Emery Butler, known online as MrButler, played football for Chesnee High School before pursuing a career in competitive esports. Butler credits his time playing under Coach Lynn Fleming with helping shape the work ethic and competitive mindset he carries into gaming today. Photo courtesy of Emery Butler.
Known online as MrButler, Emery Butler is taking over the world of professional esports, pulling from the competitive mindset he built growing up in Upstate South Carolina.
A lifelong athlete, Butler first became interested in the online gaming world through playing Call of Duty with friends. At the time, gaming was a hobby he enjoyed on the side while working as a car salesman. Then, a friend introduced him to Fortnite.
“I downloaded the game and realized I was pretty good at it,” says Butler. “Four years later, it’s been the only game I’ve played every day, and I continually place high in tournaments.”
Recently, Butler played nine tournaments over the course of a weekend, placing in the top 300 in every single tournament, including placements in the top five and top 100 players. Butler says that these tournaments can have anywhere from 2,000 to 25,000 players, so making the top of the roster is no small feat.
Though he now resides in Ohio, Butler credits much of his competitive spirit to his early days as a student in Chesnee, South Carolina. He lived in the Upstate from seventh grade to his sophomore year of high school, and was very involved in school sports. He was a member of the undefeated Chesnee Middle School football team in 2011, and a starter for the Chesnee High School football team in 2012, where he was a part of the team’s Upper State championship run. Butler played under the leadership of Coach Lynn Fleming, who he says had a massive impact on how he’s approached all aspects of life since.
“He’s literally one of the best coaches I’ve ever had in my life,” says Butler. “He just came in with a mindset where it doesn’t matter what age you are, what you lift, the best guys are gonna play, so if you put in the work, you’re going to be playing on Friday night. That mindset of hard work beats talent when talent gives up…that’s where I thrived.”
“I’ve never really been the best at everything,” says Butler, “but I’ve always put in the work to be the best. For example, in Fortnite, it’s all about knowing when to rotate, knowing the storms, knowing when to fight, knowing when to back off, and it’s just all about the mindset. You might be the best fighter, but for me, I want to be the smartest person in the room. Over the weekend, I played almost 24 hours in a row, and it gets tiring, but I’ve spent four or five hours this morning watching every single replay to see where I went wrong, to see what I could have picked up. And Coach Lynn Fleming, I owe a lot to him; he really helped develop a mindset that iron sharpens iron, from the Bible. That was our motto in the weight room, he put it on all our equipment — that the next man is going to make the next person better, and I still live by that today.”
His hard work is paying off. In addition to competing, Butler is a well-known Fortnite content creator, with a platform that’s growing at a rapid rate. He’s currently generating millions of views each month, and has over 112,000 followers on TikTok.
Butler is quick to express gratitude for all of the people who’ve been a part of his journey. He currently represents RXB Esports, and works with a number of different brands and sponsors.
“My sponsors have really been amazing for me,” he says. “They helped me when I was smaller, and they still support me to this day. I’m truly blessed.” He highlights Autofull, Hype Toothpaste, Trumpdrive Energy, and El Jefe Energy as sponsors who have come alongside him as a creator.
“For these guys to have well-established businesses and believe in something that I’m doing, it helps fuel me to keep striving to be great,” says Butler. “They’re really great people, and I’m happy to have them as part of my team.”
For those interested in pursuing a similar path, Butler has one piece of advice.
“Don’t compare yourself to anybody else,” he says. “Everybody’s process is a little different. Some might be a little unconventional. For me, I just kind of fell into it. I realized I was pretty decent at a game, and it just kind of happened, it took off. But be consistent, and keep positive. There’s going to be people who doubt you and people who say you’re wasting your time, but just remember that your dreams are worth pursuing. If people are giving you negativity or saying it’s not worth it, that means you’re doing something right. That means you’re gaining attention, you’re gaining traction. And on those days where you feel like giving up, you’re actually getting closer to your goal.”
For more information about Emery, visit his website at www.mrbutlerttv.com/
