After three weeks of qualifiers, the Season 4 FNCS Finals are upon us. The qualified teams have been broken into heats and will begin competing Thursday, October 29.

Ahead, we’ll tell you everything you need to know as an FNCS viewer, including the scoring format, the programming schedule, Twitch Drops, and more.

Scoring Format

The scoring format will be the same as it was for all of the qualifiers – one of the better formats that the FNCS has seen. Placements aren’t as top-heavy as they have been in the past, and Epic have done away with the controversial placement thresholds outside of the top three teams.

In other words, teams won’t have to wait until they’re in the top 15 or 10 before receiving points. They’ll begin earning placement points at the halfway point in the match.

Here’s a breakdown of all of the points that players can earn during the Season 4 FNCS Finals.

Placement

Victory Royale: 25 Points
2nd: 20 Points
3rd: 16 Points
4th: 14 Points
5th: 13 Points
6th: 12 Points
7th: 11 Points
8th: 10 Points
9th: 9 Points
10th: 8 Points
11th: 7 Points
12th: 6 Points
13th: 5 Points
14th 4 Points
15th: 3 Points
16th: 2 Points
17th: 1 Point

Each Elimination: 1 Point

Qualified Teams

Some of the biggest names in Fortnite will be battling it out in all regions. Unlike some past seasons, it seems like all of the popular teams in NA and EU have made it to the grand finals.

The qualified teams are broken down into four heats in NA-East, NA-West, and EU. The smaller regions of OCE, Asia, Brazil, and Middle East only have two heats. With 132 qualified teams and 396 qualified players, it would be a lot to list all of the qualifiers in this blog. You can find them on the official Fortnite website if you’re curious.

Programming Schedule

Since we’ll be watching four heats in each of the “Big 3” regions, the schedule may change later in the week. At the time of writing, we aren’t 100% sure when each heat will be.

The heats will take place on Thursday and Friday, with the two-day finals kicking off on Saturday. Again, we’re not sure exactly when each heat will play and we don’t know whether these heats will garner an official Fortnite broadcast. If not, there are countless ‘watch parties’ across Twitch for each region.

Until further notice, we’re operating under the assumption that the broadcast schedule will be the same Saturday-Sunday coverage that it was during the qualifiers.

1:00pm – Broadcast begins
1:15pm – Live EU coverage
5:15pm – Live NAE coverage
8:30pm – Approximate end

[embedded content][embedded content]

Twitch Drops

Just like last season – and all of the Season 4 qualifiers – viewers will be able to earn Twitch Drops by watching the official Fortnite stream and other, partnered streamers.

Becoming a partnered streamer for the FNCS is quite easy, so there will probably be Twitch drops on all channels that feature participating players – or viewing parties.

You’ll need to link your Twitch and Epic accounts in order to earn Twitch Drops for watching the FNCS. It’s important to note that you have to have linked your accounts within the past six months. If you linked the accounts longer than six months ago, you should un-link them and do it again.

With so many massive names participating in the Season 4 FNCS, this is going to be a joy to watch. We’re excited to see who comes out on top in what many consider to be the most competitive FNCS format out there.

Of course, we’ll be live-tweeting the EU and NA-East Grand Finals on Sunday and will have live coverage of the event when it ends. Make sure to follow us on Twitter @FortniteINTEL so you don’t miss out on any of the action.