Street Fighter V
Evo 2017 was the second year that Street Fighter V was featured on the big stage with the event once again being the closing game.[4][19] Ryota "Kazunoko" Inoue would notably place 3rd in the tournament, making his appearance in the Street Fighter V finals his second Top 8 finish during the event. Hiromiki "Itabashi Zangief" Kumada would place 4th in the event; both Kazunoko and Itabashi Zangief were sent to the Loser's Bracket by the event's eventual runner-up Victor "Punk" Woodley.[38] The finals had a diverse number of characters including Karin, Nash, Cammy, Zangief, and Akuma.[39]
The Grand Finals was a showdown between Japan's Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi and the United States's Victor "Punk" Woodley. Tokido took the first two games with the first match notably having Tokido using Akuma's taunt to defeat Punk's Karin.[40][41] Tokido's relentless pressure, okizeme, and fireball game would lead to him resetting the bracket 3-1 and then follow it up with a clean 3–0 upset over Punk in order to become the Evo 2017 Street Fighter V champion.[42] Tokido received $35,000 for winning the finals and at the time moved up to second place in the Capcom Pro Tour 2017 standings.[38] This victory would also give Tokido his third EVO trophy, with his first two being for Capcom vs. SNK 2 (2002) and Super Street Fighter II Turbo (2007).[41]
PC Gamer described the grand finals between Tokido and Punk as a match between a veteran and a newcomer as the players at the time of the event were 32 and 18 respectively.[43] One of the Twitch commentators at the end of the finals, James Chen, notably bursted in tears and gave a message saying "Evo is love. L-O-V-E. When you hold that L and run it back: EVO.”; the message is a response to all of the passion and support that the fighting game community has done towards the events and fighting games.[44]
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
Taking the spot of Melee on Sunday, Wii U nevertheless saw a drop in attendance from 2016, but still had the second highest attendance of any game at Evo 2017 with the exception of Street Fighter V. Wii U featured many notable upsets; the game's 2016 winner Elliot "Ally" Carroza-Oyarce and runner-up Takuto "Kameme" Ono were both eliminated before the semi-final round. Ultimately, despite seven of the final thirty-two players using the controversial top tier Bayonetta, only one secured a place in the finals, and each of the top eight players mained a different character. Evo 2015 champion Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios of Chile defeated veteran player Larry "Larry Lurr" Holland in winners' finals 3-2 after being down 2–0. Saleem "Salem" Young, after being sent to the losers' bracket by Larry Lurr, defeated Kengo "KEN" Suzuki in losers' quarters, Gavin "Tweek" Dempsey in losers' semifinals, and won a rematch with Larry Lurr 3–1 in losers' finals. Salem would then go on to win the tournament, resetting the bracket against ZeRo 3-2 and then winning 3–2 in the second set of grand finals.[45]
Tekken 7
The third year at the Evolution Championship Series and its first since its console release,[46] Tekken 7 had over 1,200 entrants competing for a qualification to the Tekken World Tour finals. South Korea was the most dominant region represented in the finals with half of the Top 8 being Korean players. Sang-hyeon "JEOnnding" Jeon was the lowest finishing of the four in 5th place, with the top three being established EVO champions; Jae-min "Knee" Bae, Jin-woo "Saint" Choi, and Hyun-jin "JDCR" Kim placing 3rd, 2nd, and 1st respectively. JDCR's victory in an Echo Fox team kill Grand Finals lead to him receiving his second EVO championship, his previous title was in 2014 for Tekken Tag Tournament 2.[47][48]
BlazBlue: Central Fiction
Although BlazBlue: Central Fiction didn't have more entrants than its sibling, Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2, the finals did not disappoint. The title is considered to be among the most popular fighting games in Japan, in which all of the Top 8 finalists hailed from. In the grand finals, it came down to Shoji “Fenrich” Sho and Ryusei Ito using Jin and Carl respectively. Both have played each other frequently in tournaments and are well acquainted friends. Fenrich was able to reset the bracket, sending Ryusei Ito to the loser's bracket; however in the final game of the event, Ryusei came out as the victor 3–2.[49][50]
The finals of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 at Evo 2017 was considered by many as the game's swan song. The defending champion, Christopher "NYChrisG" Gonzalez would fall second place to fellow Morrigan player, Rene "RyanLV" Romero. RyanLV benefited in the grand finals with his unique synergy of Chun-Li, Morrigan, and Phoenix; a style which emphasized very heavily on offensive play, in contrast to NYChrisG's defensive play.[51][52] The third-place finisher, Canada's Jose "Quackbot" Aldape (who entered as PC Marvel God), was a surprise by many as he upset many fan favorites along the way including Ichihara Takumi, Kenneth "K-Brad" Bradley, Vineeth "ApologyMan" Meka, Justin Wong, Raynel "RayRay" Hidalgo among others.[28]
Super Smash Bros. Melee
Although the finals took place on Saturday, the Super Smash Bros. Melee event had as much excitement as the previous years. One notable upset was where fan favorite, William "Leffen" Hjelte was notably eliminated by Ryan "The Moon" Coker-Welch in a match to advance in Top 8 in Loser's Bracket. Adam "Armada" Lindgren would face off against Joseph "Mango" Marquez in the Winner's Finals with Armada sending Mango to Loser's Finals, 3–0. Mango then eliminated the defending champion, Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma over the course of five close games. In Grand Finals, Armada won the first set 3-1 and took the title of EVO champion for the second time.[53][54][55]
Injustice 2
In its debut year at the Evolution Championship Series, Injustice 2 had one of the most unexpected victories at the event. While Echo Fox's Dominique "SonicFox" McLean was the favorite to win the event, he fell victim to Tim "HoneyBee" Commandeur's Flash in Winner's and Andrew "Semiij" Fontanez' Catwoman and netted himself a fifth-place finish. The grand finals would see HoneyBee face off against Ryan "Dragon" Walker in a runback from Winner's Finals. Dragon would come out on top with his Aquaman secondary 3–2 against HoneyBee's Flash. The event saw plenty of character diversity with characters such as Atrocitus, Catwoman, Poison Ivy, Batman, Black Adam, Brainiac and the aforementioned Flash and Aquaman receiving exposure.[56][57] Many of the mistakes in the finals made[57] were attributed to the title's status as a recently released title as Injustice 2 was released two months prior to the event itself.
The King of Fighters XIV
As with the previous years that the King of Fighters franchise was represented, which was with the thirteenth installment; the Evo 2017 King of Fighters XIV tournament had global talent represented in its Top 8 with six countries represented. The finals saw some upsets as the Evo 2013 champion and KOF XIV World Champion, Reynald Tacsuan and Murakami "M'" Masanobu respectively, were notably eliminated by Chia-Chen "ZJZ" Tseng and Ruber "Pako" Partida respectively. Ultimately, Taiwanese player and Evo 2014 3rd placer Chia-Hung Lin "E.T." Lin would become the champion after defeating the Evo 2014 champion, Zhuojun "Xiao Hai" Zeng of China with a 3-2 finish, having earned 60% of the $14,000 pot bonus.[59][60] His victory was attributed to a surprise character pick in which Goro Daimon was used.[61]
