Evo 2014

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 BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma. The event was part of the first Capcom Pro Tour.

2014 Evolution Championship Series
Tournament information
LocationLas Vegas, Nevada, United States
DatesJuly 11–13
Tournament
format(s)
Double elimination
Venue(s)Westgate Las Vegas Resort & Casino
Final positions
Champions

Background
Evo 2014 was held at Westgate Las Vegas.

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:[6][7]

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
French player Luffy won the Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament at Evo 2014.

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
Ultra Street Fighter IV[20]
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
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
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
Super Smash Bros. Melee
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 Jason Zimmerman P4K.EMP|Mew2King Marth, Sheik
7th Otto Bisno GC|Silent Wolf Fox
7th Jeremy Westfahl Fly Amanita Ice Climbers
Killer Instinct
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
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma
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
The King of Fighters XIII
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
Injustice: Gods Among Us
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
Tekken Tag Tournament 2
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

References
  1. Hillier, Brenna (2013-09-16). "Evo 2014 announced for July, Xbox 360 as main platform". VG247.
  2. Breslau, Rod (2014-03-11). "Capcom and Twitch team up for year-long Street Fighter league tour". GameSpot.
  3. Sarkar, Samit (2014-03-11). "Twitch and Capcom teaming up for Street Fighter league Capcom Pro Tour". Polygon.
  4. Ledford, Jon (2014-04-26). "Capcom Adds $10,000 to Evolution Prize Pool for Ultra Street Fighter 4". Arcade Sushi.
  5. Newhouse, Alex (2014-07-07). "Despite Past Resistance, Nintendo Now Sponsoring Evo Fighting Game Tournament". GameSpot.
  6. Youorski, Joe (2014-07-09). "Evolution Championship Series to Stream on Twitch". Paste Magazine.
  7. Ingenito, Vince (2014-07-02). "Evo 2014: Evo on IGN: Don't Miss a Moment of Hype". IGN.
  8. Mejia, Ozzie (2014-07-07). "Five memorable moments from Evo 2013 (and what questions they raise for 2014)". Shack News.
  9. Takahashi, Dean (2014-07-13). "Bandai Namco unveils Tekken 7 fighting game with visuals using Unreal Engine 4". VentureBeat.
  10. Omega, Jan (2014-07-13). "Raiden is Revealed for 'Mortal Kombat X' at Evo 2014". Inquisitr.
  11. Ingenito, Vince (2014-07-11). "Evo 2014: Maya Revealed for Killer Instinct Season 2". IGN.
  12. Good, Owen S. (2014-07-12). "Killer Instinct's next confirmed character isn't Cinder, it's Maya". Polygon.
  13. Tassi, Paul (2014-07-14). "Nintendo Has A Rather Fantastic Super Smash Bros. Marketing Strategy". Forbes.
  14. Nacisse, Evan (2014-07-14). "The 2014 EVO Champ Just Won Using a PS1 Controller". Kotaku.
  15. George, Daniel (2014-07-13). "Evo 2014: Garireo Is Your BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma Grand Finals Winner". FanSided.
  16. Cavalli, Earnest (2014-07-15). "Two perspectives on Garireo's amazing Evo 2014 comeback". Engadget.
  17. Fahey, Mike (2014-07-13). "The Most Intense Battle Of EVO 2014 So Far". Kotaku.
  18. Plunkett, Luke (2014-07-13). "Epic Comeback Leads To EVO Glory In Marvel vs Capcom". Kotaku.
  19. George, Daniel (2014-07-13). "Evo 2014: Mango Is Your Smash Bros Melee Grand Finals Winner". FanSided.
  20. "EVO 2014 UFIV Top 32 Bracket". ssfranking.com.
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