The climatic conclusion to Tekken 7: Fated Retribution took place during the early hours of the Evolution Championship Series' second day. But despite the early time slots, there was no shortage of excitement or country pride.
There was representation of both the new as well as the elite play from the old guard. The players from South Korea showed up in force, with half of the Top 8 comprised of Jung "narakhof" Joong Joo, Team Secret's Lee "Poongko" Chung Gon, Jae "knee" Min Bae, and Choi "SAINT" Jin Woo.
The latter three would be the tournament's top three placers. The old guard would include SAINT, knee and Japanese phenomenon, Nakayama "Yamasa|Nobi" Daichi. As for the new blood, they were led by the duo from the USA, Anthony "Geesemaster" Jaimes and Circa eSports' Stephen "Speedkicks" Stafford. The tournament's varied Top 8 showcased Tekken's bright future in the community.
Here comes a new challenger: Poongko
Poongko's recent move and dedication to Tekken paid off. Because of a slow start to his Street Fighter V career, and despite a plethora of accomplishments in Street Fighter IV, Poongko decided the move to the new exciting version of Tekken would be beneficial. He wasn't wrong. His first major foray into the game, at Evo no less, would prove to be a fruitful one. He made the Top 8 of an absolutely stacked bracket and did so with signature flair. His first match of the winner's bracket was against Anthony "Geesemaster" Jaimes, arguably one of the bigger surprises of the tournament. It was a close engagement, but Poongko's ability to throw caution to the wind and correctly call out his uppercuts ended up being the difference.
But with good Poongko, you also get the bad. His winner's finals against SAINT was full of hard reads, missed Raging Demons, and a few too many desperation uppercuts. He would lose that set 3-0. The loser's final would be more of the same when he ran into another buzzsaw of an opponent. But Poongko's impact was felt. He was already an audience favorite and perhaps could inject an additional punch of excitement to a community that usually sees a shortage of new blood.
The standard bearers: knee and SAINT
SAINT and knee continued to dominate in the Tekken world. The duo would enter the tournament's grand finals with SAINT ultimately emerging as the victor. Both played the game with extended bouts of brilliance. Knee's highlight demolition of narakhof provided a perfect visual of the level of control and suffocation that could only come from his offense. As for SAINT, his dismantling of everyone with the powered-up Jack-7 provided a resounding message to every Tekken competitor: I'm not going away anytime soon.
Their grand finals set was a back-and-forth affair. Whenever one brought forth an avalanche of offense, the other would respond in kind. The pair would even engage in lengthy stare-offs with both rage meters blinking. With the score at 2-2, SAINT took to a slower approach and finally dispatched his worthy opponent. His follow-up celebration and scream on stage showed just how much the win meant to him.
Although the absence of Tekken staple, Hyunjin "JDCR" Kim, in the Top 8 was a surprise to many, his fellow countrymen more than carried the banner. If this year was any indication, South Korea is still the top country to take down in competitive high-level Tekken.