very happy for Breso, it is just unfortunate he won on controller so his achievement will be defamed."

Whether Breso's decision to use a controller really helped him win the title is up to debate as there will be people on both sides of the argument. Nonetheless, Breso proved to be the best player of the tournament, which earned him US $100,000 in prize winnings and a lot of exposure, which could earn him his first contract with an esports organization.