If I had to use one word to describe the Killer Instinct tournament, it would be "unpredictable." Although the character selection was rather standard, the results were wild and the play was unorthodox.
First up is the list of upsets that occurred before the top eight of the tournament began.
The elimination of popular pick Deon "Thompxson" Thompson by Jonathan "RicoSuave" Deleon was a shock. RicoSuave, who took ninth place, might have been last year's Evo champion, but he was far from a sure thing in this year's Killer Instinct competition. In addition to both RicoSuave and Thompxson's early departures, Neilimen "GutterMagic"Alicea, one of the better bets for a Evo title, also finished in a disappointing ninth place.
Despite having so many big names eliminated from the tournament before the finals even began, the top eight was still amazingly stacked. It boasted upstarts like Blue Hurricane Gaming's Jamill "SeaDragon" Boykin and Josue "Grief" Herrera, a surprise contender in Paul "PaulB" Ramos, as well as a relatively unknown player in Jacob "RL|Runex" Runsewe. Among them were three monster threats (two of them previewed in our Evo primer): Circa eSports' Nicolas "Nicky" Iovene, Flipsid3 Tactics' Darnell "Hollywood Sleep" Waller and Ultra Arcade's Kenneth "Bass" Armas. The competition is healthy in Killer Instinct, and Evo proved that it's truly anyone's game.
From the actual top-eight diversity to the way each and every match went down, there were no easy wins, even for favorites. PaulB's match against KI notable Bass proved every bit of this point. If not for the massive comeback from death's grip, Bass would have been on the shorter end of the stick. Instead, Bass identified PaulB's weaknesses for throws and used it to alternate his mix-up or grab his opponent. Even the biggest name in the bracket, Hollywood Sleep, struggled against his first opponent, Nicky. No one was safe, regardless of reputation.
Your Killer Instinct champion: Hollywood Sleep
The man many thought would be the Killer Instinct champion lived up to the hype and left zero doubt in the minds of the audience. He was the easy favorite when the top eight started, a favorite when the tournament began and the dominating force throughout the Saturday finals.
Hollywood Sleep succeeded through superior play and character selection. When he began, it was all Arbiter, but that soon changed when he was faced up against Spinal in the winner's and grand finals. There, Hollywood Sleep swapped to Gargos and crushed the hopes of naysayers.
Bass gave it a great shot for a potential reset when he seemingly had Hollywood Sleep on the ropes with a victory and then a huge life bar lead, but it was not meant to be. Hollywood Sleep stepped up his aggression and clutched out every key moment and round thereafter. He's your deserving Evo champion and the best Killer Instinct player to work the pad.