The 2014 Evolution Championship Series (commonly referred to as Evo 2014 or EVO 2014) was a fighting game event held in at Westgate Las Vegas on July 11–13. The event featured a major tournament for eight fighting games, including Ultra Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma. The event was part of the first Capcom Pro Tour.
 | |
| Tournament information | |
|---|---|
| Location | Las Vegas, Nevada, United States |
| Dates | July 11–13 |
Tournament format(s) | Double elimination |
| Venue(s) | Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino |
| Final positions | |
| Champions |
|
Background edit
Evo 2014 was announced in September 2013 and was slated to feature primarily Xbox 360 versions of fighting games.[1] As the first Capcom Pro Tour was announced in March 2014, Evo was scheduled to be one of its ten first "Premier Events".[2][3] Capcom announced a month later that the company would provide a bonus $10,000 USD to the prize pool of Evo's Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament.[4] Nintendo also sponsored the event, which was noted as a surprising shift in policy after the company tried to shut down the Super Smash Bros. portion of the event in 2013.[5]
All of the tournaments held at Evo 2014 were livestreamed and available for free on the Twitch online video service. Evo 2014 broke the record for the largest Super Smash Bros. Melee competition up to that point, with 970 entrants. The Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament also broke its record, with nearly 2,000 players competing for the title.[6] The event, held at the Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino on July 11–13, had a total prize pool of US$100,000 and was described by IGN as "the 'World Cup' of competitive fighting games."[7]
Games edit
Eight major tournaments were held at Evo 2014. The games played were:[6][7]
- Ultra Street Fighter IV
- Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
- Super Smash Bros. Melee
- BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma
- Killer Instinct
- Injustice: Gods Among Us
- King of Fighters XIII
- Tekken Tag 2
2014 was the first year to feature Killer Instinct as a main title at the Evolution Championship Series. The 2013 Xbox One release of the game was well received by both critics and the fighting game community. Injustice: Gods Among Us failed to impress audiences at Evo 2013, and Ozzie Mejia of Shack News suggested that, if the game were to disappoint again, it was likely it wouldn't return in 2015.[8]
Reveals edit
Bandai Namco revealed the first trailer for Tekken 7 at Evo 2014.[9] NetherRealm Studios announced that the character Raiden would return in Mortal Kombat X, which was to be released the following year.[10] Meanwhile Microsoft announced that Maya would be the next character to be added to Killer Instinct.[11][12] Nintendo showed a video of Reggie Fils-Aimé thanking the fighting game community for their dedication to the Super Smash Bros. series during the Melee finals.[13]
Tournament summary edit
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The Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament was won by Olivier "Luffy" Hay, playing on a PlayStation gamepad rather than a more traditional arcade controller. Luffy, playing as the character Rose won against Japanese player Bonchan in the finale. Daigo Umehara finished outside of the Top 8 at Evo 2014 for the first time in the tournament's history.[14]
Playing as the character Litchi, Japanese player Garireo won the BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma tournament. Coming out of the loser's bracket, Garireo's final match against Dogura's Azrael was considered highly impressive by journalist. Mike Fahey of Kotaku described his 3-to-2 win as "the most intense battle Of EVO 2014" up to that point, and Earnest Cavalli of Engadget called it the "most thrilling competitive drama" of the weekend. Garireo won over US$23,000 at the tournament.[15][16][17]
The Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom tournament was won by Justin Wong after making a high-tension comeback against Filipino Champ in the winners finals, and would go on to defeat Chris G in the grand finals.[18] Meanwhile, the Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament was won by Mango, who defeated Hungrybox in the finale and won US$5,820.[19]
Results edit
| Place | Player | Alias | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |  Olivier Hay
|
MD|Luffy | Rose |
| 2nd |  Masato Takahashi
|
Bonchan | Sagat |
| 3rd | Keita Ai
|
RZR|Fuudo | Fei Long |
| 4th |  Darryl Lewis
|
RG|Snake Eyez | Zangief |
| 5th | Ricki Ortiz
|
EG|Ricky Ortiz | Rufus, Rolento |
| 5th |  Ghim Kee Eng
|
RZR|Gackt | Fei Long |
| 7th | Naoto Sako
|
HORI|Sako | Ibuki, Elena, Evil Ryu, Gen |
| 7th | Yusuke Momochi
|
EG|Momochi | Ken, Juri |
| Place | Player | Alias | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Justin Wong
|
EG|JWong | Wolverine/Storm/Akuma |
| 2nd | Christopher Gonzalez
|
GG|NYChrisG | Morrigan/Doctor Doom/Vergil, Morrigan/Magneto/Doctor Doom |
| 3rd | Ryan Ramirez
|
RG|Filipino Champ | Magneto/Dormammu/Doctor Doom, Magneto/Doctor Doom/Phoenix, Morrigan/Magneto/Doctor Doom |
| 4th | Raynel Hidalgo
|
CTRL|RayRay | Magneto/Doctor Doom/Sentinel |
| 5th | Jan-Michael del Rio
|
Jan | Hulk/Shuma-Gorath/Haggar |
| 5th | Job Figueroa
|
RG|Flocker | Zero/Vergil/Hawkeye, Zero/Dante/Vergil |
| 7th | Steven Delgado
|
HoC.BIFU|Insaynne | Nova/Spencer/Doctor Doom |
| 7th | Martin Phan
|
MRN|Marn | Zero/Vergil/Strider |
| Place | Player | Alias | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Joseph Marquez
|
C9|Mang0 | Fox, Falco |
| 2nd | Juan Debiedma
|
CRS|Hungrybox | Jigglypuff, Fox, Falco |
| 3rd |  Adam Lindgren
|
P4K.EMP|Armada | Peach, Young Link |
| 4th | Kevin Nanney
|
EG|PPMD | Falco, Marth |
| 5th | Jeffrey Williamson
|
MOR|Axe | Pikachu |
| 5th | Jason Zimmerman
|
P4K.EMP|Mew2King | Marth, Sheik |
| 7th | Otto Bisno
|
GC|Silent Wolf | Fox |
| 7th | Jeremy Westfahl
|
Fly Amanita | Ice Climbers |
| Place | Player | Alias | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Emmanuel Brito
|
KN.RM|CDjr | Sadira, Jago |
| 2nd | Jonathan Deleon
|
RG|Rico Suave | Thunder, Fulgore, Glacius, Jago, Sabrewulf |
| 3rd | Justin Wong
|
EG|JWong | Sabrewulf |
| 4th | Neilimen Alicea
|
Gutter Magic | Thunder |
| 5th | Lenin Castillo
|
IC.ENTH|MyGod88 | Sabrewulf |
| 5th | Grant Gibson
|
Tswagg | Sadira |
| 7th | Brian Rincon
|
Mr. Grimmmz | Jago |
| 7th | Erik Johnson
|
Pretty E | Orchid |
| Place | Player | Alias | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Keiji Okamoto
|
Galileo | Litchi |
| 2nd | Ryo Nozaki
|
Dogura | Azrael |
| 3rd | Ryuji Utsumi
|
BE.TSB|Dora_Bang | Bang |
| 4th | Yoshiki Kouno
|
Yoshiki | Nu-13 |
| 5th | Shunichi Kubota
|
N-O | Rachel |
| 5th | Kizuki Kudo
|
Tiku | Tager |
| 7th | Derek Bruscas
|
sG | Litchi |
| 7th | Satoshi Kawai
|
Tochigin | Azrael |
| Place | Player | Alias | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st |  Zhuojun Zeng
|
Qanba|Xiao Hai | EX Iori/Mr. Karate/Kim |
| 2nd | Hajime Taniguchi
|
MCZ|Tokido | EX Iori/Mr. Karate/Chin |
| 3rd |  Jiahong Lin
|
LDA|ET | Clark/Mr. Karate/EX Iori, EX Iori/Mr. Karate/Kim |
| 4th |  Kwang-noh Lee
|
Cafe id|Mad KOF | Duo Lon/Daimon/Kim, Duo Lon/Chin/Kim |
| 5th | Josimar Jimenez
|
TC|Yoshi | EX Kyo/Benimaru/Shen, EX Kyo/Billy/Shen |
| 5th | Heesan Woo
|
Woo | King/Takuma/Kim |
| 7th | Nick Woods
|
TC|Chris KOF | Duo Lon/Iori/Shen |
| 7th |  Felipe Torres
|
VGM|Misterio | Yuri/Saiki/King |
| Place | Player | Alias | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Dominique McLean
|
RG|SonicFox | Batgirl |
| 2nd | Brant McCaskill
|
AK|Pig of the Hut | Zod |
| 3rd | Malik Terry
|
IC|MIT 88 | Deathstroke, Aquaman |
| 4th | Kyle Panlilio
|
GGA|pimpimjim | Hawkgirl, Raven, Shazam |
| 5th | Denzell Terry
|
IC|DJT 88 | Aquaman, Doomsday, Green Lantern, The Flash |
| 5th | Ozzie Delisle
|
EMPR|Noobe | Doomsday |
| 7th | Jivan Karapetian
|
FRQ.EMPR|Theo | Aquaman |
| 7th | Stephanie Brownback
|
GGA|16 Bit | Catwoman |
| Place | Player | Alias | Character(s) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1st | Hyun-jin Kim
|
Twitch|JDCR | Heihachi/Armor King |
| 2nd | Genki Kumisaka
|
Twitch.MCP|Gen | Bob/Leo |
| 3rd | Akihiro Abe
|
BE|Ao | Alisa/Miguel |
| 4th | Jimmy Tran
|
JimmyJTran | Bryan/Dragunov |
| 5th | Hoa Luu
|
Anakin | JACK-6/P-JACK |
| 5th | Eduardo Rada
|
Inkognito | Bryan/Bob |
| 7th | James Garrett
|
JustFrameJames | Marshall Law/Yoshimitsu |
| 7th |  Muhanned Alseihati
|
BMNS-13 | Hwoarang/Baek |
References edit
- ^ Hillier, Brenna (2013-09-16). "Evo 2014 announced for July, Xbox 360 as main platform". VG247.
- ^ Breslau, Rod (2014-03-11). "Capcom and Twitch team up for year-long Street Fighter league tour". GameSpot.
- ^ Sarkar, Samit (2014-03-11). "Twitch and Capcom teaming up for Street Fighter league Capcom Pro Tour". Polygon.
- ^ Ledford, Jon (2014-04-26). "Capcom Adds $10,000 to Evolution Prize Pool for Ultra Street Fighter 4". Arcade Sushi.
- ^ Newhouse, Alex (2014-07-07). "Despite Past Resistance, Nintendo Now Sponsoring Evo Fighting Game Tournament". GameSpot.
- ^ a b Youorski, Joe (2014-07-09). "Evolution Championship Series to Stream on Twitch". Paste Magazine.
- ^ a b Ingenito, Vince (2014-07-02). "Evo 2014: Evo on IGN: Don't Miss a Moment of Hype". IGN.
- ^ Mejia, Ozzie (2014-07-07). "Five memorable moments from Evo 2013 (and what questions they raise for 2014)". Shack News.
- ^ Takahashi, Dean (2014-07-13). "Bandai Namco unveils Tekken 7 fighting game with visuals using Unreal Engine 4". VentureBeat.
- ^ Omega, Jan (2014-07-13). "Raiden is Revealed for 'Mortal Kombat X' at Evo 2014". Inquisitr.
- ^ Ingenito, Vince (2014-07-11). "Evo 2014: Maya Revealed for Killer Instinct Season 2". IGN.
- ^ Good, Owen S. (2014-07-12). "Killer Instinct's next confirmed character isn't Cinder, it's Maya". Polygon.
- ^ Tassi, Paul (2014-07-14). "Nintendo Has A Rather Fantastic Super Smash Bros. Marketing Strategy". Forbes.
- ^ Nacisse, Evan (2014-07-14). "The 2014 EVO Champ Just Won Using a PS1 Controller". Kotaku.
- ^ George, Daniel (2014-07-13). "Evo 2014: Garireo Is Your BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Grand Finals Winner". FanSided.
- ^ Cavalli, Earnest (2014-07-15). "Two perspectives on Garireo's amazing Evo 2014 comeback". Engadget.
- ^ Fahey, Mike (2014-07-13). "The Most Intense Battle Of EVO 2014 So Far". Kotaku.
- ^ Plunkett, Luke (2014-07-13). "Epic Comeback Leads To EVO Glory In Marvel vs Capcom". Kotaku.
- ^ George, Daniel (2014-07-13). "Evo 2014: Mango Is Your Smash Bros Melee Grand Finals Winner". FanSided.
- ^ "EVO 2014 UFIV Top 32 Bracket". ssfranking.com.