Evo 2020 is going to be full of familiar titles. Seven of the nine main games are coming back for another year on the biggest stage in the Fighting Game Community from July 31 to Aug. 2.
As with pretty much every Evo, there is representation from almost all of the different FGC scenes, but there will always be a few popular games that are left on the wayside due to the limited spots. As with most recent years at Evo, nine fighting games are selected for the event’s main stage, while other games take up the side stages for some community events too.
For Evo 2020, there are seven returning titles, one new game making its debut, and an old favorite coming back in a unique way.
- Street Fighter V: Champion Edition
- Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
- Tekken 7
- Dragon Ball FighterZ
- Samurai Shodown
- Granblue Fantasy Versus
- SoulCalibur VI
- Under Night In-Birth
- Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (2ournament of Champions)
The new iteration of SFV is headlining the returning games from last year’s Championship Sunday along with Tekken 7 and Smash Ultimate. And while Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar said the Evo team won’t be confirming the arena titles yet, it is almost a guarantee that those three titles will be wrapping up on the final day again.
DBFZ is also a strong contender for a Sunday spot, and fans will be looking forward to a third straight year of Dominique “SonicFox” McLean and Goichi “GO1” Kishida battling for the World Championship title. Both players have one win under their belt, so this is a real-life best of three to see who is the best in the world.
SCVI, SamSho, and UNIST are all back too after having amazing turnouts last year as first-time appearances at Evo 2019. Hopefully, those titles will be back and bigger than ever after in their second showing.
And as the only new title this year, Granblue Fantasy Versus should bring in some of the Guilty Gear crowd to compete again while they wait for news about Guilty Gear Strive‘s release date.
The final announcement was a bit of a weird one, as the Evo team announced a special eight-man bracket for the 20th Anniversary of Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes.
Titled the Justin 2ournament of Champions, the four Evo Champions from the game’s history will all be coming out, taking up four of the spots right away. Those players are:
- Duc “Ducvader” Do (1996, 2005)
- Justin “JWong” Wong (2001-04, 2006, 2008, 2010)
- Michael “IFC Yipes” Mendoza (2007)
- Sanford Kelly (2009)
The remaining four spots will be decided later, but it is unknown if it will be through a special qualifying tournament at another event or if it will be through four more invites sent out by the Evo staff.
Registration for all applicable Evo 2020 tournaments, volunteer positions, and commentary personnel is now open on the official website, so make sure to lock in your position before the rates increase or you forget to sign up at all.
Published: Feb 4, 2020 11:27 pm