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Evo 2015

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The 2015 Evolution Championship Series (commonly referred to as Evo 2015 or EVO 2015) was a fighting game event held in Las Vegas on July 17–19. The event featured a major tournament for nine fighting games, including the largest Super Smash Bros. tournament up to that point and a highly popular Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament. The Street Fighter IV tournament was won by Yusuke Momochi, defeating GamerBee in the Grand Finals.

2015 Evolution Championship Series
Tournament information
LocationLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
DatesJuly 17–19
Tournament
format(s)
Double elimination
Venue(s)Bally's / Paris Las Vegas
Purse$300,000 USD
Final positions
Champions
← 2014
2016 →

Background

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Evo 2015 was announced on January 20, 2015, on a livestream by event organizer Joey "Mr. Wizard" Cuellar and Twitch's Mike Ross to take place on July 17–19. The event was held at the ballrooms of the Bally's / Paris Las Vegas hotel and casino.[1][2][3]

The event featured a total of US$300,000 in prize money, spread over nine major tournaments. Evo 2015 started on Friday morning, with the finals of five of the major tournaments taking place on Sunday. There were eight official livestream channels on Twitch dedicated to broadcasting the event, the Sunday finals being broadcast on Evo's primary Twitch channel.[4][5]

Games

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Evo 2015 featured a major tournament of nine fighting games:[1][2][3]

Cuellar announced on June 1 that the Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament would be held on the Xbox 360 version of the game, rather than the PlayStation 4 port which possessed a large number of glitches, as well as severe input delay and visual stuttering.[6][7][8] Evo 2015 was the final year that Ultra Street Fighter IV was played at the Evolution Championship Series, as Street Fighter V was released in February the following year.[4] The full prize pool for the Street Fighter tournament was set on US$72,270.[9] In late March 2015, Atlus announced that Persona 4 Arena Ultimax would use the technically outdated PlayStation 3 version of the game, as the Asians had an arcade-only balance patch exclusive to their region.[10]

Responses

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Shacknews's Ozzie Mejia described seven out of the nine games as "no-brainers", but stated that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 and Super Smash Bros. Melee were surprise inclusions at the 2015 event. The former would be left unbalanced due to Marvel Comics having detracted their license, not allowing Capcom to patch the game. Melee, meanwhile, made a third consecutive Evo appearance despite Super Smash Bros. for Wii U being played on the tournament as well. The game has consistently been popular among the fighting game community since its release in 2001.[1]

King of Fighters XIII was surprisingly absent of the roster in 2015, and both Shacknews and Destructoid noted the lack of BlazBlue after Evo 2014's "legendary" Grand Final as a disappointment.[1][3] Meanwhile, Evo 2015 was the global tournament debut of Tekken 7.[2]

Participants

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Ultra Street Fighter IV was the most popular tournament at Evo 2015, featuring 2,227 registered players. Killer Instinct saw the least registered players at the event, with only 397 participants.[4] Evo 2015 was the largest Super Smash Bros. tournament up until that point, 1,926 players having registered for the Wii U version of the game and 1,869 players registering for Melee, compared with 970 competitors in the Melee tournament of Evo 2014.[11] According to Cuellar, both Super Smash Bros. games had over a thousand registrants within a month of announcement.[12]

Evo 2015 was attended by Jamie Lee Curtis, cosplaying as Vega.[13] Bill Trinen was originally going to compete at the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tournament,[14] but cancelled at the last minute following former Nintendo president Satoru Iwata's death.[15]

Tournament summary

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Ultra Street Fighter IV

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Momochi at Evo 2015

The finals of Ultra Street Fighter IV, held on Sunday, featured GamerBee and Eduardo "PR Balrog" Perez, despite both players already having announced their retirement and didn't expect to make the Top 8. Yusuke Momochi entered the Street Fighter finals after having won the Capcom Cup the previous year, though he did not have much success throughout the start of 2015. Other players in the finals included younger players NuckleDu and Fuudo. A new player, AiAi, surprisingly cracked the Top 8, despite having not a single Capcom Pro Tour tournament win in the 2015 season on his name.[16] Shacknews reported that Infiltration played strong matches against Momochi and Gamerbee, playing with characters nobody knew he had any experience with. Though he lost both matches, they were described as "among the most suspenseful matches of the show."[17]

The Grand Final was held between Yusuke Momochi starting out with Elena and GamerBee with Adon. Gamerbee, coming from loser's finals, managed to beat Momochi in their first game and cause a bracket reset. Momochi switched to Evil Ryu for their second game, a decision that paid off. However, during the second round of their second match, Momochi's arcade controller malfunctioned, as it lost its connection to the Xbox 360 on which the game was being played. As a sign of sportsmanship, GamerBee did not abuse the situation to build up his "Super Meter" for the next round, though Momochi was forced to forfeit the round by tournament rules. Evil Geniuses teammate and significant other Chocoblanka loaned Momochi her own arcade stick, allowing him to continue the match. Momochi managed to defeat Gamerbee during the last round, winning the tournament.[9][17]

Super Smash Bros.

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Despite its high registration count, the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tournament was mostly ignored during Evo 2015, its finals wrapping up early on Saturday just as Capcom's Street Fighter V panel was being held. The tournament was won by ZeRo, dominating the tournament without a single loss.[18]

The Super Smash Bros. Melee finals kicked off on Sunday after a high-quality montage video. The competition featured Mango, the two-time defending champion, losing to Hungrybox's Jigglypuff in the loser's bracket semi-finals. Hungrybox went on to face Armada's Fox in the Grand Finals, to whom he lost. Armada became the Melee champion, though Mango was given a standing ovation during the awards ceremony regardless as a sign of respect.[17][19]

Other tournaments

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Mortal Kombat X champion SonicFox at Evo 2015

Players Woshige and Ogawa faced off against one another during the winner's bracket semifinals of the Guilty Gear Xrd tournament. After Woshige scored his first knockout, he stood up and celebrated his win, despite not actually having won the whole match yet. This allowed Ogawa to easily beat up Woshige's character in the next round, and he went on to win the tournament.[20]

Reveals

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Capcom revealed their eighth confirmed playable character and first newcomer for their upcoming game Street Fighter V, Necalli on the Sunday finals.[21] NetherRealm and Warner Bros. would showcase a trailer for their fourth Kombat Pack challenger, Tremor with a release date that was scheduled two days after EVO.[22]

EVO 2015 was where Rising Thunder, an indie fighting game made by Radiant Entertainment (owned by the Cannon Brothers) would be announced.[23] The game ended service on March 18, 2016 following the purchase of Radiant Entertainment by Riot Games.[24]

Results

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Ultra Street Fighter IV
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Yusuke Momochi Momochi Ken, Evil Ryu, Elena
2nd   Bruce Hsiang AVM|GamerBee Adon, Elena
3rd   Seon-woo Lee Infiltration Evil Ryu, Elena, Chun-Li, Decapre, Abel, Juri, Akuma, Ryu
4th   Naoki Nemoto BE|Nemo Rolento
5th   Hajime Taniguchi MCZ|Tokido Akuma
5th   Tomoya Nomura /r/Kappa|AiAi Juri
7th   Du Dang TL|NuckleDu Guile, Decapre
7th   Eduardo Pérez-Frangie EG|PR Balrog Balrog
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Nicolás González BE|KaneBlueRiver Hulk/Sentinel/Haggar
2nd   Raynel Hidalgo RayRay Magneto/Doctor Doom/Sentinel
3rd   Vineeth Meka ApologyMan Firebrand/Doctor Doom/Super-Skrull
4th   César Garcia TA.T3|Frutsy M.O.D.O.K./Captain America/Doctor Doom
5th   Koji Shimomura TMP|Cross Zero/Doctor Strange/Dante
5th   Abraham Sotelo GoldenBoyNeo Magneto/Doctor Doom/Phoenix
7th   Ryota Fukumoto RF Morrigan/Doctor Doom/Vergil
7th   Miguel Osornio SF.T3|Dizzy Zero/Doctor Doom/Vergil
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Adam Lindgren A|Armada Fox, Peach
2nd   Juan Debiedma TL|Hungrybox Jigglypuff
3rd   Kevin Nanney EG|PPMD Marth, Falco
4th   Justin McGrath PG|Plup Sheik, Samus
5th   Joseph Marquez C9|Mang0 Fox, Falco
5th   William Hjelte TSM|Leffen Fox
7th   Daniel Rodriguez MH|ChuDat Ice Climbers
7th   Jeffrey Williamson Tempo|Axe Pikachu
Mortal Kombat X
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Dominique McLean cR|SonicFox Erron Black (Outlaw), Kitana (Royal Storm)
2nd   Denom Jones PND|A F0xy Grampa Kung Lao (Tempest, Buzz Saw)
3rd   Tim Commandeur cR|HoneyBee D'Vorah (Swarm Queen)
4th   Malik Terry YOMI|MIT Tanya (Kobu Jutsu), Sonya Blade (Covert Ops)
5th   Denzell Terry YOMI|DJT Kung Lao (Tempest)
5th   Ryan Neal PND|Ketchup Quan Chi (Sorcerer)
7th   Kenney Jimenez YOMI|Zyphox Liu Kang (Flame Fist)
7th   Darwin Castro JLA|Milky Situation Reptile (Noxious)
Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN-
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Kenichi Ogawa Ogawa Zato-1
2nd   ODG|Nage Faust
3rd   Ryuichi Shigeno Woshige Millia
4th   Takahiro Kitano Nakamura Millia
5th   Hisatoshi Usui Rion Ky
5th   Ryo Nozaki Dogura Sin
7th   Joshua Rodriguez Zidane Leo
7th   Shuuto Hanya Shuuto Axl
Killer Instinct
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Jonathan Deleon Rico Suave Fulgore, Thunder, Glacius, Omen, Spinal
2nd   Neilimen Alicea Gutter Magic Thunder
3rd   Darnell Waller SleepNS Kan-Ra
4th   Larry Dent III LCD Maya, Hisako
5th   Lenin Castillo UA|MyGod Sabrewulf
5th   Seitaro Ono Domi Cinder
7th   Dillon Maciaga The Maciaga 5 Sadira
7th   Kenneth Armas UA|Bass Spinal
Tekken 7
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Nakayama Daichi ORZ|Nobi Dragunov
2nd   Akihiro Abe BE|Ao Alisa
3rd   Jin-woo Choi NJF|Saint Shaheen
4th   Hyun-jin Kim NJF|JDCR Heihachi
5th   Yota Kachi Pekos King
5th   Aoki Takehiko Take Bryan
7th   Jimmy Tran Mr. Naps Bryan
7th   Yuji Kato ORZ|Yuu Feng
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Gonzalo Barrios ZeRo Sheik, Diddy Kong
2nd   Ramin Delshad LLL|Mr. R Sheik
3rd   Nairoby Quezada Nairo Zero Suit Samus
4th   Yuta Kawamura ASA|Abadango Pac-Man, Wario, Rosalina & Luma
5th   Samuel Buzby IQHQ|Dabuz Rosalina & Luma, Olimar
5th   Elliot Carroza-Oyarce Boreal|Ally Mario, Marth
7th   Freddie Williams GW|FOW Ness
7th   Eric Lew PG|ESAM Pikachu
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Chou Yamashita KSB|Superboy Ken
2nd   Taichi Ishikawa NB|Tahichi Margaret, Yukari
3rd   Yusuke Suzuki Hagiwara Teddie
4th   Ryohei Aguro Aguro Yu
5th   Koichi Nakajima Koichi Aigis
5th   Yuji Sasaki NB|Souji Teddie
7th   Takuya Yoshizaki NB|Okusan Sho (Solo), Minazuki (Persona)
7th   Yusuke Ikegaya JEO Kanji, Shadow Mitsuru

References

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  1. ^ a b c d Mejia, Ozzie (2015-01-21). "Evo 2015: Breaking down the surprises and snubs". Shacknews.
  2. ^ a b c Te, Zonnie (2015-01-20). "EVO 2015 Game Lineup Announced". GameSpot.
  3. ^ a b c MacGregor, Kyle (2015-01-21). "EVO 2015 lineup: Smash, Persona, Tekken, and more". Destructoid.
  4. ^ a b c McWhertor, Michael (2015-07-17). "Watch Evo 2015, the year's biggest fighting game tournament, all weekend". Polygon.
  5. ^ Mueller, Saira (2015-07-17). "Evo 2015 Finals Live Stream: Watch 'Guilty Gear,' 'Mortal Kombat X,' 'Super Smash Bros.,' 'Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3,' and 'Ultra Street Fighter 4' Here". International Business Times.
  6. ^ McWhertor, Michael (2015-06-01). "Ultra Street Fighter 4 tournament play at Evo 2015 shifts to Xbox 360 after shaky PS4 launch". Polygon.
  7. ^ Palec, Yen (2015-06-01). "EVO Drops 'Ultra Street Fighter 4' PlayStation 4 Version; Tournament Announces Support To Xbox 360". Yibada.
  8. ^ Bogos, Steven (2015-06-01). "EVO Ditches Broken PS4 Street Fighter IV in Favor of Xbox Version". The Escapist.
  9. ^ a b Sledge, Kyle (2015-05-20). "EVO 2015 Player Breaks Fight Stick, Still Wins Street Fighter Tourney". Game Rant.
  10. ^ Dupont-Gray, Bryan. "PS3 Version of Persona 4 Arena Ultimax in Evo 2015 Lineup". Hardcore Gamer. Retrieved 2016-10-23.
  11. ^ George, Daniel (2015-07-02). "Evo 2015: More Smash Bros. For Wii U Entrants Than Melee". FanSided.
  12. ^ Rad, Chloi (2015-03-12). "Evo 2015 Will Be "Biggest" Melee Tournament Yet". IGN.
  13. ^ Hughes, William (2015-07-18). "Jamie Lee Curtis went undercover at a competitive fighting game tournament". The A.V. Club.
  14. ^ Seedhouse, Alex (2015-07-04). "Bill Trinen to compete at Evolution Championship Series 2015". Nintendo Insider.
  15. ^ Cardoso, Jose. "Bill Trinen no longer participating in Evo 2015 tournament, following Iwata's passing". GameZone. Retrieved 2016-09-05.
  16. ^ Barker, Ian J. (2015-07-18). "Pair of Americans and a Japanese unknown land in Evo's Street Fighter top 8". The Daily Dot.
  17. ^ a b c Mejia, Ozzie (2015-07-20). "EVO 2015: Recapping the final day of competition". Shacknews.
  18. ^ Mejia, Ozzie (2015-07-19). "EVO 2015: Recapping the first two days of competition". Shacknews.
  19. ^ Barker, Ian J. (2015-07-20). "Hungrybox jeered, Armada revered in Evo Smash finale". The Daily Dot.
  20. ^ Gallaghar, Danny (2015-07-20). "Pro gamer's premature victory celebration earns him a big, fat loss". CNET.
  21. ^ Hillier, Brenna. "All-new Street Fighter 5 character Necalli revealed at EVO 2015". VG247. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  22. ^ Boccher, Mike. "Mortal Kombat X's Tremor revealed with official gameplay video". GameZone. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  23. ^ Robinson, Nick. "Hands-on gameplay from Rising Thunder, Seth Killian's newly announced PC fighting game". Polygon. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
  24. ^ Mejia, Ozzie. "Rising Thunder developer acquired by Riot Games; alpha will shut down next week". Shacknews. Retrieved 2016-11-07.
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