Evolution Championship Series (Evo) 2023 kicked off with a bang. This year’s series will run from 4 August 2023 to 6 August 2023. For those that may be wondering what Evo is all about, it is the largest fighting game tournament in the globe.
Every year, competitors, thousands of fans, publishers, and vendors converge in Las Vegas to enjoy the thrill and bone-crushing sensation of fighting games. The biggest fighting game players across the globe compete for three days in a fighting game to become the grand winner, to the thrill of enthusiastic spectators.
Evo 2023 was a deserved farewell to MK11 which made its appearance on the show for the third straight year. On 14 September 2023, we will usher in a new era of Mortal Kombat with MK1. Just like the fantastic story of the franchise, Evo 2023 also witnessed the birth of a new champion.
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It was a new era in the tournament as Ninjakilla_212 walked his way up to lifting the coveted trophy for the first time. The United States fighting game prodigy got the home crowds going by beating the best of the best—including the dreaded twins, Nicolas and Scorpionprocs. However, Evo 2023 produced fairytale moments in many other ways.
Evo 2023 is the biggest event yet
Evo 2023 broke the record in the number of competitors. Prior to the commencement of the event, the organizers announced that this year will host more than 9,000 competitors drawn from 71 countries. Evo 2023 also set a new record in the number of attendees, making it the biggest yet in the history of the tournament.
To spice things up, PlayStation promised to bring back its booth which will host a variety of fan experiences and events like sign-up community tournaments where participants can win a long list of prices including PlayStation Plus vouchers, PlayStation VR2 headsets, Pulse 3D wireless headsets, DualSense Edge wireless controllers, and PS5 consoles.
Another interesting prize that is up for grabs at the PlayStation booth is the new Street Fighter 6-themed Razer Kitsune hitbox. Don’t be sad if you are unable to make it to the venue in person. PlayStation has promised that viewers joining from their homes also have the opportunity to get a special Street Fighter 6 Chun-Li collectible.
All you have to do is keep your eyes peeled for the codes that will be shared on the Evo stream chat on Twitch. There will also be lots of digital collectible codes scattered all over the floor and livestreams.
Attendees will get a sneak peek of upcoming fighting games
This year is shaping up to be one of the best years for fighting games. Virtually all the best fighting games have a new release this year. Attendees at Evo 2023 will get the rare opportunity of playing the early preview of these games including Tekken 8, Mortal Kombat 1, and try the demo of “Project L” an upcoming title by Riot Games.
PlayStation will also be hosting a cosplay contest that will have participants dress up as a character in their favorite fighting game. Evo 2023 will offer attendees the opportunity to capture moments in the new digital photo stations which will feature some of the famous anime on Crunchyroll.
Crunchyroll will host live performances on Friday and Saturday. Some of the DJs that will headline the performance include K?D, Hyper Potions, VGR, James Landino, Shihori, and many more. Since music is an important part of fighting games, Evo 2023 will celebrate music in a special way with the release of an original music compilation by fans of fighting games.
The project will be aired at Evo 2023 for the first time. However, those that missed the live premiere can stream it on Apple Music or Spotify at a later date.
Arcade Stick Museum returned with a bang
Fans of Evo will definitely be thrilled by the return of the Arcade Stick Museum this year. Unlike every other year, the museum has gotten a facelift and includes the first generation of stick boxes and various other stick boxes from different manufacturers.
In addition to the popular gold stick boxes, they were also silver and bronze stick boxes. They were presented to the winner, runner-up, and third-place winners of all the fighting tournaments—much like the Olympic trophies of video games.
The Arcade Stick Museum was showcased during the Evo Connections. Vicious got the opportunity to interview Mark Julio, programming director at Evo who owns the largest collection of arcade sticks in the world. Asked if he was number one in the stick collection, Julio gave a cunning response.
“I don’t know about number one on the leaderboard,” Julio said, “I definitely have the largest collection in the world. I brought a lot of the collection out here to Evo 2023.”
The most prestigious stick is the Evo gold stick which was first released in 2010. Interestingly, it is not like any other stick that you can purchase from the market. You can only own one by beating all the other competitors in the tournament. This fact was reiterated by Julio.
“Gold fight stick was first introduced in 2010,” Julio said. “This is not something you can buy. This is something that you can only get from beating everyone else. We are bringing that back this year, but we are doing it with a little bit more flare. Not only does the winner get a gold stick but second place will get a silver stick and third place will get a bronze stick, making it more like the gold, silver, and bronze medals, kind of like in the Olympics.
Also making a return at Evo 2023 is the Free Play Arcade which will take players down memory lane. The 10,000-square-foot arena will give players the opportunity to delve into some of the most iconic titles on traditional arcade cabinets.
Evo 2023 winner of the MK11 tournament
The high point of Evo 2023 on 4 August 2023, was the MK11 tournament. It was a tense and emotional moment with major upsets. You could feel the tension in the crowd and on the faces of the players. Six players made it to the top 6—by the way, all of them got a medal. The six finalists were
- Ninjakilla_212
- Nicolas
- Scorpionprocs
- A Foxy Grampa
- Xombat
- TheMightyUnjust
After a fierce tournament, it came down to Ninjakilla_212 and Nicolas fighting for the grand final. Nicolas and his twin brother Scorpionprocs were the tournament’s favorite and have dominated the tournament for three years. NinjaKilla_212 has come close before but never won the title.
The twins were so good that they would choose any player used by their opponent and still beat them. However, Ninjakilla_212 proved to be a tough nut to crack. His defensive play style was just too good for his opponents to find a way to crack. He played so well with Fujin that it felt as if he was one with the character.
NinjaKilla_212 developed and perfected a defensive play in the tournament where he just sits on one end of the screen and blocks while throwing forced punches. This frustrates the opponent who comes rushing in, giving him the opportunity to counter.
Ninjakilla_212 and Nicolas’ grand final match was deserving of a grand finale. Both used Fujin but Ninjakilla_212 was obviously better at using the character. It was a tense match that dragged to the fifth set to get the winner.
Nicolas was almost winning the last round of the fifth set. He needed just one blow to win the trophy. However, NinjaKilla_212 somehow conjured a fatal blow that sealed the tournament. The crowd erupted in jubilation—obviously tired of the twin’s dominance in the tournament. You can watch the entire show below.
Evo 2023 will continue up until 6 August 2023. If you made it live to the event, feel free to share your experiences with us in the comment box below.
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