The dust has settled and only eight players stand tall in the biggest Evo event in history.
From the crucible of over 16,000 entrants across eight games, we have our Evo 2024 champions. Emotions ran high as years of hard work and sacrifice finally paid themselves off at the Las Vegas Convention Center.
Some of the best matches to ever grace the Evo mainstage took place last weekend. You can relive those moments at the official Evo Youtube channel but we’ve got a quick run down right here.
Zeng “Xiao Hai” Zhuojun – King of Fighters XV
Proving himself as the undisputed king of KoFXV, Xiao Hai takes his third consecutive Evo championship. Xiao Hai has been taking names in KoF ever since he won his first Evo title in 2014 for KoFXIII.
This Evo run, however, has been practically spotless, with Xia Hai dropping only one game in the winner’s finals. With this likely being KoFXV’s last Evo, making way for Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves next year, it’s only fitting that the best KoF player in the world keeps his throne.
Dominique “SonicFox” McLean – Mortal Kombat 1
Speaking of undisputed champions, SonicFox bags his seventh Evo Mortal Kombat trophy in Evo 2024.
This is hot off the heels from his victory in Final Kombat 2024 last month, where he bested Nicolas Martinez in both tournaments at the grand finals.
Senaru – Under Night In-Birth II
On the flipside, Japan’s Senaru not only wins the first tournament of his career but is Evos’ first UNI2 champion. He’s been competing since 2015 in small scale tournaments and even played in this year’s Evo Japan.
At that time he only finished in ninth place but now, after traveling all the way to America, he can call himself a champion.
Joe “MOV” Egami – Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
Even with close to two decades of playing, MOV proves that he’s still one of the best Chun-Li players in the world by taking 3rd Strike at Evo 2024. Celebrating 20 years since the iconic Moment #37, Evo’s 3rd Strike throwback tournament was the very definition of hype.
The game is 25+ years old but there are still people who love the game to this day. So much so that this became 3rd Strike’s biggest tournament of all time at 1,101 competitors.
Aaron “Aarondamac” Godinez – Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
Another player to include his name among Evo champions in Evo 2024 is Aarondamac after taking GBVSR.
As a consistent face among Arc System Works’ different fighting games, Aarondamac finally gets his big break after beating one of Japan’s best, Tororo, twice. Once in winners finals and the other in grand finals, both being incredibly close 3-2 matches.
Shamar “Nitro” Hinds – Guilty Gear: Strive
Joining Aarondamac as a first time Evo winner is Nitro for Guilty Gear: Strive. Nitro has been on the cusp for a while now but he really went above and beyond in Evo 2024. He beat mainstays such as Kim “Daru I-No” Jae-won and Matthew “TempestNYC” Tulloch on his way to top six.
To top it all off, he had to beat the one player to defeat him, Japan’s tatuma, in a grand finals bracket reset before he could become an Evo champion.
Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique – Tekken 8
The more things change, the more they stay the same as Arslan Ash takes Tekken 8’s Evo debut tournament.
The Pakistani prodigy had a rough start early in the year but he’s since bounced back in spectacular fashion. This marks Arslan’s fifth consecutive Evo championship for Tekken and it doesn’t look like he’s showing signs of slowing down.
Victor “Punk” Woodley – Street Fighter 6
Last but certainly not the least is Punk finally putting his name among Evo’s storied champions in Evo 2024.
The brash and loudmouthed competitor has always been at the top among Street Fighter pros but has always fallen painfully short when it comes to an Evo trophy. But now, after trying and failing and trying again, he’s proven to be a real Alpha as he’s now Evo’s second Street Fighter 6 champion.
Banner photo from Qiddiya Gaming.
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