By Megan Ryan megan.ryan@startribune.com
PlayerUsernameSystem
Kentrell Brothers, Vikings linebacker, LAFLAMEv2, Xbox,
Best win: A 16-kill win in a squad with Anthony Barr, Horace Richardson and Eric Wilson. Barr and Wilson died but Brothers and Richardson won it for the team.
Worst loss: While he was streaming with 700 people watching, he killed an opponent who had set a trap for him and then ran right into the trap and died. "When something like that happens to me, I just can't play anymore. I've got to recuperate after that."
Favorite skin: The season five level 100 Ragnarok skin.
J.T. Brown, Wild forward
Username: XtwigX TRICORE, PC
Best win: "My first win. I mean, that's your most important one. Everything after that doesn't [quite measure up]. … You fight so long, especially for me. … It took a while to get the first one."
Worst loss: "I flew into a tree, like, twice in one stream and died before I even got in. I blame part of it on the chat because I was reading the chat and not paying attention to where I was flying."
Favorite skin: Cuddle Team Leader, Brite Gunner and Bandolier (In the story, I mention him playing as the Samsung Galaxy skin)
A random quote: "It's pretty much the same as sports," Brown said, adding the parallels like intense practice and building team dynamics make player successful in video games and athletics. "It's not always the best or the most-skilled, but just being able to talk to each other, to have our own plans, your own strategies. And if you execute those, usually you do pretty well with either video games or sports."
"If I don't get one [win] when I play, I'm upset. I usually go for a couple a night and then we're OK. I'll sleep good if we get a couple a night. If we get one or none, then I start thinking about all the ones we left when we got second place or third place, and why did I do this, why did I do that."
Trevor May, Twins pitcher, IamTrevorMay, PC
Best win: "My first solo win was most exciting. It took me awhile, actually, I got stuck on final two, and I just kept choking. And then I realized that I was a professional athlete, and I should be able to do this. So I eventually got to a point where I just relaxed and got the job done, and they just kind of came after that. But yeah, I liken it to getting a big out on the mound. It feels very similar."
Worst loss: "I've fallen down a hill. I had a guy just completely stuck on the bottom of this building, and I went to aim down and just slid down and died right at his feet. I had get up and walk away [from the game]. I've been known to rage."
Favorite skin: Snorkel Ops
Mason Toye, United striker, Xbox and Nintendo Switch
Username: "I don't know if I want to give that out. … It's just a dumb name. The maturity level is not there."
Best win: A seven-kill squad game with a rare blue tactical shotgun
Worst loss: "My cousin told me to go on live because we were playing really well. … So I went on Instagram Live, and I think we lost like five games in a row, and we didn't get past the first circle."
Favorite skin: Jumpshot
Kamal Martin, Gophers linebacker, Ksix7, PlayStation4 with a keyboard
Best win: A 17-kill solo win
Worst loss: "When I was about to win my 300th game, it was me and this other guy, and I had 10 kills, and I had him trapped and everything. And then he ended up launch-padding away and killing me."
Favorite skin: Vertex
Josh Okogie, Timberwolves guard, CALLMENONSTOP, Xbox
Best win: "My most kills has been probably about 5. I don't know what my best win is. We win a lot, so."
Worst loss:"One time, I was in a fight. I ran out of [ammo]. … I panicked, and I pulled out a sniper and the dude was like, two feet in front of me. And I just had to shoot, but I was shooting sniper bullets, and by the time it reloaded, he killed me."
Favorite emote: The dance Orange Justice
A random quote: "For one, I know probably every male athlete is really competitive, and Fortnite, if you die, you don't get to respawn. If you die, you have to go all the way back to the main menu, and everybody wants to be No. 1," Timberwolves guard Josh Okogie said. "It's a platform where you can connect with your friends. You can connect with the fans. There's money in it with people starting to use Twitch. It's just a whole different avenue."
Random quotes:
Vikings safety Harrison Smith
Best win: "I have one solo win, and that's like the hardest thing to do. I stole one. I played it kind of like a rat, like I was hiding. Like, no on would be impressed with that win. So if you hide in bushes, that's really frowned upon. So I'm not going to say I wasn't hiding in a bush, you know. I used it a little bit."
Worst loss: "I mean, most of them are pretty embarrassing. It's normally immediate death. I think when you have, like, four guys, and you're going against one or two at the end, and they just, it's just a psycho that manages to just dominate. Those are embarrassing."
Favorite skin: "I don't have one. I spend $0 on the game. I'm a no-skin. So, like, people will call me a nude. a no-skin nude, which is like, if people see a no-skin, they'll just go right at them because they know you're not very good. So that happens to me a lot."
Twins catcher Mitch Garver on transferable skills from sports to video games
"100 percent. I think the communication part of it is huge, being able to communicate while you're playing and doing other tasks. And I feel like the hand-eye coordination. For sure reaction time . Sometimes the pressure of situations, the adrenaline that you get in these situations, and then being abe to stay calm and keep doing whatever you're doing, I think that's a big part of it also."
Lynx guard Alexis Jones
"I know a lot of players on our team just don't play video games. But I play video games, but I don't play the shooting games. I play 2K, Madness, I play the baseball game. ... They're too hard. You have to figure it out. There's too many people to shoot. You don't know who you're shooting and stuff like that. I want to learn how to play, but you have to really, like, concentrate and want to do it. It's more focused. I have to take my time and actualy learn how to play."
Vikings tight end David Morgan
On transferable skills: "I like, at least, to give myself credit and say I'm working on my football skills when I'm playing Fortnite beacuse I play a lot. ... I really wish there was because I'd be, probably, better at football."
On celebrations:"We haven't discussed any, but I know with the growing of Fortnite that there will be a lot of them used not just by anyone on our team in general but just in sports as a whole and football. There will be a lot of people that will be using them, I guarantee you."
Megan Ryan • 612-673-4037
