On an official EVO Stream last Tuesday, the full lineup was announced, bringing back familiar games, a new title, and an old classic.
This year’s lineup will see seven games returning from 2019′s roster: Smash Bros Ultimate, Tekken 7, Street Fighter 5, Samurai Shodown, Under Night In-Birth Exe:Late[cl-r], Dragon Ball Fighterz, and Soul Calibur 6. Unfortunately, BlazBlue: Cross Tag and Mortal Kombat 11 did not make it this year and in their place will be the newly released Granblue Fantasy: Versus and old classic Marvel vs Capcom 2.
EVO, one of the biggest fighting game tournaments in the world, brings in players from across the globe to compete for the chance to win the trophy for their game. EVO has a long and storied history since 2000, with scores of player rivalries, improbable comebacks, and extraordinary displays of mechanical skill.
The return of Marvel vs Capcom 2 at EVO has many fighting game fans excited for this year’s competition. Having been released in 2000, the game was a mainstay for a decade of tournament competition until it was replaced by Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in 2011. For long time fans of the fighting game community, this year’s MvC2 tournament will be a nostalgic throwback to EVO’s earlier years.
MvC2 will honor its 20th anniversary this year by celebrating the best players in the game’s history. The tournament will begin as a top eight, with four slots reserved for the past EVO champions of the game: Justin “JWong” Wong, Duc “Ducvader” Do, Michael “Yipes” Mendoza, and Sanford “Santhrax” Kelly. With such high level players returning to the game, this tournament will be one for the history books.
With BlazBlue: Cross Tag having been removed from EVO’s lineup this year, it seems that Granblue Fantasy: Versus has taken over it’s spot among the anime fighting games. Like Samurai Shodown last year, this year’s announcement comes before the official release of the game, although the Asian release occurred just 2 days later. Despite this, positive fan and critical response to the open and closed betas seem to indicate that the game will have a strong competitive community leading up to EVO 2020.
Granblue Fantasy: Versus may be easier to follow for first time EVO viewers than the other anime fighting games at EVO. Developed by Cygames and the legendary Arc Systems Works studio, Granblue Fantasy: Versus boasts some of the most impressive anime visuals of any fighting game. Arc Systems Works, who also developed the highly successful Guilty Gear Xrd and Dragon Ball Fighterz, has impressed once again with their 2.5D anime art style. Accompanying the impressive visuals is game play that offers complexity without the steep learning curve often associated with other fighting games. First time viewers of the game will notice that game play is grounded and movement is fairly restricted, bringing it more in line with games like Street Fighter 5 than other anime fighters.
The removal of Mortal Kombat 11 this year has been somewhat controversial, with figures from the community like their concerns on twitter. Having pulled over 1,500 competitors or around ten percent of the total entrees last year, Mortal Kombat 11 wasn’t removed for a lack of competition or viewership as Soul Calibur 6 brought in 742 players in 2019 while still being on the lineup this year. While neither EVO nor the developers have made an official statement on the removal of the title, some in the community speculate that souring relations between the game’s community and EVO management may have led to its absence this year.
BlazBlue: Cross Tag also failed to make this year’s roster, which is most likely due to the dwindling numbers of competitors that saw 2019′s tournament only bring in 640 players. This combined with the anticipation surrounding Granblue Fantasy: Versus makes it’s absence in this year’s roster not entirely unexpected.