Did you have fun?

Good god yes. Day one was absolute insanity and NGL: I was semi regretting going. I’m glad I powered through it but I learned a lot about how to navigate these kind of events and what to expect. Apparently this was the biggest esports event ever and even talking to other veterans of like 10 years they were like “Yeah man…friday was absolutely unlike anything I’ve ever seen at a convention…it nearly broke me.” Day 2 and the finals were incredible. I definitely want to go again next year…but not on my own. I think this kind of event really begs for you to go with a group for multiple reasons.

Did you learn anything about playing better?

Absolutely. Had some really long sets with other people and had a fun mirror where he showed me some really solid spacing to keep the rekka safe.

Did you make any friends?

I did sort of. Not necessarily people I’m gonna be chatting with long distance but I hope I see them again next year or at other events. I actually bailed one of them out since he didn’t have a controller that was PS5 compatible.

Did you stay hydrated?

Yup. Got a giant Takeya water bottle. That thing was incredible. Loaded a bit of ice into it and it kept my drink cool all day long. Had fun customizing it with stickers there!

Why aren’t you playing Kimberly, the objectively correct newcomer to play? Jamie is cool don’t get me wrong, but his normals confuse me and because of my lack of understanding of something new I don’t like it. Kimberly is a Bushinryu ninja and I understand that.

Lol, right back at ya! Seriously…he’s just so cool. I got loaded up on Jamie stuff there. I have a giant vinyl sticker, like 18"x22" to put on the side of my computer. His normals are definitely hard to understand. TBH one of my weaknesses is that I still have a lot of trouble with the mental stack of remembering what drink level I am and what moves I even have access to. I tend to default to palm when I should be using Bakkai, and I constnatly forget that I have a goddamn command grab to ruin peoples day. He is a super hard character to use but I am excited that I have so much room to grow and level up for the next 10 years playing this game.

Kimberly is also great for sure though! She’s super cute and her entire aesthetic with the spray paint is so fun. Dude who knocked me out of the tournament was a Kim main and he got my trapped in the blender in the corner with a real hard read!

There might have been a cutoff but: it was an option when I registered for the game if you checked the options. It cost like an extra 10 dollars but I considered it to be worth it if only cause its a solid souvenir. This was my first Evo and I wasn’t sure whether or not it would be a one time thing or not so I decided I should go all out.

Did NOT go 0-2, which was my number one goal. I got a solid victory in losers bracket before washing out. My casuals were all over the map for sure. I got some long sets where I got blown up like hell, others where I dominated, and some where we went back and forth for like 50 matches. It was great!

I very nearly got a chance to get my ass kicked by gamerbee but unfortunately the venue was shutting down for the night and we didn’t have time. Got to record his match against another guy though…for research next year.

I did not earn the burrito this year sadly. Sidenote: the chipotle meme was pretty funny if you were there. Having an entire stadium cheer the chipotle add everytime shockingly managed to not get old.