eSports prodigy, AngryBird becomes first ever Street Fighter 6’s Evolution 2023 champion.
As we enter the new era of Street Fighter with Street Fighter 6, there is probably no better way to start it off with the biggest fighting game tournament, Evo 2023. As we conclude the winner of Street Fighter 6 on Day Three, it also marks the end of Evo 2023 weekend. Which is a shame, because Evo 2023 was incredible. No scratch that, this has been one of the best, if not the best year in recent Evo history. There has been far too many oh em gee moments to fathom.
As we enter the final day, it all came down to the Top 6. All of which are incredibly gifted and renowned fighting game players and content creators: PunkDaGod, MenaRD, Tokido, AngryBird, Uzura and Haitani. All six players came for one purpose only, to claim Street Fighter supremacy. But only one could win it all, and with the unbelievably prodigy-like skills each player has, literally any one of them could’ve won it.
Which is why we are honoured to announce AngryBird as the Street Fighter 6 champion. But first, let’s discuss both AngryBird and MenaRD’s routes from the Top 6 to the Grand Finals. AngryBird went on beating Kakeru 3-2, then went on to beating his good friend PunkDaGod 3-2. Plus, ending PunkDaGod’s amazing unbeaten run in the tournament.
You read that correctly. Before AngryBird, PunkDaGod didn’t lose a single game throughout the tournament. That should tell you how special of a player he is. Because PunkDaGod lost, and he was in the winners finals, he got placed in the losers finals. Meaning, he’ll get another chance to reach the Grand Final.
MenaRD on the other hand, had a longer run, because he was in the loser’s finals from previously losing to Kakeru in the battle for Top 6. But that didn’t stop him from overcoming the Street Fighter gaming icon, Tokido by beating him 3-2, and Tokido clutching 4th place. Then, he completed what seemed like a very unlikely turnaround against by overcoming a 2-0 deficit to win 3-2 against winners finals loser, PunkDaGod to pass the losers finals to Grand Final to face winners finalist, AngryBird. Also, this meant that PunkDaGod cliched 3rd place.
As for the Grand Final, Angry Bird and MenaRD had a battle that was one for the ages. The first series ended in 3-2 MenaRD, then it went to a Grand Finals reset and the winner of the next series wins it all. With the final series, AngryBird won 3-1 and was crowned as the first ever Street Fighter 6 Evolution 2023 champion and this also being his first ever Evo. It becomes more impressive when you realise that he finished 22nd in last year’s Evo. This is one for the history books.
AngryBird won in an incredible fashion and didn’t look phased at all, despite MenaRD switching between both of his Street Fighter 6 mains, Luke and Blanka. MenaRD can proudly hold his head up, as he delivered special moments and was an amazing player the entire tournament. Before you head off, you might want to know a little on Street Fighter 6’s first Evolution 2023 champion.
Amjad “AngryBird” Alshalabi is a United Arab Emirates eSports player and content creator who represents UAE eSports team, Nasr eSports and has played competitively since 2016. His main players in Street Fighter 6 are Ken (who he played as in the entire Evo 2023 tournament), and he also mains the recently released DLC character, Rashid.
He’s a five time Capcom Cup qualifier, SFL Season 3 and 4 champion, and 2018 EU champion. Now he can add Street Fighter 6 Evolution 2023 champion to his proud accolades. This is a hallmark moment for UAE gaming and they can be proud someone represented them with style.
This was indeed an incredible tournament and weekend. And it’s a shame that it’s over, but we’d hope that Evo 2024 will be even greater. Sadly, we have to wait a year. Evo 2023 had many awesome moments, and we feel blessed to see them.
