It’s been another fast-paced year on the eSports circuit filled with upsets and turnarounds, but the main event on every fighting game professional’s calendar is the Evolution Championship Series. The annual event held in Las Vegas saw competitors from all over fighting gather to become the best in the world at their respective games. This year’s event saw a huge amount of entrants with Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition headlining the weekend and Dragon Ball FighterZ proving to be the most popular title with more than 2,500 entrants.
Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition
No matter what your personal favorite fighting game happens to be, there’s no denying that Street Fighter is, and always has been, Evo’s heavy hitter. The latest rendition of the iconic franchise saw returning champion Tokido, who claimed the top spot at last year’s event, taking on Britain’s Problem-X in the grand finals last night.
Takido is well known for his powerful and relentless Akuma; keeping pressure on his opponents and forcing them into unwanted situations. This seemed to be the game plan once again as he opened the grand finals against Problem-X’s M. Bison with a flurry of hadoken. The aggression paid off as Takido took a 3-2 lead, allowing him to reset the brackets and putting both players on equal footing for the final set.
The first set was an amazing display of back and forth with neither player giving an inch. Each move was calculated and precise, showing the amount of experience that these men have with Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition. However, the second set saw Problem-X take the fight to Takido. His M. Bison seemed to be on point with every frame, claiming an enormous 3-0 victory while only losing a single round throughout.
Problem-X had dominated in all his matches throughout the weekend, switching between Street fighter II’s boss character M. Bison and Final Fight’s Abigail. The runaway victory over Japan’s Takido means that Problem-X is the first British player to ever win a Street Fighter V tournament at Evo.
Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition’s Top 8 results:
- 1. mouz| Problem-X
- 2. FOX| Takido
- 3. CYC.BST| Fuudo
- 4. gachikun
- 5. Fudoh| Fujimura
- 5. BJKE.RB| Luffy
- 7. RISE| Caba
- 7. THE COOL KID93
Of course no Street Fighter outing at Evo would be complete without a reveal and this year we were treated to not only one; but two. The final characters from Arcade Edition’s Season 3 both saw gameplay trailers allowing fans to see what they can expect from newcomer G and veteran Sagat when they become available later today.
Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition is available now on PlayStation 4 and PC.
Dragon Ball FighterZ
The eSports circuit’s most famous furry, SonicFox, battled his way through the best Dragon Ball FighterZ players in the world on the winners’ side this weekend to secure a spot in the grand finals against Go1.
The 3-on-3 nature of Dragon Ball FighterZ meant that this set would be a long endurance test for both players. However, Japan’s Go1 took an aggressive stance against his American opponent in the early stages of the game, scoring a hard and fast 3-0 victory and leading the match to a bracket reset. However, before the final set began SonicFox called out for the placement of a lesser-seen ruling regarding the players’ seating positions. After a number of judges conferred, it was brought to a coin toss which resulted in both players switching as SonicFox took over as player 1 and Go1 took the player 2 side.
Following the short interlude, SonicFox’s luck seemed to change as he gained control of the set using his team of Bardock, Zamasu Fused, and Android 18 against Go1’s combination of Cell, Bardock, and Vegetta Super Saiyan. The lengthy battle raged on with SonicFox flipping the previous result and walking away with a 3-0 victory to be crowed Evo 2018’s Dragon Ball FighterZ Champion.
Dragon Ball FighterZ Top 8 results:
- 1. FOX|SonicFox
- 2. CAG|Go1
- 3. CAG| Fenritti
- 4. PONOS| moke
- 5. W2W| KnowKami
- 5. GGP.Hori| Kazunoko
- 7. YOSHIMOTO| kubo
- 7. NRG| Supernoon
Dragon Ball FighterZ is available now on Xbox One, PlayStation 4 and PC. It will also be arriving on Switch later this year with an open beta being available later this week.
Tekken 7
It seems that once again Tekken 7’s trophy remains safely in the hands of the Republic of Korea.
While 2017 saw an all Korean final in the form of Saint’s Jack 7 taking on JDCR’s Draganov, this year the nation holds firm with a long and grueling set between LowHigh’s Shaheen and qudans’ Devil Jin.
Qudans fought his way into the grand finals having beaten USA’s Lil Mijan in the losers bracket. From here, he began an all-out assault on LowHigh’s Shaheen, forcing him into the corner and dominating with an aggressive 3-1 win to reset the bracket. However, it was not enough. Following the reset, LowHigh’s Shaheen began to show his traditional form once again, stopping Devil Jin’s advances at every turn.
With a swift turnaround in tactics which took Shaheen from the steady and patient form that we had seen earlier in the match-up to a more aggressive stance swiftly led LowHigh to a 3-0 victory over his opponent to claim the title of Evo’s Tekken 7 Champion 2018.
Tekken 7 Top 8 results:
- 1. Fursan| LowHigh
- 2. UYU| qudans
- 3. ITS| Lil Majin
- 4. FOX| JDCR
- 5. Alpha Red| Book
- 5. Fursan| Rangchu
- 7. chirichiri
- 8. COOAS| NOROMA
Along with the best in the world competing at the event, Bandai Namco Entertainment also announced that Tekken 7 will be celebrating a second season of new characters. This time fan favorites Anna Williams and Lei Wulong will be returning to the fold along with The Walking Dead’s Negan. Although characters from a comic book series and TV show might seem a little odd, he’d fit right at home with some of Season 1’s usual guest fighters which included Final Fantasy XV’s Noctis.
Tekken 7 is available now on PlayStation 4, Xbox One and PC.
Of course, Evo is home to a whole wealth of fighting game tournaments, not just those who were popular enough to headline the event. Injustice 2 saw Tweedy taking out SonicFox in the losers’ finals, only to be beaten by Rewind in the grand finals. The ever-popular Super Smash Bros. series had two games present once again before Super Smash Bros. Ultimate arrives later this year. The iconic Super Smash Bros. Melee saw Fox player Leffen take the top spot while Lima beat CaptainZack in a Bayonetta mirror match for the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U title.
Arc System Works’ gorgeous Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator 2 saw OMITO beating his way through Machabo and Rion to become this year’s champion, while the equally appealing BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle title was taken by heiho who entered the top 8 in the losers’ bracket.
The top 8 results forInjustice 2, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator 2 and Blazblue Cross Tag Battle can be seen below.
Super Smash Bros. Melee Top 8 results:
- 1. TSM| Leffen
- 2. [A] Armada
- 3. PG| Plup
- 4. Liquid| Hungrybox
- 5. Wizzrobe
- 5. C9| Mang0
- 7. OG| Swedish Delight
- 7. Tempo| S2J
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Top 8 results:
- 1. Lima
- 2. CaptainZack
- 3. DNG| Nientono
- 4. EMG| Mistake
- 5. W2W| Mr E
- 5. PG| MVD
- 7. YOSHIMOTO| CHOCO
- 7. CND| Raito
Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator 2 Top 8 results:
- 1. OMITO
- 2. SURUGAYA| MAchabo
- 3. WN| LostSoul
- 4. NAGE
- 5. YOSHIMOTO| Zadi
- 5. Rion
- 7. Fumo
- 7. Mikado| Teresa
BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle Top 8 results:
- 1. heiho
- 2. PAG| Fame96
- 3. GRPT.BE| DORA_BANG
- 4. kojiKog
- 5. CAG| Fenritti
- 5. GGP.HORI| Kazunoko
- 7. GOUDA
- 7. Dettywhiterock
Injustice 2 Top 8 results:
- 1. Noble| Rewind
- 2. Noble| Tweedy
- 3. FOX| Sonic Fox
- 4. Big D
- 5. PG| Hayatei
- 5. Noble| Semiij
- 7. Method| SylverRye
- 7. bc| Biohazard