EVO, short for Evolution Championship Series, is the premier fighting game tournament which graces the esports industry every year with plenty of EVO betting opportunities. Featuring the most competitive fighting game titles and competitors, there’s a tonne of competition to look forward to over eight titles. With so much information to digest, learn everything you need to know in this EVO betting guide!
Top EVO Betting Sites
EVO 2024 Japan Featured Titles
Boasting hundreds of competitors from across the globe, here’s a list of all of the EVO Japan 2024 Featured Titles and their respective esports tournaments below:
| EVO Tournament | Participants |
|---|---|
| Street Fighter 6 | 4852 |
| Tekken 8 | 1215 |
| Guilty Gear -STRIVE- | 847 |
| Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising | 747 |
| Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike | 458 |
| The King of Fighters XV | 449 |
| Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes] | 353 |
Notably, all tournaments are taking place between 27th and 29th April in the heart of Tokyo at the Ariake GYM-EX.
EVO 2024 Prize Pools
Apart from competing to be the very best in their particular fighting game, there’s also a considerable prize pool on the line which only the top players get a piece of.
Here’s a look at the EVO 2024 prize pools of all of the tournaments:
| EVO Tournament | Prize |
|---|---|
| Street Fighter 6 | $13,181 |
| Tekken 8 | $13,056 |
| Guilty Gear -STRIVE- | $13,056 |
| Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising | $13,181 |
| Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike | $13,181 |
| The King of Fighters XV | $13,081 |
| Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes] | $13,181 |
Overall, there’s up to $100,000 of prize pool up for grabs for the official tournaments, the biggest it’s ever been in Japan.
In addition, for certain tournaments such as Tekken 7, there are also Qualification Points up for grabs which will prove essential for individuals to seed for further events later in the season.
Do note that besides the headline tournaments, there are a series of ‘Community Showcase‘ tournaments scheduled which are less structured and present for fans to enjoy old-school competition.
EVO 2024 Schedule
Tuning into an event with so many ongoing tournaments can definitely be difficult. Accordingly, there are several schedules for each event to consider. If you’d like to have a look at the EVO 2024 schedule, we recommend visiting the official event page and selecting the particular tournament which interests you.
EVO Betting Guide – Tips and Tricks
As you can tell by now, there are plenty of esports betting opportunities at the Evolution Championship Series – we’re actually spoiled for choice here.
In this particular betting guide, essential details for each tournament are paired with general betting tips overall.
Firstly, here are some tips to consider for your EVO betting 2024:
- Research the players – as an open tournament, there are plenty of unknowns. Considering that everyone has a history of competing, it’s essential to educate yourself before betting. Also, the newer the title, the less experience everyone has which may affect the odds.
- Check out the matchups – in competitive fighting games, match-ups are unique. Historical matchups between two particular players will likely show a unique relationship, regardless of their overall ranks. Also, competitors with a larger pool of characters/picks are less immune to being countered – knowing picks and behaviour is a massive plus here.
- Compare EVO betting odds – the best EVO betting sites all have different odds. Sometimes, the same match-ups will differ depending on where you’re looking. If you compare the odds at a few esports betting sites, you can ensure you get the best odds and value for your money. Better odds mean a higher payout.
- Manage your bets – with so many matches to bet on, always make sure you are managing your money safely, betting the right amount and understanding the different markets available.
- Using Promotions – especially if you’re starting out, the best esports betting sites tend to offer promotions which will definitely help with EVO betting.
EVO 2024 Teams & Format
Street Fighter 6
Without question, SF6 is the headline title for EVO Japan this year as made evident by its ridiculous player count.
In tandem, that makes Street Fighter betting one of the best esports betting opportunities at the event.
Competitors will be fighting through several stages of competition, eventually reaching the Top 96 and finally, only the very best Street Fighter players will fight through the double elimination bracket.
To help provide insight into how the competition stacks up, here are the top 5 players from the Capcom Cup X, the $1,000,000 tournament from earlier in 2024:
- #1 – UMA
- #2 – Chris Wong
- #3 – gachikun
- #4 – NL
- #5-6 – DCQ, Leshar
Tekken 8
Featuring almost 1,215 participants, Tekken 8 is the newest fighter title on the line-up.
This particular tournament forms part of the Tekken World Tour, and features two stages of competition involving a Pools stage followed by the Bracket.
If you’re interested in betting on Tekken 8, we recommend checking out the top 5 players according to the Tekken World Finals 2023 which concluded in January 2024:
- 1st – Arslan Ash
- 2nd – CBM
- 3rd – ULSAN
- 4th – LowHigh
- 5-6th – Rangchu, AO
Such rankings will play a part in influencing the Tekken odds.
Guilty Gear – STRIVE-
Boasting a competition base of almost 847, a tonne of eyes are on the Guilty Gear -STRIVE- EVO tournament.
Following the successful ARC World Tour 2023 Finals earlier this year, Guilty Gear -STRIKE is proving itself as a top notch fighting game.
Here’s a look at the standings from this $100,000 tournament from earlier this year which could easily influence the EVO odds:
- 1st – Verix
- 2nd – Slash
- 3rd – TempestNYC
- 4th – Zando
- 5-6th – Aarondamac, UMISHO
Heading into EVO Japan 2024, let’s see if any of this has changed.
Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising
As a brand new title released in December 2023 by Cygames, Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising makes its first debut at an EVO tournament at EVO Japan 2024.
Although only a few months old, Cygames has organized a number of tournaments, such as the Cygames Cup Special and the ARC World Tour 2023 Finals. With $30,000 on the line, here are the standings from the ARC World Tour 2023 Finals worth knowing for esports odds:
- #1 – Fukunaga
- #2 – Kojicoco
- #3 – Xerom
- #4 – Zippy
- #5-6th – Fitizen, Tako
Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike
Time for a throwback. Released back in 1999, Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike is one of the most successful titles in the franchise of Street Fighter.
For EVO Japan 2024, the title is being brought back to see where the competition lies after so many years thanks to pushes from the community.
This tournament is likely featured after the immense success at Combo Breaker 2023, which had the following standings;
- 1st – Tommy2step
- 2nd – Bigred
- 3rd – JaMarvelous
- 4th – Hokuto
- 5-6th – yogurt brain, BigBadWolfMN
The King of Fighters XV
In a unique title where competitors play several characters, The King of Fighters is back by popular request. In particular, EVO 2024 Japan is the first tournament for the season after the SNK World Championship 2023.
At this ultimate $175,000 tournament, the following players proved themselves and are favourites heading into this EVO 2024 Japan tournament:
- 1st – Laggia
- 2nd – M’
- 3rd – Xiao Hai
- 4th – SCORE
- 5th -pineapple, ET
Under Night In-Birth II [Sys:Celes]
Released as recently as January 2024, EVO Japan 2024 will offer an exhibition of UNDER NIGHT gameplay through their most recent title.
Bearing this in mind, there isn’t much intel as to which players are the best – it’s anyone’s game.
History of EVO
One thing to bear in mind is that ever since 2018, the Evolution Championship Series split into two series.
Specifically, EVO Japan has taken place yearly since 2018 alongside the mainstream EVO competition.
So when we’re discussing the history of EVO, we’re referring to the mainstream competition hosted in the USA.
Anyways, the last time this competition was hosted was last year, in 2022, after a three year absence. For EVO 2022, over 7,000 competitors fought through the esports games available, resulting in the following final standings:
| EVO 2022 Tournament | Winner | Runner-Up |
|---|---|---|
| Guilty Gear - STRIVE- | UMISHO | Slash |
| Street Fighter V | Kawano | iDom |
| Tekken 7 | Knee | Khan |
| The King of Fighters XV | ZJZ | E.T. |
| Dragon Ball FighterZ | Wawa | Nitro |
| Granblue Fantasy: Versus | Gamera | Tororo |
| Mortal Kombat 11 | Scorpionprocs | Rewind |
| Melty Blood: Type Lumina | Jing | Masoma |
| Skullgirls | SonicFox | dekillsage |
Prior events were of smaller scale and featured older titles which are no longer featured, such as Super Smash Bros. Indeed, those interested in placing bets on Super Smash Bros will be disappointed by the title’s absence in 2024.
How to Watch EVO 2024 Japan
For anyone interested, EVO 2024 Japan is being broadcasted live on Twitch, YouTube and other streaming services.
