 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Las Vegas,Nevada,United States |
| Dates | July 15–17, 2016 |
Tournament format | Double elimination |
| Venue(s) | Las Vegas Convention Center;Mandalay Bay Events Center |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
|
| Tournament statistics | |
| Attendance | 15,000 |
The2016 Evolution Championship Series (commonly referred to asEvo 2016 orEVO 2016) was afighting game event held inLas Vegas on July 15–17. Being hosted on the twentieth anniversary of theEvolution Championship Series,[1] the event offered tournaments for various video games, includingStreet Fighter V,Super Smash Bros. Melee, andPokkén Tournament. Participation reached record-breaking numbers, with over 5,000 people registering for theStreet Fighter competition alone. 2016 was the first time the Evo Grand Finals were held in an arena and were broadcast byESPN2 in addition toTwitch.
TheStreet Fighter V competition was won byInfiltration, winning over $50,000USD, with second place going toFuudo.Hungrybox won theSuper Smash Bros. Melee competition for the first time, defeating previous championArmada with a one-stock difference.Super Smash Bros. for Wii U was won by Elliot "Ally" Carroza-Oyarce for the first time.
The elimination rounds of each game took place in theLas Vegas Convention Center on July 15 and 16, 2016. The grand finals were held in the 12,000-seatMandalay Bay Events Center and featured five of the nine games:Street Fighter V,Super Smash Bros. Melee,Marvel vs Capcom,Mortal Kombat X, andGuilty Gear. This was the first year the first rounds of Evo took place in a convention center rather than aballroom.Street Fighter broadcasterRyan "Gootecks" Gutierrez stated toESPN that "for it to be at the convention center is a huge step in the right direction. Evo is a little more spread out this year, but that's what happens to large events in Las Vegas."[2]
The nine games played at Evo 2016 were announced in January 2016 during a special announcement stream onTwitch, with event co-founderJoey Cuellar discussing the inclusion of each game. The games set to be contested were largely very recent releases.Street Fighter V would be added to the tournament for the first time, effectively replacingStreet Fighter IV, which had been a competition mainstay sinceEVO 2009. Another new arrival wasNamco Bandai'sPokkén Tournament, aPokémon-based fighting game that was available in Japanesearcades at the time and would see aWii U release later that year. Evo 2016 marked the fifth yearSuper Smash Bros. Melee at EVO, having previously been at EVO during the 2007, 2013-2015 editions. Melee's second sequel,Super Smash Bros. for Wii U joined the lineup along with its predecessor as with 2015's edition.Super Smash Bros. fans lobbied for the former's return due to their belief that it is the "ideal version" in the series for competitive tournaments. Many of the other video games were set to receive majorDLC or an updated release in 2016.[3][4]
The nine games competed at Evo 2016 were:[3]
Veteran playerJustin Wong stated in an interview withESPN that he would like to seeStreet Fighter IV stay relevant in the fighting game community after the release of its sequel, suggesting that it would benefit the dominant Japanese scene. Meanwhile, community membersRyan "Gootecks" Gutierrez andDavid "ultradavid" Graham stated thatStreet Fighter IV not being there was "the right call", as according Graham, "the only times they've ever had multiple games from the same series is when those games have significantly different player bases," suchas withSuper Smash Bros. during this year's Championships.[2]
Brawlout, aSuper 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.[5][6] Side events were held throughout the weekend, including an event for the upcomingKing of Fighters XIV, a competitiveCatherine tournament, and aMobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs. Full Boost tournament.[1][7]
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. TheStreet Fighter V tournament had 5,107 registered entrants, making the biggest single-location tournament in fighting game history, doubling the number of entrants forUltra Street Fighter IV the previous year. Evo 2016 also broke records for largestSuper Smash Bros. tournament (2,662 entrants forWii U, and 2,372 forMelee), largestPokken Tournament tournament (1,180 entrants), and largestKiller Instinct tournaments (546 entrants).Guilty Gear Xrd Revelator saw 910 entrants, whileUltimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 andMortal Kombat XL both saw over 700 competitors (782 for the former, 713 for the latter).Tekken 7: Fated Retribution reached a turn-out of 549 competitors.[8][9]
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]
ESPN2 televised the finals of theStreet Fighter V tournament on July 17. The program was also made available throughWatchESPN. Vice president of programming and acquisitions,ESPN Digital Media, John Lasker, stated that "theStreet 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 wasstreamed through the Twitch streaming service. The tournament was broadcast across six different streams: four Evo-run streams provided coverage of all games throughout the weekend, whileCapcom ran its own stream that featured additional coverage ofStreet Fighter V on Friday and Saturday, andNamco provided a stream with additional coverage ofTekken 7.[12]
The hype video made for Evo 2016'sStreet Fighter V finals featured a track byLupe Fiasco titled "Killers", which was made specifically for the video.[13]
There are no gods inStreet Fighter V. No match-up has been solved, no mechanics perfected, and players are learning new elements every day.
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 ofPaste 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 competitiveStreet 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 andIbuki[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 8Street Fighter finalists as "an interesting bunch", as fan-favorite players likeYusuke 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 beatGamerbee during the elimination rounds as well.[16]
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 theStreet 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]
TheStreet 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 newdownloadable 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]
Armada,Hungrybox andMango, who had dominated most majorMelee tournaments in 2016 and perched at the top of the rankings, all competed at Evo 2016. Anna Washenko ofMashable 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 includedMew2King,Plup,Westballz,Axe,Shroomed,Wobbles, and Wizzrobe.[20][21]Kevin "PPMD" Nanney withdrew from the event two weeks prior due to health concerns, whileWilliam "Leffen" Hjelte missed Evo 2016 due to ongoingvisa 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 playedFox 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]
The Evo 2016Super 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 theSuper 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's Nintendo-approved presence at Evo 2016 was notable as just three years prior, Nintendo attempted to blockSuper Smash Bros. Melee from the tournament. Yet, the inclusion of the game was also controversial among fighting game fans as popular fighting games likeStreet Fighter IV andBlazblue were bumped from the event in favor ofPokkén 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 thatPokkén 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 thePokkén Tournament competition, includingJustin Wong, Steven "Coach Steve" Delgado, and Yuta "Abadango" Kawamura. Meanwhile, Omari "BadIntent" Travis, made a switch from the competitive scene of the mainPokémon role-playing series toPokkén 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]
Though the game was not publicly available in the United States during the event,[1] theTekken 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 theTekken 7 tournament was KoreanStreet Fighter V player Chung-gon "Poongko" Lee and his character choice of Street Fighter'sAkuma;[32] who functions very similar to his appearance in theStreet Fighter IV series.[33] Poongko notably upsetEVO 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]
The Grand Finals ofGuilty 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 inMarvel vs Capcom 3.[34][35]
At their panel,SNK announced thatGarou: Mark of the Wolves would be receiving aPlayStation 4 andPlayStation Vita port courtesy ofCode Mystics withcross-buy support, as part of the25th Anniversary of the Fatal Fury franchise.[36] Before theKiller Instinct grand finals betweenFlipside Tactics' Darnell "Sleep" Waller and Ultra Arcade's Kenneth "Bass" Armas begun,Iron Galaxy andMicrosoft revealedEyedol as the last character added forKiller Instinct: Season Three's lineup.[37]
Shortly after theGuilty Gear Xrd -REVELATOR- finals had ended and right before theSuper Smash Bros. Melee finals begun,Daisuke Ishiwatari went on theMandalay Bay stage to showcase a trailer for the characterDizzy, who would be released the day after EVO 2016 ended.[38] Between theSuper Smash Bros. Melee andStreet Fighter V finals; Tekken producerKatsuhiro Harada and Michael Murray went on theMandalay Bay stage to reveal two characters forTekken 7: Fated Retribution, one returning (Bob) and one new (Master Raven).[39]
As with every year, base entry fees were US$10 per player for each tournament.[40]
Every other game had a base pot which was formed from entrant fees based on final registration numbers.[8]
After 19-year old commentator Victoria "VikkiKitty" Perez reported that she wassexually assaulted bySmash 4 player Cristian "Hyuga" Medina at Evo 2016, several members of the competitiveSmash Bros. community called for Hyuga to be banned from future tournaments.VGBootCamp, the media organization producing live streams forSmash Bros. events, along with being Hyuga's former sponsor, cut all ties with Hyuga after they confirmed the allegations, though VikkiKitty did not consider taking legal action due to the impact it would have on her family.[46][47] According to Medina, he did not recall the incident because he wasblackout drunk.[48]
TheUltimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Grand Final played host to a memorable incident, in which a shirtless man climbed on to the stage atMandalay Bay Events Center and reportedly demanded to challengeNYChrisG, the newly crowned champion, to a game of UMvC3, before being escorted away by security.[49] The man's identity remains unknown.
| Place | Player | Alias and Team | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |  Seon-woo Lee | RZR[broken anchor]|Infiltration | Nash, F.A.N.G |
| 2nd |  Keita Ai | RZR[broken anchor]|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 | Dominique McLean | cR|SonicFox | Erron Black (Gunslinger), Alien (Acidic), Cassie Cage (Hollywood), Jason (Unstoppable) |
| 2nd |  Sayed Hashim Ahmed | PLG|Tekken Master | Kotal Kahn (War God, Blood God), D'Vorah (Swarm Queen) |
| 3rd | Brad Vaughn | PG|Scar | Sonya Blade (Demolition) |
| 4th | Ryan DeDomenico | EVB|Big D | Ermac (Mystic, Spectral) |
| 5th |  Alexandre Dubé-Bilodeau | Orbit.MTL|Hayatei | Takeda (Ronin, Lasher) |
| 5th | Ryan Gonzalez | cR|Wound Cowboy | Shinnok (Bone Shaper) |
| 7th | Michael Lerma | YOMI|Michaelangelo | Quan Chi (Summoner) |
| 7th | Ryan Walker | EVB|Dragon | Alien (Acidic, Tarkatan) |
| 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 |
