Guilty Gear -Strive- Evo 2023 Results

Guilty Gear -Strive- has been steadily growing over the past two years, recently reaching over 2.5 million sales. Concerning Evo, the team at ArcSystem Works indeed is proud of being the second biggest bracket of Evo with nearly 2500 players registering for the competition.

The only other Evo Guilty Gear -Strive- bracket was in 2022, with American Happy Chaos player Claire "UMISHO" Harrison winning the $9k prize for 1st place. He was the first Western player to earn the honor of winning a Guilty Gear Evo bracket and now has a chance to become part of one of the rarest clubs in the history of the series, a consecutive Evo winner. The only two other players that can claim that honor are the legendary Daigo Umehara and fellow Japanse top Guilty Gear player Omito Hashimoto.

Top 24 Results

Before entering the Arena on Sunday, players needed to prove they were worthy of the only six spots up for grabs through the bracket. With over 2000 players ready to battle, the fight was long and grueling. Going through the winner side of the bracket was Daru I-no, beating the reigning champion UMISHO in a 3-1 series repeating his performance last year. At the same NBNHMR took his spot by sending RedDitto down to the loser's bracket. Tyurara could have fallen too versus Dejojo in close 3-2 series, and finally, Leffen once again showed his skill versus Verix, winning 3-0 and setting an 18-4 aggregate set score for his bracket.

Over on the losers' side, PepperySplash, who had taken two sets off Leffen earlier, fell to Latif, who would eventually face Setchi, who had won his close 3-2 match versus Stealthy earlier. RedDitto would fall to Stechi after, but sadly for the Brit, UMISHO would step up and secure her top 6 finish. Tiger_pop was able to mount an impressive run, taking our MFCR and Nage, who beat RF for the chance, but his last opponent was UMISHO. Thus, another UK national bites the dust. 

It was an all-US Classic, with Bean from Brooklyn beating Chicago local Daze, while on the other side, Californian Jonathan Tene faced Florida's Hotashi and came out on top with a 3-2 victory. Ultimately, California would remain and succumb to Senegal's legend Verix who was down but not out. For his part, Zando had been making a fantastic lower bracket run, with a win versus Eddventure and Poka, who had eliminated ApologgyMan in a 3-2 series the round prior. A victory versus Dejojo seemed to show a path to the top 6 before Verix proved a mighty foe who would win over Aando 3-1.

Winner Semi-finals

Daru_I-no vs NBNHMR

All even for the first two rounds of the first set that saw NBNHMR taking the lead first. Bur Daru_I-no was more than ready to reply in kind, taking the second set and evening the series and adding one to it after a very methodical 3rd set. Eventually, NBNHMR could not keep up with I-no's aggression, with Daru_I-no taking the win and securing a spot in the Winners Finals.

Tyurara vs Leffen

A Ky Kiske for Tyurara versus Leffen's now iconic Happy Chaos, and with a sneaky poke Leffen was able to open the scoreline with a win and then follow that up again. With a 2 game advantaged and looking extremely in form at that, Leffen looked to build upon that momentum with a third win and move into the Winner finals with a clean 3-0.

Losers Quarter-finals

NBNHMR vs Verix

A fierce battle of Nagoriyuki mains. NBNHMR took over the first set of the series after a powerful super to close it out. Verix, for his part, would try to build up a win for himself, and although the second set could have landed on his side, fates determined NBNHMR would bring the series to match point in game 3.

Tyurara vs UMISHO

An important match for UMISHO as she looked to secure another Evo victory, this time coming in already from the Losers bracket. Game one went the way of the Sol Badguy main with Tyurara earning a round, but unable to close out. Game two followed a similar rhythm, with UMISHO showcasing just how powerful she was in the matchup versus Ky Kiske earning a 3-0 victory and a spot in the top 4.

Winner Finals

Daru_I-no vs Leffen

An Evo 2022 Winner semi-finals repeat between these two titans, a character loyalist in Daru, and a calculated pick for Leffen. The first game would go the way of Leffen, but not without a few chances for Daru to flip the script and take the momentum to his side, which he would in game number two. Sadly for Daru, Leffen was able to stay in form for games three and four, making the most of the match-up advantage and guaranteeing himself a better finish than in his last Evo GGST appearance.

Losers Semi-finals

NBNHMR vs UMISHO

The stakes could not be higher for the two United States representatives. For UMISHO, she has the power to write her name among the best of the best, but first, she had to face the first time Evo NBNHMR who had shown incredible skill throughout his whole online career as Nago. First game when to the "rookie", and although UMISHO was able to open game two in her favor, a very close fight in the last round gave the win to a NBNHMR that looked shocked by the possibility of UMISHO clicking into action.

Losers Finals

Daru_I-no vs NBNHMR

NBNHMR wasted no time, earning the first round win in 12 seconds and making two with another 21s to go up by one game in under a minute versus veteran Daru. Yet, perhaps speaking to his seniority in the scene, Daru earned himself a point through clinical play for game two, making it a 1-1 series. Tensions rose significantly just one game after as NBNHMR mounted an assault on his opponent leading to a 2-1 lead for NBNHMR, a lead he converted into now, a Grand finals apperance.

Grand Finals

Leffen vs NBNHMR

Whether you believe it or not, NBNHMR is actually the favorite of this match-up, as he has won twice before over Leffen in 3-1 series at Frosty Faustings XV and Headstomper 2023. Yet, here came NBNHMR through the losers bracket to challenge who sat among the favorites to win it all. Leffen struck out NBNHMR in dominant fashion for game one with a double-perfect round. Although NBNHMR would earn himself a round in the second game, after so many matches where he looked stoic, Leffen finally broke through it and expanded his lead to 2-0.