Evo 2011 |fuudo wins! Daigo perfected

[sephi22]

What's EVO? Its only the USA's largest fighting games tournament. Taking place in Las Vegas, Nevada, EVO is a celebration of the fighting game culture, and the culmination of a year's worth of hardwork, practice and dedication. Is is the tournament where old rivalries are ended, and new ones are hatched. Its the place where giants fall, and champions are made. It is the Superbowl of fighting games, and this is the thread to discuss it.

This year's EVO tones down the games count to the top 5 most popular games at the moment. However, that doesn't mean there won't be any new games in the tournament. Developers will bring in builds of games currently in development for players to try out.

TOURNAMENT GAMES​

PREVIEW GAMES
​

Skullgirls
Street Fighter III: Third Strike Online
Street Fighter X Tekken
Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3
UFC 12

Being the USA's largest fighting games tournament, EVO attracts top contenders from all over the world. Big names include Japanese greats like Daigo, Tokido, Mago, Korean superstar Poongko, and Taiwanese breakout hit Gamerbee. There are going to be thousands of players fighting for the title of EVO Champion 2011. In the running is Pakgamers' own Saqib "MicroNukeX" Mirza. Though I don't know him personally, I wish him luck from all the members of Phadeybaaz, and I hope he can show USA and the world what the Pakistan fighting game scene is all about.

If we start to list all the big names at EVO, it will be a really long list. But instead I'm going to mention some names that have been on the rise recently, or are evergreen champions like Daigo. Other people might not have the same opinion as I do, but after countless hours of stream monstering, I feel that the following names deserve the recognition for this year's EVO.

Team Madcatz | Daigo "The Beast" Umehara
Best Known For: Super Street Fighter IV: AE
Also look out for him in: Marvel vs Capcom 3​

If you don't know who Daigo is, then either youre new to fighting games, or you're in the wrong thread. Daigo is one of the 5 Gods of Japanese fighting games, and the face of competitive fighting gameplay over the world. If Daigo enters a US tournament, he usually gets first place or atleast top 3 placings. Daigo's the defending EVO champion, winning the Street Fighter IV tournament in 2009 and the Super Street Fighter IV tournament in 2010. With over 6 months of AE experience over players of the US, and a killer Yun, it'll be a huge upset if Daigo doesn't end up in this year's SSFIV AE finals.

Besides AE, Daigo has recently started playing Marvel 3. Though Daigo has played MvC3 at a US tournament, his performance was less than spectacular. Whether that was a serious attempt or sandbagging to get in the minds of US players, only Daigo knows. Fans all over the world are excited to see if Daigo brings any new technology to Marvel, especially after he challenged US players in an official EVO video.

Essential Viewing: Daigo's MvC3 challenge | Revelations 2011 Finals | EVO 2010 Finals |

Team Evil Geniuses | Justin "Marvelous" Wong
Best Known For: Super Street Fighter IV: AE | Marvel vs Capcom 3
Also look out for him in: Mortal Kombat 9​

When it comes to fighting game champions, Justin Wong is America's poster boy. The US of A fighting scene has had many greats, from OGs like Alex Valle and Mike Watson to the new generation killers like Filipino Champ and Sanford Kelly, but none as consistent or relentless as Justin Wong. Justin Wong excels at every fighting game he plays, and he plays a lot of them. He's won tournaments in Tekken, Street Fighter Third Strike, Street Fighter IV, Guilty Gear, and even Blazblue. However, Justin considers himself a Marvel player at heart. His rise to glory began from his Marvel vs Capcom 2 days. Justin admitted that the odds are stacked against America in the SSFIV: AE tournament at Evo 2k11, and that he's paying more attention to MvC3 as his game of choice.

Justin has as many critics as he has fans. Even though other tournament goers consider J.Wong one of the nicest members of the community, Justin's frequent losses against Daigo have made him a rival to Daigo in the eyes of many. However, during many a grand finals, those boos and jeers turned into cheers and chants of 'USA! USA! USA!'. Justin did not qualify in the top 8 of Evo 2K11, and with his callous attitude towards SSFIV:AE, its be interesting to see how good (or bad) he does this time around. While the competition for MvC3 is arguably as tough, Justin has admitted that he has discovered some techniques that 'break the game'

However, Justin's success is not without controversy. Even though Justin has the highest points in the MvC3 EVO standings, he did receive a yellow card from EVO officials for deliberately losing a match so that his friend could get more evo points by coming in second.

Essential Viewing: J. Wong vs Tokido MvC3 CEO 2011 Finals | PDP MK9 Finals | Let's go Justin |

Joshua "Wolfkrone" Philpot
Best Known For: Super Street Fighter IV: AE​

Who is Wolfkrone? Depending on the person you ask, you may get one of the following answers: "The best C. Viper player in the US", "The best SSFIV: AE player in the US", or "The most random SSFIV: AE player". Personally, I'd say all of the above. With a playstyle that's as random, aggressive, but never out of control, Wolfkrone is one of America's biggest bets in the EVO 2011 SSFIV: AE tournament. While Wolfkrone has been playing the Street Fighter IV series for a while, he made his mark in SSFIV by winning the EVO online tournament. From then there's been no stopping him. Wolfkrone has won Winter Brawl, PowerUp, Montreal Annual Tournament 8, and East Coast Throwdown 9. He's got so many EVO points in SSFIV that even if he sells half of them (which is illegal), he would still remain on the top spot with the remaining points, ahead of PR Balrog, Tokido and Justin Wong.

Wolfkrone is also a huge crowd favorite. For one, he uses C. Viper - an extremely technical character. Secondly, he plays her on a pad. Thirdly, Wolfkrone is very much a single game gamer. While others have switched to MvC3, Wolfkrone stays dedicated to the SFIV series. Finally, Wolfkrone generally has a stone cold babyface expression and almost never talks trash. Its also interesting that he's one of the remaining big players not signed by a big sponsor. Perhaps his performance at EVO will be enough for Wolfkrone to get sponsored by a company like Madcatz or Complexity.

Essential Viewing: PowerUp Grand Finals | Final Round Interview |

Team Madcatz | Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi
Best Known For: Super Street Fighter IV: AE
Also look out for him in: Blazblue: CS II | Tekken 6 | Marvel vs Capcom 3​

Mago is called the '2DGOD', but Tokido is the one who plays a lot of games (and wins them). Many people know Tokido for his Akuma in the SSFIV series, or his infamous pose in front of the projector during Akuma's ultra, but Tokido Murderface is way more skilled than people give him credit for. Mago might be called the '2DGOD' but Tokido is pretty much king of fighting games - 2D and 3D. While most people master one or two games at max, Tokido plays them all. While Tekken 6 players don't need to fear Wolfkrone, and MvC3 players don't need to worry about Poongko, everyone has to fear Tokido. Everyone. Consider this - Tokido came 1st in Super Street Fighter IV AND Marvel vs Capcom 3 at CEO 2011. Not only that, at Shadaloo Showdown 2011, Tokido came 4th in the SSFIV: AE tournament, but took 1st place in MvC3, Tekken 6, and Blazblue: CSII.

Tokido's most significant achievement this year has been the blowup of the US MvC3 scene. Marvel vs Capcom has always been 'America's game' and previous japanese efforts at tournaments have been modest at best. Tokido changed this, and how. While his first MvC3 outing was decent (thanks to training by Justin), he won CEO 2011 splendidly by beating Chris G and his previous mentor Justin Wong - putting fear of Japan in the hearts of MvC3 players. Despite this, Tokido is respected and admired by a lot of American players because of his sense of humor and ability to speak English. Even if Tokido doesn't take top spot in EVO 2k11, he will surely have enough cash win from all his entered games that he will surpass earnings by most top placers in the tournament.

Essential Viewing: J. Wong vs Tokido MvC3 CEO 2011 Finals | The Real Raging Demon | CEO 2011 SSFIV finals

Local Battles | Chris "ChrisG" Gonzalez
Best Known For: Marvel vs Capcom 3 | Mortal Kombat 9
Also look out for him in: Blazblue: CS II | Super Street Fighter IV: AE​

Chris G or "Chris Genius" or "Chris Godlike" is currently one of the gods of US MvC3 play. His former team of Wesker/Amaterasu/Phoenix was famously named 'Team Scooby Doo' by famous MvC player Yipes. Chris G replaced Phoenix with Ryu, and became the best Ryu player in the US MvC scene and a dominant threat in tournaments. He is considered as the best MvC3 player in the east coast, and is the biggest fan favorite besides west coast player Combofiend. Chris G is known for using flashy techniques in MvC3, like comboing from a Wesker call in from an Amaterasu slowdown super.

Besides MvC3, Chris G plays Reptile in Mortal Kombat 9, Sakura, Yang or Evil Ryu in SSFIV, and also plays Blazblue. While he is competent in SSFIV, Chris has become extremely popular in the MK9 community due to his blowup of the community loudest and most popular player Tom Brady. Chris G is considered as the best Reptile player, and one of the top MK players after Kabal player Michealangelo.

Essential Viewing: CEO 2011 MK9 finals | CEO MvC3 Losers Finals | Chris G vs Nerdjosh Battle of 8-bit & Up

Chung "Poongko" Gon
Best Known For: | Super Street Fighter IV: AE​

He might be the world's flashiest Street Fighter IV player, but many 'pro' gamers in the US didn't take Poongko seriously. Sure, he was the Korean national champion. And yes, he could play flashy with everyone from Ryu to Dan, but his dismal performance in the Gamestop SFIV invitational and absence of US tournament presence led to people taking Poongko for granted.

Until now. Poongko wouldn't have made this list if Shadaloo Showdown didn't happen. While SS2k11 only had 2 American players, it had the most stacked roster of any tournament outside EVO. We are talking Momochi, Gamerbee, Tokido, and Mago. Basically, 4 players that can give US AE players a run for their money. And Poongko beat them all. Poongko, who plays a character that has been nerfed from the previous iteration, beat the best Yun and Fei Long players in the world. And with that, he's become the wildcard of EVO 2k11. He can lose 0-2 and go home in the first round, or he can steamroll every player he faces. Every match against Poongko is going to me a flip of a coin because of his fearless playstyle. And its a coin most players don't want to flip.

Essential Viewing: Post - SS2K11 finals Interview |

Note: All times are in PDT. Please add 12 hours for Pakistan time.
​

Thursday, July 28th
2:00 PM – 8:00 PM: Early Badge Pickup, Outside of the Pavilion Ballroom
10:00 PM: Official Evo Pre-Party @ Insert Coin(s)

Friday, July 29th

Tournament Schedule
8:00 AM – 6:00 PM: Pool Play, SSF4:AE, MK9
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM: Quarterfinals, SSF4:AE MK9
8:00 PM – 11:00 PM: Semifinals, SSF4:AE, MK9

Panel Schedule
10:00 AM: Feed the Stream Monsters: A Guide to Broadcasting Fighting Games
12:00 PM: Skullgirls: A New Age of Heroines
2:00 PM: Inside the Mind of the Beast: Daigo Umehara Exposed!
4:00 PM: Marvel vs. Capcom 3: Past, Present, and Future!
6:00 PM: Screening, Bang the Machine

Saturday, July 30th

Tournament Schedule
8:00 AM – 6:00 PM: Pool Play, MvC3, Tekken 6, BlazBlue CS2
6:00 PM – 8:00 PM: Quarterfinals, MvC3, Tekken 6, BlazBlue CS2
8:00 PM – 11:00 PM: Semifinals, MvC3
12:00 AM: MvC3 EC vs. WC 5 on 5 Exhibition

Panel Schedule
10:00 AM: King of Fighters XIII: Panel and Discussion
12:00 PM: Street Fighter III: Online Edition, Reinventing a Classic
2:00 PM: Namco Bandai – Get Ready for the Next Panel!
4:00 PM: New Directions in Street Fighter X Tekken
6:00 PM: Screening, King of Chinatown
7:15 PM: Screening, Focus

Sunday, July 31

All times are approximate! We will also have some surprises in store throughout the day.

10:00 AM: Blazblue Finals
12:00 AM: Tekken 6 Finals
2:00 PM: Mortal Kombat 9 Finals
3:30 PM: SF3 Third Strike Exhibition
5:00 PM: Marvel Vs Capcom 3 Finals
6:30 PM: Screening, Balrog: Behind the Glory.
7:00 PM: SSF4:AE Finals
9:00 PM: Closing Ceremonies

EVO 2011 will be streamed jointly by TEAM SPOOKY, IPLAYWINNER and OFFCAST. There will be Two simultaeneous streams during Friday and Saturday. The Team Spooky channel will have the main stream, showing only SSFIV on Friday and only Marvel VS Capcom 3 on Saturday. It will also be the stream that will show the finals for all 5 games on Sunday.
The Offcast stream will stream will show the matches for other games like MK9, BB:CSII and Tekken 6.

In addition to these two streams, there will also be a post-tournament suite where competitors will take part in money matches. This 2011 version of the Salty Suite will be streamed by Iplaywinner.
All the streams will use ustream.tv to stream the tournament.

Commentary would be provided by Ultradavid and James Chen for the most part. But expect familiar faces like Spooky, Yipes and S-Kill to join as well.

STREAMS ARE HERE:
Evo 1: http://www.ustream.tv/evo2011
Evo 2: http://www.ustream.tv/evo2011bonus
Evo LQ (For slow connections): http://www.ustream.tv/channel/evo-low

 

[MicroNukeX]

Game is ON

Poongko is four rooms next to mine.
Mine is 1888
and poongko's is 1884.

WOW

+

i got my ps3 online and playing ranked matches with no less than GREEN BARS ... playing USA and kicking ass uptil now .... until the Big names for USA reach RIO Casino

 

[POTUFS]

sweet! try to prolong the inevitable. best of luck bro

 

[MicroNukeX]

For My Video UPDATES Follow

youtube.com/evo2011mnx

channel

 

[Ex0dus]

MICRONUKEX we need PICTURES!!!!!



HYPPEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!

 

[Imran Ahmed]

Poongko is four rooms next to mine.
Mine is 1888
and poongko's is 1884.

WOW

+

i got my ps3 online and playing ranked matches with no less than GREEN BARS ... playing USA and kicking ass uptil now .... until the Big names for USA reach RIO Casino

Yeup...in USA, theres no lag or unable bullshit...everythings green....nobody believed me

 

[MicroNukeX]

Update

dont worry you guys will get tons of pictures i promise .....

 

[Imran Ahmed]

alright MicronukeX...get em good for us...break a leg!

 

[MicroNukeX]

EVO Training MNX

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQzNsZ14y8whttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQzNsZ14y8w

 

[Omyakha]

Vegas baby! Best of luck MicroNukeX

 

[Necrokiller]

Good luck man!

LOVE that t-shirt btw.

 

[sephi22]

i got my ps3 online and playing ranked matches with no less than GREEN BARS ... playing USA and kicking ass uptil now .... until the Big names for USA reach RIO Casino

If you hear the sound of clicking buttons in rooms in the hotel, its probably people practicing. Say hi and ask if you can join them. They wont say no.
Also, try to ask around where the salty suite is. If you've got cash to spare they'll let you in and you can fight the best players and be on the stream.

---------- Post added at 07:01 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:48 AM ----------

STREAMS ARE HERE:
Evo 1: http://www.ustream.tv/evo2011
Evo 2: http://www.ustream.tv/evo2011bonus
Evo LQ (For slow connections): http://www.ustream.tv/channel/evo-low

 

[POTUFS]

would you believe it? a guy's in vegas and his vegas wife is ps3 and ssfiv

 

[MicroNukeX]

Ya i miss my wife and 3 daughters so much.

I visited the pavilion Ball Room.... nothing there yet. only chairs. No arrangements at all uptill now

---------- Post added at 02:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:13 PM ----------

I am at Rio now. FChamp and Ricky Ortiz, checked in the hotel 1 hour ago ...... Get Hype

 

[amirparvez]

EVO Training MNX

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQzNsZ14y8whttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KQzNsZ14y8w

Best of Luck Saqib Bro. I know you will do good no matter what

@Imran

I believed you

---------- Post added at 12:38 PM ---------- Previous post was at 12:29 PM ----------

Ya i miss my wife and 3 daughters so much.

I visited the pavilion Ball Room.... nothing there yet. only chairs. No arrangements at all uptill now

---------- Post added at 02:19 PM ---------- Previous post was at 02:13 PM ----------

I am at Rio now. FChamp and Ricky Ortiz, checked in the hotel 1 hour ago ...... Get Hype

Man this is no time for missing them, concentrate on Vegas ohh i mean on EVO As for FChamp i so want you to kick his ass , In real that is!!

 

[R3Z0N]

Good like Saqib Bhai, make Pakistan proud :]

 

[POTUFS]

wow! he could actually see the JEWS in flesh!

 

[killingHawk]

oye
wahan sirf games he khail raha hai na?
vegas also known as sin city
i meen lot of jheengalala

 

[Desolator]

Excellent OP Sephii. Really looking forward to this year's EVO.

@Saqib Bhai: Practice as much as you can. We're really looking forward to seeing you on the stream.

---------- Post added at 04:36 PM ---------- Previous post was at 04:33 PM ----------

Reposting about the players coming from Jap, Asia and Europe

There are about 15+ Jap players attending this year. Here is what I've gathered up from shoryuken.com.

From Japan

Confirmed
- Daigo Umehara
- Mago
- Tokido
- Shiro
- Fuudo
- Shungoku Neurosis
- KayoPolice
- Momochi
- ChocoBlanka
- Kindevu
- RF*
- Nyanshi
- Nabe
- Kuni*
Confirmed from Shadowloo(as it was stated that all of the top 16 from Shadowloo would be participating for EVO 2011)
-Makoto
-Itabashi Zangief
-Kindevu
-Uryo
-MOV
-Haitani

Not Confirmed yet
-R-




From Europe

Luffy,
Alioune,
Starnab,
Ryan Hart,
V-Ryu


From Asia excluding Jap

Poongko
Gamerbee

 

[HOTSHOT]

@MicroNukex
Can i haz your t shirt?

Anyway just like Amir Khan did in boxing. Do the exact thing with those pro's in SSFIV especially Daigo and show what pakistani are made of..