What To Watch For This Weekend At Evo 2017, The World’s Largest Fighting Game Tournament

Every year, the Evolution Championship Series descends on Las Vegas, bringing with it the largest collection of fighting game players in the world. Evo serves as a reflection of the best the fighting game community has to offer, and players who manage to become champions in the sweltering Las Vegas desert are regarded as having reached the pinnacle of their craft. This year’s festivities are shaping up to be mighty special.

Evo 2017 will feature competition in nine official games: Street Fighter 5, Tekken 7, Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, Injustice 2, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, King of Fighters 14 and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. Thousands of players will converge on Mandalay Bay in Las Vegas, Nevada to test their mettle starting on Friday, July 14, all with the hopes of making the main arena stage on Sunday, July 16. (The tournament runs from Saturday, July 15 to Monday, July 17 for those following along in Australia.)

Due to the sheer size of the event, even diehard fighting game fans find it difficult to keep up with the goings-on at Evo every year. As such, we have put together a breakdown of the games and notable players involved.

Street Fighter 5

• Developer: Capcom
• Release Date: 16 February 2016
• Years at Evo: Two
• Total players: 2622
• The big question: Is Japan ready for the new crop of Americans?

The latest instalment of Capcom’s flagship franchise, Street Fighter 5 has been on a bit of a roller coaster since releasing last year. Various issues plagued the game at launch, and while a handful of patches have corrected these setbacks, stigma still looms. That said, the developers have continued to wholeheartedly throw their support behind the competitive community, and have provided an additional $US50,000 ($64,668) to the Evo 2017 prize pool.

Problems aside, Street Fighter 5‘s early legacy has been marked by a truly global competitive community.

It can typically be expected for Japan to dominate high-level play in pretty much any fighting game, but a number of impressive players from across the globe have come out of the woodwork to prove anyone can succeed with enough dedication. The most surprising of these players is Victor “Punk” Woodley. Appearing almost out of nowhere late in 2016, this young American competitor has quickly made a name for himself by defeating some of the greatest players in the world. This past autumn, he persevered through a gruelling bracket to win Eleague’s inaugural Street Fighter 5 event, earning $US150,000 ($194,003) in the process. Look for him to make waves early on.

Another hopeful from the United States is Du “NuckleDu” Dang, who became the first American player to win Capcom Cup with his victory over Ricki Ortiz last year. While at times it’s seemed like he might buckle under the weight of a character crisis, Dang has proven he has what it takes to win, both with projectile monster Guile and tricky wrestler R. Mika.

But that doesn’t mean all the talent has been relocated to the western hemisphere. Japanese competitor Masato “Bonchan” Takahashi has remained a global favourite despite a poor performance at Evo 2016 thanks to his dedication to playing Nash after many jumped ship. Kun “Xian” Ho of Singapore finally found his groove after switching away from zany newcomer F.A.N.G., finding new life with Ibuki and her confusing ninja skills. Tatsuya Haitani, long thought of as one of Japan’s Street Fighter gods, has quietly levelled up over the past few months, and might utilise the bestial Necalli in a dark horse run towards the finals.

Truth be told, Street Fighter 5 is a bit of a toss-up this year. Evo 2016 champion Seon-woo “Infiltration” Lee has dropped off after winning, and it wouldn’t be much of a surprise if he and his fellow finalists were absent from this year’s main stage. Street Fighter 5 is still in its infancy, and we’re sure to see fireworks as players show off their latest strategies at Evo 2017.

Other notable players: Bryant “Smug” Huggins, Ryota “Kazunoko” Inoue, Arturo “Sabin” Sanchez, Chung-gon “Poongko” Lee, Daigo Umehara, Xijie “Jiewa” Zeng, Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi, Goichi “GO1” Kishida, Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez, Brian “Brian F” Foster, Naoto Sako, Nemoto “Nemo” Naoki, Atsushi “yukadon” Fujimura, Keita “Fuudo” Ai, Yusuke Momochi, Putthivath “XsK_Samurai” Chea, Alex Myers, Ricki Ortiz, Han-byeol “xyzzy” Lee, Joe “LI Joe” Ciaramelli, Jonny “Humanbomb” Cheng, Joshua “Wolfkrone” Philpot, Chrisotpher “NYChrisG” Gonzalez, Adel “Big Bird” Anouche, Zhuojun “Xiaohai” Zeng, Darryl “Snake Eyez” Lewis, Leah “gllty” Hayes, Li-wei “Oil King” Lin, Arman “Phenom” Hanjani, Hiromiki “Itabashi Zangief” Kumada, Justin Wong, Derek “iDom” Ruffin, Bruce “GamerBee” Hsiang, Kenneth “K-Brad” Bradley, Eduardo “PR Balrog” Perez, Long “LPN” Nguyen, Ryota “John” Takeuchi, Devon “Mikeand1ke” Petties, Kevin “Dieminion” Landon, Marcus “THE COOL KID93” Redmond, Alex Valle

Tekken 7

• Developer: Bandai Namco Entertainment
• Release Date: 18 March 2015 (Arcades); 2 June 2017 (Home consoles)
• Years at Evo: Three
• Total players: 1283
• The big question: Can anyone overcome South Korea?

Despite only just arriving on home consoles last month, Tekken 7 has enjoyed a couple of years of great competition. American players, typically behind their Japanese and South Korean counterparts due to the lack of arcades in the United States, have made statements in their play, proving that a late start won’t keep them from competing with the best.

That said, the road to the Evo 2017 finals runs through Asia. South Korean champions Jin-woo “Saint” Choi and Hyun-jin “JDCR” Kim have won just about every major tournament over the past year, placing targets on their backs that they are more than capable of dealing with. Additionally, their countryman Jae-min “Knee” Bae is entirely capable of running the table all the way to grand finals thanks to his experience with the series overall.

Standing in their way will be American players such as Hoa “Anakin” Luu, Tray “P. Ling” Sherman, Stephen “Speedkicks” Stafford and Jimmy “Mr Naps” Tran, all of whom have taken matches from Asian players in the past. Also, be sure to look out for Kana “Tanukana” Tani and Jennail “CuddleCore” Carter, two female competitors who could play spoiler near the tail end of the bracket.

Other notable players: Cody “KoDee” Dinkins, Chris “RenoFace” Phojanakong, Charlie “Weapon X” Tran, Joseph “Joey Fury” Bennett, Kenji Koshino, Ricky “Rickstah” Uehara, Muhannad “BMNS-13” Sai, Michael “MYK” Kwon, Ricky “Pokchop” Walker, Reepal “Rip” Parbhoo, Jeff “Yellowtail” Nguyen, Chung-gon “Poongko” Lee, Matthew “Mateo” Szabo, Vante “Obscure” Flint, Yota “pekos” Kachi, Shaun “NYC Fab” Swain, Wayne “WayGamble” Gamble, Rich “FilthieRich” Bantegui, Yuta “Chikurin” Take, Nakayama “Nobi” Daichi, Spero “Spero Gin” Gineros, Mark “MarkMan” Julio, Kato “Yuu” Yuji, James “JustFrameJames” Garrett, Kiyonori “KuroKuro” Saito, Takehiko “Take” Aoki, Aris Bakhtanians

Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2

• Developer: Arc System Works
• Release Date: 30 March 2017 (Arcades); 26 May 2017 (Home consoles)
• Years at Evo: One
• Total players: 817
• The big question: Is Guilty Gear finally America’s game?

Guilty Gear Xrd has gone through a number of revisions since last year, all of which have helped it become a much tighter, enjoyable title. Thanks to the formation of Burst League, competition has been fierce leading up to Evo 2017, though there are still a few notable players you should keep your eyes on.

American breakouts such as Keenan “KizzieKay” Kizzie, Alain “Bears” Kim, Peter “daymendou” Liao and Jason “Kid Viper” Srouji have really stepped up recently, making them credible threats to Japan’s usual reign of terror. Of course, favourites Omito Hashimoto, Kenichi Ogawa, Ryo “Dogura” Nozaki and Nage won’t be going down without a fight as they seek to repeat past performances.

Other notable players: Jerrod “Bloodwolf” Ward, Omito Hashimoto, Hikaru “310” Sato, Grant Layer Andrew Olson, William “Bentley” Day, Jason “Hotnix” Thorpe, Glyn “Doza” Mendoza, Goichi “GO1” Kishida, Bradford “Rinzler” LaVergne, Kevin “Bearell” Duong, Julian “Hotashi” Harris, Marvin “Kyoku” Norton, Mark “RedTag14” Garces, Richard “SolAscension” Dittmar, Luke “Woocash” Siuty, Mark “HellSap” Webb, Yuan “Omi” Gao, Alex Hu, Hamad Akbar, Adam “Kizzercrate” Lewis, Ryan “Pfhor” Delaney, James “GREATFERNMAN” Lai, Terry “Hagure” McCall, Genki “ABEGEN” Abe, Steve “Lord Knight” Barthelemy, Jamaal “Ryuudo” Graves, Edwin “TENMA” Miyashita, Nage, Josh “NerdJosh” Jodoin, Jouse “Sway” Then, Jason “Toki” Tom, Bryant “Foo” Beaveridge, Matt “MiniMatt” Leher, Ryan Hunter, Eli “LostSoul” Rabadad, Julian “Beautifuldude” Franco, Derek “Nakkiel” Bruscas, Grover Caceres, Ryota “Kazunoko” Inoue, Kyohei “MarlinPie” Lehr, Jason “GcYoshi13” Wang, Mike “ElvenShadow” Boczar

Injustice 2

• Developer: NetherRealm Studios
• Release Date: 16 May 2017
• Years at Evo: One
• Total players: 879
• The big question: Can anyone stop SonicFox?

Injustice 2 is new to Evo, but this isn’t the franchise’s first rodeo. The initial release enjoyed a year of competition that saw the seemingly unbeatable Dominique “SonicFox” McLean truly come into his own. Truth be told, Evo 2017 is really SonicFox’s to lose, although there are a lot more challengers capable of blocking his path this time around.

Smart bets would be on SonicFox to take yet another Evo championship home, but pay attention to players such as Sayed “Tekken Master” Hashem, Jivan “Theo” Karapetian, Mo “SylverRye” Amaechi, Alexandre “Hayatei” Dubé-Bilodeau, Brant “Pig of the Hut” McCaskill, Brad “Scar” Vaughn, Christian “Forever King” Quiles, Steven “Coach Steve” Delgado and Denom “A F0xy Grampa” Jones as the brackets march towards finals. Their skills, mixed with a little bit of luck, could be enough to edge out SonicFox’s overwhelmingly diverse playstyle.

Other notable players: Tyler “rev0lver” Bendicksen, Martin “Madzin” Niedziela, Denzell “DJT” Terry, Kevin “KevoDaMaN1105” Harris, Leif “Buffalo” Boisvert, Antwan “alucarD” Ortiz, Steadman “CrazyStead” Gibbs, Evan “Wonder_Chef” Hashimoto, Matthew “Biohazard” Commandeur, Richard “iLuusions” Luu, Franco “Burrito Voorhees” DiFilippo, Juan “BeyondToxin” Contreras, Malik “MIT” Terry, Jeremy “Jer” Chipman, Marlos “Nivek” Dimitrios Bitsikokos, Bryant “Kitana Prime” Benzing, Frank “Slayer” Perales, Curtis “Rewind” McCall, Ozzie “Noobe” Delisle, Patrick “Lord Pnut” Knauth, Kyle “Viking” Fernandez, Glend “Krayzie” Galdamez, Michael “Michaelangelo” Lerma, George “Nubcakes” Silva, Justin “Destroyer” Ortiz, Tim “Honeybee” Commandeur, Ryan “WoundCowboy” Gonzalez, Andrew “Semiij” Fontanez, Daris “DR Gross” Daniel, George “Grr” Foulkes, Giuseppe “REO” Grosso, Chris “Semi Evil Ryu” Rumler, Aurelio “KILLSTREAK” Munoz, Carl “Perfect Legend” White, Edwyn “Shujinkydink” McDougall, Nicolas “whiteBoi” Andersen, , Ryan “Dragon” Walker, Phillip “KDZ” Atkinson, Robert “Star Charger” Conley, Jonathan “MenaRD” Tucker, Guillermo “GuamoKun” Lacio, Elijah “Tyrant” Williamson

Super Smash Bros. Melee

• Developer: Nintendo
• Release Date: 3 December 2001
• Years at Evo: Six
• Total players: 1428
• The big question: Which Smash god will win this year?

Super Smash Bros. Melee is in a weird position. As the oldest Evo game by far, many argue that everything it has to offer has already been discovered, and this theory is backed up by tournament results. While challengers are present, one can expect only a handful of players to win any given event.

Without any major upsets, gods Juan “Hungrybox” Debiedma, Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman, Adam “Armada” Lindgren and Joseph “Mango” Marquez will likely finish in or near the top eight. But even in a game as old as Melee, killers such as William “Leffen” Hjelte, Masaya “aMSa” Chikamoto, Robert “Wobbles” Wright, Michael “Nintendude” Brancato, Weston “Westballz” Dennis, Justin “Plup” McGrath and Jeffrey “Axe” Williamson have what it takes to shake things up. Just don’t expect too many surprises.

Other notable players: Ryan “The Moon” Coker-Welch, Arjun “llod” Malhotra, Rishi Malhotra, Eduardo “Eddy Mexico” Lucatero Rincón, Alejandro “Alex19” Ruvalcaba, Binyan “Darkatma” Lin, Austin “Azusa” Demmon, Drew “Drephen” Scoles, Phillip “Phil” Deberry, Jeremy “Squid” Deutsch, Roustane “Kage” Benzeguir, Sami “Druggedfox” Muhanna, James “Swedish Delight” Liu, Jose “Lucky” Aldama, Ryan Ford, Jason “Gahtzu” Diehl, Charles “Cactuar” Meighen, Juan “Medz” Garcia, Kashan “Chillindude” Khan, Dave “Kira” Kim, Kyle “Kalamazhu” Zhu, Ammon “Luigi Ka-Master” Styles, Mustafa “Ice” Akcakaya, Kevin “PewPewU” Toy, Michael “MikeHaze” Haze, Hugo “HugS” Gonzalez, Jack “Crush” Hoyt, Josh “FendrickLamar” Fendrick, Kris “Toph” Aldenderfer, Jason “Bizarro Flame” Yoon, Kyle “dizzkidboogie” Athayde, Justin “Syrox” Burroughs, Dustin “Gravy” White, Ken Hoang, Griffin “Captain Faceroll” Williams, Jay “Drunksloth” Dahya, James “Duck” Ma, Kalindi “KJH” Henderson, Theodore “Bladewise” Seybold, Javier “JAVI” Ruiz, Austin “Redd” Self, Connor “CDK” Nguyen, Brandon “homemadewaffles” Collier, Hendrick “DJ Nintendo’ Pilar, Justin “Wizzrobe” Hallett, Dajuan “Shroomed” McDaniel, Edgard “n0ne” Sheleby, Otto “Silent Wolf” Bisno, Colin “Colbol” Green, Samuel “Laudandus” Rohrer, Andreas “Android” Lindgren, Abhishek “Prince Abu” Prabhu, Daniel “ChuDat” Rodriguez, Zachary “SFAT” Cordoni, Johnny “S2J” Kim, McCain “MacD” LaVelle, Amsah Augustuszoon, Kelly “Kels” Smith, Andrew “Tai” Vo, Julian Zhu, Will “Reno” Hsiao, Daniel “Tafokints” Lee

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

• Developer: Nintendo
• Release Date: 3 October 2014
• Years at Evo: Two
• Total players: 1506
• The big question: ZeRo is no longer unbeatable; who will take his place?

Unlike its GameCube counterpart, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U is still very much being figured out, and it’s been rewarded with a final day finals spot in place of the older title. While decidedly slower and more methodical than the twitch-heavy Melee, this new release features many of the same characters and mechanics that have endeared both casual and competitive players to the franchise.

Where competition used to be dominated by Gonzalo “ZeRo” Barrios, the breadth of skill has really widened for Super Smash Bros. for Wii U over the past year. The most present threat to ZeRo’s repeat championship chances has to be Elliot “Ally” Carroza-Oyarce, but it wouldn’t be a shock to see others — namely Leonardo “MKLeo” Lopez, Zack “CaptainZack” Lauth, Rei “komorikiri” Furukawa, Nairoby “Nairo” Quezada, Kelsy “SuperGirlKels” Medeiros, James “VoiD” Makekau-Tyson and Samuel “Dabuz” Buzby — finally take that next step to greatness.

Other notable players: Kengo “KEN” Suzuki, Eric “ESAM” Lew, Jamaal “Samsora” Morris Jr., Jestise “MVD” Negron, Yuki “Edge” Kajihara, Tyrell “NAKAT” Coleman, Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey, Jason “ANTi” Bates, Ishiguro “Raito” Tetsuya, Chris “falln” Rugg, Noriyuki Kirihara, Matt “Elegant” Fitzpatrick, Yuya “9B” Araki, Yuta “Abadango” Kawamura, Ryuto “Ranai” Hayashi, Freddie “FOW” Williams, Armando “Ac” Castañeda-Villalobos, Rich Brown, Ramin “Mr. R” Delshad, Julian “Zinoto” Carrington, Takuto “Kameme” Ono, Vineeth “ApologyMan” Meka, Mason “Locus” Charlton, Tsubasa “Tsu-” Takuma, Chris “Wadi” Boston, Eric “Mr. E” Weber, Robert “Myran” Herrin, Marcus “Pink Fresh” Wilson, Larry “Larry Lurr” Holland, Saleem “Salem” Young, Griffin “Fatality” Miller, Yuta “Nietono” Uejima, Tomoyasu “Earth” Yamakawa, Manny Medina, Jacob “JK” Johnson

BlazBlue: Central Fiction

• Developer: Arc System Works
• Release Date: 19 November 2015 (Arcades); 1 November 2016 (Home consoles)
• Years at Evo: One
• Total players: 497
• The big question: Are cracks forming in Japan’s resolve?

A sibling series to Guilty Gear, the BlazBlue franchise takes all the anime-inspired nonsense of its fellow Arc System Works title and cranks things up to 11. The gameplay in Central Fiction may look similar to Xrd Rev 2 on the surface, but the familiar trappings belie unique gameplay mechanics that help its cast further stand on their own as separate entities.

Also like Guilty Gear, Japan completely dominates BlazBlue conversations, and with good reason. Ryo “Dogura” Nozaki, Ryuji “Dora” Utsumi and Evo 2014 champion Okamoto “Garireo” Keiji are absolute masters of the game, and face little resistance upon travelling to the United States. That said, American hopefuls such as Jachin “SKD” Harte, Keenan “Kizzie Kay” Kizzie, Derek “Nakkiel” Bruscas and Eddie “brkrdave” Sayles enter Evo 2017 with a lot to prove, and it’s likely one or more will make deep strides in the bracket.

Other notable players: Tanner “Solex” Williamson, Samuel “LUEshi” Appelbaum, Stephen “Nemesis” McArthur, Oscar “KAICHOU” Castro, Angelo “C0R” DeGrandis, Adam “Kizzercrate” Lewis, Julian “Beautifuldude” Franco, Yuji “Souji” Sasaki, Cole “Flux” Tocci, Grover Caceres, Ryan “Pfhor” Delaney, Vineeth “ApologyMan” Meka, Derek “Nakkiel” Bruscas, Damien “Dsmoove12” Brantley, Stefon “MastaStef” Williams, Armando “TheArm” Velez, Joe “Psykotik” Vimar, Wesley “Skeletal Minion” Barron, Victoria “Chickzama” Carranza, Junichi “Jun-ichi11” Yamaguchi, Izayah-Patrick “Ebonic Plague” Phillips, Mark “Nar” Dimas, Eddie “brkrdave” Sayles, Jarred “Dolfy” Rodriguez, Tahj “DWB” Newland, Jona Kim, Austin “Nano” Malott, Michael “Betadood” Armstrong, Edwin “TENMA” Miyashita, Alex “Spark” Chen, Glyn “Doza” Mendoza, Greg “Mecha Oni” Turner

King of Fighters 14

• Developer: SNK
• Release Date: 23 August 2016
• Years at Evo: One
• Total players: 374
• The big question: Can the Americas team up to defeat Asia?

Despite arriving at Evo 2017 with the lowest attendance numbers, King of Fighters 14 has perhaps the most dense skill pool of the entire lineup.

With little in the way of South Korean attendance outside of Evo 2012 King of Fighters 13 champion Kwang-noh “MadKOF” Lee, competition will likely come down to the other greats from Central America and Asia, including Abril “El Rosa” Diaz, Luis “Luis Cha” Martinez, Zhuojun “Xiaohai” Zeng, Haojun “Dakou” Su, Chia-hung “E.T.” Lin, Masanobu “M’” Murakami, Yosuke “kindevu” Ito and Goichi “GO1” Kishida. That said, Americans such as Reynald Tacsuan and Ramon “Romance” Navarrete definitely have what it takes to play spoiler, so keep your eyes peeled should they make the finals.

Other notable players: Michael “Danke” Schiller, Jordan “JDR” Del Rosario, Nozomu Umezono, Ricardo “El Sabroso” Rico, Erik Mustain, Raphael “Laban” Ramos, John “Mr. KOF” Tran, Josh “NerdJosh” Jodoin, Atsushi “yukadon” Fujimura, Luis “RealKim” Fernandez, Chris “Hellpockets” Fields, Layec De Los Rios, Frederick “LazieFreddy” Ling, Benjamin “Vicio” Martinez, Yuhang “Kane317” Ng, Antonio “KUSANAGI” Medrano, Joshua “TerryBogard” Martin, David “Khannibal” Roman, Christian “ChrisKOF” Gutierrez, Xiaohu Luo, Cheng Long, Eric “Juicebox” Albino, Josimar “Y05H1” Jimenez, Ray “DR Ray” Rosario, Kazuyuki “kojiKOG” Koji, Pedro S., Rolando “ViolentKain” Neri

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

• Developer: Capcom
• Release Date: 15 November 2011
• Years at Evo: Seven
• Total players: 650
• The big question: Will there finally be a repeat champion?

With Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite on deck, this will likely be the last year Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is included in the official Evo lineup. As such, the community is ready to send it off with a bang.

Much of the discussion this year revolves around the possibility of a repeat champion, though many believe everything will come down to Evo 2016 champion Christopher “NYChrisG” Gonzalez and Ryan “RyanLV” Romero. Still, in a game as wild as Marvel vs. Capcom, anything can happen and anyone can win. Honestly, you could pull any name from the group below and it wouldn’t be hard to imagine them as an Evo champion.

Other notable players: Ronan Healy, Sergio “Taekua” Adan Cavazos Barocio, Eddie “Not Enough Damage” Mu, Raynel “RayRay” Hidalgo, Cole “YLT Cole” Diamond, Allen “AsianDemon” Hou, William “MiniBoss” Zhang, Andre “OmGiTzAndre” Howard, Tim “Wentinel” Wen, Maël “WhiteBl4ck” Vautor, Kevin “Dual Kevin” Barrios, Eduardo “PR Balrog” Perez, Kenneth “K-Brad” Bradley, Vineeth “ApologyMan” Meka, Martin “Hi Im Nastyy” Vega, Luis “Paradigm” Cervantes, Kevin “Jeopardy” Yang, Brandon “Staticalpha” Stewart, Kevin “KBeast” Baigan, Edward “RoyalFlush” Valdez, Phillip Prophete, Takumi Ichihara, Roderick “Clegg Madness” Clegg, Joshua “TerryBogard” Martin, Steve “Supernoon” Carbajal, Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez, Kyohei “MarlinPie” Lehr, Juan “Priest” Corona, Armando “Angelic” Mejia, Martin “Marn” Phan, Christopher “imashbuttons” Lent, Justin Wong, Darius “Dapvip” Patterson, Eliver “KillerKai” Ling, Jonathan “Cloud805” Morales, Nam “NinjaNam” Nguyen, Joey “Joey D” D’Alessandro, Cole “Flux” Tocci, Carlos “LLND” Gonzalez, Pat “PadTrick” B., Jay “Viscant” Snyder, Kevin Ha, Daniel “pzpoy” Benitez, Esteban Wolf, Gabriel “Jibrill” Lam, Vu “ranmasama” Tra, Marc “Snaketits” Tchamanian, Chrisotpher “BabaGhanoush” Baghdadlian, Michael “IFC Yipes” Mendoza, Michael “Marvelo” Arvelo, Javier “IHeartjustice” Funes-Morales, Nemoto “Nemo” Naoki, Kyle “KyleP” Palsson, Tong Lee, Ricky “Pokchop” Walker, Jahi “Unkn0wn” Skerritt, Louis “Readman” Millan, Ray “Knives” Ruballos, Gilbert “Punisher” Matos

How To Watch…

Evo’s broadcast will again be split across multiple streams this year. We’ve listed each one below, but you can also use Multitwitch to view them all at once. A full schedule can be found further down.

If you’re new to fighting game competition or simply want to keep up with multiple games, keep an eye on The Jump Off, a program that will be airing exclusively on the Evo5 broadcast. Executive producer Chris Ceglia described this experimental show as a casual experience aimed at informing folks who can’t be at Evo in person about what’s going on in pools, using a sort of talk show format.

• Evo
• Evo1
• Evo3
• Evo4
• Evo5
• CapcomFighters
• Tekken
• NetherRealm

Here’s to a great weekend of fighting game competition!