Go For Pro – Evo 2016 Wrap
Another year and another EVO, for FGC’s around the world it’s like our Olympics. A place where the best Fighting game players in the world compete for glory and cash for hundreds of thousands to see. And this year delivered in every aspect that we were expecting. There was hype, surprises and of course disappointment, what can I say, there can only be one winner and sometimes the difference between first and second place is a lucky clutch move, which is probably why this is such a popular genre in eSports.
So I made a lot of predictions this year and even though I put down multiple names, which some might consider cheating (sue me), I was fairly impressed with myself with how they turned out, so here’s a quick write up from some of the more popular games played on the day.
Mortal Kombat XL
Grand Final – Well as predicted it was yet again, that masterful player, SonicFox. So I’m not surprised, he’s hasn’t been winning all these tournaments through sheer luck, his dedication, execution and relentless aggression in the game nets him a series of tournament wins that go as long as my arm.
Hype – What I didn’t predict however was Tekken Master nearly stealing the glory for himself. After resetting the bracket, he has SonicFox so flustered that he had to remove that hat of his, which up until now I thought was permanently attached to his skull and pick Alien to eventually secure the win.
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
Grand Final – Well I was hoping for it, in fact I even said it might be his year, but ChrisG can finally attach ‘EVO Champion’ to his long list of accolades to this title. I’m rarely so happy for a player to take a victory but I’ve always felt that ChrisG has deserved a win at EVO for a long time now and it was far from handed to him. KaneBlueRiver was in red hot form (as always) and was destroying players left right and centre and blasted his way to the Finals in the winners bracket. Call it tilting or solid play, but ChrisG stopped that train and sent it right back where it came from.
Hype – Apart from ChrisG winning, it was probably the random crazy person who snuck on stage and challenged ChrisG to a game after he’d won the Grand Final. This was followed promptly by security guards escorting the Gentlemen off the stage and no doubt, out of the venue.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z4gcGPbXxKU
Killer Instinct
Grand Final – Well how off was I with these predictions? Yes I mentioned that Sleep would be in the top 8 and in with a good chance of winning, but that’s where my predictions ended. Sleep and Bass faced off in an epic battle with Bass’ Spinal giving everyone a hard time, even sleep at times! But he couldn’t quite crack that cool, calm and collected shell that Sleep resides in and eventually went down to the KI veteran.
Hype – The hype was brought when Sleep decided that Gargos would be a good counter to whatever Bass was throwing at him. Move over Rico, we have a new multi-character master in the KI community, and his name is Sleep!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L23rDNqvRoI
SFV
Grand Final – I think everyone was expecting one of two people (or both) to be in the Finals this year and Infiltration fulfilled that prophecy, but not in the way many expected. Fuudo and his Mika surprised everyone by taking out Infiltration in the Top 8 only to meet his demise against the crafty Nash player in the Grand Finals. When asked about what he found difficult against Fuudo’s Mika and what adjustments he then made to counter them, he simply replied – “Download Complete!”
Keep being you Infiltration. Classy and loveable in victory as well as defeat.
Hype – In a bracket of 5000 people, there was always going to be excitement, disappointment and moments that make you cover your mouth with shock and awe. What I felt was the most amazing moment though was seeing LI Joe make it into the Top 8 and then disposing of Japan’s EITA on the big stage. The crowd seemed to agree with me and I never met one person who wasn’t completely stoked for his achievements against the best in the world … which I guess we can say that he is definitely part of.
And that about sums it up for this year. Enjoy the write up, the links to the fights and most of all, enjoy the games. Until next time, Adam out!
