Archive / Ramblings / Evo 2026 (6/26/2026)

...I didn't even make it to my third Evo before the entire event starts falling apart at the seams. I plan to keep going until the event begins to feel weird, or the circumstances around it get worse.

This year, I think I want to spend more time just watching matches. I think I'm too socially awkward to much of anything else, unless a super easy opportunity to play matches is presented. And I have found that watching matches is still a pretty enjoyable way to spend a tournament.

Today was entirely dedicated to watching Strive and eventually competing. I didn't really feel like playing any casual matches, and I wasn't aiming for anything from the Artist Alley.

This is set up to either be my best year or my worst by far. I am WAY better at the game now compared to last year, and even with the few nerfs Bedman? has gotten I still feel somewhat confident. The problem is, once again, Axl. He has been the one to kick me out of the tournament both times now, and that matchup has somehow managed to get considerably worse with the 13C changes and the removal of White Wild Assault. So as long as I don't run into Axl, I think I have a chance.

...or a Millia, as she is as broken as she always has been. But lets hope that doesn't happen.

...or all the other matchups I am bad at. But whatever! I can it. Maybe.

VS

3 - 0

A great warm-up match against someone who allegedly does not have a ton of Bedman? experience. Which is fair, I would imagine locals have a small chance of even having a Bedman? player.

VS

3 - 0

Anji scares me. But I was able to work around spin, and zoning was pretty effective here.

VS

3 - 1

Pretty one-sided, for the most part. I noticed I was getting super predictable with my bursts, but the set was basically over by the time I started fixing that. I'm also just really bad at dealing with j.S, among other things. Even with the extra practice I put into the Baiken matchup beforehand, it just wasn't going to happen.

VS

3 - 0

Why do I always end up in these brackets where I am the sole reason for knocking someone out of the tournament? It happened back in 2024 and now its happening here.

VS

3 - 0

I was pretty lucky with guessing the mixups, so I guss I won. It didn't feel particularly easy or difficult, I think we were roughly of the same skill.

I also got this 3D printed coin for winning!

VS

2 - 3

Didn't expect to fight a Lucy. But hey, I've been playing her since Day -90, you simply can't compete with that level of knowledge (sarcasm).

This was a close set. Once again, zoning ended up being the winning factor. But I am AWFUL at blocking her crossup overhead. It wasn't quite down to the last hit, but it was getting there.

VS

0 - 3

I was told to knock him out of the tournament so he could recover from a headache. I did what was asked. Hope it got better at some point.

Nago scares me, but once again zoning saved the say. And getting lucky with mashing on f.SS.

VS

3 - 2

Down to the last hit, but I couldn't pull through in the end. The real problem here was that I was getting insanely predictable with my hovers, and got air-to-air'd constantly due to not pressing j.S early enough. But it was close, and that is good enough for me I suppose.

BREAD ON FIRE

65TH

out of 913
(Top 7.1%)

6 - 2

...my goal last year was to get out of Pools Round 1. This year, I wasn't too far from leaving Pools Round 2. Very happy with this outcome. Even if there were substantially less people overall, I am pround of this.

More importantly, being in the top 100 and the top 10% of players (along with reaching Vanquisher super recently) means I am now officially allowed to discuss the balance of the game! (half-joking).
Through this, I decree that we remove Council of Three, take away Millia's ability to jump, instantly defeat any player that gets hit by Bedman's 6H, and make Malcolm Myers playable.

Today was exclusively watching Strive. I also finally noticed just how much less people there are this year? In the arena they got rid of the raised seating near the back, which obviously sucks (especially for someone who has sensory issues and doesn't want to actually sit within the crowd (myself)) but due to the highly decreased attendance it didn't seem to matter. Remains to be seen if that will be an issue tomorrow, but I kind of doubt it.

The Top 8 was not notable.

But! Robo-Ky looks really good! I'm really hoping he has a good matchup against Axl so i can use him as a secondary.

Another day of just watching Top 8s, this time for games I do not play.

I think I have fully accepted that this game is simply not for me (not to mention the fact that I can't play it on Linux.). This Top 8 was my last effort to try to "get it" but I couldn't. I think I'm just not a tag game player. (Plus the control problems and not being super into the system mechanics)

This felt nearly identical to last year.

...this ALSO felt nearly identical to last year.

Besides the lowered amount of people, this felt pretty similar to last year in terms of vibe. Which is weird, I would have expected it to be different.

But honestly, nothing of note really happened during EVO. It was enjoyable, but mainly because of my tournament success. Nothing else really happened.