esports
Check out the biggest moments from each Top 8 that went down Sunday at Evo 2017.
LAS VEGAS — As Evo enters its final day, things get turned up. The event moves into the Mandalay Bay Events Center, and players walk out onto the big stage to decide who will be the last man standing — a champion of their game.
So to keep you all up to date, we've taken the best moments from each final day Top 8 and compiled them just for you. We'll continue to update this page with new Top 8 moments throughout the day, so stay tuned.
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
The Marvel vs. Capcom series has a storied history at Evo. Over the years, MvC 2 and 3 and both thrilled competitors and spectators alike. This year will be the final year for UMvC3, as it makes way for the new Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite — a game that's looking good after this morning's exhibition that showed off the newest character, Jedah from Darkstalkers. But UMvC3 did not go quietly into the night.
Highlights
RyanLV vs. Prodigy: Ryan spent a good amount of time keeping his distance, converting from stray hits to dominate throughout the match. Prodigy nearly turned the second match around, but after an unfortunate happy birthday situation, he fell into loser's bracket with a convincing 3-0 going in favor of RyanLV.
Paradigm vs. Not High Enough Damage: Paradigm’s Haggar and Dormammu put in work, leaving NHED seemingly uncertain how to fight back. He was unafraid to go nuts one second, and switch to passive, measured play the next. It was a quick victory; Paradigm moved on without a single loss, making quick work of his opponent and eliminating him from the tournament.
Prodigy vs. Marvel God: This pair played the same team of Magneto, Dr. Doom and Storm, but Marvel God seemed to just be one step ahead of Prodigy the whole way through. They both played their characters well, but Marvel God got into Prodigy’s head by being just a step ahead, taking the set with a clean 3-1 record.
Paradigm vs. Joey D: This proved to be one of the closest sets of the morning. Joey tried to play safe, but continued to be on the back foot, leaving him unable to mount much of an attack. Despite being on the edge, was able to make an incredible comeback with just Doctor Doom left against Paradigm’s entire team, timing out Paradigm for the win with a sliver of health left. This would be the story of the next two games; Joey D would have Doctor Doom left, and would either succeed or fail with just the one character.
The set went down to the wire, spanning the whole five games. Paradigm consistently punished Virgil super with Haggar’s Lariat which turned the tide in his favor — in the final match it appeared that Joey would repeat his comeback from game one, but in an incredible turn at the last possible moment, Paradigm completely reversed the momentum with a quick Happy Birthday and secured the match, 3-2.
Winner's Finals — RyanLV vs. ChrisG: Ryan started off strong with his runaway, meter-building strategy and took the first match after a very patient game from both players — nearly half the match was spent in neutral, a rarity in Marvel. The pattern continued in game two: Ryan’s patient play paid off again, and he won the second round in a very close timeout. The pattern repeated itself for the third round as Chris couldn't seem to keep RyanLV on the ground. RyanLV takes a clean 3-0 over ChrisG — and in potentially one of the most patient sets in history.
Paradigm vs. Marvel God: Paradigm decided to switch his team to Arthur/Haggar/Rocket Racoon, using Arthur to immediately power up and tag out. The pick didn't work too well; Marvel God took the first game quickly and efficiently. Paradigm sticks with the team, however, and it pays off: He pulled out a clutch second match, leaving the score at 1-1. The third game looked very similar to the first, however.
Down 1-2, Paradigm was forced to switch out Arthur for Doctor Doom. The switch worked well for Paradigm with Rocket Racoon playing a much bigger role. Paradigm took Marvel God down to just Dark Phoenix with just a pixel of life, but he wasn't able to land the last hit of chip, and Marvel God took advantage, closing out the set at 3-1.
ChrisG vs. Marvel God: In this set, able to comfortably play his game against Marvel God. The pair split the first two games, but after that it was off to the races. ChrisG eliminated Marvel God, 3-1, and took third as Chris moved on.
Grand Finals — RyanLV vs. ChrisG: To nobody's surprise, these two met up again in Grand Finals. The first two games appeared to reinforce the result of their first set; Ryan took the first game convincingly, and styled on ChrisG in the second with not one but two infinite combos.
It would not be the end. ChrisG managed to find a strong foothold during the second fight, and while Ryan was able to win by timeout, ChrisG was showing signs of life. He used that newfound momentum to win the next two, evening it up for a final game or a bracket reset. ChrisG's comeback was just not meant to be, however. He eventually fell in a suffocating last-character situation, slowly chipped out by RyanLV's Phoenix.
BlazBlue: Central Fiction
While it doesn't have the staying power in the West that its sibling Guilty Gear does, BlazBlue is one of the biggest and most popular titles in Japan. It showed this weekend, with every single Top 8 competitor hailing from the land of the rising sun.
Top 8 Winners started off with Fuumi's Nine vs. Fenrich's Jin. Fuumi started the match off with a very strong pressure, but Fenrich’s Jin stayed patient. This style earned Fenrich several comebacks in the last moments of their matches, but the set ultimately ended 2-0 in Fenrich’s favor.
Next would be Ryuusei's Carl vs. iGS|Kaibutsukun's Nine, with Carl starting off very strong by spacing out his puppet to prevent Nine from reaching Carl himself. Nine switches characters after the first match, and the switch seems to work better than Nine at first. After a brief fight, Carl does manage to adapt, shutting down Izanami’s zoning and taking a strong 2-0 ending with a perfect.
Tochigin picked Azreal vs. Mt. Takao’s Rachael, and the match starts off heavily in Rachael’s favor with an early perfect. This overwhelming domination would continue into the second round, but just before Azreal lost a fourth time he turned it around with a comeback, finishing strong after inflicting both weakpoints on Racheal with his unblockable Distortion finish. After running it all the way back from near defeat, Tochigin eliminated Mt. Takao 2-1 in a nail-biting comeback.
Dora_Bang's Arakune vs. Souji’s Mu-12 started up heavily in Souji’s favor. He was able to completely zone out Arakune and prevent him from starting up his curse pressure, taking the first game without much resistance. But with intense patience and persistence, Arakune tried to start up his bug pressure, and while it didn't find success in the second round, he was able to even it up 1-1. After a back and forth that lasted until the last moments, Dora_Bang secured the win with a 2-1 victory.
Kaibutsukun’s Izanami managed to keep Tochigin’s Azreal out of his comfort zone very effectively for the entire first round. Azreal started trying to build momentum, and was able to get a few hits in, but Izanami’s pressure and oki was suffocating. Kaibutsukun takes the match in a convincing 2-0.
Fumi’s Nine didn't let Souji’s Arakune breathe at all, cleanly avoiding Arakune’s curse attacks while still maintaining pressure and taking the first match. He spent the majority of the match dancing in and out of Arakune’s range, not letting him get anything started while building up spells for himself. Souji was able to mount an offensive in the last moments of the second game to even it up, but Nine takes the set with a clean final round, winning 2-1.
In Winner’s Finals, Ryuusei’s Carl vs. Fenrich’s Jin started off as a game of patience. Jin was looking for chances to land hits on Carl’s doll and put it out of commission, which worked out well for Fenrich, but Carl consistently managed to just barely edge out the win. Despite every match coming down to the wire, Ryuusei secures a 3-0 victory.
Next, Fumi’s Nine and Kaibutsukun’s Izanami went back and forth in a mid-range fight, trying to open the other up without getting too close. A very technical back and forth sees the set go to 1-1, down to the last round, each player with only a sliver of health. The crowd bursts into applause as Fumi clutching out a 2-1 win after an unfortunate drop on Kaibutsukun’s end.
A repeat of the first round of Top 8, Fenrich vs. Fumi started off very much like the first. Fenrich’s Jin struggled at first, but he adapted and found his groove in the second, and making the matchup much more evenly paced. After Fumi ties it up, Fenrich’s patience finally pays off and he takes it 3-2 at the last second.
Another rematch, Fenrich meets Ryuusei once again in Grand Finals. Fenrich’s Jin handed Ryuusei his first loss of Top 8 by taking the first game with a Perfect, the adaptions he made since the last set make a clearly working out as he took a second game and is up 2-0. Ryuusei wasn't shaken by the loss, steadily trying to turn the set around, but Fenrich was able to close out the set and reset the bracket.
Ryuusei started off the final set with a clean perfect and an early game one victory. Ryuusei let loose again, closing out the second game with a perfect by abusing his Puppet pressure, but Fenrich struck back by outzoning the puppet and taking a game with a perfect of his own. Ryuusei nearly took a convincing victory early, but Fenrich fought back to tie the games up 2-2 count. In the final game, Ryuusei finally walked away the victor — and the newest BlazBlue world champion.
After the event, there were some exciting announcements made, as well. Check out our full story below for details and a full interview with BlazBlue's head director.
Tekken 7
While Tekken 7 was present at Evo last year, this year felt like its true coming-out party. With a worldwide release and plenty of regular competition, the world was finally on an even playing field ... kind of. Check out how the final eight competitors did below.
StreamMe|Anakin vs. Knee: Knee’s Feng took a strong start over Anakin’s Jack-7 very convincingly. While Anakin had some success with Debugger (Jack’s long sweep) early on, he wasn’t able to outlive Feng’s consistent aggression and long-carry combos. Knee walked away the victor with a relatively undisputed 2-0 win.
EchoFox|JDCR vs. Jeondding: JDCR’s Heihachi went up against Jeondding’s Eddy Gordo, with Eddy’s twitchy footsies earning him an early lead. Instead of opting for the tricky mix-ups Eddy has historically been known for, Jeondding sat at a distance and pestered his opponent with long-ranged low attacks. JDCR’s powerful punishes were able to secure him the first game, however. The second game was about as back-and-forth as it gets; with four rounds all remaining close until the end, round 5 was exactly the same. In order to win, Jeondding pulled out the same trick twice — in both rounds four and five, he struck the final blow with his Rage Drive.
Game three, however, was a different story. While rounds remained competitive, JDCR began to take control, winning two rounds and threatening a third. But a Rage Art gamble that didn’t pay off cost him the third round, giving Jeondding a second chance at life — one that he nearly lived to regret. Jeondding pulled off the comeback of a lifetime, winning the fourth round and bringing Heihachi to a literal pixel of life, but it wasn’t enough. With a final Rage Drive combo, JDCR was able to squeeze out a victory by the tightest of margins.
EchoFox | Saint vs. Sunken: The beginning of this set was a doozy. EchoFox’s Saint began game one with not one but two consecutive perfect rounds against Suiken’s Eliza. While Suiken was able to pick up a little bit of speed by the second game, winning a couple of rounds, it was never very close. Throw in another perfect round and you’ve got what may have been the most dominating set of the day so far.
(We did love Suiken’s hat, though.)
Taisei vs. Take: Bringing some as-of-yet-today unseen characters out to play, Taisei’s Steve and Take’s Kazumi put on an exciting match. Both were able to carry their opponent to the corner consistently, putting out some of the highest damage combos of the afternoon. Match one was a back-and-forth slugfest, with lots of offense and a few key parries tilting the game in Taisei’s favor. Game two would continue accordingly; despite some devastating combos from Take, Taisei was always just one step ahead. Despite several close rounds, Taisei stayed alive in loser’s with a 2-0 victory.
Jeondding vs. EchoFox | Saint: In an interesting twist, Jeondding took a hard left turn and picked Lucky Chloe against Saint’s Jack-7 — a character almost never seen in competitive play. The first round made it look like a questionable choice to say the least. Chloe was utterly destroyed in a matter of seconds. But as the match went on, Jeondding regained his footing and confidence. It wasn’t enough to win the game, but it certainly was a break from the regularly scheduled Tekken content.
Going back to Eddy, Jeondding looked much more threatening, trading rounds with Jack-7. But it wouldn’t be enough; he would lose out to Saint 2-0, ending his tournament run in fifth.
StreamMe Anakin vs. Taisei: As the last U.S. representative, Anakin was the clear crowd favorite coming into this matchup, but the USA crowds didn’t help much to start. In three quick rounds, Taisei’s Steve dismantled his Jack-7. But game two appeared to be a different story — starting the game with a first-round perfect, he had clearly shaken off the nerves.
Round two went just as well, and round three gave him an opportunity to seal the victory. However, his hubris got the better of him and a few foolish moves kept the door open for Taisei to snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. That was exactly what he did: Taisei took the set 2-0, staying alive and sending Anakin home.
Knee vs. Fox | JDCR: Both Knee and JDCR switched characters in their Winner’s Finals bout, changing to Steve and Dragunov respectively. It wasn’t an unusual change for JDCR who uses Dragunov regularly, but Knee rarely switches away from Feng. It paid off, however, winning him game one. He stayed competitive in game two, but JDCR adapted well, pushing him with superior spacing and punishes to take game two.
Knee vs. EchoFox | Saint: Back in the same fight, Knee tried every trick in the book, picking new characters including Devil Jin to try and deal with Saint’s commanding Jack-7. Everything he tried failed. Despite an excellent run during the final day, Saint clearly had Knee’s number, taking him out of commision in a 3-0 whomping.
Saint vs. JDCR: Grand Finals was an all-Echo Fox brawl, pitting former Evo champions Saint and JDCR against each other. Saint started in loser’s, but it sure didn't look like it: He went to work quickly, taking the first game over JDCR's Heihachi and pressuring him into a Dragunov switch that still didn't prevent Saint from resetting the bracket in three games.
JDCR wasn't about to let Saint run away with the title, however. His Dragunov fully ready, he took two games over Saint in succession, putting him right back in the high-pressure situation he came from in loser's. With a final game three where he relentlessly pressured with Dragunov's overhead punches and slams, he took the set 3-0, claiming his spot as Tekken 7 World Champion, and the best of the Echo Foxes ... for now.
At the end of the event, Harada-san also took the stage to announce a new crossover character: Geese Howard. By the sound of the crowd, he's already counter-thrown his way into the FGC's heart.
Smash for Wii U
TSM Zero vs. P1 Tweek: This first match was well-contested, but the result was rarely ever in doubt. Zero did an excellent job of controlling the pace and his opponent. Tweek managed some good reads with Side-B, but they weren’t enough to save him from a the 2-0 victory Zero would earn in short order.
Larry Lurr vs. MVG Salem: With community bias decidedly not in Bayonetta’s favor, Larry Lurr and his Fox were the clear crowd favorites. It wasn’t clear that would be enough, but after a few minutes of play it became clear he was ready and able to see through Salem’s tricks and setups. Despite consistent combos and competent pressure from Salem, Larry Lurr capitalized on a few key mistakes to take the set 2-0 and put himself in Winner’s Finals across from Zero.
KEN vs. RNG Dabuz: It would be easy to call this match heavily slanted in Dabuz’s favor. As a strong player who regularly competes at the top echelon with a strong public face, going up against a lesser known (but still very impressive Sonic main) KEN seemed like a bit of a David and Goliath match.
Luckily for KEN, it didn’t end up that way. Sonic was able to neutralize Rosalina’s Luma game effectively, and was able to run from any unfavorable positioning. The matches were healthy and competitive, but KEN was able to take both, moving on to the next round.
Void vs. Nairo: The only set of Smash Wii U without a 2-0 finish so far, Void and Nairo went back and forth, trading needles, energy whips and paralyzers throughout. While a bit of a scramble occurred throughout the set, Nairo was able to take it in a strongly contested 2-1 finish.
Tweek vs. Nairo: After splitting games with their Cloud and Zero Suit Samus respectively, Nairo lost a very unfortunate life early in game three on Dream Land. But just as quickly, Nairo came back with an up-air combo to immediately kill Tweek off the top. Tweek came out on top, but both had exceptional movement throughout the set.
Zero vs. Larry Lurr: To everyone’s surprise, Larry Lurr and his Fox ran out to a two-game lead in Winner’s Finals, leaving people wondering if Zero would be the one fighting back from loser’s bracket for a change. But anybody who knows Zero knows he doesn’t back down, and after a moment to collect, went on a tear of his own, completing the reverse 3-0 to win the set and head to Grand Finals.
Larry Lurr vs. Salem: Up against Salem for the second time, Larry Lurr continued to ever-so-slightly outmaneuver his opponent until the second game when Salem gimped him with a string up forward-airs. In game three, Salem took a big percent lead last stock, and despite Larry’s tenacity, he wasn’t able to hold on long enough to make the comeback. The fourth game shared a similar fate as the second — a deep gimp ended Larry’s last chance at Grand Finals.
Zero vs. Salem: With Zero coming in as the heavy favorite, it came as a surprise to many when Salem took game one with a comfortable percent lead. Game two followed a similar pattern, with Zero down early, but he was able to take the match with some patient play and mindful spacing.
Two games later, and the back-and-forth seesaw continued. When Salem could set up tough angles and pressure, Zero would end up on the back foot, while Zero could control the pace of games when neutral was reset properly. It all came down to the final game on Smashville. Down one stock, Zero was hit by a well-timed Witch Time counter that led into a scary situation, but he was able to reset and take Salem’s first stock, leaving him, yet again, down in percent but with a rage advantage. It wouldn’t save him, however; Salem was able to catch him running into the air and reset the bracket. Second set started with a bang and a quick Zero two-stock win. From there, the set slowed down significantly.
Game two would go to Salem, and game three didn’t see a stock lost until over two minutes into the match, with plenty of space kept between Diddy Kong and Bayonetta, though it would ultimately go to Salem. The final game would begin slanted in Zero’s favor, with an early kill and high-damage rage combos putting him at a significant advantage. But it would be Bayonetta’s rage that would win the day, killing early off the top with a rising combo. Congratulations to Salem, the newest Smash for Wii U world champion.
Street Fighter V
Punk vs. Itabashi Zangief: The surprises began immediately in the final Street Fighter 5 bracket of the tournament, with E-League champion Punk making a character shift from Karin (who he mained throughout most of the tournament) to Nash in order to take on Itazan’s fierce Zangief at a distance. Punk was clearly in control throughout the match, able to keep Zangief out while whittling away at his sizeable health. Despite a few close calls due to Zangief’s incredible damage potential, Punk’s Nash would end up taking the match 3-0 and securing his place in Winners Finals while bumping Itazan down to losers.
NuckleDu vs. Kazunoko: NuckleDu’s Guile went on the offensive almost immediately with a barrage of Sonic Boom projectiles against Kazunoko’s Cammy in an attempt to keep the latter off balance. Kazunoko, however, played the close game, staying on top of NuckleDu and limiting his options to counterattack. While NuckleDu was able to adjust his gameplay to maximize damage while minimizing opportunities for his opponent, it wasn’t quite enough to overcome Kazunoko’s wily mix-up game. It would be Kazunoko taking the match and advancing to Winners Finals 3-1.
Moke vs. MOV: The match between Moke and MOV is best described by the phrase "unrelenating pressure." While both players appeared to be incredibly familiar with each other’s style of play, the crafty guessing games Moke’s Rashid forced his opponent to make put him decidedly in control throughout most of the match, eventually knocking MOV’s Chun-Li out of the tournament with a 3-1 victory.
Tokido vs. Filipino Champ: The last time Tokido’s Akuma battled Filipino Champ’s Dhalsim, it was Filipino Champ that won the match, but it would end differently on this year’s arena stage. The first game was all Tokido, using Akuma’s high-damage combos to great effect and clinching victory with a V-Trigger-powered double air fireball. Filipino Champ, however, is the kind of player who learns from his mistakes. When Tokido got hungry tried to end the second game with a similar jump-in attack, he was knocked out by an extended Dhalsim limb which was ready and waiting for him. This incredible match went back-and-forth, eventually coming down to the third round of the third game, where an extremely aggressive Tokido was able to pin down Filipino Champ in the corner and finally send him home 3-2.
Tokido vs. NuckleDu: NuckleDu’s Guile started the match strong, taking the first game by answering a jump-in attack by Tokido’s Akuma into a super. Tokido pushed NuckleDu to the corner and tied things up. Rather than reacting to the loss with a switch to R. Mika, NuckleDu decided to stay the course with Guile. Tokido’s unstoppable offense was able to open up NuckleDu during a couple of pivotal moments in the following games, locking in victory 3 -1.
Moke vs. Itabashi Zangief: A match pitting an agile, lower-damage character versus a high-powered grappler is always interesting, and this one pitting Moke’s Rashid against Itazan’s Zangief was certainly no exception. Though Moke was slippery as expected and tried to keep his opponent off balance, Itazan definitely found ways to cope with Moke’s wild tactics — including grabbing Rashid through his V-Trigger tornado (not once, but twice), and bullying his way into close range to perform multiple high-damage throws in succession. In this battle of speed versus power, it would be power that came out on top. Itazan would move on to face Tokido in Losers Semifinals 3-2.
Punk vs. Kazunoko: Punk’s Karin dominated the first game against Kazunoko’s Cammy, and continued that dominance into the second game. No matter what Kazunoko tried to do, it appeared that Punk had an answer for him. Staying on the offensive and not leaving any room for Kazunoko to take action, Punk bullied his way into a 3-0 victory and claimed his well-earned spot in the tournament’s Grand Finals.
Tokido vs. Itabashi Zangief: Tokido showed little hesitation in the opening round of his Losers Final match against Itazan. Playing to Akuma’s strengths as an aggressive character, he took the first game easily. Itazan’s Zangief was quick to answer back, using his command throws to deal unbelievable amounts of damage to Akuma’s already minimal life bar in short order. Itazan tied up the score 2-2 and forced Tokido to think more carefully before rushing in. After a nail-biting final round, the Murderface lived up to his name once again, emerging victorious 3-2 and moving on to face Kazunoko in Losers Finals.
Kazunoko vs. Tokido: Tokido’s Akuma got the early lead against Kazunoko’s Cammy and managed to hold it throughout the majority of this Losers Finals match. Several missed counter attempts by Kazunoko enabled Tokido to exploit the situation to deliver loads of damage. It would indeed be Tokido that would move on to face Punk in the tournament’s Grand Finals.
Punk vs. Tokido: Punk handed Tokido his only loss throughout Evo 2017, so would this Grand Finals match become a runback for the experienced Echo Fox assassin from Japan? Though Punk claimed an early victory in game one, Tokido managed to rally back with several well-placed combos, whiff punishes, and throw mixups leading into damaging combos building momentum with victories over the following three games, leading into a Grand Finals reset 3-1. Punk’s youth and inexperience began to show, as the nerves appeared to take hold. Punk appeared to begin making small mistakes, walking into normals and missing opportunities, allowing Tokido to capitalize and lock in victory 3-0 with his first ever Evo victory in Street Fighter V!
For more Evo 2017 coverage, follow us at @redbullesports on Twitter and Like us on Facebook.
