What Was It Like Participating in EVO During a Pandemic?

 

 

So I know you all don't know this about me, but I'm really into fighting games. I got really into them in 2009 after Street Fighter IV came out and I learned about the tournament scene. I participated in my first Tekken 6 tournament, though it wasn't really a real tournament as no one else showed up so I won by default. I spent a few years playing in local sessions and getting third place at my first tournament in 2012. I participated in another one prior, but was eliminated quickly after being told that my button layout was illegal. So when I had my first tournament since then fully aware of the rules and used the default button layout. I got third place which surprised the hell out of me because the only practice I got was against the CPU and my little brother.

I ended up losing to a Steve player that threw a lot and that was the end of my tournament plays until 2021. So at the start of 2020 I had big plans to venture out. I would join the competitive scene again, attend E3 and EVO, but unfortunately that was when we were hit with that virus called COVID 19. It fucked everything up. My plans were shot and really the whole competitive scene was restricted to online events and still those were sparse at the time. Last year was also when Mr. Wizard, the previous CEO of EVO was outed as sexual assault perpetrator along with over a hundred people in the Super Smash Bros. community. It was unclear at the time where the fighting game scene was going until Sony came and purchased EVO back in March of this year.

For the first time of their twenty-five plus history, EVO would be an all-digital event. EVO Online 2021's lineup would consist of Skullgirls: 2nd Encore, Mortal Kombat 11, Guilty Gear Strive, Tekken 7, and Street Fighter V. There were also a couple of side tournaments like Dragon Ball Fighterz, and Granblue Fantasy Versus. This year entries were free and instead of a single tournament for everyone in the world, tournaments would be split into regions. I went online one day to the official EVO website and clicked on the register button. I was lead to the website smash.gg. with an interface that slightly reminds me of WordPress. I had to navigate to the EVO 2021 and select Tekken 7. I was asked to pick my region and list my Steam ID and PSN, though the PSN username wasn't necessary as the Tekken 7 tournament was PC only. On the tournament registration page was also a link to an invitation to the EVO discord channel.

 

The discord had channels for general discussions, announcements, and Tekken 7 NA matchups. On the August 6 the day of the tournament three new channels opened for pool brackets and for people requesting to be disqualified if they were unable to participate. Players were appointed to a pdf guide for matchups. Players had to meet on smash gg first and check in. After the first player checked in the second had ten minutes to check in before he or she was disqualified. Since there were no moderators spectating the matches once a set of matches were finished players were to submit the results on smash.gg. There would be a screen where the player would pick who the winner of the first match was and what characters were used and the results for the second and third if there was a third. The opponent would hit a button agreeing to the results. Each player can also submit a screenshot as proof of their win. If a player disputed the results a player can request a mod in the chat function to determine the winner. This was my first tournament in nine years so there was a bit of confusion for me. I took this very seriously so I checked on everything hours beforehand which was a bit to my detriment as a moderator told me some of the options weren't up until an hour before the tournament started. Around two o'clock PM that day the discord chat started to get very busy. I saw many other people asking about proper check-in. I tried to hit up my forty minutes beforehand as players were suggested to invite one or the other via Steam and his Steam ID wasn't visible on his profile. Players had to communicate with the chat function on smash.gg. I checked in exactly at three, but my opponent was nowhere to be found.

I spoke up about it in the Discord, but another user told me just to wait for the auto dq which is what ended up happening. What an anticlimactic start to my first EVO. Still, a win was a win. Famed player and my personal favorite, Cuddle Core entered the pool chat. She too, had a no show for her first match. I told her to kick some ass and waited for my first real match. I almost missed it in fact. I had to call a moderator on smash.gg to confirm my first disqualification and to check up on my next match. The timer already started on my next one without me being notified. A mod had to inform my opponent that there was a mistake and I went on to start my match. I asked in the chat what my opponent's Steam ID was, but it took too long so I looked in the Tekken 7 sessions and found my opponent's username Shadow 20oz. I tried to join, but the room closed quickly. I had to go back in the chat and asked what happened. He said "hold on I'll invite you" and then I was sent an invite over Steam and entered his room. I played Alisa as that was the only character I had time to learn before the tournament and Shadow 20 oz picked Claudio.

He fucking wrecked me. It was a quick 2-0. I felt so bad. I was like "Damn, I got knocked out of this tournament already," but I was quickly reminded in Discord that there was a loser's bracket so I had another chance for glory. My next opponent would be another Claudio player and after just getting my ass whooped by Shadow 20z it was an understatement to say that I was nervous. This Claudio player wasn't nearly as good though so I ended up beating him pretty quickly. I took a screenshot, reported my wins, and went on to look for my next match. My next matches were against a Jin player at the Mishima Dojo. His Jin was no match for me. I took three rounds easy. In the second match he switched to Devil Jin. I was doing okay at first. I lost due to me panicking and forgetting how to deal with Devil Jin when he takes flight. In the third match though I pretty much handed his ass.

I checked for my next match and I automatically moved up two rounds as my next two opponents were automatically disqualified. I assume they dropped out before the tournament started. So I was up to round nine for my next match against a Kunimitsu player with a Tekken True God rank. Now the highest rank I ever made it to was Revered Ruler or whatever the highest purple rank is so I really got my ass handed to me. I always had some problems with Kunimitsu, but this Kunimitsu was a beast. She kept me pressured, punished perfectly, and did max damage in combos. I lost two matches with the quickness. My opponent was cool though. After our set he played some more matches with me as he was moving to the top forty-eight and his next match wasn't up for another hour. I still got my ass beat in those, but I was learning as I was playing.

So this is what is was like participating in EVO 2021. Though I didn't get as far as I liked I still had a great time and was glad that I had the experience. Maybe in 2022 if things are safe again I'll be able to attend in Las Vegas.