It’s been a week since EVO 2013 , and while you can revisit any of the Grand Finals, or an anthology of the best combos, sometimes it takes a video like this to unify the themes of a chaotic, energetic eSports spectacle that crowns nine champions.
Edited and uploaded by evo2kvids yesterday, it’s as good a keepsake for this tournament as anything a fan may have take home from it. It distills the weekend down to its important moments and key themes: Xian, the champion of Super Street Fighter IV: AE, celebrating that triumph with teammate Zhi; Justin Wong, deep in the well of the loser’s bracket, beginning his march back to the grand finals with that spellbinding comeback against Chris G. And then match commentator Yipes, on the projection screen, giving the double thumbs-up as Flocker cradles his Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 trophy.
Those were the highlights. The key theme, as ever, is the enthusiasm of the crowd throughout. I like to consider myself a competent judge of crowd roars, and this isn’t the kind of vicarious, partisan cheering you hear at most sporting events. They’re pouring energy into it, as if they know they, too, have a key role to play in what makes EVO so special.
As Seth Killian says, in the conclusion: “If you put amazing people in a room, have them duke it out, what rises to the top is just an incredible story.” Well said. Those on stage weren’t the only amazing people in the room.
Comments
3 responses to “All The Memories Of An Unforgettable EVO 2013 Are In This Superb Video”
EVO has the best crowds! Too bad not that many people are into fighting games…as quite evident from the Kotaku AU comments section when it is covered 🙁
Hope it picks up!
I agree. I think they’re a far purer form of competitive gaming than most other genres.
Australia doesn’t have a huge scene, but it’s growing and it does have some very, very talented players and some tournaments in Brisbane, Melbourne and Sydney. If you are interested, check out Ozhadou and Shadowloo Showdown. A lot of them don’t frequent Kotaku too, so that’s why there’s a lack of comments.
Another thing is that things like arcade sticks are typically not sold at your local JB Hifi or EB Games and are typically expensive to import unless you get it from Amazon or something. Not that you truly need one, but most decent players have one it seems and I encourage it as it’s easier imo.