Evo Championship Series
CONCEPT
EVO is the largest fighting game event in the world. Beginning in 1996 as the Battle by the Bay, EVO has since grown into an event that features thousands of players from all over the world convening in Las Vegas every summer.


Overview

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2024 Mortal Kombat 1 Grand Finals

The Evolution Championship Series was founded by Tom Cannon, Tony Cannon, Joey Cuellar, and Seth Killian (Person). The event started in 1996 under the name of Battle by the Bay, then became known as the EVO Championship Series in 2002. It has since become famous for examples of the highest-level of play in fighting games new and old by players from all over the world.

All Evo tournaments are completely open, which means anyone can register to play regardless of skill level or previous accomplishments. Each game's tournament starts with the field broken up into small groups of players called pools, which helps narrow the field quickly before progressing to brackets. A player can only be eliminated by losing at a tournament twice, once in the winner's bracket and once again in the loser's bracket. The winner of the first match remains in that bracket, known as the winner's bracket, while the losers are transferred over to another bracket, the loser's bracket.


Records

Category Player Record
Most Championships JWong 9
Most Championships in Different Games SonicFox 6
Most Top 8s JWong 33
Most Top 8s in Different Games Tokido 12
Most Players Street Fighter 6 (Game) (2024) 5279
Biggest 1st Place Prize Money Mortal Kombat X (Game) (2015) $36,972


B3: Battle by the Bay

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Alex 'CaliPower' Valle at B3

Held at Golfland USA in Sunnyvale, California on July 19-20, 1996.

Forty players from the area convened to determine who was the best of the best in both Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Super Street Fighter II Turbo.


Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Game) 40 GWolfe xrolento Watts
Street Fighter Alpha 2 (Game) 40 CaliPower ChoiBoy xrolento


B4 Championships

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John 'ChoiBoy' Choi wins SFA3

After four years, the tournament returned on July 15-16, 2000 at the GameRoom arcade in Folsom, California. The event expanded to five games and the top 5 in Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Game) went on a trip to Japan to compete in a 5-on-5 exhibition with Japan's best players.


Game 1st 2nd 3rd
Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Game) Watts CaliPower ChoiBoy
Street Fighter Alpha 2 (Game) CaliPower ChoiBoy Thao Duong
Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Game) ChoiBoy CaliPower Thao Duong
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike CaliPower hsien ChoiBoy
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes Ducvader CaliPower Image


B5 Championships

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Marvel vs Capcom 2 Grand Finals

The third championships returned to Folsom, California on August 3-5, 2001 and featured more international players than ever before. It was also the first appearance of Justin Wong (Person), who would go on to be the most prolific player in Evo history. He was 15 years old at the time.


Game 1st 2nd 3rd
Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Game) AfroCole ChoiBoy CaliPower
Street Fighter Alpha 3 (Game) BAS Chikyuu ChoiBoy
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes JWong Ducvader Viscant
Capcom vs. SNK: Millennium Fight 2000 Chikyuu xrolento JFL


Evo 2002

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Tokido wins CvS2

With the quick growth of the event, the organizers renamed it to the Evolution Championship Series in 2002. It would be come known as "Evo" to almost everyone immediately. The first Evo took place July 6-8, 2002 at the University of California Los Angeles.


Game 1st 2nd 3rd
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium Tokido Nuki Ken
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes JWong Rowtron Combofiend
Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Game) AfroCole Nuki Shirts


Evo 2003

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The fifth event took place August 8-10, 2003 at Cal State Polytechnic University in Pomona, California. The size of the tournament tripled by including nine official games.


Game 1st 2nd 3rd
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium Ino Daigo Mago
Guilty Gear XX Daigo Miu ID
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes JWong Ricky Ortiz Rowtron
Soulcalibur II (Game) The Nightmare Semi fLoE
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike KO Daigo KSK
Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Game) Daigo Nuki ChoiBoy
Tekken 4 (Game) JinKid Jackie Tran TreyPhoenix
Tekken Tag Tournament (Game) Kim Bong Min Ryan Hart Kenbou
Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution Chibita Ohsu-Akira Ryan Hart


Evo 2004

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Evo Moment #37 - Daigo vs JWong

The sixth event took place July 29-August 1, 2004 and returned to Cal State Polytechnic University in Pomona, California with the same nine games as 2003. The big change this year was the use of consoles rather than arcade cabinets (except for Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike). Ironically, the one game still on an arcade cabinet created the most talked about moment in fighting game tournament history when Daigo Umehara parried Justin Wong (Person)'s super move. It became known as "Evo Moment #37".


Game 1st 2nd 3rd
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium Kindevu Ricky Ortiz John Choi
Guilty Gear XX Daigo Kindevu RF
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes JWong David Lee Xecutioner
Soulcalibur II (Game) RTD Mick SowNemesis
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike KO Daigo JWong
Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Game) Daigo John Choi Kuni Funada
Tekken 4 (Game) Jackie Tran JinKid TomHilfiger
Tekken Tag Tournament (Game) Ryan Hart Unconkable Slips
Virtua Fighter 4: Evolution Itabashi Zangief Shoutime Kurita


Evo 2005

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Tokido defeats DSP in SSF2T Top 8

The seventh tournament moved to the Las Vegas (Location) area for the first time. It took place on August 12-14, 2005 at the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Henderson, Nevada.


Game 1st 2nd 3rd
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium BAS Mago Kindevu
Guilty Gear XX #Reload RF Kindevu Miu
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes Duc Doh Yipes Harry Potter
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Nuki JWong Nitto
Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Game) Gian Nuki Tokido
Tekken 5 (Game) Crow Yuu MadDogJin
Tekken Tag Tournament (Game) Qudans Ryan Hart TomHilfiger


Evo 2006

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Duc vs Santhrax - MvC2 Grudge Match

Ten years after the first Battle by the Bay, Evo expanded into a multi-coastal event. Evo West took place on July 1-2, 2006 at the LAX Marriott in Los Angeles (Location), California. Two weeks later, Evo East took place at the Westin Stamford Hotel in Stamford, Connecticut (Location). Then, on August 18-20 at the Red Rock Casino & Hotel in Las Vegas (Location), the Evo 2006 Finals were held by bringing the best of the best together.

This year was also a year of firsts. It was the first year to not feature Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Game). It was the first year to feature a Dead or Alive game. It was the first year to include a non-fighting game. But, the biggest first, though, was that Capcom (Company) officially endorsed the event.

Prize money for each game (including Mario Kart) was as follows:

  • 1st - $5000
  • 2nd - $2000
  • 3rd - $1000
  • 4th - $750
  • 5th & 6th - $500
  • 7th & 8th - $250
Game 1st 2nd 3rd
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium Kindevu Ricky Ortiz Combofiend
Dead or Alive 4 (Game) Perfect Legend DOAMaster The High Guy
Guilty Gear XX Slash (Game) Team BAS Team Daigo Team Alex G
Hyper Street Fighter II: The Anniversary Edition Alex Wolfe Jason Nelson Tokido
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes JWong Chunksta Reset
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Nitto Issei Nuki
Tekken 5 (Game) Crow Bronson Tran jra64
Mario Kart DS (Game) CAM ? ?


Evo World 2007

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JWong as Cyclops defeated Yipes in this round. Never give up.

The ninth event once again held tournaments on both coasts before returning to the Green Valley Ranch Resort in Las Vegas (Location), Nevada (Location) for a finals weekend on August 24-26, 2007. The east coast prelims took place May 24-27 at the Westin Stamford Hotel in Stamford (Location), Connecticut (Location) and then the west coast preliminary tournament took place at the San Diego Convention Center's Omni Hotel in San Diego (Location) on July 26-29.

This was the first year to feature a Super Smash Bros. game.

Prize money for each game was as follows:

  • 1st - $5000
  • 2nd - $2000
  • 3rd - $1000
  • 4th - $750
  • 5th & 6th - $500
  • 7th & 8th - $250
Game 1st 2nd 3rd
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium BAS Ricky Ortiz JWong
Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Team Gibson Team Flash Metroid Team BAS
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes Yipes JWong Smoothviper
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike Nuki Tokido Alex Valle
Super Smash Bros. Melee Ken HugS Mango
Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Game) Tokido John Choi Graham Wolfe
Tekken: Dark Resurrection Arario Spero Gin Bronson Tran
Virtua Fighter 5 (Game) Itabashi Zangief Nuki Yosuke Otome


Evo 2008

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Gandido accidentally paused in Grand Finals at 2-2. By rules, he would have to forfeit the round. Ryan Hart rejected the forfeit and agreed to restart the round.

The tenth world championships took place on August 8-10, 2008 at the Tropicana in Las Vegas (Location), Nevada (Location). This year, the event became a bit more of an expo because attendees were able to preview games such as Street Fighter IV (Game), Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (Game), BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger, and Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Cross Generation of Heroes.

For the second year, Smash Bros. was part of the championships, but instead of Melee the game of choice was the newly released Super Smash Bros. Brawl. There was some controversy over the rules as items were allowed and most stages were not banned, which is not normal in tournament Smash play.


Tournament Games

Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 145 John Choi BAS Ricky Ortiz
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes 161 JWong Chunksta Smoothviper
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike 204 Nuki JWong Amir Amirsaleh
Super Smash Bros. Brawl ? CPU Ken Hall
Super Street Fighter II Turbo (Game) 137 John Choi Nuki Alex Valle
Tekken 5: Dark Resurrection 74 Ryan Hart Gandido Cano


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd
CvS2 $1015 $290 $145
MvC2 $1127 $322 $161
SF3 $1428 $408 $204
Smash $742 - -
SSF2T $959 $274 $137
Tekken $518 $148 $74


Evo 2009

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Daigo defeats JWong to become the first world champion of SF4.

The eleventh world championships took place on July 17-19, 2009 at the Rio Convention Center in Las Vegas (Location), Nevada (Location). Attendance exploded this year riding the wave of popularity created by Street Fighter IV (Game). Over 1000 people signed up to compete in Street Fighter IV alone.


Tournament Games

Game 1st 2nd 3rd
Guilty Gear XX Λ Core Plus Latif Marn FlashMetroid
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes Santhrax JWong Yipes
Soulcalibur IV (Game) Malek KDZ Thugish_pond
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike JWong & Issei JimmyJTran & Rommel Fubarduck & Mopreme
Street Fighter IV (Game) Daigo JWong Ed Ma
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (Game) Afro Legends John Choi Damdai


Evo 2010

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Daigo (seen here with Capcom's Yoshinori Ono) successfully defends his SF4 world title.

Evo entered the 2010s with its biggest event ever, which was held at Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas (Location), Nevada (Location) on July 9-11. With a guaranteed prize pool of $20,000 for Super Street Fighter IV (Game), over 1800 players signed up to fight.

A poll was held on Shoryuken.com to determine what the sixth game of the tournament would be. In a surprise upset, Melty Blood: Actress Again beat the likes of Evo stalwarts like Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike, Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes, Soulcalibur IV (Game), and Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium. Originally, BlazBlue: Calamity Trigger was going to be featured, but due to low interest, it was replaced by Marvel vs Capcom 2.

Coverage of the event increased as G4TV televised the finals. Many fans were unhappy about the network adding Adam Sessler to the commentary team for Super Street Fighter IV (Game)'s Top 8 as it was clear that he had very little knowledge of the game.


Tournament Games

Game 1st 2nd 3rd
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes JWong Santhrax Clockw0rk
Melty Blood: Actress Again Garu Lord Knight Kusanagi
Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix (Game) Snake Eyez DGV Daigo
Super Street Fighter IV (Game) Daigo Ricky Ortiz Infiltration
Super Street Fighter IV (Women's Invitational) Kayane BurnYourBra Yellow Gal
Tatsunoko vs. Capcom: Ultimate All Stars Marn KBeast JWong
Tekken 6 Nin Rip Mr. NAPS


Evo 2011

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Perfect Legend wins the first ever Mortal Kombat Evo Championship.

Another landmark year for Evo took place on July 29-31, 2011 at the Rio in Las Vegas (Location), Nevada (Location), which was the biggest venue space to date. Players from all fifty United States and over forty countries came to Vegas to determine the best of the best.

This was also the first year that the event was streamed live online, which was done via Ustream. The event was also covered by G4 again as well as Gamespot, and Destructoid.

It was also the first time that a Mortal Kombat (Franchise) game was featured in the world championships.

2011 also began a tradition of blockbuster announcements happening prior to Top 8s as both Yoshinori Ono (Person) and Katsuhiro Harada (Person) had announcements for Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition and Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Game) respectively.


Tournament Games

Game 1st 2nd 3rd
BlazBlue: Continuum Shift II Spark Lord Knight Tokido
Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Fate of Two Worlds Viscant PR Balrog JWong
Mortal Kombat Perfect Legend REO JOP
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition Fuudo Latif Poongko
Tekken 6 Kor NYC Fab Rip


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
BlazBlue $1456 $416 $208 - - -
MvC3 $7504 $2144 $1072 - - -
MK $3584 $1024 $512 - - -
SSF4AE $10,192 $2912 $1456 - - -
Tekken $5068 $1448 $724 - - -


Side Tournaments

Evo 2012

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MadKOF captures the first ever King of Fighters Evo Championship.

On July 6-8, 2012, Evo returned to Caesar's Palace in Las Vegas, Nevada (Location). This was the first year that The King of Fighters (Franchise) franchise was featured in the official world championships.


Tournament Games

Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
The King of Fighters XIII (Game) 1072 MadKOF Bala Verna
Mortal Kombat 304 Perfect Legend CD Jr. Pig of the Hut
Soulcalibur V (Game) 416 Shining Decopon Shen Chan Something-Unique
Street Fighter X Tekken (Game) 896 Infiltration / Laugh Ricki Ortiz / PR Balrog Tokido / Fuudo
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition 1520 Infiltration GamerBee PR Balrog
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 1297 Filipino Champ Infrit NYChrisG


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
KOF13 $13,032 $3909 $1737 $868 $651 $434
MK $15,624 $4687 $2083 $1041 $781 $520
SC5 $5496 $1648 $732 $366 $274 $183
SFXT $10,776 $3232 $1436 $718 $538 $359
SSF4AE $24,120 $7236 $3216 $1608 $1206 $804
UMvC3 $16,782 $5034 $2237 $1118 $839 $559


Side Tournaments

Evo 2013

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Mango claims the first ever Smash Bros Evo Championship.

The 2013 world championships took place on July 12-14 at Paris Las Vegas and featured eight tournaments selected by Evo officials. An ninth game was determine by fan donations, which went to the Breast Cancer Research Foundation. Over $225,000 was raised from the promotion, which was won by Super Smash Bros. Melee with over $94,000 raised. This would lead to controversy as Nintendo (Company) issued a cease and desist order to Evo to stop the live streaming of Smash Bros matches online. Nintendo eventually relented and the Smash Bros matches went live on TwitchTV with all the other tournaments.


Tournament Games

Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Injustice: Gods Among Us 582 KDZ DJT NYChrisG
The King of Fighters XIII (Game) 427 Reynald Hee San Woo MadKOF
Mortal Kombat 233 DJT REO MyGod
Persona 4 Arena (Game) 400 Yume Lord Knight BananaKen
Street Fighter X Tekken (Game) 573 Infiltration JWong MOV
Super Smash Bros. Melee 709 Mango Wobbles Hungrybox
Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition 1637 Xian Tokido Infiltration
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Game) 355 Knee Bronson Tran Stringbean
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 1302 Flocker JWong Angelic


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
Injustice $2095 $1280 $582 $465 $407 $291
KOF13 $1537 $939 $427 $341 $298 $213
MK $838 $512 $233 $186 $163 $116
P4A $1440 $880 $400 $320 $280 $200
SFxT $2062 $1260 $573 $458 $401 $286
SSB Melee $3205 $1731 $796 $550 - -
SSF4AE $5893 $3601 $1637 $1309 $1145 $818
TTT2 $1278 $781 $355 $284 $248 $177
UMvC3 $4687 $2864 $1302 $1041 $911 $651


Side Tournaments

Evo 2014

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A new star is born as SonicFox their first of many Evo championships.

The sixteenth world championships took place July 11-13, 2014 at the Westgate Resort & Casino in Las Vegas (Location), Nevada (Location). When the games were announced in February, it was said that discussions were still ongoing with Nintendo (Company). Eventually, Super Smash Bros. Melee was added to the event for a total of eight games.


Tournament Games

Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma 508 Garireo Dogura Dora_Bang
Injustice: Gods Among Us 311 SonicFox Pig of the Hut MIT
Killer Instinct 338 CDjr Rico Suave JWong
The King of Fighters XIII (Game) 319 Xiao Hai Tokido ET
Super Smash Bros. Melee 970 Mango Hungrybox Armada
Tekken Tag Tournament 2 (Game) 757 JDCR Gen Kids Ao
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 1014 JWong NYChrisG Filipino Champ
Ultra Street Fighter IV (Game) 1979 Luffy Bonchan Fuudo


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
BlazBlue $23,048 $6016 $3008 $1203 $601 $300
Injustice $1866 $622 $311 $124 $62 $31
Killer Instinct $8028 $2676 $1338 $535 $267 $133
KOF13 $1914 $638 $319 $127 $63 $31
SSB Melee $5820 $1940 $970 $388 - -
TTT2 $7542 $2514 $1257 $502 $251 $125
UMvC3 $6084 $2028 $1014 $405 $202 $101
USF4 $17,154 $5718 $2859 $1143 $571 $285


Side Tournaments

Evo 2015

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Woshige (left) gets knocked out of winners bracket in Guilty Gear Top 8 after thinking the match was over and standing up to cheer. Ogawa hit him with a 60% combo before he could sit down.

The seventeenth world championships took place July 17-19, 2015 and returned the event to Paris Las Vegas. This year's event was bigger than ever in some ways. The first was that over 2000 people signed up to compete in Ultra Street Fighter IV (Game) and over 1500 players signed up for both Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

Then there was the prize money. Many developers and publishers boosted the money available to the Top 8.

Tournament Games

Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Guilty Gear Xrd -SIGN- 968 Ogawa Nage Woshige
Killer Instinct 397 Rico Suave Gutter Magic Sleep
Mortal Kombat X (Game) 1162 SonicFox A F0xy Grampa HoneyBee
Persona 4 Arena Ultimax (Game) 437 Chou Tahichi Hagiwara
Super Smash Bros. Melee 1869 Armada Hungrybox PPMD
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U 1926 ZeRo Mr.R Nairo
Tekken 7 (Game) 458 NOBI Ao Saint
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 816 Kane Blueriver RayRay ApologyMan
Ultra Street Fighter IV (Game) 2227 Momochi GamerBee Infiltration


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
Guilty Gear $11,808 $3936 $1968 $787 $393 $196
Killer Instinct $32,382 $10,794 $5397 $2158 $1079 $539
MKX $36,972 $12,324 $6162 $2464 $1232 $616
P4AU $8622 $2874 $1437 $574 $287 $143
SSB Melee $11,214 $3738 $1869 $747 - -
SSB for Wii U $11,556 $3852 $1926 $770 - -
Tekken 7 $20,748 $6916 $3458 $1383 $691 $345
UMvC3 $4896 $1632 $816 $326 $163 $81
USF4 $33,362 $14,454 $9227 $5890 $2945 $1722


Side Tournaments

Evo 2016

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After finishing 3rd, 2nd, and 2nd in previous years, Hungrybox finally takes the Melee crown.

The eighteenth world championships took place on July 15-17, 2016 and the event grew once again. Most of the event took place at the Las Vegas Convention Center, but Sunday Finals took place at the Mandalay Bay Events Center (Location), which is a 12,000+ seat arena designed for boxing and MMA events in Las Vegas. The Street Fighter V (Game) finals, which went on last, were televised live on ESPN2.

Over 5000 players signed up to compete in Street Fighter V while both Super Smash Bros. games garnered over 2000 entrants. Even Pokkén Tournament had over 1000.

Capcom (Company) and Sony once again put up $50,000 towards the prize pool for their game, Street Fighter V. Not to be outdone, NetherRealm Studios (Company) and WB Games (Company) put up $50,000 again as well for Mortal Kombat XL. KI Ultra Tour funding added $15,000 to the pot for Killer Instinct. Aksys Games (Company) put up $10,000 for Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator-. And The Pokémon Company put up $10,000 for Pokkén Tournament.


Tournament Games

Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Guilty Gear Xrd -Revelator- 910 Machabo- Omito Rion
Killer Instinct 546 Hollywood Sleep Bass SeaDragon
Mortal Kombat XL 713 SonicFox Tekken Master Scar
Pokkén Tournament 1180 Tonosama buntan Swillo
Street Fighter V (Game) 5107 Infiltration Fuudo yukadon
Super Smash Bros. Melee 2372 Hungrybox Armada Plup
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U 2662 Ally Kamemushi ZeRo
Tekken 7 (Game) 543 Saint Knee Poongko
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 782 NYChrisG Kane Blueriver Angelic


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
Guilty Gear $11,460 $3820 $1910 $764 $382 $191
Killer Instinct $12,276 $4092 $2046 $818 $409 $204
MKXL $34,278 $11,426 $5713 $2285 $1142 $571
Pokkén $10,080 $4360 $2680 $1472 $986 $618
Street Fighter V $50,642 $20,214 $12,107 $7042 $3521 $2010
SSB Melee $14,232 $4744 $2372 $948 - -
SSB for Wii U $15,972 $5324 $2662 $1064 - -
Tekken 7 $3258 $1086 $543 $217 $108 $54
UMvC3 $2692 $1564 $782 $312 $156 $78


Side Tournaments

Evo 2017

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James Chen (right) gets emotional after Tokido's epic run in SF5 to close out Evo 2017.

The nineteenth world championships took place July 14-16, 2017 and, this year, the entire event was within the Mandalay Bay Resort including the arena. Nine games were featuring with the ninth game being named via a fundraiser for the Make-A-Wish Foundation, which resulted in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 winning.


Tournament Games

Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
BlazBlue: Central Fiction 500 Ryusei Fenritti Fumi
Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 (Game) 817 Omito T5M7 Samitto
Injustice 2 (Game) 880 Dragon HoneyBee Theo
The King of Fighters XIV (Game) 374 E.T. Xiao Hai Luis Cha
Street Fighter V (Game) 2625 Tokido Punk Kazunoko
Super Smash Bros. Melee 1428 Armada Mango Hungrybox
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U 1508 Salem ZeRo Larry Lurr
Tekken 7 1286 JDCR Saint Knee
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 652 RyanLV NYChrisG PC Marvel God


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
BlazBlue $9000 $3000 $1500 $600 $300 $150
Guilty Gear $10,902 $3634 $1817 $726 $363 $181
Injustice 2 $25,280 $11,760 $8380 $5352 $2676 $1338
KOF14 $10,644 $3548 $1774 $709 $354 $177
Street Fighter V $35,750 $15,250 $9625 $6050 $3025 $1762
SSB Melee $8610 $2870 $1435 $574 - -
SSB for Wii U $9048 $3016 $1508 $603 - -
Tekken 7 $16,716 $5572 $2786 $1114 $557 $278
UMvC3 $9912 $3304 $1652 $660 $330 $165


Side Tournaments

Evo 2018

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SonicFox wins an Evo Championship in a third game (DragonBall FighterZ).

On August 3-5, 2018, the twentieth world championships once again took place within the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas (Location). Eight games were officially part of the event, but more side tournaments were hosted than ever before.


Tournament Games

Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle 1181 Heiho Fame96 DoraBang
Dragon Ball FighterZ (Game) 2579 SonicFox GO1 Fenritti
Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 (Game) 623 Omito Machabo LostSoul
Injustice 2 (Game) 361 Rewind Tweedy SonicFox
Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition 2499 Problem X Tokido Fuudo
Super Smash Bros. Melee 1353 Leffen Armada Plup
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U 1358 Lima CaptainZack Nietono
Tekken 7 1547 LowHigh Qudans Lil Majin


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
BlazBlue $7086 $2362 $1181 $472 $236 $118
DBFZ $15,474 $5158 $2579 $1031 $515 $257
GGXR2 $3738 $1246 $623 $249 $124 $62
Injustice $7166 $2722 $1661 $844 $424 $262
SF5AE $34,994 $14,998 $9999 $5999 $2999 $1499
SSBM $8118 $2706 $1353 $541 - -
SSB for Wii U $8148 $2716 $1358 $543 - -
Tekken $9282 $3094 $1547 $618 $309 $154


Side Tournaments

Evo 2019

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Arslan Ash's dominance in Tekken begins.

For the fourth year in a row, the world championships took place at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas (Location). This year, the event took place on August 2-4, 2019 and featured nine official games.


Tournament Games

Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle 646 Shinku Kyamei Domi
Dragon Ball FighterZ (Game) 1200 GO1 SonicFox Fenritti
Mortal Kombat 11 (Game) 1575 SonicFox Dragon Tekken Master
Samurai Shodown 1729 Infiltration Kazunoko JWong
Soulcalibur VI (Game) 746 Yuttoto Bluegod Skyll
Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition 1951 Bonchan Big Bird Infexious
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate 3534 MkLeo Tweek Glutonny
Tekken 7 1899 Arslan Ash Knee Anakin
Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st] 1157 Clearlamp_o Oushuu-Hittou Hishigata


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
BlazBlue $3876 $1292 $646 $258 $129 $64
DBFZ $10,200 $4100 $2400 $1380 $940 $420
MK11 $14,450 $6150 $3575 $2130 $915 $567
SamSho $28,374 $9458 $4729 $1891 $945 $472
SC6 $4476 $1492 $746 $298 $149 $74
SF5AE $31,706 $13,902 $9451 $5780 $2890 $1445
SSBU $21,204 $7068 $3534 $1413 - -
Tekken $13,894 $5048 $2649 $1259 $379 $189
UNI $6942 $2314 $1157 $462 $231 $115


Side Tournaments

Evo 2020

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This year's world championships were set to take place July 31-August 2, 2020 at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas (Location). But, on May 1st, the event was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The event was going to have a special tournament for Marvel vs. Capcom 2's 20th anniversary called the "20urnament of Champions". Half of the eigth player field would be previous champions (Duc, JWong, Yipes, Santhrax) while the other four would be determined by invitational qualifiers.

The nine games that were scheduled to be part of the tournaments were:

After the cancellation of the in-person event was canceled, plans began for an online showcase. But, in July, charges of sexual misconduct against Evo's CEO Joey Cuellar were made public. Evo immediately fired Cuellar, but most publishers decided to not participate in any kind of Evo event that year because of the scandal. Online plans were canceled and funds that had been raised for the event were donated to Project HOPE, a humanitarian organization that helps with diseases and disaster relief.


Evo 2021 Online

In March 2021, Evo announced that it had been acquired in a 50/50 split between Sony Interactive Entertainment America (Company) and Endeavor (owners of UFC, WWE, PBR, and OpenBet).

A series of regional online tournaments were announced as no in-person event could occur due to the ongoing pandemic. The online events took place between August 6-15, 2021.


Tournament Games

Guilty Gear -Strive-

Region Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Asia 359 Xyzzy Daru BNBBN
Europe 449 Leffen Uriel_Legion Kurokich
Latin America 386 Trema mike_Saftig Younghou
North America 2262 Hotashi SonicFox Jonathan Tene


Prize Money

Region 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
Asia $2600 $2350 $600 $600 $300 $250
Europe $3000 $2250 $500 $500 $250 $125
Latin $3000 $2250 $500 $500 $250 $125
NA $3000 $2250 $500 $500 $250 $125


Mortal Kombat 11 (Game)

Region Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Europe 99 Disarted K-TOP MakoraN
Latin America 209 Konqueror249 KillerXinok SRyu PainFZ
North America 406 Ninjakilla_212 Jueks- Fullauto


Prize Money

Region 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
All $3000 $2250 $500 $500 $250 $125


Skullgirls: 2nd Encore+

Region Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Asia 34 penpen Naminori Rznant
Europe 89 Mr Peck Mr. Bors Magic
Latin America 101 Receita Federal Jorjão noaa
North America 317 Cloud Triviality dekillsage


Prize Money

Region 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
Asia $2600 $2350 $600 $600 $300 $250
Europe $3000 $2250 $500 $500 $250 $125
Latin $3000 $2250 $500 $500 $250 $125
NA $3000 $2250 $500 $500 $250 $125


Street Fighter V: Champion Edition

Region Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Asia East 324 Kawano YHC-mochi Bonchan
Asia South 58 Xian IamChuan Brandon
EU East 49 Jamie_TTM VolcanoRosso DrGulag
EU West 200 Hurricane Problem X Infexious
Latin Central 185 KUSANAGI Mono MenaRD
Latin South 262 HorusPaulin DARK Didimokof
NA East 410 iDom Punk Smug
NA West 367 Nephew Samurai Jot


Prize Money

Region 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
Asia $2600 $1350 $600 $600 $300 $250
Europe $3000 $1250 $500 $500 $250 $125
Latin $3000 $1250 $500 $500 $250 $125
NA $3000 $1250 $500 $500 $250 $125


Tekken 7

Region Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Asia East 110 Gen chikurin JDCR
Asia South 223 Book Jules Lan
EU East 93 LMG MoB Why Frizen
EU West 262 Super Akouma JoKa Fuhito
Latin Central 68 Energie_Marduk Heizama ElTondoX
Latin South 151 Sergie Master AbelDelMaestro Jackson Five
North America 615 Shadow 20z Averiey_RiB Binchang


Prize Money

Region 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
Asia $2600 $1350 $600 $600 $300 $250
Europe $3000 $1250 $500 $500 $250 $125
Latin $3000 $1250 $500 $500 $250 $125
NA $3000 $1250 $500 $500 $250 $125


Evo 2022

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The crowd goes wild as Rangchu selects Panda in Tekken 7 Top 8.

After three years away, the world championships finally returned to an in-person event on August 5-7, 2022 at the Mandalay Bay resort in Las Vegas (Location). The event featured nine tournament games, and the order of the finals was determined by the number of sign-ups for each game. With 2158 entrants, Guilty Gear -Strive- took the main event spot away from Street Fighter V (Game), which had 1324.


Tournament Games

Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Dragon Ball FighterZ (Game) 635 Wawa Nitro Yasha
Granblue Fantasy: Versus 525 Gamera Tororo Tako
Guilty Gear -Strive- 2158 UMISHO Slash Leffen
The King of Fighters XV (Game) 1009 ZJZ E.T. XiaoHey
Melty Blood: Type Lumina 411 Jing Masoma Kiri
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate 464 Scorpionprocs Rewind Nicolas
Skullgirls 2nd Encore+ 295 SonicFox deskillsage penpen
Street Fighter V: Champion Edition 1324 Kawano iDom gachikun
Tekken 7 1218 Knee Khan Arslan Ash


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
DBFZ $4767 $2270 $1475 $794 $567 $454
GBFV $2205 $1050 $682 $367 $262 $210
GG Strive $9063 $4316 $2805 $1510 $1079 $863
KOF15 $4237 $2018 $1311 $706 $504 $403
Melty $1726 $822 $534 $287 $205 $164
MK11 $1948 $928 $603 $324 $232 $185
Skullgirls $1239 $590 $383 $206 $147 $118
SFVCE $5560 $2648 $1721 $926 $662 $529
Tekken 7 $7215 $3436 $2233 $1202 $859 $687


Community Tournaments

Evo 2023

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The final year at the Mandalay Bay.

On August 4-6, 2023, the world championships returned to the Mandalay Bay Resort one more time. This was the first year for Street Fighter 6 (Game) and the players turned up in droves. Across the eight tournament games, over 9000 entrants from 71 countries signed up to fight.

To speed up the process of finals on the main stage, only the Top 6 were featured as opposed to the traditional Top 8.

A new tradition began this year with a classic game being included in the main tournaments. The inaugural "Throwback Tournament" in 2023 was Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.

A special pre-release tournament was held for Granblue Fantasy: Versus Rising, which was unofficially the ninth game of the event.


Tournament Games

Games Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Dragon Ball FighterZ (Game) 841 HIKARI Yasha Nitro
Guilty Gear -Strive- 2474 Leffen NBNHMR Daru_I-No
The King of Fighters XV (Game) 666 Xioahai E.T. mok
Melty Blood: Type Lumina 552 Moai DAI Jimmyjtran
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate 451 Ninjakilla_212 Nicolas Scorpionprocs
Street Fighter 6 (Game) 7083 AngryBird MenaRD Punk
Tekken 7 1590 Arslan Ash AO ULSAN
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 1355 Jibrill Evasion Kane Blueriver


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
DBFZ $12,000 $6000 $4500 $3000 $1800 $450
GG Strive $10,000 $5000 $3750 $2500 $1500 $375
KOF15 $10,000 $5000 $3750 $2500 $1500 $375
Melty $10,000 $5000 $3750 $2500 $1500 $375
MK11 $10,000 $5000 $3750 $2500 $1500 $375
SF6 $20,000 $15,000 $10,000 $7000 $4000 $2000
Tekken $10,000 $5000 $3750 $2500 $1500 $375
UMvC3 $10,000 $5000 $3750 $2500 $1500 $375


Community Showcase Tournaments

Side Tournaments

Evo 2024

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The Las Vegas Convention Center West Hall

The Evo 2024 world championships took place July 19-21 at the newly built Las Vegas Convention Center's West Hall in Las Vegas (Location). The event included eight official tournament games including the second annual "Throwback Tournament", which was Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike. This celebrated both the 25th anniversary of the game itself and the 20th anniversary of "Evo Moment #37" between Daigo Umehara and Justin Wong.

Participation in 2024 set all new records for Evo as over 10,000 different players competed across the eight official games. Over 5000 signed up for Street Fighter 6 (Game) alone and over 4600 for Tekken 8 (Game).

The new venue allowed for the event to expand in many ways including larger areas for the expo hall, arcade freeplay, artists alley, and vendors. This gave attendees a lot more to do during the event and was considered a big success.


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Hayao doing Hayao things during 3rd Strike Top 8.

Unlike the previous several years, the main stage was in the same venue and did not require a separate ticket/badge to watch the finals of tournaments. However, the makeshift arena that was constructed in the convention center was much smaller than that of the Mandalay Bay Events Center (Location). This meant that not everyone attending Evo was guaranteed a seat. This quickly became a massive issue on Sunday there was a line that wrapped around the entire expo hall full of people spending 4+ hours trying to get in. Thousands of people were denied entrance and instead gathered around the large screens that had been set up for Top 48 and Top 24 viewing earlier in the weekend.

Inside the arena itself, there were also major production issues. The line for the bathroom was over an hour long. Many people left the arena to use the bathrooms in the expo hall, but then were not allowed back inside. During Tekken 8 finals, it was announced that fire marshalls were shutting down all access to the arena for the remainder of the night. No one would be allowed in from that point further including for Street Fighter 6 (Game) finals.

Sajam, who did commentary for Street Fighter 6, later said that after becoming aware of the issues in the arena, he didn't drink any water for over six hours because he was afraid that if he left, he wouldn't be able to get back in time.

Viewers at home were none the wiser of these issues, but many attendees left the event upset.


Tournament Games

Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Granblue Fantasy: Versus Rising 1381 Aarondamac Tororo Kojicoco
Guilty Gear -Strive- 2064 Nitro tatuma RedDitto
The King of Fighters XV (Game) 375 Xioahai E.T. Tamago
Mortal Kombat 1 (Game) 642 SonicFox Nicolas Zeeus
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike 1103 MOV Issei Chi-Rithy
Street Fighter 6 (Game) 5279 Punk Big Bird EndingWalker
Tekken 8 (Game) 4651 Arslan Ash ATIF Nobi
Under Night In-Birth II: Sys:Celes 787 Senaru Mo.Sin Notes


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
GBFVR $12,000 $6000 $4500 $3000 $1800 $450
GG Strive $12,000 $6000 $4500 $3000 $1800 $450
KOF15 $12,000 $6000 $4500 $3000 $1800 $450
MK1 $12,000 $6000 $4500 $3000 $1800 $450
SF3 $12,000 $6000 $4500 $3000 $1800 $450
SF6 $21,116 $10,558 $7918 $5279 $3167 $791
Tekken $18,604 $9302 $6976 $4651 $2790 $697
UNIB2 $12,000 $6000 $4500 $3000 $1800 $450


Community Showcase Tournaments

Evo 2025

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MenaRD fully dominated SF6.

The 2025 world championships took place August 1-3, 2025 in Las Vegas (Location), Nevada (Location) at the Las Vegas Convention Center's West Hall.


Tournament Games

Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves 1576 GO1 ET Fenretti
Granblue Fantasy: Versus Rising 936 Kojicoco Zane Tororo
Guilty Gear -Strive- 1508 Kshuewhatdamoo RedDitto Aboii
Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes 570 Khaos Viggy Servbot
Mortal Kombat 1 (Game) 377 SonicFox Nicolas Kanimani
Street Fighter 6 (Game) 4228 MenaRD Kakeru Micky
Tekken 8 (Game) 2521 Arslan Ash ATIF chikurin
Under Night In-Birth II: Sys:Celes 547 Defiant BigBlack knotts


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
FF:CotW $15,000 $9000 $7500 $6000 $4800 $3450
GBFVR $12,000 $6000 $4500 $3000 $1800 $450
GGS $12,000 $6000 $4500 $3000 $1800 $450
MvC2 $12,000 $6000 $4500 $3000 $1800 $450
MK1 $12,000 $6000 $4500 $3000 $1800 $450
SF6 $16,932 $8466 $6350 $4233 $2540 $635
T8 $12,000 $6000 $4500 $3000 $1800 $450
UNIB2 $12,000 $6000 $4500 $3000 $1800 $450


Extended Lineup

Game Entrants 1st 2nd 3rd
BlazBlue: Central Fiction 247 xcaliburbladez J-Anson Fenretti
Capcom vs. SNK 2: Mark of the Millennium 236 Bas ChoiBoy Silentscope
Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2 134 Vogue KTP Foo
Killer Instinct 118 Roman22s Daa Chronicle Carintas
The King of Fighters XV (Game) 169 ET Layec PAKO
Rivals of Aether II (Game) 359 - - -
Samurai Shodown 155 Scrub Saibot Watanabe Shachou NICEBALL
Virtua Fighter 5 REVO 212 Akani Shiwapo Itabashi Zangief DensetsuSP


Prize Money

Game 1st 2nd 3rd 4th T-5 T-7
BBCF $996 $498 $374 $249 $149 $37
CvS2 $944 $472 $354 $236 $142 $35
GGXR2 $540 $270 $203 $135 $81 $20
KI $472 $236 $177 $118 $71 $18
KOF15 $2176 $1838 $1754 $1669 $1601 $1525
Rivals - - - - - -
SamSho $1620 $1310 $1233 $1155 $1093 $1023
VF5R $3848 $1744 $1218 $812 $577 $407
Concept details
Name
Evo Championship Series
Aliases
Evolution Championship Series,Battle by the Bay,World Fighting Game Championships