Evo 2014 Explained

2014 Evolution Championship Series
Location:	Las Vegas, Nevada, United States
Start Date:	July 11
End Date:	13
Tournament Format:	Double elimination
Venues:	Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino
Previous:	2013
Next:	2015

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 . The event was part of the first Capcom Pro Tour.

Background

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

Eight major tournaments were held at Evo 2014. The games played were:

• Ultra Street Fighter IV
• Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
• Super Smash Bros. Melee
• Killer Instinct
• 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

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

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

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 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

Notes and References

1. Web site: Evo 2014 announced for July, Xbox 360 as main platform. VG247. Hillier. Brenna. 2013-09-16.
2. Web site: Capcom and Twitch team up for year-long Street Fighter league tour. GameSpot. Breslau. Rod. 2014-03-11.
3. Web site: Twitch and Capcom teaming up for Street Fighter league Capcom Pro Tour. Polygon. Sarkar. Samit. 2014-03-11.
4. Web site: Capcom Adds $10,000 to Evolution Prize Pool for Ultra Street Fighter 4. Arcade Sushi. Ledford. Jon. 2014-04-26.
5. Web site: Despite Past Resistance, Nintendo Now Sponsoring Evo Fighting Game Tournament. GameSpot. Newhouse. Alex. 2014-07-07.
6. Web site: Evolution Championship Series to Stream on Twitch. Paste Magazine. Youorski. Joe. 2014-07-09.
7. Web site: Evo 2014: Evo on IGN: Don't Miss a Moment of Hype. IGN. Ingenito. Vince. 2014-07-02.
8. Web site: Five memorable moments from Evo 2013 (and what questions they raise for 2014). Shack News. Mejia. Ozzie. 2014-07-07.
9. Web site: Bandai Namco unveils Tekken 7 fighting game with visuals using Unreal Engine 4. VentureBeat. Takahashi. Dean. 2014-07-13.
10. Web site: Raiden is Revealed for 'Mortal Kombat X' at Evo 2014. Inquisitr. Omega. Jan. 2014-07-13.
11. Web site: Evo 2014: Maya Revealed for Killer Instinct Season 2. IGN. Ingenito. Vince. 2014-07-11.
12. Web site: Killer Instinct's next confirmed character isn't Cinder, it's Maya. Polygon. Good. Owen S.. 2014-07-12.
13. Web site: Nintendo Has A Rather Fantastic Super Smash Bros. Marketing Strategy. Forbes. Tassi. Paul. 2014-07-14.
14. Web site: The 2014 EVO Champ Just Won Using a PS1 Controller. Kotaku. Nacisse. Evan. 2014-07-14.
15. Web site: Evo 2014: Garireo Is Your BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Grand Finals Winner. FanSided. George. Daniel. 2014-07-13.
16. Web site: Two perspectives on Garireo's amazing Evo 2014 comeback. Engadget. Cavalli. Earnest. 2014-07-15.
17. Web site: The Most Intense Battle Of EVO 2014 So Far. Kotaku. Fahey. Mike. 2014-07-13.
18. Web site: Epic Comeback Leads To EVO Glory In Marvel vs Capcom. Kotaku. Plunkett. Luke. 2014-07-13.
19. Web site: Evo 2014: Mango Is Your Smash Bros Melee Grand Finals Winner. FanSided. George. Daniel. 2014-07-13.