As the Olympics of fighting games, the Evolution Championship Series brings together the best talent from across the world. Skilled players from all continents converge on Las Vegas each summer to compete for a trophy in their respective titles, and it's not always the home country that comes away with the most representatives on the podium.
As the 2016 edition of Evo comes to an end, it's now time to look at how the top countries did at the biggest fighting tournament of the year. United States, Japan, and South Korea were all notable contenders. Who came out on top as the world's top fighter nation?
How points are totaled
First place ("Gold") = 5 points
Second place ("Silver") = 3 points
Third place ("Bronze") = 1 point
1. United States of America: 28 Points (4 Gold, 1 Silver, 5 Bronze)
Okay, maybe sometimes it is the home country who ends up being the most decorated. Since there was only one "anime" game this year, Japan's historical dominance was held in check as the United States took four golds out of the nine games. It was due to the likes of Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma and Christopher "NYChrisG" Gonzalez finally breaking through after years of being perennial runners-up which gave the United States an edge this Evolution.
Three of the American gold medal winners beat international players and not domestic players in their games' finals, meaning US dominance wasn't exactly overwhelming overall. If say, NYChrisG had fallen in the finals or Adam "Armada" Lindgren had ousted Hungrybox, we could be looking at a drastically different table. Still, congratulations to the home nation for taking home the most points this time around.
We'll see how America holds up when it sets off to play in the recently announced Evolution Japan.
2. Japan: 24 Points (2 Gold, 4 Silver, 2 Bronze)
Japan won eight medals to America's 10, but only took home two golds: Pokken Tournament and Guilty Gear Xrd. In Street Fighter V, where the Japanese dominated the majority of the top eight, they could only grab the silver and bronze spots on the podium. Thankfully, due to Japan's dominance in 2D fighters like Guilty Gear, they were able to sweep that game and firmly establish themselves in second place overall. If a few things had gone differently, namely if SFV's winner Seon-Woo "Infiltration" Lee didn't exist, Japan could have finished first over America.
Not too shabby for a country that is 5,000-plus miles away from Las Vegas.
3. South Korea - 14 Points (2 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze)
Like Japan's dominance in Guilty Gear, South Korea holds uncontested sway over Tekken. As long as Tekken is still an official title at Evolution, the top Koreans will travel over and dominate in the game they've made their own over the past decade. Besides the three Tekken winners, there was, of course, Infiltration. Infiltration, the most famous Korean fighting game pro gamer, took home his fourth Evolution trophy in history by clinching the granddaddy of them all: the inaugural Street Fighter V title.
If South Korea lobbied for more Tekken games at Evolution or simply cloned Infiltration, it could challenge the USA and Japan in fighting game supremacy.
4. Canada - 5 Points (1 Gold, 0 Silver, 0 Bronze)
Sometimes it only takes one player to put your nation on the fighting game map. Canada was shut out of all other games at Evolution -- only one other Canadian even made the top eight -- but Elliot "Ally" Carroza-Oyarce made up for it with his victory in Smash 4. In a game where the top echelon has been in flux the past few months, Canada's ace was able to secure a much needed victory for USA's neighbors north of the border.
5. Chile - 4 Points (0 Gold, 1 Silver, 1 Bronze)
A country you wouldn't instantly expect to be in the top five (top ten, even) of fighting game countries, Chile entered Evolution 2016 with a strong chance of grabbing double gold. It brought two defending champions to Las Vegas in the form of Smash 4's Gonzalo "ZeRo" Barrios and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3's Nicolás "Kane BlueRiver" González. Unfortunately for the South American nation, neither champion could repeat, as the former undisputed king of Smash 4 only achieved a bronze in his title and Kane BlueRiver lost to New York's NYChrisG in the UMvC3 final.
T-6. Sweden - 3 Points (0 Gold, 1 Silver, 0 Bronze)
Armada was so close to pushing Sweden into a tie with Canada by taking home the trophy. It wasn't meant to be, however, as the defending Super Smash Bros. Melee champion fell in the finals to American Hungrybox, and Sweden finished without gold this year. The biggest what-if for Sweden is wondering what could have happened if fellow Swedish Melee contender William "Leffen" Hjelte, initially one of the four favorites for the gold medal, had competed in the event; unfortunately, visa issues prevented him from attending Evo. Perhaps Sweden had two players on the podium in an alternate universe.
T-6. Bahrain - 3 Points (0 Gold, 1 Silver, 0 Bronze)
Not Germany. Not the United Kingdom. Not even Mexico, which is the closest country to Las Vegas. The seventh nation to grab a podium spot at Evolution 2016 was Bahrain with Sayed hashim "Tekken Master" Ahmed as their star player in Mortal Kombat X (not Tekken as one might have expected from the name). Although Tekken Master couldn't strike down Dominique "SonicFox" McLean, the exalted king in the competitive Mortal Kombat scene, he did grab an impressive second place finish to put Bahrain onto the standings.