After a three-year absence brought on by the COVID outbreak, the Evolution Fighting Game Championships are at last returning to offline competition in Las Vegas. This weekend, more than 5,000 players will take part in the nine main games at the Evo competition and convention.
Evo 2022
There will be a tonne of side events in addition to the major games, and MultiVersus will have the largest prize pool in Evo history with a $100,000 prize pool, making it the unofficial headliner game. Although it was launched too late to qualify as a headliner, the game will have similar registration numbers to some of the event’s most popular games.
Nerd Street is here to offer a brief introduction to the three most registered titles at Evo: Guilty Gear Strive with 2,161 registrations, Street Fighter 5 with 1,320 entries, and Tekken 7 with 1,220 entries. This will help you keep up with some of the greatest players and favourites for the event. Get ready for a fighting game celebration!
Guilty Gear Strive’s first Season
This will be the biggest fighting game competition in terms of players in 2022 thus far, with the most participants registered at Evo. There are still many well-known players who can win the championship, despite the fact that there are less international representatives than Western players. In such a risky game and setting, Abdullatif “Latif” Alhmili from EMEA and Julian “Hotashi” Harris from the United States are the two favourites to win.
Both are experts in their own characters and styles, and they have already taken first place in their respective regions’ ARCREVO finals. On Thursday, they also engaged in a money match, which Latif won.
Matthew “TempestNYC” Tulloch
After his spectacular major triumph, the Combo Breaker champion was mainly inactive in competition, yet having less tape on a strong player can be advantageous. One of the top players at rock paper scissors is hiding behind his active Leo play and excellent impartial judgement. You might have a shot against this ascended talent if you’re ready to take a chance on a character who can wipe out your entire life bar in one blow.
Jonathan Tene
By the conclusion of the weekend, the best Zato-1 in the West may also be the top player in the entire world. The final obstacle to winning the big one was cleared after his Community Effort Orlando (CEO) victory, and the world was able to see the brilliance that every top player in the West saw. It took him a while to get from training companion to tournament favourite, but his genuine screen control should not be disregarded.
Cheoljin “DarkNecro” Moon
One of the busiest and most technologically advanced Nagoriyuki players in the world is the top finisher for the ARCREVO finals in Korea and Japan who travelled abroad to Evo. Because there are no tapes or results from tournaments, DarkNecro shouldn’t be taken lightly. This player merely doesn’t press or move normally. He’s a highlight reel in every game, so I’m betting that he’ll shock a lot of people.
Street Fighter 5
In contrast to the other games on this website, Street Fighter 5 is the most thoroughly solved game there is. There are simply too many years of reliable tape, and the absence of additional elite international competitors to challenge the favourites at the moment also increases the likelihood of a predictable outcome. To cut down on time, we’ll say that Derek “iDom” Ruffin and his Laura and Poison and Nathan “Mister Crimson” Massol and his amazing Dhalsim are the two top players in the bracket. So let’s find those who can share the podium with the two world champions.
Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi
What a world it is when Victor “Punk” Woodley, the most reliable player in Street Fighter 5 history, is not the tournament favourite because iDom and Mister Crimson must be considered in their current guise. With Luke as his new character, Tokido is ready to once again claim the title of finest Street Fighter player in what may be the game’s final Evo appearance.
Saul “MenaRD” Mena
Large-field events and high money seem to bring out the best in the MenaRD from the Dominican Republic. He may now pick and choose which members of the primary cast to deploy against his adversary, and it could be too much for anyone to handle. He already possesses the highest level of confidence and the best gambling mindset of anyone in the industry, and where better to practise those skills than Las Vegas?
Adel “Big Bird” Anouche
Big Bird ought to be higher on everyone’s lists, in reality. He might be the one to suddenly appear on the scene and win the entire competition. His outstanding clutch ability, courage in the game, and fearlessness regardless of the talent opposing him all contribute to a strong showing at Evo. Maybe he wins the biggest event of his career in the end.
Tekken 7
Tekken 7 is not one of the other high-profile tournaments, despite the fact that the most of them do not have as many players registered from the Eastern communities. Every significant region with strong gaming talent will be represented, thus it’s really anyone’s guess who will emerge as the EVO champion. The player who just has the best luck or who felt better than the others on Sunday morning could very well be the winner.
Bae “Knee” Jae-Min
The first nomination goes to the greatest Tekken player of all time as the favourite to win yet another significant event in his lengthy career. Even though his most recent and dominant performances may not match his reputation, Knee is still Knee. The man bleeds Tekken and has the best neutral game of any player on the field, so there isn’t much else to say.
Awais “Awais Honey” Iftikhar
Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique, a countryman and training partner of Awais Honey, is in this position despite my hesitation since I firmly feel he has a chance to win the competition as a whole. Despite being from the same region that rocked the Tekken globe, his recent play and ongoing defence advancements make him possibly the most terrifying player that gets little attention.
Hoa “Anakin” Luu
Is now the right moment for Anakin to “protect” his home land against all the world superpowers? He’s playing some of his greatest Tekken ever, and Evo is coming just in time for him to reach the pinnacle. Arslan Ash and Kumisaka “Gen” Genki will be challenging obstacles for him to overcome on an individual level, but I have faith in Anakin’s momentum. He might very well be the one who is selected.
How to follow EVO 2022?
Although the epidemic may not have completely healed nature, the fact that EVO is performing live in Las Vegas once more suggests that things may be improving. The Evolution Championship Series, one of, if not the largest fighting game tournament in the world, is streaming live from the Mandalay Bay hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, for the first time since 2019 and after Sony became a part-owner in 2021. Some of the world’s top fighting game players will battle starting today through Sunday, August 8th in nine different games, including Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate, The King of Fighters XV, and Tekken 7.
In order to make sure you don’t miss any of the nine distinct events taking place, EVO 2022 will be streamed on Twitch across seven separate channels. The pool round of each game, when participants fight in a best-of-two format to advance to the competition’s next round, will take up the majority of time. Over the course of the weekend, the Top 8 finals will include the best players from each game.
This year, nine games are available to view.
- Tekken 7
- Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate
- Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Guilty Gear Strive
- SkullGirls: 2nd Encore
- The King of Fighters XV
- Granblue Fantasy VS
- Melty Blood: Type Lumina
- Street Fighter V Championship Edition
The @wbgames @multiversus tournament at #Evo2022 begins this weekend!
— EVO (@EVO) August 5, 2022
Set a reminder to watch the Top 32 through the Finals LIVE at https://t.co/sQrpTBpOym starting Saturday at 3 PM PDT.
Can't make the tournament? Join in on the open beta available now! pic.twitter.com/OOXhms85VE
Multiversus evo
You can watch Dominique “SonicFox” McLean compete in the final Top 8 rounds of SkullGirls: 2nd Encore on Friday beginning at 7 PM PDT. Dominique is the world’s coolest, queerest, and furriest fighter. The Dragon Ball Fighter Z tournament’s final round, which begins on August 6 at 8 PM PDT, may also feature SonicFox.
A $100,000 demonstration tournament that begins on August 6th at 3PM PDT will fill the Super Smash Bros.-sized gap in the competition for Multiversus, the surprisingly good arena fighter from WB Games. According to a tweet from EVO, Nintendo decided not to let the game that has been a cornerstone of EVO since 2007 to return, hence Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was taken off of the roster.
Despite being in open beta, Multiversus is getting a lot of praise for being a good Smash-like. LeBron James and The Iron Giant, two characters introduced at the start of the open beta back in June, are prohibited from participating in the tournament, presumably due to balancing problems.
The Top 8 matches for Tekken 7 and The King of Fighters XV will conclude the weekend’s EVO 2022 events. EVO is one of the most thrilling and accessible esports competitions you can watch, even if you don’t generally play fighting games. For you to comprehend the action taking place in front of you, there are no difficult rule sets to master or techniques to be aware of.
