EVO 2013 Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition Finals

It was the finals that everyone was waiting for. Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition was the last game of EVO 2013 on Sunday, and it was an uphill battle for competitors from the United States.

Many of the competitors were outside of the country, displaying that this game gains international acceptance. SSF4: AE is less about the combos and touch of deaths and more about the strategy and reading your opponent. Much of the gameplay from these top players consisted of micro movements and patience. It was not as aggressive as UMVC3, and not as quick as Injustice. This game is in a league of its own, and the finals really showcased that.

It was exciting to see the famous Daigo 'The Beast' Umehara in top eight this year again. This man has made history at EVO, especially against the talented Justin Wong. I'm just going to throw that iconic moment from EVO 2004 below and you will see what I mean. (AN: Those parrys are not that hard to accomplish, but as Justin inputted the super for Chun-Li, Daigo knew exactly what was coming up. But the trick was to find a combo to take out Chun-Li, considering one little poke and he would lose.)

- Leonardo Gabiati

This year, he did not face Justin Wong but another opponent, the one responsible for taking him out last year. The finals opened up with Daigo against Infiltration, Ryu vs. Akuma. This was the same match up as last year, but there were hopes that the outcome would be different. The crowd was cheering 'Daigo! Daigo!' in the hopes that the support would help him achieve victory over his old nemesis. Unfortunately, Infiltration and his Akuma still bested Daigo and his Ryu 3-1, thus knocking Daigo out of the competition. Can you say deja vu?

Another moment of this final was the matches featuring the last American in the competition, EG PR Balrog. In his first match, he chose Fei Long against MadCatz's own Tokido and his Akuma. It was an interesting move, considering his name the fact he is typically a Balrog player. After he lost that first set, the crowd started chanting 'Balrog! Balrog!' hinting at a switch. But although PR Balrog made the switch to his famous character, that was still not enough, and he was knocked into the loser's bracket.

In there, he kept Balrog and won against Haitani and his Makoto. But when going up against Infiltration, Balrog was no match. Infiltration oiled up with Hakan and bested Balrog in a 3-2 victory.

Finally, the grand finals of the SSF4:AE competition. After Tokido took out the man responsible for the loss of both PR Balrog and Daigo, he went up against Xian and his Gen.

I have never seen someone maneuver a character so carefully and gracefully as Xian did with the elderly martial artist. Every move was precise and served a purpose. It just goes to show that Xian deserved that victory against Tokido. Xian was crowned the champion of Super Street Fighter 4: Arcade Edition at EVO 2013.

We hope you enjoyed the coverage of EVO 2013. We had a blast covering it and hope to attend again next year, maybe as competitors ourselves.

Daigo Umehara, EVO 2013, finals, SSF4:AE, super street fighter 4: arcade edition, Xian