This article was originally published on GameSpot's sister site onGamers.com, which was dedicated to esports coverage.
Evolution, the biggest fighting game tournament series of all time, is happening this weekend. From July 11th-13th, the best in the world will travel to Las Vegas, Nevada, attempt to navigate the Westgate Resort and Casino, and meet up with thousands of other players and spectators for what will most likely turn out to be the biggest fighting game tournament of all time. EVO 2014 is also one of the three biggest Melee events happening this summer, the first two being MLG Anaheim and CEO.
And thanks to the miracle of technology, you too can experience the magic without ever leaving the catatonic comfort of your own home! Here's the full stream schedule:
For those living in the EST time zone, simply add 3 hours to all of these.In summary,
Friday will be Melee Pools all day, first on SRKEVO1 from 8:00 AM-4:00 PM, then on SRKEVO2 from 4:00 PM until 8:00 PMSaturday will start with Melee Quarterfinals (10:00 AM - 12:00 PM) and Semifinals (12:00 PM - 2:00 PM), both on SRKEVO2, then finish off with the community-run Teams tournament on ClashTournamentsSunday will be purely Top 8, from 1:00 PM - 3:00 PM, on SRKEVO1Here are the final entrance numbers for all games, courtesy of Joey 'Mr. Wizard' Cuellar himself:
Ultra Street Fighter IV – 1979Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 – 1014Super Smash Bros. Melee – 970BlazBlue: Chronophantasma – 508Killer Instinct – 338King of Fighters XIII – 319Injustice: Gods Among Us – 311Tekken Tag Tournament 2 – 257EVO 2013 was a huge milestone for the Super Smash Bros. Melee community. It was their first real recognition from the wider Fighting Game Community, it gave the players tons of exposure, and they didn't get there without a fight. Famously, Nintendo tried to shut down the whole Melee event at EVO, even after the community had raised nearly $100,000 for Breast Cancer Research in a drive to win the coveted 8th game spot. But an unprecedented Internet outcry led Nintendo to reverse the decision within hours. And now, Nintendo is actually sponsoring Melee at EVO 2014. What a turnaround.
SSBM went on to get the 3rd most entrants at EVO 2013 (as it did this year) and the stream attracted over 130,000 viewers, breaking the concurrent viewer record for a fighting game tournament (before it was broken again by UMVC3 afterward). This year's 970 Melee entrants crushes EVO 2013's previous record for the biggest Smash tournament of all time, at 696 players.
Need another reason to watch Melee at EVO 2014? After last weekend's Kings of Cali 4, Joseph 'Mang0' Marquez and Adam 'Armada' Lindgren are perfectly tied, with 8 set wins apiece, in their all-time tournament history. EVO may just be the tiebreaker for arguably the two best Melee players in the world.
For more info, check out the official EVO website. There's also this list of all finalized Melee Pools.
And if you didn't read any of that and scrolled right to the bottom, just follow these channels on Twitch.tv:
SRKEVO1SRKEVO2ClashTournamentsPhoto Credit: KaraFace