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Daigo (Evil Ryu), Xian (Gen) out in top 16, previous year’s champion eliminated in group stages by Dieminion (Guile).

It’s Evo 2015 this entire weekend (17-19^th July) and the first full day of SF4 pools has just ended. Street Fighter, the largest attraction and main “game” for EVO since its introduction in 2002 boasts free-for-all entry, allowing professional and casual players alike to sign up for the tournament. This year’s tournament boasts a 2200-man cohort, which was whittled down to a top 8 in just one day.

A truly wonderful time as known players in the Fighting games community get eliminated by unknown players – “Hey who did you get eliminated by?” “… I don’t know!” – and a time for rivalries to resurface. Xian (Gen) vs Snake Eyes (Zangief), NuckleDu (Guile) vs Japan, America vs the World.

Although on home turf, most of the American players lack the years of tournament experience that the Japanese veterans bring to the table. 801 strider, beating Daigo Umehara (Evil Ryu) in Community Effort Orlando (CEO) 2015, failed to do the same at loser’s bracket semifinals on the main stage and was eliminated. Likewise, Kazunoko (Yun), who won CEO 2015 and placed 4^th in South East Asia Major (SEAM) 2015 leading up to EVO, was eliminated by PR_Balrog (Balrog) in his revenge climb back from the loser’s bracket and finished in 9^th place.

It was heartbreak for returning champions Luffy (Rose), Daigo (Evil Ryu), Xian (Gen) and Fuudo (Fei Long) as Luffy (Rose) got eliminated in his pool semifinals against YOMI|Dieminion (Guile), Xian (Gen) dropping to EVO2014 roadblock-turned-nemesis Snake Eyes (Zangief) in a heartbreaking déjà vu repeat. Daigo (Evil Ryu), who tore through opposition in after being sent into losers by Teammate Tokido (Akuma), was stopped by AVermedia|GamerBee (Elena) in spite of an early 1-0 lead

The winners and losers of USF4 Top 8.

Your Top 8

Street Fighter has some of the coolest and most well-known fighting characters in the whole world.

Tokido and Momochi the Japanese overlords who have dominated every opponent they have come across, aiai(Juri) the unknown player from Japan who showed real flair against Dieminion (Guile), Daigo (Evil Ryu) and Xiao Hai (Evil Ryu, Cammy), pressing his Feng Shui Engine to the maximum in his offense.

Chun Li. Rolento and Balrog.

INFILTRATION (Chun Li), returning champion from EVO 2012 with Akuma and Gouken, on Chun Li with 3^rd strike tactics.PR_Balrog (Balrog) who “retired” earlier this year only to return to the game, putting on his boxer’s gloves and slugging out the best through his journey to Top 8. BE|NEMO, with an unorthodox Rolento, dancing around with normal and special moves.

Elena and Guile.

AVM|GamerBee (Elena), who stopped Daigo’s loser bracket rampage and has consistently performed well with Adon, and Liquid|NuckleDu, America’s second last hope and offensive Guile player.

Its Street Fighter 4’s final year, and the swan song finals begin on Sunday, 19^th July, 6pm PST. Catch the action over at twitch.tv/srkevo1 and follow their twitter @evo2k!

You can follow me on twitter @TheFreakofnatur and email me at [email protected]. Until next time!

Chen Yiji
The Gaming Ground
Twitter: @TheFreakofnatur