Evo 2016
Mandalay Bay Events Center | |
Final positions | |
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Champions |
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Tournament statistics | |
Attendance | 15,000 |
The 2016 Evolution Championship Series (commonly referred to as Evo 2016 or EVO 2016) was a fighting game event held in Las Vegas on July 15–17. Being hosted on the twentieth anniversary of the Evolution Championship Series,[1] the event offered tournaments for various video games, including Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Pokkén Tournament. Participation reached record-breaking numbers, with over 5,000 people registering for the Street Fighter competition alone. 2016 was the first time the Evo Grand Finals were held in an arena and were broadcast by ESPN2 in addition to Twitch.
The Street Fighter V competition was won by
Venue
The elimination rounds of each game took place in the
Games
The nine games played at Evo 2016 were announced in January 2016 during a special announcement stream on
The nine games competed at Evo 2016 were:[3]
- Street Fighter V
- Super Smash Bros. Melee
- Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
- Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator
- Mortal Kombat X
- Pokkén Tournament
- Killer Instinct
- Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
- Tekken 7: Fated Retribution
Veteran player
Side events
Brawlout, a Super Smash Bros.-inspired fighting game by Angry Mob Games, set for release in the first quarter of 2017, was one of the video games playable at the Evo 2016 Indie Showcase.
Participants
The Evolution Championship Series has historically been the largest fighting game tournament in the world, allowing free registration for anyone who wants to compete. Registration for the event closed on July 1, shortly after which the organization announced that the event had reached record-breaking entrant numbers. The Street Fighter V tournament had 5,107 registered entrants, making the biggest single-location tournament in fighting game history, doubling the number of entrants for
Evo 2016 had around 15,000 attendees, most of which competed in at least one tournament. According to Evo co-founder Tom Cannon, players from 72 countries were set to compete in the event.[10]
Broadcasting
ESPN2 televised the finals of the Street Fighter V tournament on July 17. The program was also made available through WatchESPN. Vice president of programming and acquisitions, ESPN Digital Media, John Lasker, stated that "the Street Fighter V World Championship will be one of the must-see competitions from the Evo finals," while Joey Cuellar, chief executive officer of Evo, stated that the organization was "excited to bring the energy and excitement of our world finals to a wider audience."[11]
As every year, the entire tournament was
The hype video made for Evo 2016's Street Fighter V finals featured a track by Lupe Fiasco titled "Killers", which was made specifically for the video.[13]
Tournament summary
Street Fighter V
Background
There are no gods in Street Fighter V. No match-up has been solved, no mechanics perfected, and players are learning new elements every day.
—Eric van Allen,
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
Joseph Bradford described the Top 8 Street Fighter finalists as "an interesting bunch", as fan-favorite players like
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] Capcom released new downloadable content during the Evo Grand Finals, including a new stage that includes banners that change depending on the event that is taking place at the time.[19]
Super Smash Bros. Melee
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. Hungrybox and Armada then went back and forth trading games, until Hungrybox beat Armada with a single stock left in the fifth game of the second set, winning the tournament.[22][23][24]
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,[25] there were many unexpected upsets that caused several top players to finish outside top 16.[26] Unsponsored player Elliot "Ally" Carroza-Oyarce ended up claiming the grand title,[25] 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
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.[30]
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
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]
Reveals
At their panel,
Shortly after the Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- finals had ended and right before the Super Smash Bros. Melee finals begun,
Prize pool
As with every year, base entry fees were US$10 per player for each tournament.[40]
- Street Fighter V featured the largest prize pool for an open tournament in fighting game history. The top eight players shared a pot of over $100,000 USD, with just over half of the money going to the winner. US$50,000 was courtesy of Capcom due to the tournament's place on the Capcom Pro Tour.[41]
- Pokkén Tournament featured a $10,000 bonus pot courtesy of The Pokémon Company as it was a Major Qualifier for the Pokkén Tournament Championship Series. The total pot was around US$20,000.[8][42]
- Mortal Kombat XL received US$50,000 from
- Killer Instinct received US$15,000 from the KI Ultra Tour funding. The total pot was around US$20,000.[8][44]
- Guilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR-'s bonus pot was US$10,000 coming from North American publisher Aksys Games. The total pot was around US$19,000.[8][45]
Every other game had a base pot which was formed from entrant fees based on final registration numbers.[8]
Controversy
After 19-year old commentator Victoria "
The
Results
Place | Player | Alias and Team | Character(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1st | Seon-woo Lee | RZR|Infiltration | Nash, F.A.N.G |
2nd | Keita Ai
|
RZR|Fuudo | R. Mika |
3rd | Atsushi Fujimura | Yukadon | Nash |
4th | Goichi Kishida | HM|GO1-3151 | Chun-Li |
5th | Joe Egami | MOV | Chun-Li |
5th | Joe Ciaramelli | LI Joe | Nash |
7th | Naoki Nemoto | AW|Nemo | Vega |
7th | Hiroyuki Nagata | HM|Eita | Ken |
9th | Kenneth Pope | Kenneth Pope | Necalli |
9th | Ryota Inoue | GGP|Kazunoko | Cammy |
9th | Bruce Hsiang | Twitch|GamerBee | Necalli |
9th | Kun Xian Ho
|
RZR|Xian | F.A.N.G |
13th | Hajime Taniguchi | Tokido | Ryu |
13th | Li-wei Lin | ESR|OilKing | Rashid |
13th | Justin Wong | EG|Justin Wong | Karin |
13th | Gerald Anton Herrera | YP|Filipinoman | Chun-Li |
Place | Player | Alias and Team | Character(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1st | Juan Debiedma
|
Liquid|Hungrybox | Jigglypuff |
2nd | Adam Lindgren
|
[A] |Armada
|
Peach, Fox |
3rd | Justin McGrath | PG|Plup | Sheik, Fox |
4th | Joseph Marquez
|
C9 |Mang0
|
Falco, Fox |
5th | Jason Zimmerman
|
FOX|Mew2King | Marth, Sheik |
5th | Johnny Kim | Tempo|S2J | Captain Falcon |
7th | Kevin Toy | CLG|PewPewU | Marth |
7th | Weston Dennis
|
G2|Westballz | Falco, Fox |
9th | James Ma | Duck | Samus |
9th | James Liu | BERT|Swedish Delight | Sheik |
9th | Julian Zhu | CG|Zhu | Falco |
9th | DaJuan McDaniel | WFX|Shroomed | Sheik |
13th | Michael Brancato | SPY|Nintendude | Ice Climbers |
13th | Sami Muhanna | TGL|DruggedFox | Fox |
13th | Jose Aldama | Selfless|Lucky | Fox |
13th | Colin Green | SS|Colbol | Fox, Marth |
Place | Player | Alias and Team | Character(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1st | Masahiro Tominaga | Machaboo | Sin |
2nd | Omito Hashimoto | Omito | Johnny |
3rd | Hisatoshi Usui | Rion | Ky |
4th | Takahiro Kitano | Nakamura | Millia |
5th | Ryota Inoue | GGP|Kazunoko | Raven |
5th | Kenichi Ogawa | Ogawa | Zato-1 |
7th | Gyung-woo Yu | TopGaren | Zato-1 |
7th | Kyohei Lehr | PG|MarlinPie | Zato-1 |
Place | Player | Alias and Team | Character(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1st | Christopher Gonzalez | NYChrisG | Morrigan/Doctor Doom/Vergil |
2nd | Nicolás González | KaneBlueRiver | Hulk/Sentinel/Haggar |
3rd | Armando Mejia | BT|Angelic | Wolverine/Dormammu/Shuma-Gorath, Dormammu/Vergil/Shuma-Gorath |
4th | Kevin Barrios | NB|DualKevin | Deadpool/Dante/Hawkeye |
5th | Juan Corona | Priest | Magneto/M.O.D.O.K/Doctor Doom, M.O.D.O.K/Dormammu/Doctor Doom |
5th | Vineeth Meka | ApologyMan | Firebrand/Doctor Doom/Super-Skrull |
7th | Justin Wong | EG|Justin Wong | Wolverine/Storm/Akuma, Vergil/Storm/Akuma |
7th | Luis Cervantes | Paradigm | Arthur/Rocket Raccoon/Haggar, Haggar/Dormammu/Doctor Doom, Haggar/Doctor Doom/Rocket Raccoon |
Place | Player | Alias and Team | Character(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1st | Darnell Waller | F3|Sleep | Arbiter, Gargos |
2nd | Kenneth Armas | UA|Bass | Spinal, Jago, Cinder |
3rd | Jamill Boykin | BH|SeaDragon | Aria, Hisako |
4th | Nicholas Iovene | Circa|Nicky | Fulgore |
5th | Jacob Runsewe | RL|Runex | Omen, Rash |
5th | Paul Ramos | Paul B | Sabrewulf, Hisako |
7th | Josue Herrera | BH|Grief | Sadira, Aria |
7th | Angel Gonzalez | GnarlyFeats | Orchid, Rash |
Place | Player | Alias and Team | Character(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1st | Hisharu Abe | Tonosama | Braixen, Sceptile |
2nd | Kazunori Ageta | Buntan | Suicune |
3rd | Willie Barr | Swillo | Mewtwo |
4th | Masami Sato | Potetin | Mewtwo, Pikachu Libre, Weavile, Chandelure |
5th | James Rosseel Jr. | RvL|Bosshog | Garchomp |
5th | Christian Patierno | Circa|Suicune Master | Suicune |
7th | Thomas Mclaurin | Thulius | Mewtwo |
7th | Kazuyuki Koji | KojiKOG | Charizard |
Place | Player | Alias and Team | Character(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1st | Elliot Carroza-Oyarce | Ally | Mario |
2nd | Takuto Ono | Kamemushi | Mega Man, Cloud, Yoshi |
3rd | Gonzalo Barrios
|
TSM|ZeRo | Diddy Kong, Sheik |
4th | James Makekau-Tyson | CLG|VoiD | Sheik |
5th | Ryuto Hayashi | Ranai | Villager |
5th | Yuta Kawamura | Abadango | Mewtwo, Rosalina & Luma |
7th | Samuel Buzby | dT|Dabuz | Rosalina & Luma |
7th | Larry Holland | eLv|Larry Lurr | Fox, Donkey Kong |
9th | Tomoyasu Yamakawa | Earth | Pit |
9th | Vincent Cannino | iQHQ|Vinnie | Sheik |
9th | Tyler Martins | Marss | Zero Suit Samus |
9th | Alberto Miliziano | PG|Trela | Ryu |
13th | Kengo Suzuki | Naifu|KEN | Sonic |
13th | Nairoby Quezada
|
Liquid|Nairo | Zero Suit Samus |
13th | Eric Weber | SS|Mr. E | Marth |
13th | Daniel Facey | VexX|Day | Lucario |
Place | Player | Alias and Team | Character(s) |
---|---|---|---|
1st | Jin-woo Choi | Saint | Jack-7 |
2nd | Jae-min Bae | Knee | Bryan, Akuma, Heihachi |
3rd | Chung-gon Lee | Secret|Poongko | Akuma |
4th | Anthony Jaimes | GeeseMaster | Feng |
5th | Jung-joong Joo | Narakhof | Claudio |
5th | Nakayama Daichi | Yamasa|Nobi | Dragunov |
7th | Stephen Stafford | Circa|Speedkicks | Hwoarang, Lars |
7th | Aoki Takehiko | Take | Bryan |
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