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Tournament:EVO

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Revision as of 21:49, November 5, 2015 by Zombiehn (talk | contribs) (Adding more champions. ZeRo won Project M at EVO 2014.)
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Evolution Championship Series
EVOLogo2013.png
Info
Founded 1996
Region United States
Format Double elimination
Super Smash Bros. Melee winners Sweden Armada, USA Mew2King, USA Mango, USA Ken, USA Drephen, USA Wobbles
Super Smash Bros. Brawl winners USA Mew2King
PM Icon.png winners Chile ZeRo, USA iPunchKidsz
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U winners Chile ZeRo
Most successful player(s) USA Mew2King (3 titles) USA Mango (2 titles) Chile ZeRo (2 titles)
Website(s) http://evo.shoryuken.com

The Evolution Championship Series, or simply EVO, is a fighting game tournament series held annually in Las Vegas, Nevada. The tournament, first held in 1996 as Battle by the Bay, is organized and directed by Tom "inkblot" Cannon, Tony "Ponder" Cannon and Joey "MrWizard" Cuellar, founders of fighting game website Shoryuken.com.[1] EVO is widely recognized as the premier event for fighting games and the largest fighting game tournament in the world. As of EVO 2015 the series holds the record for largest Smash tournament to date, with over 3,200 unique players for Super Smash Bros. Melee and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

History

2007-09: Smash debut and Super Smash Bros Brawl

Main articles: EVO World 2007, EVO 2008, and EVO 2009

Although Smash wasn't added to EVO's official game lineup until 2007, interest in adding the game to the roster started in early 2004, when Tom Cannon, one of EVO's founders, started a discussion for the game's inclusion in the Shoryuken.com forums.[2] Three years later, Super Smash Bros. Melee was officially announced as part of the EVO Circuit and EVO World 2007 finals, in Las Vegas, being the largest Smash tournament of 2007, with 270 players.[3]

With Super Smash Bros. Brawl release date set to march 2008, the EVO staff decided to feature Brawl as an official game instead of Melee, choosing to support the newer game in the series. The tournament ended up gathering 110 players and was widely criticized for its ruleset, having many items turned on, including the Smash Ball.[4][5] In 2009, Brawl wasn't featured as an official game at EVO 2009, but a noticeable side tournament was organized, with support from the EVO staff in partnership with All is Brawl team (now Nintendo Dojo), gathering 128 players and using the accepted standard ruleset with items off.[6][7]

2013-14: Melee return and record numbers

Main articles: EVO 2013 and EVO 2014

Following EVO 2009, no Smash was featured at EVO again until EVO 2013, when a campaign to choose the 8th game on the official lineup was announced. Through a donation drive for breast cancer research, the game community that donated the most money to the drive would have their game featured as an official game at EVO 2013. With intense support from the Smash community and a coordinated final push from the Melee It On Me crew, Melee eventually won the 8th spot after more than $94,000.00 were raised.[8][9][10]

Just three days before EVO 2013, on July 9th, the organization received notification from Nintendo's legal department informing that EVO wouln't be allowed to live stream the Super Smash Bros. Melee tournament, while also trying to shut down the tournament entirely.[11][12] After a widespread backlash from the community, through social media and official channels, the decision to impede the live stream Melee was retracted, allowing EVO to follow its original schedule for all games.[13][14] With more than 700 players, EVO 2013 went on to be the largest Smash tournament of 2013, breaking the record for largest Smash tournament to date while still ranked as one the largest of all time.[15]

The following year, Melee was already been considered in for EVO 2014, but after the official lineup announcement, the staff informed that Melee's status at the tournament was currently uncertain, with an official statement from Nintendo saying "While we are engaged in preliminary discussions with Evo about their upcoming event in July, the potential role of any Nintendo software at this event is undetermined at this time".[16] The game wasn't officially added to the lineup until March, when an agreement was reached with the event staff.[17] Nintendo was then added as one of EVO 2014 sponsors and eventually displayed a video message from Nintendo of America president and CEO, Reggie Fils-Aimé, at the tournament stage right before Top 8, congratulating all competitors and continuous support for the Smash series, while also promoting the upcoming Super Smash Bros. for 3DS and for Wii U.[18] EVO 2014 established a new record for tournament attendance, with 970 players, becoming the largest smash tournament of 2014 and the largest overall at the time, until Apex 2015.

2015-present: Smash 4 and future

Main article: EVO 2015

EVO 2015 featured both Melee and Super Smash Bros. for Wii U.

External links

References

  1. ^ Evolution Championship Series F.A.Q.. Evolution Championship Series official website. Retrieved on 2015-06-22.
  2. ^ THE SSBM UPDATE: MODES AND ITEMS. Shoryuken.com forums. Retrieved on 2015-08-09.
  3. ^ Smash in 2007: Year in Review. Smashboards forums. Retrieved on 2015-08-09.
  4. ^ EVO FINAL RULES FOR BRAWL. Shoryuken.com forums. Retrieved on 2015-08-09.
  5. ^ My thoughts on EVO2k8. Smashboards forums. Retrieved on 2015-08-09.
  6. ^ Evo 2k9 Brawl. NintendoDojo.com. Retrieved on 2015-08-09.
  7. ^ EVO 2009: Brawl Singles and Doubles. Smashboards forums. Retrieved on 2015-08-09.
  8. ^ Evo 2013 Details! Game Lineup, Get Your Game to Evo, and Road to Evo Events. Shoryuken.com. Retrieved on 2015-08-09.
  9. ^ Fighting Game Fans Raise over $225,000 for Breast Cancer Research. Smash Wins!. Shoryuken.com. Retrieved on 2015-08-09.
  10. ^ Super Smash Bros. Melee official winner of the Evolution 2013 donation drive. Eventhubs.com. Retrieved on 2015-08-09.
  11. ^ Nintendo wanted to shut down Super Smash Bros. Melee Evo event, not just stream. Polygon.com. Retrieved on 2015-08-10.
  12. ^ Evo 2013 Stream Cance--IS BACK. Smashboards forums. Retrieved on 2015-08-10.
  13. ^ Allow Super Smash Bros. Melee to be streamed at EVO 2013. Changw.org. Retrieved on 2015-08-10.
  14. ^ Update: Smash is Back!! Changes to Evo 2013 Smash Schedule. Shoryuken.com. Retrieved on 2015-08-10.
  15. ^ EVO 2013 confirmed as largest Super Smash Bros. tournament to date, nearly 700 participants. Eventhubs.com. Retrieved on 2015-08-10.
  16. ^ Evo 2014 Lineup Revealed! Ultra Street Fighter IV, Killer Instinct, BlazBlue: Chronophantasma, and More. Shoryuken.com. Retrieved on 2015-08-10.
  17. ^ Super Smash Bros. Melee Joins the Evo 2014 Roster!. Shoryuken.com. Retrieved on 2015-08-10.
  18. ^ Reggie's speech to the smash community at Evo 2014. YouTube.com. Retrieved on 2015-08-10.