How The Milk Cup champions Fortnite players Marii, Smylie, and Sophiaa: “It was just instant vibes.”

The Milk Cup Finals tournament is set for Oct. 5 at LA Comic Con, highlighting Fortnite teams competing for the lion's share of the $250,000 prize pool. Before the event, esports.gg caught up with Marii, Smylie, and Sophiaa, the winners of The Milk Cup Qualifier 2, to talk about their esports journey, team dynamics, and more!

In their interview with esports.gg, Marii, Smylie, and Sophiaa revealed that they formed their trio after Qualifier 1, coming together at the right moment. Initially, Sophia and Smylie were part of a different trio, but when they met Marii, everything instantly clicked in terms of team chemistry. To Smylie and Sophiaa, Marii was that missing puzzle piece.

"I feel like it was just an instant thing that just happened," Smylie said. "It was just instant vibes. And there were no awkward players."

According to Sophiaa, a dedicated Discord server for women in Fortnite esports helped everyone click as well. This server provided scrim opportunities and allowed players to support each other while on webcam.

"We would be in Discord and just have our face cam on and just play for fun," Sophiaa explained . "[Marii] looks exactly the same on camera and her vibes are the same in person. I feel like our vibes match really well."

It's not just about vibes, however. Each player in the trio works well together based on their in-game strengths. For example, while Sophiaa can get tunnel vision while hungry for kills, she recognizes and trusts Smylie as her in-game leader (IGL). Smylie's strategic playstyle helps with Sophiaa's positioning. Meanwhile, Marii is a support player who is always ready to back up Smylie with resources.

"I feel like my role plays the biggest part, but I feel like my role wouldn't be complete without their roles," Smylie added. "Marii is like Sophiaa — they both are really skillful in a 1v1. They're both great fighters, and I have never played with the best before them — it's that crazy. And [Marii] says that she's a support player, but then I'll just see her become a full boxer."

Sophiaa added that they view Marii as more than just a support player. "We literally think of Marii as the president and we're her two bodyguards," she said.

These strengths helped the trio stay competitive in preparation for The Milk Cup as well. In particular, Sophiaa recalled the updates to the Nitro and Siphon mechanics.

"It was all in a matter of a month because the meta changed just before The Milk Cup — there was an update just before it," Smylie said. "So we had maybe like a week or two just to get that down. So we scrimmed every single day trying to get that pacing down because I think the pacing was a little harder to adjust to."

The Milk Cup Finals will soon tell if all this hard work pays off. However, no matter the tournament results, the trio is glad to be a part of this monumental event.

"It's crazy because we're on the same playing field, same ping. So I feel like if you win, you deserve it at that point. Everyone is at the same level. So I feel like whoever wins definitely deserves that title," Smylie said.

That's all for now. Stick around on esports.gg for more news, interviews, and updates!