Evo 2013 is over, and as anybody who attended the event or watched it online already knows, it was one of the best years in the event’s history.
Besides being the biggest Evo tournament in terms of physical attendance, this year’s set of tournaments set records for online viewers as well: over 140,000 people streamed the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 finals, and another 130,000 people tuned in to see the Super Smash Bros. Melee finals, making both games two of the most watched competitive gaming events in history.
SSMB’s popularity at the event was surprising, given that the game was only included in the Evo line-up following its victory in charity fund raising contest, and was almost subsequently cancelled due to a dumb decision from Nintendo’s legal department. Following Mango’s victory of Wobbles in the tournament’s final match, the crowd at the event began chanting “One more year,” implying that they wanted Smash Bros. to become part of the regular Evo line-up. Given the record setting number of viewers on its stream, I wouldn’t be surprised to see Smash become a fighting tourney staple (provided that Nintendo doesn’t make anymore boneheaded attempts at removing the game from internet broadcasts or public events.)
Singapore’s MCZ|Xian earned a well deserved victory over MCZ Tokido during the Super Street Fighter IV championship bout. Tokido put up a good fight, but Xian’s godly Gen was simply unstoppable (Maybe it’s time to rethink those tier lists?). Last year’s winner, Seon-Woo “Infiltration” Lee, was knocked out during an earlier round of the SSF4 tournament, though he still managed to take home the gold in the Street Fighter X Tekken tournament.
There were some really great matches for almost every game at Evo 2013 (including some really bad-ass KoF13 fights that made me want to learn how to play that game better,) so if you missed the livestream, you should definitely go look up some highlight videos online. More detailed info about the event’s winners can be found on Shoryuken.com.
