SypherPK Accuses Fortnite Of Being Pay-To-Win

A lighthearted video by Fortnite streamer and Ninja duos partner SypherPK leveled a serious allegation against the popular battle royale game. In his recent upload, SypherPK showed players how to use three paid characters to gain advantages which he claims amount to pay-to-win mechanics, although his demonstration of these abilities may call that accusation into question.

All of these techniques that SypherPK demonstrated to gain these advantages are related to the recent Operation Snowdown update from Fortnite's Chapter 2 – Season 5. Two of the three characters used are from previous holiday updates, Lt. Evergreen and Crackshot, while the third, Mystique, is from the previous season's Marvel crossover.

SypherPK's video first demonstrates how the holiday tree-themed Lt. Evergreen blends in with the holiday trees added to Pleasant Park and Salty Towers. By dropping into Salty Towers and leaving conspicuous loot near an actual holiday tree, SypherPK can use the Light Up emoji to blend in and set a trap for an unsuspecting player.

However, using the environment as camouflage is not necessarily a new trick, as SypherPK encounters later in the video. When setting a similar trap, again using baited loot, he discovers another player had been hiding in the same type of bush across the street — without the aid of a tree-themed character.

Next, SypherPK shows how to use the Crackshot nutcracker character to hide in plain sight. The Lazy Lake area has a house with two decorative nutcrackers sitting outside, and by destroying one, SypherPK is able to take its place. The video shows at least one player failing to notice him, and SypherPK successfully stands motionless until the game is down to almost the final 20. However, another player eventually sees SypherPK and defeats him, again calling into question the efficacy of this supposed pay-to-win tactic.

Last, SypherPK uses Mystique from the Chapter 2 – Season 4 Marvel crossover to transform into the NPC Snowmando and trick unsuspecting opponents. Mystique's unique ability, Shapeshifter, allows her to transform into the last character she eliminated, including NPCs. By dropping at one of the several Snowmando outposts, eliminating the NPC, and transforming, SypherPK successfully gets a single kill. 

All in all, these comments seem less likely to cause the same level of controversy that SypherPK did when the community accused him of ruining Fortnite. That said, all three tricks might be a fun diversion for Fortnite fans looking to pull "cheeky plays," as SypherPK calls them at the end of his video.