The well-known streamer Tyler “Ninja” Blevins has launched his own tournament series for Fortnite on the streaming platform Mixer. A total of $480,000 in prize money will be distributed. However, one of the winners, Anthony “ZexRow” Colandro, was banned for life from all of Ninja’s tournaments after the victory. Because for a brief moment, he thought he was Tfue.
This is the tournament series: This is a 6-week tournament series “Ninja Battles.” There are weekly tournaments with prizes of $80,000 each, taking place on Thursday evenings our time.
The first tournament took place on May 28. It was played in trio mode. A total of 60 players participated by invitation, including many well-known names from the Fortnite esports scene:
- World Champion Bugha
- the feared pro FaZe Bizzle
- the deaf streamer Ewok
- Ninja himself
- many others known from the Fortnite scene
5 matches were played, and in the end, the team with the best mix of kills (1 point) and placement (up to 10 points) emerged victorious.
The nerds win
These were the winners: A trio won with two members of the esports organization Team Solo Mid. This is the generation that the streamer Nickmercs once called “these damn Fortnite nerds”:
- TSM ZexRow – Anthony Colando, a 19-year-old top player who was once banned from Twitch for drinking too many energy drinks. He has 250,000 followers on Twitch.
- Young Calculator – Jonathan Weber, an American. He has 38,000 followers on Twitch.
- TSM Mackwood – Mack Aesoph, also an American, who maintains about 96,000 followers on Twitch.
All of them are talented esports players, but as content creators, they are in the second tier. Two of them have a professional contract with TSM, a top team, and hope to someday reach the top and make a big breakthrough.
Since there will be no World Championship in Fortnite this year, tournaments like Ninja’s provide an ideal stage to showcase themselves and perhaps recommend for greater things.
TSM ZexRow unleashes his inner Tfue
This is how TSM ZexRow messed it up: The 19-year-old Anthony “ZexRow” Colandro managed to destroy in a short interview after the tournament everything he had built up with his game before. After the victory, he was interviewed by the two commentators of Ninja’s tournament. ZexRow said:
So everyone who didn’t make it into the top 10 can lick my dick. Those are fucking shitters. I don’t even know what bullshit they are talking. They are actually dog shit and brain dead. That’s all I have to say.
TSM ZexRow in an interview
The two casters quickly shut that down. One of them thanked TSM ZexRow for being there.
However, some of the often young, strong esports players like TSM ZexRow maintain a completely different demeanor and a poor attitude. Everyone knows that. There have been Twitch bans repeatedly. But it rarely became as evident as here.
The language of TSM ZexRow in the interview is actually the kind that the Turner “Tfue” Tenney is known for. The biggest streamer on Twitch, also a Fortnite ace, often verbally explodes; “Dogshit” is one of his favorite words, and he is also known for this “trash talk,” where opponents are mocked and insulted.
Just because Tfue gets away with it doesn’t mean that one can present oneself like TSM ZexRow has now learned.
Tfue and Ninja have often clashed in the past: Tfue referred to his older rival as “a pussy.”
Another TSM player, EmadGG (19), who streamed the interview live on Twitch, said: “TSM ZexRow is actually an idiot.” You can hear that sentence in the clip embedded above.
Ninja immediately bans the winner from all further tournaments
This is how it continued: ZexRow tweeted afterward: “Oh, I’m sorry. I forgot that parents are watching.”
Ninja acted quickly: “Congratulations on your first and last placement in a Ninja tournament.” This means that ZexRow will never participate in any of his tournaments again.
His teammates immediately replaced ZexRow and will now continue with a new teammate in Ninja’s tournament.
TSM MackWood had already wondered while ZexRow was speaking, what the hell was going on.
This is what ZexRow says: He claims he said “very tasteless things.” That would have been bad in his own stream, but even worse in Ninja’s broadcast. He apologizes to everyone he disappointed. He did not live up to the “professional standard.”
Afterward, he tweeted: Many would now demand that TSM kicks him out; he will now ask if he can leave. He is a PR nightmare.
This is what it’s about: Ninja has been trying for years to appear “kid-friendly,” refraining from any bad words. The pro teams also want to be as “brandsafe” as possible, providing companies with a good environment for advertising. FaZe recently mandated all its pros to undergo sensitivity training.
However, some of the often young, strong esports players like TSM ZexRow maintain a completely different demeanor and a poor attitude. Everyone knows that. There have been Twitch bans repeatedly. But it rarely became as evident as here.
The language of TSM ZexRow in the interview is actually the kind that the Turner “Tfue” Tenney is known for. The biggest streamer on Twitch, also a Fortnite ace, often verbally explodes; “Dogshit” is one of his favorite words, and he is also known for this “trash talk,” where opponents are mocked and insulted.
Just because Tfue gets away with it doesn’t mean that one can present oneself like TSM ZexRow has now learned.
Tfue and Ninja have often clashed in the past: Tfue referred to his older rival as “a pussy.”
