When asked how much time it takes to reach a top-tier ranking in the hugely popular video game Fortnite, Ryder Tillard said, “Oh, hundreds of hours. An unbelievable amount. It's paying off though.”
Indeed it is for the recent Douglas High School graduate, who earned the “Unreal” rank this summer while playing as part of Eastern Wyoming College’s new esports team.
There are 18 Fortnite ranks. Unreal is the highest, with only about 7,550 of the more than 3.8 million ranked players worldwide (0.2%) reaching that level in a format of the game called Zero Build, according to Tracker Network, a popular website in the gaming community that tracks rankings. Points are earned on a game-to-game basis by eliminating players and gaining high match placement.
“I'm not sure how to describe it in words,” Tillard said of achieving the ranking. “All those hours into it and to finally reach the top end, I don't know, it was a really cool moment.”
Road To The Top
Tillard’s love for video games began at an early age, but the 19-year-old only began playing Fortnite about six years ago.
Fortnite is a battle royale-style survival game where 100 players fight against each other in player versus player combat to be the last one standing. It is a fast-paced, action-packed game where quick, strategic thinking is a to survive.
“It took a couple months and then I hopped onto that train,” Tillard said. “I like the competitive aspect of it. It changes so much, so you have to adapt with it. And I think it's just fun to keep improving and trying all this different stuff.”
In the spring, he signed to be a part of Eastern Wyoming College’s esports team. He said he never thought he would earn a college scholarship for playing video games.
“When I first started, it was mainly just for fun and trying to be the best I can in my area,” he said. “About a year ago, I really saw my potential, and I just wanted to take it as far as I could. This really shows that the work paid off.”
EWC esports coach Caleb Spitzer said Tillard’s ability to focus and prioritize the tasks at hand are what make him so successful.
“So, part of what makes somebody good at any kind of game, but specifically shooters like Fortnite, is having the ability to be aware of what's happening around you and then react to the appropriate things,” Spitzer said. “While playing and practicing helps with reaction times, his ability to sit down and keep his mind on the task and then analyze the other tasks as they come up throughout the game sets him apart from a lot of more casual players that are just running around reacting to what's in front of them.”
When he signed with EWC, Tillard said he was already close to the Unreal ranking. He decided to dedicate more time and effort into achieving it this summer while also playing in the National Junior College Athletic Association Esports Summer Series.
Successful Summer Series
The summer series is a Tier 3 tournament the NJCAAE hosts over the summer months of May through July. Tier 3 is for current students, both full- and part-time, as well as dual students, employees and alumni. Tiers 1 and 2 series begin in the fall and are only open to students enrolled full-time.
“We put in a lot of work and we really tried to do our best,” Tillard said. “Working to reach Unreal was good practice for the summer league, and to be able to play against those players in the league helped me keep growing. It was a really good way to show where the work took me.”
After a 10-0 start, Tillard and his partner Kody Trewhella lost their final match to fall to 10-1 overall. It was still the best record in their group.
“It was a really good start for us in our very first competition season,” Spitzer said. “I'm really happy with how it turned out.”
The nationwide event had the duo going up against teams from Oregon, Louisiana, North Carolina, Arizona and others. The number of teams competing varied from week to week.
“Some weeks there were 10 other teams, some weeks there were four other teams competing,” Spitzer said. “I think there were probably 20 different schools overall this summer.”
In the tournament, the two played in a squad of four with various teams from other colleges that were part of the competition. The two colleges aren't able to hinder each other too much, with the goal being to end the game with the most eliminations.
“So you get more engaging play,” Spitzer said. “Instead of just having somebody hiding in the corner the whole match and finishing first because they did nothing, versus the other team that died a little earlier, who got a lot more kills.”
Tillard and Trewhella practiced together a few times a week and also spent time going over their games with Spitzer. Playing from different sites — one in Torrington and one in Douglas — Tillard said he and Trewhella didn’t have much time to get to know each other but just clicked while playing the game.
“We know what our strong suits are, and we kind of just went from there,” he said. “It was pretty easy to be a team. We kind of move together and if one of us goes down, it's harder to continue going against everybody else shorthanded.”
Strategy Is Key
In coaching sessions, Spitzer said he doesn’t focus so much on tactics as on strategy and how to gain the advantage in a fight.
“I've been really working with Ryder on really thinking about it in a broad way, about where he is and tactically engaging, as opposed to just engaging at will,” Spitzer said. “I want him to really think about his position.”
On his own, Tillard practices anywhere from one to up to eight hours a day depending on other responsibilities.
“If things aren't going my way, sometimes I'll just stand back and take some time off,” he said. “But eventually you just want to keep grinding and keep trying to get better.”
The esports fall preseason recently began with the official season running from mid-September through early November. The postseason goes from November to December. There’s also a spring season.
“I’m really looking forward to it,” Tillard said. “I just want to become even better and try my best in these tournaments and see where that takes me.”
Fortnite is just one of the games available, as esports has 25 titles for the premiere series. Teams can participate in as many series as they want as long as they have players to compete.
There are now three officially competing on the EWC team this fall, with a couple more potential players Spitzer hopes to sign before school begins. PCs are set up at both the Torrington and Douglas campuses to make it more accessible.
