The Soulcalibur VI Evo 2019 Finals Were a Good Time
Soulcalibur VI went into Evo 2019 as the least popular game among the nine main centerpieces. It had more entrants than Blazblue: Cross Tag Battle with 742 compared to the latter’s 640, but CTB will get more attention thanks to its finals occurring on Sunday, the biggest day for spectators attending and streaming the event. That’s a shame, because the tournament, especially the top 8, showed how enjoyable of a game it is to watch.
I said the SCVI tournament would be a logistics nightmare in my post yesterday, thanks to how it started and ended on the first day of Evo. It turned out fine for the players and attendees; the key issue instead was how several good matches were happening simultaneously, which led to several good matches being played off stream. It didn’t receive as much attention as other games during its short Evo run, but it was entertaining all the way through.
It’s a testament to how well the game is balanced that everyone at the top had a different character, with players hailing from US, Japan, France (where Soulcalibur is very popular), and one from Singapore. The matches were, in a word, incredible. Kayane, from France, is one of the most visible SC players in the world, but her nerves got the best of her in the finals matches. The grand finals were between US player Zain “Bluegod” Tibeishat and Japanese player Yuta “Yuttoto” Sudo, who used Aswel and Voldo, respectively. Just a mostly naked wizard fighting it out with a guy in bondage gear — extremely normal stuff. There was a chance the US could take this one early on, but Yuttoto adjusted to Bluegod’s style to win and be crowned Evo 2019’s Soulcalbiur champion. Once again, the US just can’t win.
With the exciting finals, it would be nice if Bandai Namco took this more seriously, and didn’t give it a comparative cold shoulder compared to Tekken 7. Fans were disappointed that no trailer for the next potential season was dropped after the finals ended, but there’s a chance something could be announced on Sunday. There are plenty of characters they could add to the game from here. But don’t be surprised if nothing is revealed.
If there’s indeed no announcement, it’s possible future SC tournaments could garner more attention because of how exciting this was, which some who watched it plan to do. This could lead to the company giving it more support, and potentially lead to the green lighting a sequel for cross-generation or next-generation consoles, assuming its overall sales were also solid.
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Geoff
News Editor | Geoff is some nerd who writes for a blog and thinks he's knowledgeable. He write a lot about video games, but is capable of writing about other subjects, too. Twitter
