Poll: EVO 2014

[StriderShinryu]

SonicFox takes Injustice in an absolutely dominant display to run it back from losers.

And, to absolutely no one's surprise, Ed Boon announces that Raiden is returning for Mortal Kombat X. On the upside, his Displacer and Storm Lord variants look pretty cool.

 

[Tohuvabohu]

Alot of surprises this Injustice tournament. DJT and 16-bit knocked out early.

Pig completely fell apart during that final. He made an awful lot of mistakes and took 5 matches to get used to SonicFox. But, SonicFox was a dominant performance. Very impressive Batgirl play, completely mopped the floor with that Zod.

Also, new MKX character reveal. And to almost no one's surprise whatsoever, it turned out to be Raiden. But seeing him in action was very cool. He looks... very angry this time around. Dat fatality though lol.

Overall I'm quite satisfied with the Injustice tournament. I'm looking forward to KOF next.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Oh My God, that Tokido comeback in KOF13. That was pure amazing. Let's see if he can keep it up in the finals. Match of the weekend so far easy.

 

[Maximum Bert]

Most excited for USF4 other than that there is KOFXIII I really wanted to see Persona 4 on the main stage again last years top 8 in it was by far the highlight of the tourny for me. I will watch Blazblue but I prefer watching Persona I just hope Blazblue shows a variety of characters.

Rooting for Sako to win now that Haitani is out as they are my two favorite players to watch. Not interested in anything else much as I either am not to keen on the game or just dont like watching it at all / anymore.

There are just as many if not more non main stage games I want to see such as Persona, Skullgirls, SC2HD and if its there (and its captured) Darkstalkers 3. Would also like to see DOA5 and SC5 matches but I dont think these games are present at the show.

Next year there should be some amazing games with Persona 4 arena 2 and Guilty Gear Xrd coming out among others.

 

[StriderShinryu]

N-O (Rachel) VS BananaKen (Kokonoe) in BlazBlue was totally epic. If you love BB you need to watch that match.

And the Grand Finals of KOF13 were so damn close. That was a real struggle.

 

[Dreiko_v1legacy]

Blazblue all the way. Not ONE Kokonoe in top 8 but there's a Bang a Tager and even a Nu.

 

[Sleepy Sol]

Boy, I remember when I was excited to watch KoF.

This year was so disappointing commentary and hype-wise. Tokido was pretty amazing to watch but it seemed like it really didn't get the attention or hype it deserved. Granted, I'm highly biased since it's probably my favorite fighting game ever. I'm also salty that it didn't get any pool coverage on official streams AND it didn't have a Sunday finals spot while frigging Killer Instinct did.

Anyways, tomorrow I'll be focusing on BBCP finals, and...USF4. That'll probably be about it for me this year. USF4 has been pretty awesome in terms of all the upsets and early eliminations of expected top 8 players, at least. But it's been a rather unfulfilling Evo compared to previous years I've watched.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Blazblue all the way. Not ONE Kokonoe in top 8 but there's a Bang a Tager and even a Nu.

No kidding, I'm totally jazzed to see what's going to happen in the Top 8. Maybe it's an emerging bias showing, but it really felt to me that every match in BBCP to this point has been pretty much finals worthy. Such smart amazing play. I'm actually a little worried for next year that BB will get pushed aside by some of the other games coming out (GG Xrd particularly) when after this showing it should get nothing but an even better placing on the main stage.

Down with Kokonoe!

 

[StriderShinryu]

Boy, I remember when I was excited to watch KoF.

This year was so disappointing commentary and hype-wise. Tokido was pretty amazing to watch but it seemed like it really didn't get the attention or hype it deserved. Granted, I'm highly biased since it's probably my favorite fighting game ever. I'm also salty that it didn't get any pool coverage on official streams AND it didn't have a Sunday finals spot while frigging Killer Instinct did.

Anyways, tomorrow I'll be focusing on BBCP finals, and...USF4. That'll probably be about it for me this year. USF4 has been pretty awesome in terms of all the upsets and early eliminations of expected top 8 players, at least. But it's been a rather unfulfilling Evo compared to previous years I've watched.

As far as KOF is concerned, I generally agree. Tokido's run back only to lose in the Grand Finals was some amazing stuff, but the tournament as a whole (at least what we saw of it) did just feel lacking. One of my issues with high level KOF13 is boiling down to character selection. I wouldn't say that I follow it closely outside of the big tourneys but it just feels like the cast is coming up fairly unbalanced. As good as the play may be, I'm getting bored of seeing Mr. Karate/Iori/Kim on pretty much every team. The only other characters that seem to break through are those that just seem to feel gimmicky like Clark or Chin. I believe the commentators mentioned it at one point, but it feels like the KOF community is shrinking quickly overall while the skill level of those still within that community is continually increasing and that makes it very hard for new blood to get involved and potentially shake things up.

 

[Naeras]

USF4 has got to be the big game this year. A new version of the game with almost 2000 competitors signing up was a recipe for success to begin with, and holy crap it's turned out great. Out of the ~15 people I considered likely candidates for top 8, only three of them (sako, Fuudo and Momochi) actually made it there, most of the other guys I had been considering not even making top 16. That's huge. There's also a European in the USF4 top 8 for the first time, which should be interesting. Really goes to show how much people have leveled up in this game, and how stacked the competition is there, and it's gonna be exciting to see who will win this year.

KOF13 was decent, but without Hellpockets on commentary it's just not the same. Probably the least interesting KOF13-show at EVO as of yet.

 

[scotth266]

KOF commentators sounded like they were asleep compared to the Blazblue commentators. There just was no energy whatsoever.

Gonna watch the Marvel stuff later.

 

[StriderShinryu]

USF4 has got to be the big game this year. A new version of the game with almost 2000 competitors signing up was a recipe for success to begin with, and holy crap it's turned out great. Out of the ~15 people I considered likely candidates for top 8, only three of them (sako, Fuudo and Momochi) actually made it there, most of the other guys I had been considering not even making top 16. That's huge. There's also a European in the USF4 top 8 for the first time, which should be interesting. Really goes to show how much people have leveled up in this game, and how stacked the competition is there, and it's gonna be exciting to see who will win this year.

KOF13 was decent, but without Hellpockets on commentary it's just not the same. Probably the least interesting KOF13-show at EVO as of yet.

Yeah, and the European in the USF4 Top 8 not being Ryan Hart or Alioune? And being a Rose user? Sheesh. I mean, I like it but it's definitely not what I was expecting.

And you're totally right about HellPockets, especially when that one player was using Clark. That just made me sad.

 

[Naeras]

Yeah, and the European in the USF4 Top 8 not being Ryan Hart or Alioune? And being a Rose user? Sheesh. I mean, I like it but it's definitely not what I was expecting.

To be fair, Louffy has been a very strong contender all along. He managed top 32 last year if I'm not mistaken, and Rose has gotten drastically stronger since AE2012. I'm in no way surprised at seeing a Rose player in top 8. I'm more surprised at the lack of Cammy and Yun, and the fact that there's a Sagat...

..well, okay. Bonchan's not a Sagat. Bonchan's the Sagat. I just didn't think the character would reach top 8 in the state the character was in, especially considering how stacked the tournament has been. And reaching top 8 winners? That's either playing on a level nobody else is on, or being lucky with what characters you have been matched against. Probably both.

But, yeah. If there was any European I expected in the top 8, it was Alioune. He's got a very strong character in Cammy, and he's been a strong contender every year, although never quite reaching top 8. I feel Ryan Hart would be held back by his character, but as we've seen, that particular character choice won't matter this tournament.

 

[TheEvilCheese]

Gotta be Smash, the recent MLG tournament was so much fun to watch, I'm kinda hyped for melee again for the first time in years.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Yeah, and the European in the USF4 Top 8 not being Ryan Hart or Alioune? And being a Rose user? Sheesh. I mean, I like it but it's definitely not what I was expecting.

To be fair, Louffy has been a very strong contender all along. He managed top 32 last year if I'm not mistaken, and Rose has gotten drastically stronger since AE2012. I'm in no way surprised at seeing a Rose player in top 8. I'm more surprised at the lack of Cammy and Yun, and the fact that there's a Sagat...

..well, okay. Bonchan's not a Sagat. Bonchan's the Sagat. I just didn't think the character would reach top 8 in the state the character was in, especially considering how stacked the tournament has been. And reaching top 8 winners? That's either playing on a level nobody else is on, or being lucky with what characters you have been matched against. Probably both.

But, yeah. If there was any European I expected in the top 8, it was Alioune. He's got a very strong character in Cammy, and he's been a strong contender every year, although never quite reaching top 8. I feel Ryan Hart would be held back by his character, but as we've seen, that particular character choice won't matter this tournament.

Was Alioune using Cammy though? I have no idea myself but I know a lot of Cammy players switched to Decapre. Seems like a lot of players who should be playing someone other than Decapre in these high stakes matches are losing at least part of the set because of her just not being that good (yet?) and that's starting them off on the wrong foot.

 

[StriderShinryu]

Finals Day should be starting shortly with BlazBlue CP up first.

Today's Top 8s in order of what time they'll be played (Courtesy of shoryuken.com):
BBCP
Top 8 Winners
N-O vs. Garireo
Yoshiki vs. Dogura
Top 8 Losers
Tiku vs. Tochigin
SG vs. BE.TSB|Dora Bang

KI
Top 8 Winners
EG|JWong vs. KN.RM|CDjr
TSwagg vs. RG|Rico Suave
Top 8 Losers
Guttermagic vs. Pretty E
IC.EWTH|Mygod 88 vs. MrGrimmmz

Smash
Top 8 Winners
C9|Mang0 vs. P4K.EMP|Mew2King
P4K.EMP|Armada vs. Crs.Hungrybox
Top 8 Losers
Fly Amanita vs. EG|PPMD
MOR|Axe vs. GC|Silent Wolf

Marvel
Top 8 Winners
Jan vs. RG|Filipino Champ
EG|JWong vs. RG|Flocker
Top 8 Losers
GG|NYChrisG vs. MRN|Marn
CTRL|RayRay vs. HOC.BIFU|Insaynne

USF4
Top 8 Winners
RG|Snake Eyez vs. RZR|Fuudo
RZR|Gackt vs. Bonchan
Top 8 Losers
MD|Luffy vs. EG|Momochi
EG|Ricky Ortiz vs. HORI|sako

 

[StriderShinryu]

.... dat BlazBlue

.... wut?

Seriously, if you missed the grand finals stop what you're doing right now and go watch the archive.

 

[-Seraph-]

HOLY SHIT!!!!

That is the only thing that ran through my mind during that final. Those fights were the stuff of fucking legends right there between Dogura and Gararao, so hard to top such amazing play like that. Just watching the shit gave me an anxiety attack.

 

[StriderShinryu]

HOLY SHIT!!!!

That is the only thing that ran through my mind during that final. Those fights were the stuff of fucking legends right there between Dogura and Gararao, so hard to top such amazing play like that. Just watching the shit gave me an anxiety attack.

Yeah, that was like Evo Moment 38.. and 39.. and 40.. and 41.. and...

 

[scotth266]

Blazblue finals were legendary - a nail-biting series of games. Just went to watch the Tekken finals but once again, bad commentators ruin everything, the one guy just had a really obnoxious voice.