NICKMERCS defends Fortnite controller players after Ninja slams aim assist

Nick ‘NICKMERCS’ Kolcheff hit back at Tyler ‘Ninja’ Blevins after the Mixer star slammed players who use controllers on PC, and suggested they shouldn’t be allowed to compete on the platform.

The pair were grouped up on stream for some squads matches when the conversation drifted to controller players who play on PC, which Ninja claimed was “broken” since they have the same aim assist as on console, but with higher FPS.

After hearing Blevins’ comments, NICKMERCS, who is the biggest name in the Fortnite controller community, challenged him to plug in a gamepad to test it out for himself.

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This wasn’t the first time Ninja has bashed controller-using PC players.

“Ninja, if it was OP all those motherf**kers would be playing it, and you know it,” the FaZe star said in response.

Nick went on to call out his Mixer counterpart and other Fortnite pros for making a big deal anytime a controller player finished top-10 in a tournament, even though they face several disadvantages, he claimed.

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“You get the top 100, and ten of those kids are controller players, and because one of them’s in the top ten, everyone’s got a f*cking problem with it,” Nick argued. “But it’s the same argument every time.”

“I think the issue is that it’s not that one person is in the top-10, it’s that the guy who’s a controller player in the top-10 has 50 times the eliminations of all the PC players,” Blevins hit back. “That’s the problem.”

Kolcheff countered with the argument that controller players were actually at a disadvantage when it comes to building, compared to their PC counterparts, but Ninja said if they just find a teammate who can build, controller players can focus purely on fighting and editing.

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“What you’re saying right now is the problem – the pick a duo partner who can build and edit for them, that’s unfair,” he said. “They don’t even have to build, they just follow a tunnel, edit out, and just laser. That’s when it becomes an issue.”

Being the face of the Fortnite controller community, it’s no surprise that NICKMERCS has two custom gamepads to his name.

This age-old argument then begs the question – what can be done to make both sides happy? Obviously playing on a controller is going to always remain a big part of Fortnite, so Ninja suggested that players should only be allowed to compete against others using the same peripherals.

“Why are controller players even playing against PC players?” the Mixer star asked. “Put them in their own servers. Put all the console players, the Xbox controller players together in tournaments, let them play against each other.”

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“You don’t think that’s great though?” Nick replied, suggesting that the mix of players is what differentiates this competitive game from most others. “You don’t think it was a unique thing that makes Fortnite, Fortnite?”

The aim assist argument in Fortnite has existed almost as long as the game itself.

Ninja did admit that the solution may not be nerfing aim assist, which is what a lot of big-name Fortnite players have suggested in the past. He accepts the fact that the mechanic is essential to those who play on controller, and instead Epic should focus on balancing out the competitive field rather than making fundamental changes to the game.

The two seemed to agree on that front at least, as even Nick said that console players should probably compete against each other rather than be forced to play against those on PC, who have significant advantages that go beyond aim assist.