UK Fortnite star Kyle ‘Mongraal’ Jackson (pictured left) has opened up about being mistreated by other pro players after one was caught speaking ill of him behind his back.
Austrian player David ‘Aqua’ Wang (right) said, as reported by Jake Lucky: “Shut up, I didn’t want to play with Mongraal, he’s shit. I don’t care anymore – he triggered me.”
Aqua wasn’t aware he was being recorded at the time and tried to get the stream VoD deleted.
This prompted Mongraal to tweet: “I can’t even put into words what the Fortnite pro scene is like.”
A couple of days after this, Mongraal published a Twitlonger going into more detail around his thoughts on the pro scene, saying other pros talk ill of him behind his back.
He said: “The reason why I was angry [on Twitter] was because I already knew I was constantly slandered in private by the majority of pros, but actually hearing it flipped a switch.
“The last three seasons I wasn’t in the top percentile for skill, I’m not oblivious to that fact. I know I finally started to creep into the new high skill level of tier one pros, two to three more weeks of my daily routine I’ve had since last season ended and I would have undoubtedly been at the very top again.
“The problem is when playing with tier one players, if it doesn’t work they go into a Discord filled with 95% of tier one pros and slander me even if they know themselves in reality it’s nothing like they say. The result of this is me not being able to find a tier one trio, because all the pros get brainwashed into thinking I’m complete shit after being told over and over again.”
“I haven’t been in any friend groups for over the past three months. Because of this I’m the easiest target to get shit talked about behind my back, since I will never find out. The problem is when playing with tier one players, if it doesn’t work they go into a Discord filled with 95% of tier one pros and slander, slander, slander me even if they know themselves in reality it’s nothing like they say.
“The result of this is me not being able to find a tier one trio because all the pros get brainwashed into thinking I’m complete shit after being told over and over again. It’s not about getting dropped, it’s about being lied to and getting talked like shit behind my back, further ruining my reputation in the pro scene.”
Aqua said he received death threats after the incident and shared some of the abuse he had received:
Mongraal added: “I’m not saying im perfect either, because im not. Don’t send hate to Aqua or anything like that. This is between me and him, the internet doesn’t need to send witch hunts and hate towards anyone’s way. That shouldn’t be how it is.”
He continued: “I will play this game for two more years and achieve zero money and placements if I want to. I will quit tomorrow if I want to. Negative comments directed to me have no effect on my feelings or what I do (as long as it’s not behind my back).
“I also want to debunk the argument I know that’s gonna come up: ‘In the past you were one of the biggest shit talkers to other pros.’
“I did it in public, or in a DM. I Don’t change my opinion behind your back, I tell you what I think at the current moment.”
Mongraal is one of the most popular Fortnite players, with 2m Twitter followers, 4.45m YouTuber subscribers and 4.8m Twitch followers.
The 17-year-old UK Fortnite player is currently signed to FaZe Clan. Mongraal’s esports journey began in 2018 when he joined Team Secret aged 13 years old.
Dom is an award-winning writer and finalist of the Esports Journalist of the Year 2023 award. He graduated from Bournemouth University with a 2:1 degree in Multi-Media Journalism in 2007.
As a long-time gamer having first picked up the NES controller in the late ’80s, he has written for a range of publications including GamesTM, Nintendo Official Magazine, industry publication MCV and others. He worked as head of content for the British Esports Federation up until February 2021, when he stepped back to work full-time on Esports News UK and offer esports consultancy and freelance services. Note: Dom still produces the British Esports newsletter on a freelance basis, so our coverage of British Esports is always kept simple – usually just covering the occasional press release – because of this conflict of interest.
