Evo Day 0
Well, EVO 2K9 is done and over with. To start, EVO2K9 is a fighting game tournament consisting of some of the hottest fighting games around like Marvel vs. Capcom 2, Street Fighter 2 HD Remix, Street Fighter 3rd strike, SoulCalibur 4 and of course, Street Fighter 4. This was held on the Rio Convention Center at Las Vegas, Nevada in July 17-19 of 2009. It’s also the place where they held those World Poker Tournaments.
Being part of this event was perhaps one of the greatest experiences in my life. This is my first international recognized tournament. I joined this tournament, not to win but to see and feel the environment of this kind of event. Yes, I know it is not the right attitude when entering a fighting game tournament but I haven’t been here long and still testing the waters but that changed during the course of the tournament.
I was just merely browsing for strategies and videos on http://www.8wayrun.com when suddenly I saw on the tournament announcements about EVO 2K9. I don’t know what came into me but I said to myself I will join this tournament so I did. I joined SoulCalibur 4 tournament. I was thinking on Street Fighter 4 tournament as well but I know my skills in that game isn’t tournament worthy yet thus I didn’t consider it anymore. Since then, I’ve been attending meet up practices here and met some players of SoulCalibur of So Cal. (Shout outs to Beefy, Toma, D_Matt, Semi, NoFace, Jared, Rob, etc.). Well days would pass by, I was still looking for work and practicing for the tournament and also playing simple games to relax. Then, the week of the tournament approaches…
Day 0 - July 16, 2009
In this morning, I was just packing my stuff for the Vegas trip. It is going to be a long drive. I’ve been thinking about the tournament since I was assigned to Pool A. I will face players there who use one of the characters I hate so much in SC4…which is Ivy. I finally felt the chills and nervousness of the tournament this day. I didn’t know what to expect in the tournament proper but I know I’ll see the players who are in the match videos I usually watch. It’s quite intimidating actually. My 2 backpacks were totally filled. I’ve brought my 360 and laptop with me and cables to recharge my phone, mp3 player and camera.
Finally, it was ready to go. I thought it would be straight out but we headed out to my auntie’s place to pick her up because she is going as well. When I checked the directions, the whole trip would take around 4 hours. Ouch, I’m sure its going to take longer since there will be stopovers. So I decided to make my trip to relax my mind for the tournament. During the first hour of the trip I was just listening to the conversations and looking at the scenery. We decided to stop over at Barstow Station to eat. I was conflicted between Panda Express and where they were ordering which is BJ’s who had Pilipino staff and food. Weee, finally speaking in Filipino when ordering…sweetness. I decided to go with them and I ordered barbeque and teriyaki chicken Pinoy style and instead of rice I decided to take pancit instead. They ordered chicken and adobo beef. The food was good especially the adobo and the pancit. I finished my food so that I won’t eat the whole night anymore.
After the first stopover, I was still wondering if I could ever survive my pool because of many Ivy players there. Will my characters be enough? I thought to myself. Then I decided I should have more than 2 wins to even out the double loss. Then I slept the remainder until the next stop over but just for gas. From that point on, it will just a few more minutes until we arrive at the destination, Rio. From that point on, I was looking outside the window so that I could see the hotel.
FINALLY, we reached the hotel, after more than 5 hours in the road. I was carrying all my stuff with me because they’re all important to me while I see them putting their bags on the trolleys (short envy). First thing to see in the hotel once we got inside…Slot machines, of course. We headed out to the counter for the room and I can immediately spot the geeks and the dorks *ehem* the gamers who will join EVO. Some of them just have the aura while some are more obvious like carrying joysticks, EVO bags, or consoles. We went up to the room on the 34th floor where it was time to settle down and rest but I immediately went down and tried to look for the venue. I followed some of the gamers I spotted who are also looking for the venue. It took me around 3 groups of gamers to find the venue. The venue size was like about the World Trade one. People were setting up the venue already for tomorrow’s festivities and they won’t let people in yet. Thus I returned to my room and just played 360 and talked to Cheppy then slept…
Next Post Day 1 Tomorrow…
Being part of this event was perhaps one of the greatest experiences in my life. This is my first international recognized tournament. I joined this tournament, not to win but to see and feel the environment of this kind of event. Yes, I know it is not the right attitude when entering a fighting game tournament but I haven’t been here long and still testing the waters but that changed during the course of the tournament.
I was just merely browsing for strategies and videos on http://www.8wayrun.com when suddenly I saw on the tournament announcements about EVO 2K9. I don’t know what came into me but I said to myself I will join this tournament so I did. I joined SoulCalibur 4 tournament. I was thinking on Street Fighter 4 tournament as well but I know my skills in that game isn’t tournament worthy yet thus I didn’t consider it anymore. Since then, I’ve been attending meet up practices here and met some players of SoulCalibur of So Cal. (Shout outs to Beefy, Toma, D_Matt, Semi, NoFace, Jared, Rob, etc.). Well days would pass by, I was still looking for work and practicing for the tournament and also playing simple games to relax. Then, the week of the tournament approaches…
Day 0 - July 16, 2009
In this morning, I was just packing my stuff for the Vegas trip. It is going to be a long drive. I’ve been thinking about the tournament since I was assigned to Pool A. I will face players there who use one of the characters I hate so much in SC4…which is Ivy. I finally felt the chills and nervousness of the tournament this day. I didn’t know what to expect in the tournament proper but I know I’ll see the players who are in the match videos I usually watch. It’s quite intimidating actually. My 2 backpacks were totally filled. I’ve brought my 360 and laptop with me and cables to recharge my phone, mp3 player and camera.
Finally, it was ready to go. I thought it would be straight out but we headed out to my auntie’s place to pick her up because she is going as well. When I checked the directions, the whole trip would take around 4 hours. Ouch, I’m sure its going to take longer since there will be stopovers. So I decided to make my trip to relax my mind for the tournament. During the first hour of the trip I was just listening to the conversations and looking at the scenery. We decided to stop over at Barstow Station to eat. I was conflicted between Panda Express and where they were ordering which is BJ’s who had Pilipino staff and food. Weee, finally speaking in Filipino when ordering…sweetness. I decided to go with them and I ordered barbeque and teriyaki chicken Pinoy style and instead of rice I decided to take pancit instead. They ordered chicken and adobo beef. The food was good especially the adobo and the pancit. I finished my food so that I won’t eat the whole night anymore.
After the first stopover, I was still wondering if I could ever survive my pool because of many Ivy players there. Will my characters be enough? I thought to myself. Then I decided I should have more than 2 wins to even out the double loss. Then I slept the remainder until the next stop over but just for gas. From that point on, it will just a few more minutes until we arrive at the destination, Rio. From that point on, I was looking outside the window so that I could see the hotel.
FINALLY, we reached the hotel, after more than 5 hours in the road. I was carrying all my stuff with me because they’re all important to me while I see them putting their bags on the trolleys (short envy). First thing to see in the hotel once we got inside…Slot machines, of course. We headed out to the counter for the room and I can immediately spot the geeks and the dorks *ehem* the gamers who will join EVO. Some of them just have the aura while some are more obvious like carrying joysticks, EVO bags, or consoles. We went up to the room on the 34th floor where it was time to settle down and rest but I immediately went down and tried to look for the venue. I followed some of the gamers I spotted who are also looking for the venue. It took me around 3 groups of gamers to find the venue. The venue size was like about the World Trade one. People were setting up the venue already for tomorrow’s festivities and they won’t let people in yet. Thus I returned to my room and just played 360 and talked to Cheppy then slept…
Next Post Day 1 Tomorrow…