Tuesday night, Evolution Championship Series head organizer Joey “Mr. Wizard” Cuellar announced the eight fighting games that will be contested at this year’s EVO. Mr. Wizard’s announcement last year that there would only be seven games at EVO 2018 had members of both major facets of the Smash community worried that their title of choice wouldn’t be included, but those fears were quelled when Mr. Wizard revealed that both Smash titles would once again be featured at the fighting game community’s most storied and prestigious event.
EVO seems to have established a pattern: two years ago, Melee was featured in the Mandalay Bay Events Center for the event’s Sunday finals, while Smash 4 received that honor last year. This year, the tournament has switched back again, featuring Melee on the main stage.
The Smash scene wasn’t the only big winner: the other games that will be contested at EVO 2018 are Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition, Tekken 7, Injustice 2, BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle, Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, and newcomer Dragon Ball FighterZ. Facing shrinking attendance and audience interest, longstanding franchise Marvel vs. Capcom was the unfortunate loser of the night.
EVO has been the location of some of the most infamous and glorious moments in Smash history, and it’s exciting to see that both halves of the Smash scene will be given another opportunity to shine this August in Las Vegas.
