BIG Secure First Ever Back-to-Back LAN Wins in Fortnite History, at the Esports World Cup 2026

PARIS, France (August 22, 2026) -- BIG's Taylor-Petrik "vic0" Gatschelhofer and Danila "Malibuca" Iakovenko have claimed the Fortnite Reload Elite Series Championship at 2026 Esports World Cup title, making them the first team in Fortnite history to win major LAN events back-to-back.

The pair won the FNCS 2026 Major 1 Summit just months ago in May, establishing themselves as one of the top duos in the world, and now have solidified that status with a win at EWC 2026.

In the long history of competitive Fortnite, no duo has ever won back-to-back LAN events before, making this a historic achievement. Given the fast paced and chaotic nature of Fortnite, even at the pro level, this feat is one that many never thought would happen, showing just how impressive their recent run across events has been.

The BIG duo qualified for the Finals by finishing second in their group, but they failed to have quite the same level of impact on the last day, kicking off with a slow start. They were finally able to climb the rankings as other teams reached match point eligibility, something they earned in Game 11, before securing the title in Game 13 with a Victory Royale. The win earns them the first place prize of $260,000, and of course significant bragging rights in the Fortnite scene.

For Malibuca, he chalked the win up to his teammate, saying, “It just feels amazing to have vic0 on my team. I genuinely think that this game, and many, many other games, but especially this game that we won that led us to win the tournament, if I had anyone else in the world besides vic0 we wouldn’t have won it. vic0 just eliminated, I’m not sure I’d have to rewatch it, but he just eliminated like 10 people, he did everything. 1v2’ed the last team. He just did everything. He’s just the greatest player of all time.”

That performance in the final game, and across the entire tournament, earned vic0 the SONY MVP award. Achieving 32 eliminations and 19 knockdowns, vic0 earned an additional $25,000 in winnings. On his experience at the event and receiving the award, vic0 said, “I just love it. I could do this all day, every day. It’s the greatest feeling every time, y’know.”

Local French favorites Momsy and Skyjump almost managed to pull of an impressive home victory, but ended up in second place, while Aurora Gaming’s Oltean "shxrk" Ștefan and Tin "t3eny" Popovic, who were considered favorites for the competition, ended in third. Peter "Peterbot" Kata and Miguel "Pollo" Moreno, representing Team Falcons, were also considered top contenders heading into the final day, but ended in 12th place, and crucially, missed out on Club Championship points.

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About The Esports World Cup

The Esports World Cup (EWC) is a premier annual sporting event and global celebration of competitive excellence and esports fandom. The competition features a unique cross-game format that pits the world's top esports Clubs against one another for the largest prize pool in esports history. Hosted in Paris, France, in the summer of 2026, the EWC will bring gaming and esports communities together again to crown the next Esports World Cup Club Champion. esportsworldcup.com

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