A fighter’s paradise
I absolutely adore the Evolution Championship Series and I cannot wait for Evo 2017 to get started.
I live in Australia, so I’ve never had the chance to attend Evo in person. Thankfully, advances in streaming technology over the years have allowed me to do the next best thing and watch along in real time with thousands of other viewers. It has also given the fighting game community as a whole a huge amount of exposure, which is extremely important when it comes to securing sponsorships and prize money for future tournaments.
If you like fighting games or competitive gaming, don’t miss out on the Evo 2017 stream. Here is a little hype video I whipped up to celebrate the occasion:
When is Evo 2017?
The tournament will run July 14-16. (For fellow Aussies, that will make it July 15-17 when you factor in the time zone difference.)
How do I watch it?
Evo 2017 will be streamed on Twitch.tv. There will be multiple channels running simultaneously to cover as much of the tournament as possible. It will likely be all over the front page for the duration of the tournament, but for schedules and links to specific streams visit the Evolution website.
What is the Evolution Championship Series?
It is the largest fighting game tournament series in the world. Multiple tournaments throughout the year around America (and the world) culminate in the yearly Evo tournament in Las Vegas.
What are the games this year?
The main games on stage for Evo 2017 are:
- Street Fighter V
- Tekken 7
- Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2
- Injustice 2
- Super Smash Bros Melee
- Super Smash Bros for WiiU
- BlazBlue Central Fiction
- The King Of Fighters XIV
- Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
What about [Insert Game Here]?
Other popular games will have side-tournaments away from the main stage during the weekend. If you are a fan of classic fighting games such as Super Street Fighter 2 Turbo, Marvel vs Capcom 2 or TMNT: Tournament Fighters, you may need to look for some unofficial streams to get your fix. The best place to start will undoubtably be the Shoryuken forums.
Hopes and predictions
I don’t watch every match religiously (though I try to watch the top 8 for every game at the very least). With that said, here are some of the things that I hope happen:
- An Alex player makes the Top 8 for Street Fighter V. I asked for this last year and I’m asking again this year!
- Someone takes Team Mexico deep into the King Of Fighters XIV tournament. You’ve got to think that a team full of flashy wrestling characters would be a huge crowdpleaser.
- The Top 8 for Injustice 2 has a varied character roster. The game is still fairly young competitively and I hope that it gets a good showing at Evo. An exciting group of characters in the final matches would go a long way to establishing it as a fan favourite.
- The playable pre-release version of the Dragonball FighterZ is as amazing as its E3 trailer was.
- James Chen cries at the end of the tournament. It’s a tradition now!
