How to Become a Pro Gamer Before Evo 2020 Online
If you’re looking to compete at this year’s EVO Online event, you need to train. Here’s how to get good at fighting games in order to play against the best pro gamers.
One of the biggest ways the COVID-19 pandemic has affected the gaming world is the halting of all in-person tournaments and competitions for the immediate future. Notably affected is EVO, the annual fighting-game tournament that draws thousands to Las Vegas to compete in Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and the other hottest games in the genre that particular year.
EVO is an incredible gathering of a tight-knit community that grew around intense competition. You get the chance to play against the best in the world; for fighting-game fans, it’s like having the opportunity to shoot hoops with Steph Curry.
The first event took place in Sunnyvale, California in 1996. Then known as Battle By The Bay, it assembled 40 of the best Street Fighter II players in double elimination brackets. The name was changed to EVO in 2002, and the event moved to Las Vegas in 2005. Each year, the competition has grown more fierce, drawing players from Japan, China, Brazil, and dozens of other countries.
This year’s EVO is a little different. Due to uncertainty over large gatherings, the 2020 event will be played completely online over the course of five weekends in July.
Although this isn’t ideal, it also presents an opportunity. If you couldn’t afford the trip to Vegas in years past, now you have the chance to compete against the world’s best from your own couch. But don’t register just yet—if you want to compete, you need to do some prep first.
Get Your Setup
Because you’ll be competing online, a fast wired internet connection is a must. While Wi-Fi is typically fine for streaming Netflix, to keep up with the demands of 60 frames-per-second fighting action, you don’t want anything in between your console and your router but cable. It’s unknown whether EVO organizers will be instituting a way to evaluate connections for matches, but better safe than sorry.
The games in EVO 2020’s online selection use what’s called “rollback” netcode, which is preferred by gamers for minimizing lag. Instead of dropping frames or lagging while it waits for a response from the other player, it predicts inputs and slightly rewinds and replays if they don’t match.
Many fighting game players champion the supremacy of a fight stick, a piece of hardware designed to replicate the arcade experience with a joystick and rows of buttons. That said, plenty of tournament-winning players have triumphed using a standard console gamepad as well. There’s no right answer, so use what you like best.
Pick Your Game(s)
One of the biggest stumbling blocks for new players in the tournament world is the overwhelming number of games available. This year’s EVO Online is making things a little easier, as only four of the announced games will be open to all contenders.
It’s possible to compete in multiple games, but to maximize your playing time before you get eliminated, pick a primary title and a character or two to really focus on.
Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath
Mortal Kombat 11: Aftermath probably has the largest player base and the best resources available to learn. The recent release of new characters—including Robocop—has put some juice into the franchise, and if you haven’t played a Mortal Kombat game since the arcade days, you’ll find they’re a lot deeper and smoother.
Killer Instinct
2013’s Killer Instinct reboot has a very devoted coterie of diehards. Because the game has been out for so long and hasn’t seen an update since 2017, it’s a known quantity at this point, but its diverse cast can accommodate many different play styles.
Them’s Fightin’ Herds
Them’s Fightin’ Herds is an oddball. It was developed as an unlicensed My Little Pony fighting game, prompting a lawsuit. The creators then reskinned it to feature an all-new cast of six equine brawlers. It’s the smallest game in the lineup, but it has a surprising amount of depth.
Skullgirls Encore
Skullgirls Encore is a well-loved indie title with a significantly high skill ceiling. It can be very unforgiving to new players, with lots of mechanics to master to really compete at a professional level. That said, it’s an exciting and well-balanced game with lots of options.
Lock Down Your Combos
Doing well in tournaments requires a few key ingredients, but one that all pros depend on is getting the maximum benefit from every hit you land. Modern fighting games typically alternate back and forth between two phases: neutral, in which both players are trying to penetrate each other’s defense and land a hit, and combos, where they string together additional attacks after that hit to maximize damage and other advantages when they return to neutral.
Neutral is something you have to learn through experience, and varies game by game. But the basics of combo practice are essential. Find the characters you want to specialize in, figure out their combos—plenty of fighting game wikis outline them in detail—and then get to training mode and execute them over and over until you don’t have to think about the steps. Your standard combo, or “BnB,” should be second nature to you.
Committing your combos to muscle memory will increase the chances of being able to pull them off under the pressure of tournament play. Every hit you get is precious, and maximizing combo damage is often what separates the pros from the pot monsters. You won’t win games on combos alone, but they’re a key ingredient.
Play in Locals
In ordinary times, hardcore fighting game players would gather at arcades and other spots to face off in smaller competitions to polish their skills, learn matchups, and figure out how to handle the pressure.
No matter how much time you spend in training mode, there is no substitute for going head-to-head with another human being. Many pro players live in shared houses with other gamers, giving them a practice partner who’s available 24/7. You might not have that option, but entering a local tournament can at least give you a taste.
Several of the more well-known locals have shifted their activities online. Brooklyn’s Next Level Battle Circuit, which hosts some of the best East Coast players, has shuttered its physical space in favor of weekly Street Fighter V, Dragon Ball FighterZ, and Granblue Fantasy Vs. matchups. On the West Coast, Level Up’s Wednesday Night Fights events are still running.
In addition, Reddit communities based around many of the more popular games are running weekly tournaments. There’s absolutely nothing to lose by throwing your name into the hat and playing a few rounds, even if you get washed-it’s the best way to identify holes in your strategy and things you need to work on.
You’ve got several weeks to train before competition begins. Good luck, and maybe we’ll see you in the brackets.
Originally published at https://www.pcmag.com.
