Did you have fun?

Good god yes. Day one was absolute insanity and NGL: I was semi regretting going. I’m glad I powered through it but I learned a lot about how to navigate these kind of events and what to expect. Apparently this was the biggest esports event ever and even talking to other veterans of like 10 years they were like “Yeah man…friday was absolutely unlike anything I’ve ever seen at a convention…it nearly broke me.” Day 2 and the finals were incredible. I definitely want to go again next year…but not on my own. I think this kind of event really begs for you to go with a group for multiple reasons.

Did you learn anything about playing better?

Absolutely. Had some really long sets with other people and had a fun mirror where he showed me some really solid spacing to keep the rekka safe.

Did you make any friends?

I did sort of. Not necessarily people I’m gonna be chatting with long distance but I hope I see them again next year or at other events. I actually bailed one of them out since he didn’t have a controller that was PS5 compatible.

Did you stay hydrated?

Yup. Got a giant Takeya water bottle. That thing was incredible. Loaded a bit of ice into it and it kept my drink cool all day long. Had fun customizing it with stickers there!

Why aren’t you playing Kimberly, the objectively correct newcomer to play? Jamie is cool don’t get me wrong, but his normals confuse me and because of my lack of understanding of something new I don’t like it. Kimberly is a Bushinryu ninja and I understand that.

Lol, right back at ya! Seriously…he’s just so cool. I got loaded up on Jamie stuff there. I have a giant vinyl sticker, like 18"x22" to put on the side of my computer. His normals are definitely hard to understand. TBH one of my weaknesses is that I still have a lot of trouble with the mental stack of remembering what drink level I am and what moves I even have access to. I tend to default to palm when I should be using Bakkai, and I constnatly forget that I have a goddamn command grab to ruin peoples day. He is a super hard character to use but I am excited that I have so much room to grow and level up for the next 10 years playing this game.

Kimberly is also great for sure though! She’s super cute and her entire aesthetic with the spray paint is so fun. Dude who knocked me out of the tournament was a Kim main and he got my trapped in the blender in the corner with a real hard read!

Did NOT go 0-2, which was my number one goal. I got a solid victory in losers bracket before washing out. My casuals were all over the map for sure. I got some long sets where I got blown up like hell, others where I dominated, and some where we went back and forth for like 50 matches. It was great!

I very nearly got a chance to get my ass kicked by gamerbee but unfortunately the venue was shutting down for the night and we didn’t have time. Got to record his match against another guy though…for research next year.

I did not earn the burrito this year sadly. Sidenote: the chipotle meme was pretty funny if you were there. Having an entire stadium cheer the chipotle add everytime shockingly managed to not get old.

Street fight Vi and…if you couldn’t tell from the pearler art: Jamie! He’s too damn cool!!!

There might have been a cutoff but: it was an option when I registered for the game if you checked the options. It cost like an extra 10 dollars but I considered it to be worth it if only cause its a solid souvenir. This was my first Evo and I wasn’t sure whether or not it would be a one time thing or not so I decided I should go all out.

It will vary depending on where you’re coming from but my budget, for the entire experience, was about 2k and that was almost right on the money. I went a little wild in the dealers room and that put me over budget. Here’s a small breakdown. I might write up a longer guide if there is interest.

-Event pass for the early bird pricing was about 90 dollars for Saturday and Sunday between ticket and processing fees. Each game you want to enter as a competitor is about 10 dollars. Personally even if you’re mainly just a spectator I’d recommend entering the games you’re interested in anyway. Nothing wrong with being a pot monster. -There are some additional add-ons you can buy with the ticket such as getting your gamer tag on your badge ($10), and a tshirt ($30). Up to you but personally I went all out.

-IMPORTANT: finals day is a seperate ticket purchase. Its held in the michelob ultra arena and it will fill up fast. This ticket on its own is about 106 dollars total. Finals day is worth it. Don’t miss out and order early!

-Plane tickets and/or gas to drive are going to vary entirely based on where you’re coming from. I live in Texas and it was just over 500 dollars to get round trip tickets with the flight cancellation plan added on in case covid hit me. I recommend getting there Thursday afternoonish and picking up your badge as early as possible. You can fly out monday whenever. Whatever you do don’t get in super late thursday or early friday morning, it’ll ruin the whole experience.

-I recommend doing carry on and avoiding baggage check fees, but be aware you’re likely to get a full packed flight to vegas and they WILL be sticklers about the carry on policy due to lack of room. If you want to bring souvenirs back make sure you have the space available.

-No shuttle from the airport to hotel. You’ll need an uber/taxi so factor that cost in. The trip from the airport is about 20ish with a tip. I recommend reserving a pickup from the hotel 2 hours before your flight on monday, which costs closer to 30.

-There are two exclusive offers they’ll have for hotel rooms for Evo. One is at the Luxor and one is at Mandalay bay hotels. The Luxor is by far the cheaper option at 150ish a night versus like 350ish at Mandalay bay. I’m sure the Mandalay bay hotel rooms are super nice but IMO it is a needless expense. You have everything you need at luxor and there isn’t much reason to be in your room unless you’re sleeping. The only exception to this is if you want to run some kind of salty suite…but that’s up to you and your crew to figure out. Final bill for me was about $650.

-Food and drink wise, let me not beat around the bush: EVERYTHING IN VEGAS IS OVERPRICED. Its stupid expensive. 6 dollars for a bottle of water. Plan extra for your food budget and maybe make a quick stop at a grocery/convenience store along the way! Also: there are some really great restaurants in Vegas…so I hear. The reality is that around 9:00 you’re going to be faced with the decision to either get food or stay at the tournament. The tournament concludes at 9:00 fri/sat but the venue will remain open for 2 more hours to go snag art stuff as well as casual stations. By the time 11 hits your food options are extremely limited. You can get okish food at some of the bars but other than that you’re pretty much limited to mall food at the food court. Next year I’m planning on finding a grocery store and just getting stocked up for the next couple nights.

-After that your remaining costs are what you want to spend in the dealers/art alley spots. They have some excellent stuff. BRING CASH AS THEY WON’T CHARGE YOU TAX! I spent about 200 dollars here and could have easily spent another 100 if i’d wanted to!

-Gamble at your own risk and budget whatever you want for this appropriately. I abstained completely and advise everyone to do the same…but you do you.

So again, all together about $2,000 is the final bill. Hope that helps!