Interview: Taco on The Milk Cup and the Passion of the Women’s Competitive Scene

The Milk Cup has crowned their first champions, and the future of women’s esports is looking brighter than ever. Team Moxie battled it out against 32 opposing teams, securing three Victory Royales out of a possible six. While this is just the beginning of something great for the likes of champions Moxie, Regsita, and Dieyuhs, the same is true for the entire competitive pool of The Milk Cup, and women’s esports as a whole. 

It’s something that Caster and Analyst, Taco, recognised ahead of The Milk Cup final, which took place on October 5. “I think by far my favorite part about it is the way that [The Milk Cup] is essentially highlighting a lot of these women that have been kind of striving for more of that competitive aspect,” Taco said. “It's giving them such a strong, inclusive area, not only for them to continue building as women in the community, and the Fortnite competitive scene, but it's also bringing in a lot of outreach from elsewhere. It’s inspiring a lot of the ladies in the scene to continue trying to push, trying to show that ‘Hey, we're here, we're capable of competing and playing.’ I just love seeing how competitive everybody has been with all of this.”

The Milk Cup was organized by Gonna Need Milk, in collaboration and in partnership Fortnite streamer ThePeachCobbler, Women of the eRena (WOTE), and produced by RaidiantGG's all-women production team. The goal was to provide women Fortnite players with the space and accommodations to compete at their very best, in an environment that respected their skills and talent. “I’m just really thankful, in general, to Gonna Need Milk and RaidiantGG. Everybody's involvement has just helped elevate these women to be in the position that I think they've always kind of been in, but just never had the spotlight for,” Taco said. 

• Read more: Heather “sapphiRe” Garozzo — “I Think The Milk Cup is Going to be One of Those Historic Moments.”

It’s this spotlight that gives life to the women’s esports scene as a whole. Without tournaments like The Milk Cup highlighting the stories and journeys of its competitors, it’s hard for an audience to invest. For a lot of these young players, however, that can be a daunting prospect.

“Having played professionally, at one point in time for a separate gaming title, I know that it can be intimidating for sure,” Taco said. “Especially when the bulk of your competition are people who are, generally, not going to want to necessarily respect you to the extent that your abilities might actually portray. And so with that in mind, one thing that I really love about it is how super cool it is seeing the way that everyone has started to really push each other. I think that's the best way to look at it. 

I've definitely noticed that with a lot of these ladies, we're seeing regular scrims, we're seeing them go out of their way to constantly try and set up mini tournaments amongst each other. They're pulling prize pool money out of their pockets to make it even more fun. I just love seeing the way that all these ladies have essentially come together.”

The Milk Cup had no shortage of stories, either. From the winning team having been signed by XSET based on their dominant performance in the qualifiers, to Duo teams, and even a Solo player, competing against the entire lobby of Trios in The Milk Cup final. One of the Duos, SofyAnn and Milly, ended the tournament in an incredible fourth place out of 33. “The main thing that I think everyone's really keeping an eye out for is, if they place anywhere better than any of these full trio teams — that says a lot.”

• Read more: ThePeachCobbler — “The Milk Cup Isn’t Just a Tournament, It’s Where Change Starts”

The Milk Cup is, hopefully, just the beginning. Regardless of placement, every competitor had worked their way to the main event and walked away with growth and a LAN under their belts. The hope is that it also inspires more potential women Fortnite players, and up-and-coming talent, to take that next leap. Speaking to this future talent, Taco said, “The number one thing I want to highlight is to take care of each other. At the end of the day, we're all just trying to game. Whether it's stress release or you want to just prove that you are the best, ultimately everyone is just trying to play to the best of their ability. That means there's going to be room for growth. You're not going to start out an expert at anything, right?”

So where does The Milk Cup go from here? Well, thankfully Gonna Need Milk is keeping the flame alive with the upcoming Winter Split. This online Fortnite tournament will see Duos compete for a $50,000 prize pool at the end of the year. But what about more women-only LANs across other titles? 

“I would love it for titles like Valorant, Rocket League, Apex, CS even. There's a lot of really premier titles that I think have a lot of room for growth for women's competitive spaces, said Taco. “I think that while it's awesome having the inclusivity feature and a really strong, safe space for these women to connect with each other, I think it also continues to try and send the message elsewhere amongst the communities. It doesn't have to just be exclusively for the women in gaming spaces. It's just really important to stress the fact across the board that we should all just be taking care of each other, because we all love games. We all love playing and competing, or watching our competitors, so why not just focus on the beauty of the gameplay itself.”

The Milk Cup Winter Split takes place later this year across three online events. Players will be competing as Duos in a Zero Build format for their share of a $50,000 prize pool. While we don’t have exact dates for the online tournament just yet, the excitement among players is already building. Stay tuned for updates!