Street Fighter V
Background
Street Fighter V made its Evo debut in 2016, despite its launch earlier that year being less than optimal, with the game missing a story mode and basic multiplayer features. Eric van Allen of Paste Magazine stated that "this was not a game polished and prepped, but released early in order to make the cut for the e-sports season." Van Allen also stated that the season of competitive Street Fighter before Evo was dynamic, with many new players rising to the top and sinking just as fast and strategies shifting on a weekly basis. Only two weeks prior to Evo 2016, two new characters (Balrog and Ibuki[15]) were introduced to the game, and both were legal to play in the tournament. Regardless, players and commentators frequently mentioned how fun the game is to learn.[14]
Joseph Bradford described the Top 8 Street Fighter finalists as "an interesting bunch", as fan-favorite players like Yusuke Momochi, Tokido, Daigo Umehara, Justin Wong, and Eduardo "PR Balrog" Perez were all eliminated beforehand. The finalists included six Japanese players – Fuudo, MOV, Yukadon, Nemo, Goichi Kishida, and Eita – one Korean player: Infiltration – and one United States player: Joseph "L.I. Joe" Ciaramelli. Bradford stated that many of marquee match-ups that many Evo viewers were looking forward to happening during the final elimination rounds on July 16, including match between Daigo Umehara and Justin Wong, which was won by the latter. Infiltration beat Gamerbee during the elimination rounds as well.[16]
Grand Finals
Infiltration, who came in third behind Gamerbee and Momochi during Evo 2015, lost against Fuudo during the first round of the winner's bracket of the Street Fighter Top 8, but both achieved a series of wins throughout the rest of the tournament and the two faced of again in the finals. Here, Infiltration beat Fuudo, delivering three perfect rounds. When asked what adjustments he had made to his strategy, Infiltration responded simply with "download complete", suggesting he had identified and understood Fuudo's techniques when he was matched against him for the second time.[17][18]
L.I. Joe, the sole American player, was a fan-favorite during the Grand Finals: him defeating Eita in a "thrilling match" whipped the Las Vegas crowd in a frenzy, though he lost to Yukadon later on.[17] FanSided's Daniel George stated that L.I. Joe handled his loss "with the grace of a champion."[18]
The Street Fighter V Grand Finals were successful among TV audiences watching it on ESPN2, and the tournament reached a peak viewership of 194,000 viewers on the official Twitch stream.[18]
Background
Street Fighter V made its Evo debut in 2016, despite its launch earlier that year being less than optimal, with the game missing a story mode and basic multiplayer features. Eric van Allen of Paste Magazine stated that "this was not a game polished and prepped, but released early in order to make the cut for the e-sports season." Van Allen also stated that the season of competitive Street Fighter before Evo was dynamic, with many new players rising to the top and sinking just as fast and strategies shifting on a weekly basis. Only two weeks prior to Evo 2016, two new characters (Balrog and Ibuki[15]) were introduced to the game, and both were legal to play in the tournament. Regardless, players and commentators frequently mentioned how fun the game is to learn.[14]
Joseph Bradford described the Top 8 Street Fighter finalists as "an interesting bunch", as fan-favorite players like Yusuke Momochi, Tokido, Daigo Umehara, Justin Wong, and Eduardo "PR Balrog" Perez were all eliminated beforehand. The finalists included six Japanese players – Fuudo, MOV, Yukadon, Nemo, Goichi Kishida, and Eita – one Korean player: Infiltration – and one United States player: Joseph "L.I. Joe" Ciaramelli. Bradford stated that many of marquee match-ups that many Evo viewers were looking forward to happening during the final elimination rounds on July 16, including match between Daigo Umehara and Justin Wong, which was won by the latter. Infiltration beat Gamerbee during the elimination rounds as well.
Grand Finals
Infiltration, who came in third behind Gamerbee and Momochi during Evo 2015, lost against Fuudo during the first round of the winner's bracket of the Street Fighter Top 8, but both achieved a series of wins throughout the rest of the tournament and the two faced of again in the finals. Here, Infiltration beat Fuudo, delivering three perfect rounds. When asked what adjustments he had made to his strategy, Infiltration responded simply with "download complete", suggesting he had identified and understood Fuudo's techniques when he was matched against him for the second time.[17][18]
L.I. Joe, the sole American player, was a fan-favorite during the Grand Finals: him defeating Eita in a "thrilling match" whipped the Las Vegas crowd in a frenzy, though he lost to Yukadon later on.[17] FanSided's Daniel George stated that L.I. Joe handled his loss "with the grace of a champion."[18]
The Street Fighter V Grand Finals were successful among TV audiences watching it on ESPN2, and the tournament reached a peak viewership of 194,000 viewers on the official Twitch stream.[18]
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Armada, Hungrybox and Mango, who had dominated most major Melee tournaments in 2016 and perched at the top of the rankings, all competed at Evo 2016. Anna Washenko of Mashable stated up front that "the big question for Evo this year is who, if anyone, will be on their game enough to challenge this seemingly unshakeable top tier." Other high-ranked players that competed included Mew2King, Plup, Westballz, Axe, Shroomed, Wobbles, and Wizzrobe.[20][21] Kevin "PPMD" Nanney withdrew from the event two weeks prior due to health concerns, while William "Leffen" Hjelte missed Evo 2016 due to ongoing visa issues that had kept him out of the United States since late 2015.[22]
Hungrybox matched off against returning champion Armada after beating Mango in the loser's bracket semifinals and Plup in the loser's finals. Armada played Fox in order to play against Hungrybox' Jigglypuff in his advantage, but lost the first two games. Armada made a comeback in the two games after that, but Hungrybox turned it around again and managed to reset the set.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
The Evo 2016 Super Smash Bros. for Wii U competition featured a large variety of characters, both conventional and unconventional. Although many favorites had made Top 8, there were many unexpected upsets that caused several top players to finish outside top 16.[25] Unsponsored player Elliot "Ally" Carroza-Oyarce ended up claiming the grand title,[26] after reaching the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U Evo Top 8 twice before. Takuto "Kamemushi" finished 2nd on his first time entering an overseas tournament, after making waves in Japan with then considered mid-tier Mega-Man, notably eliminating Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios. The tournament's schedule was a common complaint, due to it being the second-largest tournament at the event. The competition's tight schedule put some serious strain on some of the event's competitors.[27]
Pokkén Tournament
Pokkén Tournament's Nintendo-approved presence at Evo 2016 was notable as just three years prior, Nintendo attempted to block Super Smash Bros. Melee from the tournament. Yet, the inclusion of the game was also controversial among fighting game fans as popular fighting games like Street Fighter IV and Blazblue were bumped from the event in favor of Pokkén Tournament.[28] Players from across the world traveled to Las Vegas in order to see how they would match up against the game's Japanese playerbase, where the game was released for a much longer time. Red Bull's Ian Walker stated that Pokkén Tournament grew a strong community at Evo 2016, with many low-level players enjoying being among like-minded players. Walker suggested that due to the game's younger player-base, it could go on to bolster the fighting game community strongly.[29]
Some well known fighting game players joined the Pokkén Tournament competition, including Justin Wong, Steven "Coach Steve" Delgado, and Yuta "Abadango" Kawamura. Meanwhile, Omari "BadIntent" Travis, made a switch from the competitive scene of the main Pokémon role-playing series to Pokkén Tournament.[29] The tournament was won by Japanese player Hisharu "Tonosama" Abe. Because they reached the Grand Finals, Tonosama and runner-up Buntan directly qualified for the Pokkén Championship World Finals.
Tekken 7: Fated Retribution
Though the game was not publicly available in the United States during the event,[1] the Tekken 7 tournament was won by Korean player Saint, who defeated fellow-Korean player Knee in the finals 3–2.[31]
One of the highlights of the Tekken 7 tournament was Korean Street Fighter V player Chung-gon "Poongko" Lee and his character choice of Street Fighter's Akuma;[32] who functions very similar to his appearance in the Street Fighter IV series.[33] Poongko notably upset EVO 2015's 5th-place finisher Yota "Pekos" Kachi and made it all the way to Winner's Finals, but was subsequently double-eliminated by Saint and Knee to receive third place.[32]
Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator
The Grand Finals of Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator were dominated by Japanese players, the highest six players all originating from the country. The competition saw Tominaga "Machaboo" Masahiro heading straight for a victory, almost beating Omito Hashimoto 3–0 in the finals, though the latter made a strong come-back and brought the Grand Finals back to 2-2 and close to a bracket reset. Machaboo managed to defeat Omito 3–2 in the end, winning the tournament. Viewership of the competition peaked at 133,000 on the main Twitch channel, marking a modest improvement from the largest total seen in Marvel vs Capcom 3.[34][35]
