Taylor-Petrik ‘vic0’ Gatschelhofer and Danila ‘Malibuca’ Iakovenko produced Fortnite esports history by winning the inaugural Fortnite Reload Elite Series at EWC 2026 in Match 13 of the thrilling Match Point Finals.
It is the BIG pair’s second consecutive Tier 1 LAN victory following the FNCS Major 1 Summit in Düsseldorf.
The kings of the Battle Bus. The winners of Fortnite Reload Championship at EWC26! @Vicotryona@MalibucaFNpic.twitter.com/FeCSCF90r1
— EWC Extra (@EWC_Extra) August 22, 2026
Painful end for Aurora Pair as vic0 and Malibuca give BIG historic win
Aurora was the first duo to reach the Match Point threshold of 350, winning Match 2 and Match 7 on their way to reaching the threshold, becoming eligible in only Match 9.
Oltean ‘shxrk’ Ștefan and Tin ‘t3eny’ Popovic came agonizingly close to the 10 and 11, but as more and more teams reached the threshold, the title seemed to slip decisively out of their control.
Home French mix of Walid ‘Momsy’ B. and Mathéo ‘Skyjump’ L. became the second duo to reach 350 after Game 9, as Game 10 allowed the duos from Havok by Vitality, Le
ROC and T1 joined that group in Game 11, and it seemed inevitable it would end in Game 12 with so much of the lobby at the threshold, but XSET’s duo delivered a consecutive win to extend play to a 13th game.
Unbelievably, one of the pre-tournament favorite duos, AG.AL’s Nikolaj ‘Sky’ Helleskov and Adrian ‘Scroll’ Richelieu were not one of the teams to reach that Match Point threshold, an underperformance that was in keeping with their group showings that resulted in the pair playing the Survival Stage.
In the end, the pair never got to play a match with Match Point eligibility, as BIG finally put the contest to bed, taking control of the final fight and forcing the Vitality roster to drop down upon them before unleashing hell on them to eliminate their final competition, securing the event for themselves and BIG.
— EWC Extra (@EWC_Extra) August 22, 2026
Do you prefer Reload or traditional Fortnite? Let us know your thoughts on the Insider Gaming Discord.
Meanwhile, read our interview with ZywOo on why he extended his contract with Team Vitality. And for even more Insider Gaming delivered directly to your inbox, sign up for our newsletter.
Darragh is an Esports Journalist for Insider Gaming specialising in Counter-Strike. He loves to explore how esports teams work, or why they very often do not.
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