Once a year the greatest fighting game players come to Las Vegas, Nevada to participate in
the largest and most prestigious tournament on the planet.
The 2017 Evolution tournament was huge, with over 10,000 competitors from around the globe
chasing trophies and prize money to become the world’s best.
Let’s take a look at some of the craziest moments from the combo champions’ top 8
finals.
Let’s start with Super Smash Bros Melee.
After a controversial coaching session in pools, last year’s EVO champion Hungrybox
went up against Mang0, both from the USA.
Mang0’s Fox seemed to keep Hungrybox’ Jigglypuff on his toes and takes the first
win.
Hungrybox then keeps Fox from returning to the stage in the second match and wins, going
1-1.
Match 3 stays tight, with Fox taking the first stock while at 145%!
Jigglypuff then answers by taking the next two stocks in a row.
Mang0 fights back and takes the next two, sending the previous EVO champ to losers where
later he beats him again, locking him in third place.
Starting off the tournament for King of Fighters 14 we have E.T. from Taiwan facing Xiaohai
from China.
E.T. won every match in the finals up to this point, and Xiaohai had won 3 matches in a
row to fight his way up through the loser’s bracket.
Knowing that the next match could lead to a bracket reset, E.T. decided to try bringing
in Clark, but quickly found out that was a big mistake.
Xiaohai’s Robert however quickly loses to ET’s Benimaru.
During the next round Xiaohai’s Benimaru defeats E.T’s, bringing out Daimon.
E.T’s Daimon quickly finishes off what’s left of Benimaru and that’s when things
get a little crazy.
During the match point it’s Daimon vs Xiaohai’s notorious Iori.
Xiaohai deals huge damage early on to Daimon, leaving only a quarter bar of health left
for E.T..
Suddenly E.T activated his parry climax super special from a jump-in, slicing Iori’s health
in half!
E.T.’s Daimon then dealt the final combo of the match after catching Xiaohai’s Iori
with a low kick.
The new King of Fighter’s champion was crowned and the crowd cheered on.
Moving over to Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 we have OMITO vs T5M7, both from Japan.
T5M7 was sent to the loser’s bracket by OMITO early on and had to claw his way back
into the grand finals.
Sticking with Leo Whitefang, T5M7 won the first round leading some to think he could
get revenge.
OMITO stayed with Johnny however and took the next two rounds.
After beating him again in the second match it looked like T5M7 was doomed to have history
repeat itself.
Pouring on the heat, T5M7 reversed the pressure in the third match and wins it, keeping the
dream alive.
OMITO decides that he’s had enough of that and takes advantage of a miscalculated burst
to take the final round, showing exactly why he deserves the title of champion.
Shifting over to Injustice 2 we see SonicFox (who was EVO champion several years in a row
for previous NRS titles) sent to loser’s quarter finals.
In order to get back on top he faces Semiij, both from the United States.
Semiij faces SonicFox’ Red Hood with a surprising Catwoman.
After losing the first match, SonicFox tries to get some momentum but Semiij takes his
first lifebar, without so much as a scratch in the second match!
Semiij wins and puts the previous EVO champ on the ropes for the third fight.
SonicFox deals great damage during the fight but gets caught twice not blocking low, shocking
everyone by losing the match to a couple of cat ears and a bullwhip.
For those wondering: ‘When’s Mahvel?’ we go to the grand finals between last year’s
champion ChrisG vs RyanLV, both from the USA.
RyanLV put ChrisG into the loser’s bracket earlier on and we are going to look at the
third match.
During the fight, ChrisG is able to take out both Chun-Li and Morrigan without much effort
but RyanLV is able to get 5 bars for Dark Phoenix.
He goes crazy, wiping out Morrigan and Doom in just a few quick hits, leaving Virgil.
ChrisG is able to capitalize on a missed Phoenix Rage and takes the win.
The fight goes on to a 5th match where RyanLV takes the win with Phoenix, becoming the new
champion!
Jumping to BlazBlue: Central Fiction we have Fenritti a.k.a. Fenrich vs Ryusei, both from
Japan.
Earlier on Ryusei kicked Fenrich to the loser’s bracket and he had to fight his way back to
the Grand Finals.
During the first 4 grueling matches, Fenrich’s Jin holds his own against Ryusei’s Carl
Clover.
The 4th match ends in a timeout where both contestants teabag, granting Fenrich a 3rd
win to cause a reset of the bracket.
Immediately Ryusei end the first round in a perfect, then goes on to win the match.
During the second match he once again ends it in a perfect.
Having enough of that, Fenrich turns the tables by ending the third match with his own perfect!
Winning the 4th match in a timeout, Fenrich joined Ryusei in the final match.
Ryusei proves to be too much with Carl and Ada, taking the win and going home with the
trophy.
The Tekken 7 World Tour had several great moments and our favorite happened between
Knee and JDCR, both from South Korea.
Knee’s Steve went back and forth in the winner’s bracket with JDCR’s Dragunov.
During the third match JDCR was ahead by one round, and they brought each other down to
the wire with only 11 seconds left.
The game slowed down and they hit each other, causing the only Double K.O. in the top 8.
The crowd went wild as JDCR took the win and later went on to win the Grand Finals.
Smash Bros on the WiiU’s craziest moments were the grand finals themselves.
ZeRo from Chile had won every match in the top 8 but now had to face Salem from the USA.
Earlier Salem was placed into losers and fought his way back using Bayonetta.
ZeRo’s Diddy Kong put in some work during the first match but they were both over 100%
when they flew under t he stage from one end to the other to recover!
Salem was amazingly able to take it to the 5th match and get a win, resetting the bracket
by placing ZeRo into losers!
The entire grand finals took a grueling 40 minutes, with Salem taking it to another 5th
and final match.
While sitting on 101% he showed air dominance by comboing Diddy into the stratosphere, locking
a well-deserved win for the new champ.
We’ve got a quick triple feature for Street Fighter V.
Starting off we have Tokido from Japan fighting FilipinoChamp from the USA.
During their 4th match FChamp’s Dhalsim tries to V-Reversal Akuma away, during which
Tokido activates then parries the V-Reversal into a vicious 9 hit combo, leading to a stun
and win!
Moke vs MOV, both from Japan, had one of those bravery moments we all dream about.
During the third match Moke’s Rashid throws MOV’s Chun-Li 3 times in a row, surprising
the crowd and taking the round.
Our final moments showcase NuckleDu from the USA playing against Tokido of Japan.
During the third match NuckleDu’s Guile activates when in trouble and we again see
a surprising 3 throws in a row!
Watch this crazy once-in-a-lifetime comeback, causing the crowd to freak out!
There were some pretty exciting moments from
this year’s EVO, but I want to know what your favorites were.
Let us know in the comments section below, and check out previous years’ insanity linked
here as well.
This is Jason from Curse signing off, and remember to enjoy the game.