A tale of two men giving their all in a game they excel at. Another tale of redemption from South Korea. One would never think these landmark moments would happen one after the other in this year’s biggest fighting game tournament. But it did.

Dragon Ball Fighter Z: Push It To The Limit

Dragon Ball FighterZ’s fighting game scene arguably went in a slump post-EVO 2018, but that was all ignored when top-tier pros Goichi “GO1” Kishida and Dominique “SonicFox” McLean took over the grand finals. Whenever these two were fighting for the top podium spot, it’s usually a thing of beauty. Two men who know the game inside and out, picking the best teams and displaying an awesome battle akin to two rivals pushing themselves to one-up the other ala the franchise’s Goku and Vegeta.

With SonicFox being the offensive player and GO1 being able to block whatever comes in his way as a champ should, these two could not be any more different playstyle-wise. True, there were killers in the bracket like NYChrisG, Fenritti, and Kazunoko (more on him on the other game later), but SonicFox and GO1 were a league of their own.

When it all happened, fans and spectators weren’t disappointed in the slightest: they gave everyone the best fight of their lives.

In the end, there can only be one, and GO1 triumphed, beating his esteemed opponent in three straight games. As the dust settled, GO1 broke down in tears as his opponent gave him a hug. Because in the end, sportsmanship matters.

These are the top 8 players of Dragon Ball FighterZ in this year’s EVO.

1. Go1 (Bardock, Kid Goku, Goku)
2. SonicFox (Bardock, Kid Buu, Kid Goku)
3. Fenrich (Cell, Bardock, Vegeta)
4. Shanks (Android 18, Adult Gohan, Goku)
5. Hirohiro (Android 17, Kid Goku, Teen Gohan)
6. B (Kid Buu, Adult Gohan, Yamcha)
7. NYChrisG (Teen Gohan, Tien, Yamcha)
8. Kazunoko (Kid Buu, Adult Gohan, Yamcha)

Samurai Shodown: Infiltration’s Clean Slate

We’re not going to recap the Infiltration domestic abuse allegations here because what matters now is that there’s a new Samurai Shodown champion in town: Seon-woo “Infiltration” Lee. And the game’s EVO 2019 capped off in a match most expected-yet-awe-inspiring: Infiltration’s Genjuro and Kazunoko’s Haohmaru.

The match was tense, with Kazunoko doing the right moves with following-up Infiltration’s mistakes with a Weapon Flipping Technique (FYI Haohmaru’s WFT is the best). Still, the South Korean’s deft use of Genjuro’s crouching medium footsie tool and his “Rekka” and command grab mixups cemented his 1st place spot.

Props should also go to Infiltration for climbing up from the loser’s bracket by winning literal time-stopping matches like this one:

Still, this is a sign that SNK may want to tweak dominant character Genjuro, or at least buff every other weaksauce in the SS cast. Anyway, your top 8 in the game; it’s nice to see Alex Valle and Justin Wong, two 2D fighting game veterans, still showing the world they still got it.

1. Infiltration (Genjuro)
2. Kazunoko (Haohmaru)
3. Justin Wong (Tam Tam)
4. Reynald (Genjuro, Haohmaru)
5. Alex Valle (Galford)
6. RB (Genjuro)
7. DidimoKOF (Genjuro)
8. ZJZ (Charlotte)