Esports.gg spoke with professional Fortnite player Threats of Manchester City Esports. We discussed his career, DreamHack San Diego, and more!
In October 2021, top Fortnite player Aidan "Threats" Mong signed a deal with Manchester City's esports division, making him the team's first competitive Fortnite player. He has remained under the ManCity banner ever since.
The 18-year-old recently took home first at the DreamHack San Diego Fortnite tournament alongside Kwanti. His career accolades include eight Fortnite Champion Series (FNCS) Finals appearances and notable placements in LAN events.
Esports.gg had the chance to speak with ManCity Threats, where we discussed his introduction to Fortnite, training regiment, humble beginnings, and much more.
Threats started playing Fortnite in 2017 and never stopped
Fortnite took the gaming world by storm in 2017 when a primitive version of the game we know today hit the market. A free third-person Battle Royale title developed by Epic Games? Most people were willing to give it a chance.
For Threats, he saw his brothers playing and thought it looked cool, and the rest is history.
"To be honest, I started playing Fortnite because my brothers were playing. I was like, 'Oh, that looks pretty cool,' and then I was pretty addicted from the beginning. Once I first started playing, I never really stopped. I loved the building aspect of it because I used to play Minecraft all of the time."
Casual and competitive Fortnite are two completely different experiences. Finding success at the top of Fortnite's competitive scene requires hours of practice. Threats explained his practice regiment, which led him to become one of the best aimers in Fortnite.
"Since two years ago, I've been using aim trainer before I start practicing. I do that for like an hour, and then I'll start getting on the game and warm up in Creative, 1v1ing my friends, and playing scrims when they are running on certain days."
This practice routine has resulted in eight FNCS Finals appearances for Threats. However, he believes the single most crucial skill in Fortnite is a player's IQ, considering how much the game throws at players.
"I'd say it's your IQ and your brain is like 70% of the game. You could have the best aim and best builds, and in a stacked pro lobby, you'll just die to anything if you're not smart."
What is Threats' favorite competitive season?
Fortnite has seen exponential growth since it arrived in 2017. If you look at the game today compared to six years ago, it's almost unrecognizable. The same notion applies to the competitive landscape, which has shifted significantly since its inception.
Players have seen everything from the infamous Infinity Blade, areas of the map you could not build, Ballers, non-player characters (NPCs) directly affecting games, and much more. We wanted to know which season Threats remembers fondly over the others. He chose Chapter 2 Season 6 as his favorite competitive season.
This season, dubbed Fortnite Primal, introduced weapon crafting and mountable wildlife, but Threats loved the Bows. He performed well in the Trio FNCS Finals despite his teammate's internet dropping during the competition.
"It was Chapter 2 Season 6, the Primal season, that was my favorite. I loved the Bow. It was so fun. I played with Rise and Jamper, and we got fifth in FNCS. My teammate Rise's internet went out six games in Grands."
How can Fortnite stay afloat and keep players interested?
In terms of Fortnite's evolution, Threats believes competitive Fortnite needs to have a fun aspect to keep players enjoying the experience, but balance is also a crucial aspect.
"I feel like competitive should always be fun. There should always be a fun item, like in the Stark season, or a fun POI–somewhere you can land where and everyone else will land there to make it fun, but it should also be balanced. Right now, there's the Kitanas and ODMs, and that's a little overkill."
Threats added that the meta, or each season's gameplay and mechanics, should evolve to keep the game fresh. Otherwise, players grow tired and lose interest in grinding the game.
"I feel like there always has to be a meta change because if it's always the same consistent game mode, it gets pretty repetitive. Not boring, but you want change because you don't want to play the same thing every single season."
Fortnite OG Chap's involvement in Threats' career
The rise of Threats in Fortnite began in Chapter 2 Season 5 alongside fellow promising talent Lucas "Dukez" Cardenas and veteran Ryan "Chap" Chaplo. Many people in the scene credit Chap with discovering Dukez and Threats before they ascended to become two of the top Fortnite players.
Although Threats feels he would have eventually become a top player, he acknowledges that Chap's influence expedited the process.
"I probably would have eventually broken through, but it definitely helped getting a spotlight for my career at that time. I had 2k followers on Twitter before I started playing with Chap, and then I went to 20k after like five months. He taught me and Dukez the fundamentals of the game and like what you should or shouldn't do."
Threats, Dukez, and Chap ultimately finished 32nd in the FNCS Chapter 2 Season 5 Finals. Threats used this opportunity to showcase his skills and team with some of North America's top talents. The 16-year-old parlayed these opportunities into a deal with Manchester City – the famous English football club – who signed him as their first professional Fortnite player.
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What is it like to be a member of Manchester City?
Esports.gg asked Threats about the experience since signing with ManCity in October 2021. Here's what he had to say:
"It's been pretty amazing. They've always been supporting me, especially with all of the LAN events, because they are always helping with all of that. It's an honor."
Threats talks about winning DreamHack San Diego
DreamHack San Diego went down from April 7 through April 9, and many of Fortnite's most incredible talents journeyed to compete in it. The event featured a Zero Build Duo tournament with $250,000 on the line and a chance to qualify for the $2 million Gamers8 LAN later this summer. Threats was in attendance alongside spur-of-the-moment duo partner Kwanti.
Despite practicing less Zero Build before the event, Threats, and Kwanti reached the Grand Finals and triumphed over 49 other formidable duos. Threats explained his experience at DreamHack San Diego and how he and Kwanti managed to win.
"It [DreamHack San Diego] was lots of fun, to be honest. It was also weird because me and Kwanti became a duo two days before DreamHack because I dropped Dukez, and then he snaked me for it. We didn't have a lot of chem, or we had a little bit of chem because we played Zero Build before, but it was fresh when we got there at the LAN.
Threats further elaborated, stating that he and Kwanti won because they were simply the two best Fortnite Zero Build players. The two have separately found success in online tournaments as well.
"We were the two best Zero Build players. When it was West, we won three [tournaments] and got second in two of them. We are also two of the best aimers and are pretty smart, so yeah."
This tournament begs the question – what is the consensus on Zero Build versus traditional Fortnite tournaments? We asked Threats if he prefers one or if a blend of the two is ideal.
"I like the mixture between the two because when some tournaments are Zero Build, it's a fresh thing to play. I also want builds because it's the main competitive game mode, but I'm pretty excited about the Gamers8 LAN, which is no builds."
Which Fortnite region is the best?
The Gamers8 LAN takes place this summer in Saudi Arabia with a massive $2 million prize pool. At the event, fans will see players from all corners of the globe come together to compete. Esports.gg asked Threats which Fortnite region is the best while explaining the consensus that Europe is on top.
"Everyone says Europe because they are the most dominant in tournaments and LANs, but I feel like the top five players on NA and EU are pretty equivalent. The player base in EU is just so much bigger, so they have more talented players."
Threats says this is his season to win the FNCS
Competitive Fortnite is here to stay. Epic Games has come a long way since consistently switching the game modes and meta without accounting for player feedback. Furthermore, the current road maps provided to players paint a better picture of what to expect.
We asked Threats how he would script the next five years of competitive Fortnite to keep players and fans interested.
"I feel like what they're doing right now is pretty good, having a road map where there is an Invitational at the end. I feel like they need to switch up the game modes because we've had two years of Duos, and I feel like everyone loves Trios. You could do Duos one year, Trios one year, and maybe Solos, and maybe a World Cup, eventually."
Threats paused for quite a while after mentioning the Fortnite World Cup – an event that happened once in 2019 and has never returned. Fans have long awaited the announcement of another Fortnite World Cup, but many people, including Threats, think it's unlikely.
"I mean, I doubt it. If they would've done it, they would've done it by now, but you could always hope."
Before wrapping up our discussion, we wanted to gauge Threats' confidence heading into the FNCS Major 2 Finals. He is currently teaming with 2019 Fortnite World Cup Champion Kyle "Bugha" Giersdorf –perhaps the best in the game's history.
Esports.gg asked if this is Threats' season to win the Axe of Champions. He replied, simply saying, "100%."
Threats' advice for Fortnite players hoping to become professionals
Lastly, Threats provided sound advice to anyone hoping to become a professional Fortnite player. It's a game that many enjoy, but you must put in the work to reach the top level.
"Just keep grinding because realistically, if you have the mindset that you want to make it or want to be the best, you could eventually do it."
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