Street Fighter 5 has its first world champion
But Long Island Joe wins hearts and minds of the fighting game community.
Street Fighter 5 has its first world champion, with South Korean player Lee "Infiltration" Seonwoo taking the Evo 2016 title.
Infiltration, playing as Nash, beat Japanese R. Mika player Keita "Fuudo" Ai in the grand final of the biggest Street Fighter tournament in history. Evo 2016 saw over 5000 people enter to play Capcom's Street Fighter 5, which only came out in February.
Infiltration, who came into Evo as favourite after a raft of Capcom Pro Tour victories earlier in the year, must now be considered the greatest Street Fighter 5 player at this early stage in the fighting game's life.
While Infiltration took top spot, it was US player Joe "L.I. Joe" Ciaramelli who won the hearts and minds of the fighting game community with his stunning performance throughout the tournament using Nash.
L.I. Joe, from New York, secured a place in top eight by defeating Japanese player Ryota "Kazunoko" Inoue (Cammy).
And then L.I. Joe kept his dream alive by upsetting Japanese Ken player Hiroyuki "Eita" Nagata.
L.I. Joe eventually went out at the losers semifinal stage to fellow Nash player Atsushi "Yukadon" Fujimura.
Street Fighter 5 saw some surprisingly early exits for players who were thought to be ready to give Infiltration a run for his money. Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi, who previously defeated Infiltration at a Capcom Pro Tour tournament as Ryu, suffered an upset on Saturday and finished joint 13th.
Justin Wong, who uses Karin, had been considered the West's best hope, but he also exited the tournament on the Saturday, finishing joint 13th.
Here's the Street Fighter 5 top eight:
- 1. RZR|Infiltration (Nash)
- 2. RZR|Fuudo (R. Mika)
- 3. Yukadon (Nash)
- 4. HM|Go1 (Chun-Li)
- 5. L.I. Joe (Nash)
- 5. MOV (Chun-Li)
- 7. HM|Eita (Ken)
- 7. AW|Nemo (Vega)