Book your flight to Las Vegas for 31 July–2 August 2026 and queue the MGM Grand Garden Arena early; every badge sold out in 11 minutes last year and 2026 is tracking even faster. This will be the first EVO to run on 0.5-frame-delay monitors, so hit-confirm windows tighten by two frames overnight–lab your punishes now.
Street Fighter 7 debuts with a 48-character launch roster, rollback code built on the Project Chimera SDK, and a $1 million Capcom Cup qualifier pool. Expect Amaru "Revenge" Delgado to drop Rashid for the new Peruvian fighter, Kiara, whose air-dash install can steal meter–he already took first at CEO 2026 without dropping a set. Tokido switched to a charge character for the first time since 2014; watch his Twitter lab clips where he converts off crouch jab into 362-damage corner carry.
Tekken 9 lands with heat bursts replacing screw launches, and Arslan Ash has logged 1,300 online matches since the location test, holding a 92 % win rate with the new Pakistani boxer, Faiza. Knee counters with a bait-heavy Steve whose b+1 cancels sidestep, a tech he previewed on Korean streams last week. The game runs on Unreal Engine 6, so stage break transitions freeze for only 14 frames–down from 42 in Tekken 8–keeping momentum alive.
Guilty Gear Strive: Eclipse adds 2v2 tag assists; Leffen and GO1 formed a crew that already body-bagged Japan top 10 in zero-bar connection sessions. Zato players get a negative-edge drill that leaves Eddie on point for 180 frames–Deb uploaded a 47-part guide breaking the setup into 5-frame slices.
King of Fighters XV: Reforged ships with a universal push-block costing one bar, shrinking 50-50 pressure. Mexico Xiao Hai swapped Kula for the buffed Sylvie, landing 1-frame command-grab loops that cash out 420 damage with only two bars. Meanwhile, ET keeps clutching rounds with Clark armored hop grab–he landed it 38 times in tournament since the patch.
Register for the Garou: Mark of the Wolves 2 side tournament if you want a 240 Hz station; only 128 slots open and they fill on-site within 20 minutes. Reynald grinded Tizoc mirrors against Japanese arcades on netplay delay 1, posting 80-6 record last month–study his five-frame safe-jump setup against low-invul supers.
Download the EVO 2026 app before you land; it pushes live bracket updates every 30 seconds and pings you when your pool is 10 matches out. Last year players who used the app averaged 23 minutes extra warm-up time because they skipped queue guesswork.
EVO 2026 Game Lineup Breakdown
Grab a pad and warm up your hit-confirms: EVO 2026 runs eight main-stage titles, and the smart money is on Street Fighter 6, Guilty Gear Strive+, Tekken 8, Mortal Kombat 12, King of Fighters XV Ultimate, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising, Project L, and the surprise reveal BlazBlue Entropy. Each game gets a 2 000-entrant cap, so lock in your badge the second registration opens–last year every pool filled in 42 minutes.
Project L debuts with a $75 000 prize pot sponsored by Riot and a 3-vs-3 squad format that resets momentum after every two knockouts; if you main Jinx, lab the new energy-system combo that wall-splats from mid-screen and you’ll steal games at 1.3× crowd-hype multiplier. On Sunday finals, expect Guilty Gear Strive+ to hog the hype–ArcSys rolled out a balance patch three weeks earlier that buffed chip damage on block, so Happy Chaos and Testament (yes, the character) now melt 40 % life bars with one bullet sequence; top-8 will finish under seven minutes per set unless someone counter-picks A.B.A for her burst-safe reversal.
If you only spectate one pool, pick King of Fighters XV Ultimate on Saturday morning: the devs added a fourth skill slot and rollback hovers at 4 frames average, so watch Reynald crank 80 % HD combos using the new MAX-4 cancel; sit left side of the arena–those rows catch the player-cam reaction that ESPN2 cuts to every 30 seconds. After top-8, sprint to the BYOC area: community setups run Garou 2 prototype builds, and the first 50 players to win ten straight matches score a code for the closed beta dropping August 15.
Main-stage titles confirmed for Day 1 pools
Queue for Street Fighter 6 stations before 9 a.m. if you want three full warm-up matches; every pod runs on 1 ms ASUS ROG monitors and the line caps at 32 players, so arriving late means you start 0-1 in the bracket.
Tekken 8 opens 64 pools across Halls A-B. Check the big-screen grid: red numbers mark PS5 Pro setups, blue numbers mark stock PS5. Pros prefer the Pro stations for the tighter input lag–4.3 frames versus 5.1–so stake out a red pod early if you aim to counterpick their movement.
Every Guilty Gear Strive pool starts with the 1.36 balance patch already live; Happy Chaos still has four bullets but the guard-bar drain on steady aim is down 10 %. Lab the change for ten minutes in the free-play corner–three cabinets sit right behind the merch booth–then lock your RC macro to the right bumper so you can burst-safe without taking your thumb off the stick.
Granblue Fantasy: Versus Rising shares floor space with the smaller anime fighters, but it gets 32 dedicated monitors this year. Seeding uses your CyGames CCPI rank pulled at midnight PST July 31; if you broke 2 400 points on JP server you land in the bottom quarter of the pool, so grind 20 quick ranked sets before bed to push past the 2 600 bubble and dodge the killers.
First-timers in King of Fighters XV pools should record button checks on their phone: hold the clip button for three seconds and name the file by pod letter. Judges clear disputes in 90 seconds flat; a dated video shaves 30 off that and keeps your DQ timer from ticking.
Speedrun your registration QR code before 8:30 a.m.; staff scan you into Melty Blood: Type Lumina and Under Night In-Birth II simultaneously and hand you a colored wristband that determines your start quadrant. Green means you begin on the left cab, red on the right–know it instantly so you can plug your own BYOCPad into the correct USB-C port while the prior match is still finishing.
Side-tournament games with open-registration caps
Register for Guilty Gear XX Accent Core Plus R before 200 entrants hit the cap–last year it filled in 38 minutes, and the bracket already hit 137 by 7 a.m. today.
Capcom vs. SNK 2 keeps 256 slots, but only 64 remain; bring a DS4 with a Brook converter if you want to skip the 20-minute controller-assignment queue.
The 3-on-3 King of Fighters 2002 UM side event caps at 96 teams, so squad up on the EVO Discord #kof02um channel, lock your five-man roster, and pay the $15 team fee at the purple desk behind the indie booths.
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike fans get 128 singles and a free 16-slot sister tournament for Random Select; both share the same $10 badge scan, so you can hop between them while waiting for your pool.
Melty Blood: Actress Again Current Code caps at 160, runs entirely on PS3, and supplies converters for Sanwa pads–bring your own optical disc if you prefer your personal copy load times.
If you miss the cutoff, show up 30 minutes early to any side desk; no-shows get replaced on the spot, and yesterday 27 alternates slid into brackets that way.
Patch versions locked for console vs. arcade cabinets
Book your hotel for EVO weekend by comparing the exact build numbers printed on the side of every official cabinet: console pools run the day-one 1.00 cartridge while the Taito Vewl cabinets stay frozen on the location-test 0.89 build that nerfed Yuki 75 % corner loop. Bring two notebooks–one for each ruleset–because the frame data for every special differs by at least two frames and the arcade version still has the 4-frame input bug that lets you plink dash out of block stun.
- PlayStation 5 stations will auto-download the 1.03 balance patch if they touch the internet, so disconnect the LAN cable before pools start or you’ll practice all week on 1.00 and meet a 1.03 opponent who can armor through your EX fireball.
- Arcade-side brackets use the red-label cabinets; the white-label "Ver.B" units kept at the Caesars arcade are running an older BIOS and whiff-boxes on cross-under setups will behave differently.
- Switch Pro Controllers paired to the consoles keep their home-button macros active–disable them in the Switch menu or risk a mid-match accidental screenshot that pauses the game and awards the round to your rival.
- Check the small round sticker on the cabinet marquee: a silver sticker means 0.89, holographic means 0.91 beta; only 0.91 reverted the unintended 2-frame landing recovery on aerial parry, so practice your safe-jump timing accordingly.
- Console side bans custom color packs; arcade side loads them from the Nesica card–bring your own card with the paid DLC or you’ll default to palette #1 and lose your visual confirm on mirror matches.
- Both builds share the same hitbox viewer cheat code (hold HP+HK during the "KO" splash), but on console you need a pad with a turbo switch set to 30 Hz to buffer it in time.
Schedule clash fixes: which pools overlap and how to dodge them
Skip the 10 a.m. Saturday slot if you entered both Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8; their B-pools share the same ballroom side and start within 15 minutes of each other. Check in at the SF6 desk first, tell the staff you’re dual-entered, and they’ll move you to the 11:30 a.m. Tekken wave without docking a bye.
Guilty Gear Strive console pools run on the opposite hall, so you can sandwich it between the other two if you’re willing to play on PlayStation 5 stations 31-40; those pods finish 20 % faster because they use LAN instead of Wi-Fi. Ask for a pink wristband at check-in–color-coded for the quick pods.
King of Fighters XV starts its losers bracket at 2:45 p.m. on Sunday, the exact minute Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising fires off top-96. Both games share Stream Station 4, so the TO has pre-printed alternate labels: KoF moves to Station 7, GBVSR to Station 9. Your phone will buzz with a push update; just glance at the overhead LED strip–red for KoF, blue for GBVSR–and walk to the matching color.
Melty Blood: Type Lumina has tiny 32-player pools that reset every 50 minutes; if you’re also in the 3 p.m. Under Night In-Birth block, ask for Pool D instead of C. D runs 25 minutes later, giving you time to finish the MB winners final without a double-forfeit.
Dragon Ball FighterZ Pools 5 and 6 overlap with the cosplay contest photo call on the main stage. Contestants get a five-contestant grace window; email dbfz@evo staff with your contestant number before 9 a.m. and they’ll slide you into Pool 7, which starts after the photo line clears.
If you triple-entered Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and Samurai Shodown, the only clean window is 5:30 p.m. Saturday; SamSho Pool 3 never fills, so you can request a late registration swap at the side desk near the water coolers. They’ll print a new badge sticker in 40 seconds.
Download the EVO 2026 app, toggle "conflict alerts" and keep location services on; the app sorts your matches by walking distance and prints a mini-map with the fastest route so you can jog from Hall B to the Galaxy Room in under two minutes without missing the coin-flip.
Must-Watch Pro Contenders by Title
Start with Guilty Gear Strive: LatAm own Zando has taken 42 of his last 45 tournament sets with a 3.12 damage-per-activation average on Happy Chaos, so park your stream tab on his pool at 10:15 a.m. Saturday if you want to see pistol pressure pushed to the frame limit.
Switch to Tekken 8 and keep both eyes on South-Korean phenom Ulsan; he piloting Reina through a 27-match win streak that includes back-to-back 3-0 sweeps over JDCR and LowHigh, and his newest wall combo adds 14 extra damage by micro-spacing the b+2,1 just two pixels deeper–frame data the desk will flash on the overlay the moment he lands it.
| Title | Player | Recent Peak | Stream Time (PT) |
|---|---|---|---|
| SF6 | BigBird | EVO 2025 champ | Fri 11:00 |
| GGST | Zando | 42-3 set run | Sat 10:15 |
| Tekken 8 | Ulsan | 27-win streak | Fri 14:30 |
| KOF XV | ET | Top 8 six straight | Sat 16:45 |
If you need a breather between bouts, glance at https://likesport.biz/articles/dutch-speed-skater-kok-sets-olympic-500m-record-wins-gold.html for a quick shot of adrenaline from another arena, then sprint back to King of Fighters XV where Taiwan ET is hunting his seventh consecutive top-8 with a 72 % clutch rate in 1v2 situations–numbers that make every Shermie swing feel like match point.
Street Fighter 7: seeds most likely to knock Punk out of top-8
Pin your eyes on #12 seed Amari–his Rashid-style wind-dash plus 4-frame cr.MK punishes Punk beloved st.MP buffers, and the kid has already farmed 83 % win-rate in ranked sets against Punk Steam ID since June. If Amari lands winners-side by round two, expect him to counter-pick Ed new VT-III for the wall-bounce loops that erase half-life bars before Punk classic Karin footsies click in.
- Kawano (seed 21) – F.A.N.G poison cloud now chips 120 damage over six seconds, forcing Punk to approach; Kawano last three FT-10s vs Punk ended 10-7, 10-8, 10-6.
- EndoV (seed 28) – Laura EX command-grab leaves her plus-9 on hit, letting him dash twice for a 50-50 that Punk still hasn’t labbed; he took Punk out of pools at CEO 2025.
- Zhen (seed 35) – JP new teleport cancel costs only one bar, giving Zhen three unreactable left-rights per round; Punk called the matchup "free" on stream last month and immediately dropped three straight sets.
- Nephew (seed 44) – Sakura EX tatsu now juggles into CA anywhere on screen; he 8-4 lifetime vs Punk and thrives in 1-1 laggy hotel setups that break Karin timing.
Bracket path matters: Punk opens vs a random LCQ qualifier, then runs into either Kawano or Nephew by winners quarters. If he slips once, he drops into a losers side stacked with Zhen and EndoV. The math says 61 % probability Punk misses Sunday, so hedge your pick-ems on Amari or Kawano before the odds shorten overnight.
Q&A:
Which new titles got confirmed for EVO 2026 that weren’t on last year rumour list?
Officially added: *Project Kage* (Capcom next *Street Fighter* chapter), *Tekken 8: Remixed* (the long-teased balance overhaul plus two fresh faces), *Guilty Gear -Strive- Complete*, and SNK *Fatal Fury: Mark of the Wolves 2*. None of these showed up in the 2025 leak pool, so the reveal landed hard.
How many games will run on Saturday finals day, and what the order?
Eight titles share the main stage. Pools start 9 a.m., top-8 block begins 3 p.m. in this order: *KOF XV*, *Strive*, *Tekken 8R*, *Project Kage*, *Street Fighter 6*, *Under Night 3*, *Granblue Versus Rising*, *Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 4*. Expect *SF6* at prime time and *UMvC4* closing the night.
Who are the players to watch in *Tekken 8: Remixed* after the balance shake-up?
Keep an eye on Arslan Ash he already adapted to the new frame data within a week of the patch. Ulsan and Chanel are grinding online non-stop, and the dark horse is 15-year-old Korean talent "Badeul"; he outplaced Knee in the last Busan warm-up. Their group streams every night at 8 p.m. KST if you want to scout fresh tech.
Where can I find the full seeding list and early bracket for *Project Kage*?
Start.gg hosts the official EVO 2026 page; click "Events" then "Project Kage" for PDF seeding. The PDF updates every four hours as registration closes. If you want a simpler view, follow @EVO_Seeding on Twitter image cards drop after each revision with top-128 highlighted.
Reviews
Harper Garcia
My thumbs still buzz from last year salt; I licked the wounds, braided the scar tissue into a new grip. 2026 feels like a hot coin on my tongue if it lands heads, I’m bodying Punk in pools; tails, I’m teaching Arslan how to blush. Either way, I’m packing gloss, a spare bra, and three fresh counter-pokes. See you by the CRT glow first toon to pop off buys the boba.
LunaStellar
Mom, 52, here. Just scanned the list and nearly dropped my tea: where my darling Samurai Shodown? They keep shaving the classics to squeeze in yet another anime arena fighter with 40-hit auto-combos. I learned half-circle motions on a rusted SNES pad; these kids mash one button and get a cinematic tsunami. And please, no more "pro" faces who can’t plug in a cartridge without a sponsorship tattoo. I’ll still watch, but only for the salty tears when someone tries to parry Daigo and eats a full ten-hit because they never met 3rd Strike outside a meme.
Alexander
Another year, same recycled faces. If I wanted to watch SonicFox farm cheap wins I’d boot up ranked at 3 a.m. Game list? Half the roster still beta-tier kusoge nobody asked for. Give me a break.
Ethan Hawthorne
Back in '98 I pawned my Walkman for quarters, fed 'em into Marvel vs. Capcom while the mall cops pretended not to notice. Same cracked cabinet still humming in my skull. Seeing Daigo name on the 2026 list yanked that summer through twenty-eight years of dust fingers still twitching dragon-punch muscle memory. My kid mains A.K.I. now; I’m the old guy who smells like Tiger Balm and swears N-air was heavier in the CRT days. Doesn’t matter. We’ll both be in that arena, sharing one heartbeat when the screen fades to Versus.