Britain wins the Street Fighter V world cup The biggest fighting game tournament in the world has a new Street Fighter V champion, as new characters G and Sagat are added. Capitol riot probe commission blocked from being created by Republicans The Evolution Championship Series (or Evo to its friends) has long been the biggest and most popular fighting game tournament in gaming, and following all the finals at the weekend it now has a new British champion. Benjamin ‘Problem X’ Simon has been officially acknowledged as the best Street Fighter V player in the world, with a surprise win over firm favourite Hajime ‘Tokido’ Taniguchi. Problem X was playing as M. Bison and Tokido as Akuma, which is even better for those that hate playing against Akuma players. It’s the first time ever that a British player has won the main Street Fighter final at Evo and the first time any British competitor has won at Evo since Ryan Hart on Tekken 5 back in 2008. For obvious reasons fighting game publishers always use Evo to make announcements, although this year there were no major new games. However, anime character Cooler was revealed for Dragon Ball FighterZ, SoulCalibur VI is getting fan favourites Seong Mi-na and Astaroth, and Tekken 7 announced Anna Williams, Lei Wulong, and… Negan from The Walking Dead. Street Fighter V also got two new characters, in the form of series regular Sagat and brand-new fighter G. G is clearly modelled after Abraham Lincoln (really) and describes himself as the President of the World. He’s got a special move called Message to the People, during which he delivers a political speech that increases his EX gauge. That’s just about as mad as anything Capcom has ever done for Street Fighter, but at least you can be relieved he doesn’t look like Donald Trump. Email gamecentral@ukmetro.co.uk, leave a comment below, and follow us on Twitter<doc-sep>SonicFox beats rival GO1 to win Dragon Ball FighterZ at EVO 2018 The first Dragon Ball FighterZ EVO champion has been crowned. And of course, it came down to the two best players in the world. Dragon Ball FighterZ promised to be one of the most exciting games to hit EVO. It did not disappoint and the tournament culminated with the game's top two players continuing their epic rivalry. Dominique "SonicFox" McLean and Goichi "GO1" Kushida met again in Grand Finals, but while Goichi threatened to run it all back by resetting the bracket, it was SonicFox who prevailed by taking the second set with a 3-0 sweep. SonicFox and his team of Bardock, Zamasu (Fused), and Android 16 walked into the Grand Finals without dropping a game, but Goichi quickly changed this with his team of Cell, Bardock, and Vegeta (Super Saiyan). Goichi caught on to his nemesis and was able to sweep the first Grand Finals set in a convincing 3-0 sweep. Goichi was playing so well that SonicFox took a moment to gather himself after the first set, with some interpreting the move as attempting to ice his opponent. SonicFox was able to gather himself, even as Goichi continued playing at a high level. The first round went back and forth and looked to belong to Goichi, as he managed to summon the dragon Shenron for the second time in the evening. SonicFox was still able to overcome this and managed to take the first round. He didn't look back, as went on to sweet the rest of the second set to claim the first EVO championship for Dragon Ball FighterZ. SonicFox and Goichi first met in a Winners Finals that was intense, but not one that was particularly close. SonicFox won that set 3-0, but there was still plenty of drama, especially as Goichi managed to summon Shenron in the third game. Goichi used the power of the Dragon Balls to restore his health, but even this gift from the mighty dragon still wasn't enough to overcome SonicFox's unstoppable offense. It should be noted that Sunday's tournament will not count towards the Dragon Ball FighterZ World Tour. The DBFZ World Tour will hold an online Southeast Asia tournament next week before heading down to Taipei for the Taiwan Fighter Major.<doc-sep>Several Bayonetta players made it into the Super Smash Brothers 4 finals at Evo 2018 this year, although surprisingly, last year’s Evo winner and Bayonetta player Saleem “Salem” Akiel Young wasn’t one of them. Salem’s upset last year coincided with the longstanding debate over whether Bayonetta’s combo-linking abilities make her an unfair opponent, and after tonight’s results, that debate shows no signs of slowing down. Advertisement The crowd soured on Bayonetta early on, when 16-year-old Bayo main Zack “CaptainZack” Lauth battled his way into the Top 8 finals to a chorus of booing from the crowd. After wrapping up his controller, CaptainZack shot a businesslike middle finger to the crowd. The commentators noted their disapproval of the young player’s behavior, but came down more strongly against the audience’s booing, which would continue throughout the rest of the Smash 4 finals. When Diddy Kong player Jestise “MVD” Negron lost his first Losers Quarter-Final match to Bayonetta main Tamim “Mistake” Omary, the crowd booed once again, but MVD turned around and waved his arms at them to quiet them. They cooled down after that, but then, MVD lost the match-up thanks to a poorly timed banana throw. Throughout the finals, other Smash pros weighed in on the crowd’s poor reception of Bayonetta players, with one posting that the boos were “a bad look.” CaptainZack posted, “stop booing me like I care,” and Mistake put up a photo of himself with the other two Bayonetta mains in Top 8, writing, “did we kill the game?” During the Losers Semi-Final, Japanese Diddy Kong and Sheik player Yuta “Nietono” Uejima managed to take down Mistake, but he couldn’t manage to defeat CaptainZack’s Bayonetta, who 3-0’d him and put him in third place overall. After that, it all came down to the young CaptainZack and the similarly young Tamim “Lima” Omary (age 16 and 17 respectively) in a Bayonetta versus Bayonetta battle for the top honors. Lima had already knocked CaptainZack to the losers bracket in a tight 3-2 match early on in the finals, and when CaptainZack came back to face him, Lima took the first two matches. Advertisement Then, CaptainZack turned it into a reverse sweep and won the match-up. During their final match, Lima died by accident, and CaptainZack flung himself off the ledge as well in a show of solidarity. After CaptainZack won that game and reset the bracket, kicking off yet another Bayo-vs-Bayo best-of-five, the crowd didn’t sound happy, but the two players on stage were laughing together like old friends. In fact, they didn’t seem to want to fight at all anymore. At the start of the final reset, CaptainZack and Lima faced their Bayonettas towards one another but didn’t attack for several seconds. The crowd roared in confusion; multiple Evo staffers came on stage to ask the players what was going on, with one eventually ordering the pair to get going and play already. The two complied, resulting in Lima’s eventual win. Lima and CaptainZack hugged, their happiness and pride evident despite the haters all around them. Advertisement Neither player was expected to win it all at Evo this year. Lima placed 9th in Evo 2017, and CaptainZack came in at 17th place last year. CaptainZack has told Kotaku in the past that, although he’s gotten death threats for playing as the controversial Bayonetta and also has “struggle[d] with self-confidence issues,” the character inspires him: “It’s her confidence, her sassiness, it’s what I aspire to be... I want to walk on-stage and I want people to be scared.” Smash 4 fans may hate these two, but based on their joy on stage at the event, they’ve clearly learned how to absorb those boos and become all the more powerful.<doc-sep>
The eight Street Fighter V competitors that made it into Evo 2018’s finals today looked very different from last year’s lineup. Aside from last year’s winner, Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi, every single one of the other finalists wasn’t on last year’s stage. Everybody assumed Tokido would win. But Evo 2018 finals have proven assumptions to be unwise, time and time again. The big contenders last year , like Victor “Punk” Woodley, Du “Nuckledu” Dang, and Ryan “FChamp” Ramirez, all got eliminated in this year’s competition pools. And in the very first match of the finals, Evo 2017 winner Tokido got knocked down to the losers bracket. T his Top 8 event was going to throw some curveballs. Two of the promising first-timers did get knocked out of the competition early, including the American favorite Marcus “The Cool Kid93" Redmond, as well as the Dominican Republic’s Cristopher “Caba” Rodriguez. Both had impressive performances in their debuts under the bright lights and loud crowds of the Evo arena, though, with each narrowly losing 2-3 against more experienced opponents that had made it into Evo finals in years past. Here’s the name of the newcomer to the Evo arena stage that everyone will remember after tonight: Benjamin “Problem-X” Simon, a British M. Bison player who competed in Evo last year but got eliminated in qualifying pools. This year, he made it all the way to the grand finals with M. Bison plays that were as cool and calculated as the buttoned-up dictator. Problem-X would watch and wait, sliding out poked attacks and confirming them into deathly scissor-kicks and well-practiced combos. While Problem-X showed off his conditioning in the winners bracket, Tokido battled his way through the entire losers bracket, eventually facing the very fighter who had put him there in the first place: Keita “Fuudo” Ai. Fuudo has placed first in Street Fighter at Evo before, albeit not SFV, but Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition back in 2011. Throughout his run in losers, though, Tokido kept on smiling, and he was still smiling when he came face to face with Fuudo again. The smile was an ominous change for Tokido, whose nickname “Murderface” refers to his icy focus and meditative precision. As the Street Fighter V finals headed well past 11:30 pm, Tokido kept on grinning, putting on a much more powerful performance against Fuudo in this second go-round. Tokido showed off his versatility with Akuma, tossing out dangerous and unexpected moves yet seeing those risks pay off, while still maintaining his precision by teching throws and nailing his anti-airs. In the end, Tokido cleared his way out of losers and back into the winners finals, seemingly on his way towards a second year of earning the Evo trophy. But Problem-X was waiting for him. In Evo 2018, he was a newcomer in the same position as Victor “Punk” Woodley last year. From the UK instead of America, but still a first-timer to the Evo arena stage, the M. Bison main was not smiling as wide as the experienced Tokido. Unlike Punk last year, though, Problem-X stayed on point. He brought out his same methodical combos, his same scissor-kicks, his same patience. But Tokido’s experience and Akuma’s versatility are nothing to deny, and eventually, the veteran clawed his way back into a bracket reset. It was midnight local time, by now. Tokido’s smile looked much weaker. Problem-X looked tired, sweating, rubbing his hands over the bridge of his nose. But he had more fight left in him. And in the end, he scissor-kicked his way to victory. Problem-X’s win echoes the Tekken 7 results today, in which a younger competitor also beat a veteran, as well as the Melee results, which featured several unexpected competitors in finals and also the toppling of a god. Clearly, anything can happen at Evo.