I sat down with one of the top IGLs in Fortnite, Abdullah “Acorn” Akhras. We discussed everything from how he nearly quit Fortnite before going pro, to his plans for bringing home the crown at the FNCS Global Championship in Denmark this year.

Congrats on joining Dignitas! What are you most excited about after joining DIG?

Acorn: The team is like a super team, you know? I wanted to join a Tier 1 team and Dignitas is the only one left, so to be on a team with these names, yeah, it’s great.

Let’s talk about what led you here. When did you start gaming?

Acorn: I'd say six or seven years old. I played games like FIFA on PS3 and slowly as I grew up, I played on my brother's computer. I got into games like Maplestory, League of Legends, and then, eventually, Fortnite. My friends told me about it at school and at first, I was not down. But it was the only game we could play cross-platform and they were all on console at that time. Then we ended up playing it so much. We liked it a lot.

When did you begin to show an interest in gaming competitively?

Acorn: I would play scrims for fun and then the World Cup was announced. I didn’t even know what it was, I just knew there was no way I was going to make money playing a video game, so I quit the game. My mom was telling me to get off, I was spending too much time on the computer. Fortnite was pretty addicting back then, so I ended up quitting before the World Cup. Then I remember one day I went swimming and I came back home and there was like an hour left in the first World Cup qualifier. So, I thought, “You know what? Let me play it, why not? Let’s see how well I could do.” I ended up on the leaderboard right next to Nate Hill. From there, I thought, “Okay, let me actually give this my best.”

What advice would you give to those looking to break into the competitive scene, but are unsure of where to begin?

Acorn: Scrims are the best thing you can play, and I just found it really enjoyable. You have to start somewhere small and just work your way up. Start with the easy scrims and from there, you’ll improve, get better placements, and eventually you’ll get into a higher rank.

What are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced as a professional Fortnite player?

Acorn: School and family can be really hard to balance. My grades really took a hit, and my family would get annoyed at that, obviously, because they don’t want to see my gaming have a negative impact on that. You’ve just got to try to balance them both.

What about as a content creator?

Acorn: I've been streaming for three years, but it was really on and off. This is the first time I've been very consistent and taking it seriously. I mean, it's hard to balance streaming and competitive, because streaming is a lot of hours, so to do anything, it's just hard. I’ve had to sacrifice either going out with friends or even sleeping, to put more time into the game.

What changes would you like to see Epic make to its competitive scene as a whole? What do you think would make it better?

Acorn: I think that the ranked mode is a big flaw. If they could bring back Arena mode or something that is exactly how tournaments are, that'd be great. Because practices are gone. Everything in ranked has a different loot pool and just so many so many different things, so it doesn't compare. You can't practice. I just want them to put more effort into comp, because it feels like they don't really care that much.

Your FNCS Major 1 win qualified you for the FNCS Global Championship LAN in Denmark happening in October. This is far from your first LAN, so tell us, how does the LAN experience compare to online tournaments?

Acorn: I like the LAN experience a lot more because it's just more real. I've always been a competitive person, I kind of like to be under pressure. So, at a LAN, everything is there. After three games, you see all the players walk out for a break, and you can see what's going on. It’s all there, everything is happening in front of you, it’s great.

Before we go, let’s peer into the future a little bit. What would you like to manifest for yourself for the rest of 2023?

Acorn: I just want to win the Global Championship, that would be amazing. I'd also like to become a fan favorite, you know? Someone who people actually understand and know of the personality behind the player. That's why I'm starting to stream. I just want people to get to know me more, so they know I’m not just a name.

I’d like to thank Acorn for sitting down to chat! If you’d like to keep up with Acorn and follow his journey to Copenhagen for the global championship, you can follow him on Twitter @AcornFN.

You can also follow me on Twitter, @KaylaSueStreams.