How does the title stack up to the others that made it into the EVO 2018 lineup?

When the EVO 2018 lineup was announced, many immediately noticed that Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite was not present. Many have claimed this to be a sign that Marvel is "dead" (the MvC series).

The games announced as main events are Tekken 7, Super Smash Bros. 4, Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition, BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle, Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2, Injustice 2, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Dragon Ball FighterZ.

Some people have wondered why BlazBlue Cross Tag Battle is getting a slot when the game hasn't even been released yet. Meanwhile, others seem confused about the fact that Smash is getting two separate tournaments.

Mr. Wizard, the EVO tournament organizer, pointed out that Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite "was on a slippery slope and it had a lot of competition going forward." He also mentioned that "it just kind of... fizzled."

Of course, Mark "MarkMan" Julio also noted that it's hard to include a game that wasn't getting support. He clarified that he wasn't referring to Capcom.

Let's take a moment to review the number of attendees for some of the notable tournaments over the past few months since MvCI's release. We'll also look at the entrants for the games that made it into the lineup (minus DBFZ since it came out recently). While this doesn't paint the whole picture, we'll also look at BlazBlue: Central Fiction since Cross Tag Battle hasn't been released yet.

Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite was released on September 19, 2017. Coincidentally, the SoCal Regionals 2017 was starting on September 22nd.

This was one of the first tournaments to feature high level play for the latest game in the series after its official launch. Despite it being new, it wasn't able to overtake Street Fighter 5's numbers.

SoCal Regionals 2017 number of attendees • Street Fighter 5 - 295

• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite - 170

• Tekken 7 - 151

• Injustice 2 - 129

• Guilty Gear Xrd 2 - 62

• BlazBlue: Central Fiction - 47

• Super Smash Bros. 4 - N/A

• Super Smash Bros. Melee - N/A

The Fall Classic 2017 would be an event that went on from September 29, 2017 until October 1, 2017. It seems that Tekken 7 had better numbers at this event than both Capcom titles.

The Fall Classic 2017 number of attendees • Tekken 7 - 175

• Street Fighter 5 - 110

• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite - 99

• Injustice 2 - 58

• Guilty Gear Xrd 2 - 41

• BlazBlue: Central Fiction - 29

• Super Smash Bros. 4 - 17

• Super Smash Bros. Melee - N/A

DreamHack Denver 2017 is mostly a Smash event. This was a tournament that started on October 20th and ended on the 22nd.

Obviously since Smash was the main focus here, Smash 4 and Melee's numbers were the highest.

DreamHack Denver 2017 number of attendees • Super Smash Bros. Melee - 314

• Super Smash Bros. 4 - 280

• Tekken 7 - 149

• Street Fighter 5 - 114

• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite - 84

• Guilty Gear Xrd 2 - 44

• Injustice 2 - N/A

• BlazBlue: Central Fiction - N/A

Canada Cup 2017 was an event that started n October 27th. It reached its conclusion on the 29th.

Street Fighter 5 definitely had the most attention based on its number of entrees. After that came the two Smash titles.

Despite Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite being the newest title, it ended up having the fourth highest attendance. Still, it's been somewhat consistent.

Canada Cup 2017 number of attendees • Street Fighter 5 - 297

• Super Smash Bros. 4 singles - 190

• Super Smash Bros. Melee singles - 170

• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite - 169

• Tekken 7 - 140

• Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 - 70

• BlazBlue - 50

• Injustice 2 - 28

NEC 18 was a tournament that went on from December 15th through the 17th. Here we see that Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite had 163 competitors.

NEC 18 number of attendees • Street Fighter 5 - 190

• Tekken 7 - 176

• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite - 163

• Injustice 2 - 109

• Guilty Gear Xrd 2 - 88

• BlazBlue: Central Fiction - 79

• Super Smash Bros. 4 - 31

• Super Smash Bros. Melee - N/A

As for Kumite In Tennessee 2018, Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite had 75 players participating. It's worth noting that Tekken 7, the game with the highest numbers for this event, only had 126.

This event occurred on January 5th and ended on the 7th.

Kumite In Tennessee 2018 number of attendees • Tekken 7 - 126

• Injustice 2 - 109

• Street Fighter 5 - 104

• Super Smash Bros. 4 - 77

• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite - 75

• Guilty Gear Xrd 2 - 39

• BlazBlue: Central Fiction - 21

• Super Smash Bros. Melee - 20

While there were 251 players competing in Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 and 240 for Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition, there were about 140 participating in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite. This event started on January 19, 2018. It came to its conclusion on the 20th.

Frosty Faustings X number of attendees • Guilty Gear Xrd Rev 2 - 251

• Street Fighter 5: Arcade Edition - 240

• Tekken 7 - 192

• Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite - 140

• BlazBlue: Central Fiction - 104

• Super Smash Bros. 4 - 101

• Injustice 2 - 74

• Super Smash Bros. Melee - 62

Now while MvCI never had the most number of entries in any given tournament, its scene has seen some consistency. There have been a decent number of players going to events for this game.

It might be a bit of an uphill battle, but it's possible that MvCI not making the EVO 2018 lineup is not the final nail in the coffin. There will likely be a side tournament for the title at the event.

Perhaps it is up to the community to keep the 2v2 fighter alive. That is, of course, only if there are those that want it to stick around.

Source: Smash.gg.