{{Short description|Fighting game event}} {{Infobox sport tournament | name = 2019 Evolution Championship Series | year = | image = Evo Championship Series logo cropped.png | caption = Evolution Championship Series logo | location = Las Vegas, Nevada, United States | start_date = August 2 | end_date = 4, 2019 | administrator = | tournament_format = | venues = Mandalay Bay | participants = | purse = | champions = {{Plainlist| * '''''SSBU''''': Leonardo "MKLeo" Lopez Perez * '''''T7''''': Arslan "Arslan Ash" Siddique * '''''SFVAE''''': Masato "Bonchan" Takahashi * '''''BBTAG''''': Oscar "Shinku" Jaimes * '''''MK11''''': Dominique "SonicFox" McLean * '''''SS''''': Seon-Woo "Infiltration" Lee * '''''DBFZ''''': Goichi "GO-1" Kishida * '''''UNIST''''': Masaru "ClearLamp" Higuchi * '''''SCVI''''': Yuta "Yuttoto" Sudo }} | attendance = ~9,000 | previous = 2018 | next = 2020 (cancelled) }}
The '''2019 Evolution Championship Series''' (commonly referred to as '''Evo 2019''' or '''EVO 2019''') was a fighting game event held in Las Vegas from August 2 to 4, 2019 as part of the long-running Evolution Championship Series. The event offered tournaments for various video games, including ''Street Fighter V'', ''Tekken 7'', and ''Dragon Ball FighterZ'', as well as the newly released ''Soulcalibur VI'', ''Mortal Kombat 11'', ''Samurai Shodown'', and ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate''; the latter received the most entrants with over 3,500 players participating, making it the largest in person ''Super Smash Bros.'' tournament of all time.
==Venue== EVO 2019 was, once again, hosted at the Mandalay Bay resort. The Mandalay Bay Convention Center hosted the first two days of the event, while the Mandalay Bay Events Center hosted the final day for the fourth consecutive year.
==Games== The lineup was announced in February 2019 to have 9 games. Returning from last year are ''Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition'', ''Tekken 7'', ''Dragon Ball FighterZ'', and ''BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle''. New additions are ''Soulcalibur VI'', ''[[Under Night In-Birth|Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st]]]'', ''Samurai Shodown'', ''Mortal Kombat 11'', and ''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'', which effectively replaced ''Super Smash Bros. for Wii U''. Notably, this is the first year since EVO 2013 where ''Super Smash Bros. Melee'' was not included in the lineup, and was relegated to a side-event.
==Participants== Over 9,000 participants were at Evo 2019.
==Broadcast== As usual, the tournament was streamed on the streaming site Twitch, broadcast across multiple different streams.
==Reveals== A few days before the tournament, a trailer for ''Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition'' revealing three upcoming characters, E. Honda, Poison, and Lucia from ''Final Fight'' was accidentally uploaded to Steam a few days ahead of its reveal at EVO by Valve, who apologized for the upload, stating that it was a "Regrettable and unintentional situation".<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.gamespot.com/articles/valve-leaks-street-fighter-5-dlc-ahead-of-evo-issu/1100-6468811/|title=Valve Leaks Street Fighter 5 DLC Ahead Of EVO, Issues Apology|website=GameSpot|publisher=Jordan Ramée|accessdate=August 3, 2019}}</ref>
After the finals for ''[[Under Night In-Birth|Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late [st]]]'' concluded on Saturday, the game director of French Bread, Kamone Serizawa took to the stage to announce the newest version of the game, titled ''Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late [cl-r]'' alongside new character, Londrekia Light, with the game slated for an early 2020 release.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.eventhubs.com/news/2019/aug/03/under-night-birth-exe-latecl-r-new-character-londrekia-coming-early-2020/|title=Under Night In-Birth EXE: Late[cl-r] with new character Londrekia coming early 2020|website=Eventhubs|publisher=Justin Gordon|accessdate=August 3, 2019}}</ref>
After the ''BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle'' finals ended, Arc System Works revealed a major update to the game and revealed four out of nine new characters including Yumi from the ''Senran Kagura'' series, Akatsuki and Blitztank from ''Akatsuki Blitzkampf'', and Neopolitan from ''RWBY'', with a release date of November 21.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://nintendowire.com/news/2019/08/05/blazblue-cross-tag-battle-adding-nine-more-characters-enter-senran-kagura-akatsuki-blitzkampf-and-more-rwby/|title=BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle adding nine more characters; enter Senran Kagura, Akatsuki Blitzkampf, and more RWBY|website=Nintendo Wire|publisher=Ricky Berg|accessdate=August 15, 2019}}</ref>
==''Metal Gear Solid'' incident== During the ''Tekken 7'' Grand Finals, a clip played in the form of a ''Metal Gear Solid''-like codec call. It featured Solid Snake from the ''Metal Gear Solid'' franchise talking to ''Tekken'' producer Katsuhiro Harada saying "That was some good ass Tekken". The audience believed Solid Snake was being teased as the game's next DLC character. However, the official EVO Twitter account confirmed that the clip was not an official tease, but a joke that was done without the consent of Bandai Namco. Harada was surprised by the video and fans expressed dismay that it was not a real announcement. More than 12 hours since EVO made the statement, David Hayter, the voice of the character that was used in the clip, stated in a tweet that they have "failed to consult me, or Konami", reiterating to not use his voice to promote other games.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://kotaku.com/an-evo-2019-joke-had-fans-thinking-snake-would-be-in-te-1836971892|title=An Evo 2019 Joke Had Fans Thinking Snake Would Be In Tekken 7|website=Kotaku|publisher=Heather Alexandra|accessdate=August 15, 2019}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.digitaltrends.com/gaming/solid-snake-actor-david-hayter-calls-out-evo/|title=Solid Snake actor calls out EVO for using his voice without permission|website=Digital Trends|publisher=Gabe Gurwin|accessdate=August 15, 2019}}</ref>
==Results==
{|class="wikitable" |- !colspan=4 |{{center|'''''Super Smash Bros. Ultimate'''''}} |- ! style="width:50px;"| Place ! style="width:180px;"| Player ! style="width:150px;"| Alias ! style="width:300px;"| Character(s) |- | 1st | {{flagicon|Mexico}} Leonardo Lopez | MkLeo | Joker |- | 2nd | {{flagicon|USA}} Gavin Dempsey | Tweek | Pokémon Trainer |- | 3rd | {{flagicon|France}} William Belaid | Glutonny | Wario |- | 4th | {{flagicon|USA}} Ezra Morris | Samsora | Peach |- | 5th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Tetsuya Ishiguro | <nowiki>Raito</nowiki> | Duck Hunt |- | 5th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Naoto Tsuji | <nowiki>ProtoBanham</nowiki> | Lucina, Inkling |- | 7th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Sota Okada | Zackray | Wolf |- | 7th | {{flagicon|USA}} Paris Ramirez | Light | Fox |}
{|class="wikitable" |- !colspan=4 |{{center|'''''Tekken 7'''''}} |- ! style="width:50px;"| Place ! style="width:180px;"| Player ! style="width:150px;"| Alias ! style="width:300px;"| Character(s) |- | 1st | {{flagicon|Pakistan}} Arslan Siddique | Arslan Ash | Kazumi, Geese |- | 2nd | {{flagicon|South Korea}} Jae-Min Bae | Knee | Steve, Geese, Paul, Kazuya, Devil Jin |- | 3rd | {{flagicon|USA}} Hoa Luu | Anakin | Jack-7 |- | 4th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Abe Takehiko | Take | Kazumi |- | 5th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Takumi Hamasaki | Noroma | Steve, Dragunov |- | 5th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Nakayama Daichi | Nobi | Dragunov, Steve, Jack-7 |- | 7th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Yuta Take | Chikurin | Geese |- | 7th | {{flagicon|South Korea}} Sun-Woong Youn | LowHigh | Law, Shaheen |}
{|class="wikitable" |- !colspan=4 |{{center|'''''Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition'''''}} |- ! style="width:50px;"| Place ! style="width:180px;"| Player ! style="width:150px;"| Alias ! style="width:300px;"| Character(s) |- | 1st | {{flagicon|Japan}} Masato Takahashi | Bonchan |Karin, Sagat |- | 2nd | {{flagicon|UAE}} Adel Anouche | BigBird | Rashid |- | 3rd | {{flagicon|United Kingdom}} DC Coleman | Infexious | Zeku |- | 4th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Atsushi Fujimura | Fujimura | Ibuki |- | 5th | {{flagicon|USA}} Derek Ruffin | <nowiki>iDom</nowiki> | Laura |- | 5th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Masahiro Tominaga | Machabo | Necalli |- | 7th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Hiroki Asano | Kichipa-mu | Zangief |- | 7th | {{flagicon|China}} Yangmian Huang | YANGMIAN | Zeku |}
{|class="wikitable" |- !colspan=4 |{{center|'''''BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle'''''}} |- ! style="width:50px;"| Place ! style="width:180px;"| Player ! style="width:150px;"| Alias ! style="width:300px;"| Character(s) |- | 1st | {{flagicon|USA}} Oscar Jaimes | Shinku | Ruby/Yang |- | 2nd | {{flagicon|Japan}} Kamei Hiroyuki | Kyamei | Akihiko/Mitsuru |- | 3rd | {{flagicon|Japan}} Seitaro Ono | <nowiki>Domi</nowiki> | Akihiko/Yuzuriha |- | 4th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Kazuya Kamisue | <nowiki>Mekasue</nowiki> | Jubei/Orie |- | 5th | {{flagicon|USA}} Christina Kabacinski | <nowiki>Bace</nowiki> | Mitsuru/Yuzuriha |- | 5th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Shoji Sho | Fenritti | Mitsuru/Yuzuriha |- | 7th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Kazuyuki Koji | kojiKOG | Waldstein/Tager |- | 7th | {{flagicon|USA}} Jona Kim | <nowiki>Jona</nowiki> | Akihiko/Ruby |}
{|class="wikitable" |- !colspan=4 |{{center|'''''Mortal Kombat 11'''''}} |- ! style="width:50px;"| Place ! style="width:180px;"| Player ! style="width:150px;"| Alias ! style="width:300px;"| Character(s) |- | 1st | {{flagicon|USA}} Dominique McLean | SonicFox | Cassie Cage |- | 2nd | {{flagicon|USA}} Ryan Walker | Dragon | Cetrion |- | 3rd | {{flagicon|Bahrain}} Sayed Ahmed | Tekken Master | Geras, Erron Black, Kung Lao, Sonya Blade |- | 4th | {{flagicon|USA}} Julien Gorena | Deoxys | Geras |- | 5th | {{flagicon|USA}} Tommy Tweedy | Tweedy | Jacqui Briggs, Baraka, Geras |- | 5th | {{flagicon|UK}} Denom Jones | A F0xy Grampa | Shang Tsung, Kung Lao, Cassie Cage |- | 7th | {{flagicon|USA}} Andrew Fontanez | Semiij | Cassie Cage, Jacqui Briggs |- | 7th | {{flagicon|Canada}} Alexandre Dubé-Bilodeau | Hayatei | Erron Black |}
{|class="wikitable" |- !colspan=4 |{{center|'''''Samurai Shodown'''''}} |- ! style="width:50px;"| Place ! style="width:180px;"| Player ! style="width:150px;"| Alias ! style="width:300px;"| Character(s) |- | 1st | {{flagicon|South Korea}} Seon-Woo Lee | <nowiki>Infiltration</nowiki> | Genjuro |- | 2nd | {{flagicon|Japan}} Ryota Inoue | Kazunoko | Haohmaru |- | 3rd | {{flagicon|USA}} Justin Wong | <nowiki>JWong</nowiki> | Tam Tam |- | 4th | {{flagicon|USA}} Reynald Tacsuan | Reynald | Genjuro, Haohmaru |- | 5th | {{flagicon|Taiwan}} Fu-Pin Kao | <nowiki>RB</nowiki> | Genjuro |- | 5th | {{flagicon|USA}} Alex Valle | CaliPower | Galford |- | 7th | {{flagicon|Brazil}} Renato Martins | Didimokof | Genjuro |- | 7th | {{flagicon|Taiwan}} Chia-Chen Tseng | ZJZ | Charlotte |}
{|class="wikitable" |- !colspan=4 |{{center|'''''Dragon Ball FighterZ'''''}} |- ! style="width:50px;"| Place ! style="width:180px;"| Player ! style="width:150px;"| Alias ! style="width:300px;"| Character(s) |- | 1st | {{flagicon|Japan}} Goichi Kishida | Go1 | Bardock/Goku/Kid Goku |- |2nd | {{flagicon|USA}} Dominique McLean | SonicFox | Bardock/Kid Buu/Kid Goku |- | 3rd | {{flagicon|Japan}} Shoji Sho | Fenritti | Cell/Bardock/Vegeta |- | 4th | {{flagicon|Spain}} Joan Namay | Shanks | Android 18/Adult Gohan/Goku |- | 5th | {{flagicon|Japan}} ''unknown'' | <nowiki>Hirohiro</nowiki> | Android 17/Kid Goku/Teen Gohan |- | 5th | {{flagicon|Japan}} ''unknown'' | <nowiki>B</nowiki> | Kid Buu/Adult Gohan/Yamcha |- | 7th | {{flagicon|USA}} Christopher Gonzalez | NyChrisG | Teen Gohan/Tien/Yamcha |- | 7th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Ryota Inoue | Kazunoko | Kid Buu/Adult Gohan/Yamcha |}
{|class="wikitable" |- !colspan=4 |{{center|'''''[[Under Night In-Birth|Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[st]]]'''''}} |- ! style="width:50px;"| Place ! style="width:180px;"| Player ! style="width:150px;"| Alias ! style="width:300px;"| Character(s) |- | 1st | {{flagicon|Japan}} Masaru Higuchi | ClearLamp | Byakuya |- | 2nd | {{flagicon|Japan}} ''unknown'' | <nowiki>Oushuu-Hittou</nowiki> | Seth |- | 3rd | {{flagicon|Japan}} ''unknown'' | <nowiki>Hishigata</nowiki> | Nanase |- | 4th | {{flagicon|Japan}} ''unknown'' | <nowiki>Kure</nowiki> | Yuzuriha |- | 5th | {{flagicon|Japan}} Shinji Taharu | <nowiki>Neji</nowiki> | Mika |- | 5th | {{flagicon|Canada}} Andy La | Rikir | Enkidu |- | 7th | {{flagicon|Japan}} ''unknown'' | <nowiki>Senaru</nowiki> | Eltnum |- | 7th | {{flagicon|Japan}} ''unknown'' | <nowiki>Libekichi</nowiki> | Mika |}
{|class="wikitable" |- !colspan=4 |{{center|'''''Soulcalibur VI'''''}} |- ! style="width:50px;"| Place ! style="width:180px;"| Player ! style="width:150px;"| Alias ! style="width:300px;"| Character(s) |- | 1st | {{flagicon|Japan}} Yuta Sudo | Yuttoto | Voldo |- | 2nd | {{flagicon|USA}} Zain Tibeishat | <nowiki>Bluegod</nowiki> | Azwel |- | 3rd | {{flagicon|France}} Jérémy Bernard | <nowiki>Oplon|Skyll</nowiki> | Mitsurugi |- | 4th | {{flagicon|USA}} Jonathan Vo | <nowiki>Woahhzz</nowiki> | Raphael |- | 5th | {{flagicon|Singapore}} Jovian Chan | Shen Chan | Cervantes |- | 5th | {{flagicon|Japan}} ''unknown'' | <nowiki>Tamonegi</nowiki> | Maxi |- | 7th | {{flagicon|France}} Marie-Laure Norindr | Kayane | Xianghua, 2B |- | 7th | {{flagicon|USA}} Joshua Vernon | Saiyne | Ivy |}
==External links== *{{Official website|http://evo.shoryuken.com/}}
==References== {{reflist}}
{{Evo}}
Category:2019 fighting game tournaments Category:2019 in sports in Nevada Category:Evolution Championship Series Category:Esports competitions in the United States Category:August 2019 sports events in the United States