How Did TempestNYC Win GGS at EVO Japan 2024?

EVO Japan 2024 may have featured tons of big recent games like Tekken and Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising. However, older titles like Guilty Gear Strive had a lot to offer too. Strive is a game with a much more developed meta and we saw that with the GGS at EVO Japan 2024 tournament. This is one of our earliest looks at how players will perform throughout this year’s Arc World Tour. Who are the standouts so far?

It was a tight bracket for Guilty Gear Strive, but TempestNYC was proclaimed the ultimate winner. How did he get there?

TempestNYC Runs Bracket for GGS at EVO Japan 2024

The Semi-Finals for Guilty Gear Strive got off to an interesting start. We had Tempest up against Mocchi, two of the strongest active players right now. However, TempestNYC was able to smoothly slide through with a 3-0 win. In the next round, he faced sanakan, but made things look just as simple with another 3-0 victory. This sent sanakan back down to the losers bracket, where he had to beat Tyuara to get another shot at victory.

In our Grand Final, we got a rematch of TempestNYC against sanakan. Unlike in the other Arc game at the tournament, Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising, though, there was no bracket reset here. Instead, TempestNYC once again repeated his strong 3-0 win. Making him the champion of GGS at EVO Japan 2024.

The player has shown he’s one of the best active Guilty Gear Strive players here. It’s not the sole winner worth highlighting though. Sanakan and Tyurara both performed very strongly too. Leffen, the 2023 EVO champion, managed 7-8th too. All of these players are looking strong for the Arc World Tour this season.

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GGS at EVO Japan 2024 Preview

EVO Japan is a three-day tournament, taking place over April 27-29th. We’ll see all the major games represented here, but Guilty Gear Strive might be the biggest anime fighting game. It’s got over 800 players taking part. All competing for a prize pool of over $12,000. It’s also a Platinum tier event for the Arc World Tour 2024. That means the winner is getting a head start on the 2024 season of GGS.

All events at EVO Japan 2024 are played in a familiar format. We get an opening pools round where tons of players compete. The best out of these are filtered into a bracket. We get to see them compete 1-v-1 in a double-elimination format, before we eventually find a champion for the year.

Top Players to Watch at GGS at EVO Japan 2024

Who are the top players to watch out for at the tournament? There are most of the major names attending GGS at EVO Japan 2024. However, there’s a handful worth keeping an eye on based on their performance on the way here.

GOBOU

GOBOU is coming into GGS at EVO Japan 2024 with quite a bit of hype. He’s the champion for 2023’s event, as well as taking other major results over the last year. The player has only been active since 2021, but has risen to be something of a favorite in this short time.

T Y

T Y is an ONi Global Championship player who competed in a few different fighters. He’s maybe most successful in Guilty Gear Strive though. Towards the end of 2023, he had numerous strong results in Strive and is looking strong for this bracket.

Tyurara

Tyurara is another Japanese player with strong finishes in recent GGS events. He’s more widely travelled than many others, competing in tournaments all over the world for GGS. That includes a strong 5th finish at 2023’s EVO event for the game.

Leffen

EVO Japan has plenty of western players attending too, and the most notable might be Leffen. The former Smash Bros esports player has moved into Strive and begun to dominate including winning last year’s EVO event. He could claim another victory here in GGS at EVO Japan 2024.

TempestNYC

Out of the American players attending EVO Japan, TempestNYC is definitely one of the strongest. He came in 3rd at the 2023 AWT Finals and won numerous events last year. If he can continue this performance, he might be able to claim victory at the 2024 EVO Japan tournament for Strive.

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Those are some of the top competitors taking part in GGS at EVO Japan 2024. They’ll all be on the official stream if you want to follow along and see which players make it all the way in the 2024 Strive tournament.