Day 1 at the Evolution Championship Series featured plenty of upsets and twists at the top, with "Tekken 7" reaching its final eight players and a thrilling build-up in the Guilty Gear pool.
With three countries represented in "Tekken 7: Fated Retribution," the difference in skill was unnoticeable; it was parity at its finest. There will be three Korean players represented in the winner's side of the tournament: Jae "knee" min Bae, Choi "SAINT" Jinwoo and the always-entertaining Lee "Poongko" Chunggon of Team Secret. The U.S.'s Anthony "Geesemaster" Jaimes will round out the winner's side of the top eight. On the loser's side, Japan will be represented by two of its absolute finest: Aoki "TAKE" Takehiko and early tournament favorite Nakayama "Yamasa|Nobi" Daichi. And joining them will the last Korean player, Jung "narakhof" Joong Joo and the last U.S. representative, Stephen "Speedkicks" Stafford of Circa eSports.
There were plenty of upsets that led to this diverse top eight. Circa eSports' crowd favorite Hoa "Anakin" Luu was eliminated well short of the estimated goal to be among the finalists. And the last big shocker was the elimination of Tekken staple, Hyunjin "JDCR" Kim in ninth place. When the top eight begins, look for fireworks from dark horses Poongko and Geesemaster -- this will be a Tekken finals for the ages.
Guilty Gear Xrd: Revelator was as topsy-turvy as could be. In what could only be summed up as an intense and unexpected top eight for the tournament, these finals may very well steal the entire Evo show. Japan is well represented with six players, followed by Korea and the U.S. with one representative apiece. The favorite, Masahiro "Machabo-" Tominaga, is still in a great position to claim his throne and assert himself as the force of nature that many thought he could be. He came in with the muted hope but provided plenty of proof that he belonged as the day unfolded.
If there could be a contender to crush Machabo-, it might be Kenichi "Ogawa" Ogawa or the dark horse Omito "Omito" Hashimoto. Of course, Ryota "Kazunoko" Inoue should never be ignored, but it's difficult to pen him as the favorite to take the tournament. As for the long shots, Kyohei "MarlinPie" Lehr and Yu "TopGaren" Gyungwoo, they're both in the loser's bracket and face a country that came in large numbers to dominate Guilty Gear. It would take a minor miracle, but crazier things have happened; this is Evo, after all.