Sweet Victory

How to Win at Fortnite According to Sun Tzu

“The general who loses a battle makes but few calculations beforehand” wrote Sun Tzu in The Art of War. Fortnite, like any war or competitive engagement is won before stepping onto the battle field or dropping out of the Battle Bus and into the arena.

Michael Columbus
7 min readAug 18, 2021

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When starting a new game of Fortnite Battle Royale, there’s statistically a 1% chance of victory. If I play a hundred games of Fortnite, there’s a mathematical probability that I’ll win at least one of those first hundred games. Except I didn’t. What are the inputs to Fortnite that increase my likelihood for success above and beyond 1%? That’s what we’re exploring today, viewing Fortnite Battle Royale through the lens of Sun Tzu’s The Art of War.

Photo by Birmingham Museums Trust on Unsplash

The essence of the book is to strike when the enemy is weak and to evade when the enemy is strong. Fortnite is won or lost by developing a series of strategies, tactics, habits and healthy amount of muscle memory. The game’s meta changes week to week, but certain strategies persist. And, with the passage of time new…

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Michael Columbus

Software Consultant x Chemical Engineer x Mid-30s Married Guy with a stream-of-consciousness-bent Let's spend some time together 🥂