The 2018 Evolution Championship Series (commonly referred to as Evo 2018 or EVO 2018) was a fighting game event held in Las Vegas on August 3 to 5 as part of the long-running Evolution Championship Series. The event offered tournaments for various video games, including Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, and Dragon Ball FighterZ. Over 10,000 people registered for the event with Dragon Ball FighterZ receiving the most entrants.

2018 Evolution Championship Series
Evolution Championship Series logo
Tournament information
LocationLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
DatesAugust 3–5, 2018
Tournament
format(s)
Double elimination
Venue(s)Mandalay Bay
Final positions
Champions
Tournament statistics
Attendance~10,000
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Venue

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Just like the previous edition of the event, Evo 2018 took place in the Mandalay Bay resort for all three days of the event.[1] The first two days of the event were held at the Mandalay Bay Convention Center, and the final day was held at the Mandalay Bay Events Center.

Games

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The eight games played at Evo 2018 were announced on February 6, 2018, during a special announcement stream on Twitch, with event co-founder Joey Cuellar discussing the inclusion of each game. The games set to be contested consisted of new releases, FGC contemporaries, and updated releases. New additions included BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle and Dragon Ball FighterZ while Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition would replace Street Fighter V.[2][3] Regarding the Smash community, Super Smash Bros. Melee's finals are once again being held during the Sunday Finals, contrast to its Saturday spot in the previous year.[4] For the third consecutive year, the Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition tournament will be a Capcom Pro Tour Premier event.[5]

The eight games being competed in officially at Evo 2018 were:[1]

When asked about the exclusion of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, Joey Cuellar responded: “I don’t think people are playing it, and that’s the problem”. This statement is a reflection of the title's status as a commercial failure.[6][1] A side tournament for the game was conducted, however.[7]

Side events

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Evo featured competitions for many additional games as side events, such as Fighting EX Layer, Ultra Street Fighter IV, Super Street Fighter II Turbo, and Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. Exhibitions for then-upcoming fighters Dead or Alive 6, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Soulcalibur VI also took place.[7][8]

As with the previous three years, the AnimEVO series of side tournaments, which is dedicated to airdasher fighting games, was held at the event with over twenty-six games to compete in, including Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late(st), Samurai Shodown V Special, Garou: Mark of the Wolves, Windjammers, and Catherine, as well as former EVO titles The King of Fighters XIV, BlazBlue: Central Fiction, Persona 4 Arena Ultimax and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom.[9]

Participants

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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 20, which Joey "Mr. Wizard" Cuellar had announced the final registration numbers. The three largest games from last year: Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, and Super Smash Bros. Melee have once again seen decreases in numbers with the games going from 2622 to 2421, 1515 to 1303, and 1435 to 1302 respectively. Dragon Ball FighterZ became the first game in years to surpass the entrant numbers of a Street Fighter game becoming the most entered game at Evo 2018, the first for a non-Street Fighter game. Tekken 7 once again saw an increase in entrant numbers going from over 1,200 entrants to 1,504 becoming the third largest game at the event.[10][11]

Evo 2018 has received over 11,000 attendees in competition.[10]

Broadcasting

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As with every year since Evo 2012, the entire tournament is streamed through the Twitch streaming service. The tournament is broadcast across eight different streams: seven Evo-run streams provide coverage of all games throughout the weekend, while Capcom runs its signature Capcom Fighters stream that features coverage of Street Fighter V matches on Friday and Saturday. The EVO1 channel provides coverage of the show The Jump Off, which airs on EVO6 whenever an exhibition or Top 8 takes place.[12][8]

Reveals

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Although it was not revealed at the event, during the Evo 2018 lineup reveal, Arc System Works announced Yang Xiao Long from RWBY as a DLC character for BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle. Along with her announcement, the company stated that she and Blake Belladonna would be released free-of-charge, which would allow players to play as Team RWBY without having to pay for them.[13]

On the Saturday of the tournament, to coincide with the game's inclusion among the AnimEVO side events, DotEmu announced a port of Windjammers for the Nintendo Switch.[14] Shortly after the BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle finals ended, Arc System Works revealed nine new characters for the title to be released as DLC on August 6: Izayoi, Nine the Phantom, and Mai Natsume of BlazBlue; Mitsuru Kirijo, Akihiko Sanada and Labrys of Persona 4 Arena; and Merkava, Yuzuriha Sougets, and Mika Returna of Under Night In-Birth.[15] In addition, following the Fighting EX Layer side tournament, Arika revealed the game would be receiving an arcade port and announced a release window for forthcoming characters Pullum Purna and Vulcano Rosso. They also teased returning Street Fighter EX characters Area and Sharon and guest character Terry Bogard of Fatal Fury and The King of Fighters as future DLC.[16]

Following Sunday's Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 finals, Arc System Works announced an organized eSports circuit with the reveal of the ArcRevo World Tour. The circuit will focus on Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, and BlazBlue: Central Fiction.[17] Prior to the Super Smash Bros. Melee grand final, Nintendo announced a special Nintendo Direct presentation for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, which was later streamed on August 8.[18] Before the Tekken 7 finals, Bandai Namco announced that Astaroth and Seong Mi-na would be playable in Soulcalibur VI.[19]/ At the end of the finals, series producer Katsuhiro Harada announced a second season of DLC for the Tekken 7, including six new playable characters. Three characters were revealed at the event: returning fighters Anna Williams and Lei Wulong, and special guest character Negan from The Walking Dead.[20] After the Dragon Ball FighterZ finals concluded, Bandai Namco announced an August 8 release date for the game's fifth and sixth DLC characters, base form Goku and Vegeta, as well as a reveal trailer for the seventh DLC character, Cooler.[21] Finally, just before the Street Fighter V finals, Capcom showed the first gameplay of the remaining two Season 3 DLC characters, G and Sagat, and confirmed they would be released the next day.[22]

Results

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Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Benjamin Simon MOUZ|Problem X M. Bison, Abigail
2nd   Hajime Taniguchi FOX|Tokido Akuma
3rd   Dohn Mamboyo CYG|Dragunov R. Mika
4th   Tsunehiro Kanamori Gachikun Rashid
5th   Atsushi Fujimura FD|Fujimura Ibuki
5th   Olivier Hay RB|Luffy R. Mika
7th   Christopher Rodriguez Nade RISE|Caba Guile
7th   Marcus Redmond TheCoolKid93 Abigail
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Dominique McLean FOX|SonicFox Bardock/Fused Zamasu/Android 16
2nd   Goichi Kishida CO|GO1 Cell/Bardock/Vegeta
3rd   Shoji Sho CO|Fenritti Cell/Bardock/Vegeta
4th   Naoki Nakayama Ponos|Moke Kid Buu/Cell/Trunks
5th   Perry Vinson W2W|KnowKami Android 21/Cell/Goku Black, Cell/Fused Zamasu/Kid Buu
5th   Ryota Inoue GGP|Kazunoko Kid Buu/Adult Gohan/Yamcha
7th   Tsutomu Kubota Kubo Adult Gohan/Android 16/Goku
7th   Steve Carbajal NRG|Supernoon Kid Buu/Cell/Vegeta
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Sun-woong Youn Fursan|LowHigh Shaheen
2nd   Byeong-mun Son UYU|Qudans Devil Jin
3rd   Terrelle Jackson ITS|Lil Majin King
4th   Hyun-jim Kim FOX|JDCR Dragunov
5th   Nopparut Hempamorn AR|Book Jin
5th   Hyun-ho Jung Fursan|Rangchu Panda
7th   Takumi Fujimura AMD|Chirichiri Shaheen
7th   Takumi Hamasaki COOAS|Noroma Jack-7, Dragunov
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   William Hjelte TSM|Leffen Fox
2nd   Adam Lindgren [A]|Armada Fox, Peach
3rd   Justin McGrath PG|Plup Sheik
4th   Juan Debiedma Liquid|Hungrybox Jigglypuff
5th   Justin Hallett Wizzrobe Captain Falcon
5th   Joseph Marquez C9|Mango Falco
7th   James Liu OG|Swedish Delight Sheik
7th   Johnny Kim Tempo|S2J Captain Falcon
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Omito Hashimoto Omito Johnny
2nd   Masahiro Tominaga Surugaya|Machabo Ky
3rd   Eli Rabadad LostSoul Elphelt
4th   unknown Nage Faust
5th   Hisatoshi Usui Rion Ky
5th   unknown YOSHIMOTO|Zadi Raven
7th   Fukuda Norihiro Mikado|Teresa Jam
7th   Harukuni Suga Fumo Elphelt
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Bharat Chintapall Lima Bayonetta
2nd   Zack Lauth CaptainZack Bayonetta
3rd   Yuta Uejima DNG|Nietono Sheik, Diddy Kong
4th   Tamim Omary EMG|Mistake Bayonetta
5th   Eric Weber W2W|Mr E Lucina
5th   Jestise Negron PG|MVD Diddy Kong
7th   Tetsuya Ishiguro CND|Raito Duck Hunt
7th   Toshimasa Hayakawa YOSHIMOTO|Choco Zero Suit Samus
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   unknown Heiho Ruby/Gordeau
2nd   Jeronte Latham PAG|Fame96 Yu/Jin
3rd   Ryuji Utsumi BE|DoraBang Hazama/Nu-13
4th   Kazuyuki Koji KojiKOG Tager/Waldstein
5th   Ryota Inoue GGP|Kazunoko Ruby/Gordeau
5th   Shoji Sho CO|Fenritti Jin/Hyde
7th   unknown Gouda Gordeau/Nu-13
7th   Kohki Hayashi DettyWhiteRock Yang/Waldstein
Place Player Alias Character(s)
1st   Curtis McCall Noble|Rewind Catwoman, Black Adam, Blue Beetle, Firestorm
2nd   Tommy Tweedy Noble|Tweedy Starfire, Doctor Fate
3rd   Dominique McLean FOX|SonicFox Starfire, Firestorm, Red Hood, Black Manta
4th   Ryan DeDomenico Big D Poison Ivy
5th   Alexandre Dubé-Bilodeau PG|Hayatei Robin
5th   Andrew Fontanez Noble|Semiij Catwoman
7th   Mo Amaechi Method|SylverRye Hellboy
7th   Matthew Commandeur BC|Biohazard Bane, Cheetah, Starfire, Black Manta

References

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  1. ^ a b c Mejia, Ozzie. "Evo 2018 Lineup Revealed; Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite Misses the Cut". Shacknews. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  2. ^ Valdez, Nick. "EVO 2018 Championship lineup revealed". Destructoid. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  3. ^ Ashcraft, Brian. "Here Is The Evo 2018 Lineup". Kotaku. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  4. ^ Knezevic, Kevin. "EVO 2018 Schedule: When Does It Start, How To Watch It". GameSpot. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  5. ^ Walker, Ian. "Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite Won't Be On The Capcom Pro Tour". Compete. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  6. ^ Cabrera, David. "Why Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite won't be at the biggest fighting game tournament of the year". Polygon. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  7. ^ a b Glaze, Virginia. "Everything you need to know about Evo 2018". Red Bull. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  8. ^ a b Donaldson, Alex. "Evo 2018: how to watch the world's biggest fighting game tournament – and why you should". VG247. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  9. ^ Moyse, Chris. "Windjammers has one of the highest number of entrants at AnimEVO 2018". Destructoid. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  10. ^ a b Newell, Adam. "Dragon Ball FighterZ tops EVO 2018 entry numbers". Dot Esports. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  11. ^ Donaldson, Alex. "Dragon Ball FighterZ leads Evo 2018 registrations, barely snatching Street Fighter's crown". VG247. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  12. ^ Moon, Mariella. "How to watch the Evo 2018 fighting games tournament". Engadget. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  13. ^ Sato. "EVO 2018 Lineup Revealed, Includes BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle And Dragon Ball FighterZ". Siliconera. Retrieved 2018-08-03.
  14. ^ "Windjammers is finally confirmed for Nintendo's Switch". Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  15. ^ Doolan, Liam. "Nine New Characters Are Joining The Fight In BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle". Nintendo Life. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
  16. ^ Cito, Arne. "Terry Bogard gets surprise spot in Fighting EX Layer & SNK Heroines Tag Team Frenzy". GameZone. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
  17. ^ Mejia, Ozzie. "ArcRevo World Tour introduces global esports circuit for anime fighting games". Shacknews. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
  18. ^ Knezevic, Kevin. "Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Nintendo Direct Announced For This Week". GameSpot. Retrieved 6 August 2018.
  19. ^ "Soulcalibur 6 lineup adds Seong Mi-na and Astaroth". Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  20. ^ "The Walking Dead's Negan is coming to Tekken 7". Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  21. ^ "Movie villain Cooler announced for Dragon Ball FighterZ". Retrieved 21 September 2018.
  22. ^ "PlayStation on Twitter". Retrieved 21 September 2018.
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