Tragedy struck during Evo 2015's grand finals of Ultra Street Fighter IV, but Momochi took the title nonetheless.

In a nail-biting set of final matches, EG Momochi and fan favorite AVM Gamerbee were neck and neck. The 2015 Evo world championships would be decided in a best of three rounds between the two pro players. Gamerbee steamrolled through the losers bracket all the way up to the grand finals, earning him the support of the spectators and pro players in attendance that weekend at Las Vegas, Nevada. Everything boiled down to a three round match between the two pros. After Momochi took the first round, he unintentionally paused the game when his controller broke (via Kotaku). Mind you, Momochi is supposedly sponsored by Razer and endorses their Razer Atrox fight stick as his preferred peripheral.

Having the Atrox break during Evo's biggest match of the year is a bad look for the company, especially when they Tweeted the following just before the match began:

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Oh, the irony.

After Momochi's stick broke, he had to forfeit the match to Gamerbee. After a long delay speaking with Evo officials, the two decided to let the timer run out and Gamerbee got the second round win. With each combatant 1-1, Momochi decisively beat Gamerbee to become the Ultra Street Fighter IV champion of Evo 2015.

For those who want to read Evo's rules on broken arcade sticks, here you go:

Reporting Equipment Failure: Video game hardware has a tendency to break down during tournaments. Buttons or joysticks will occasionally break down in the middle of a match, leaving the player on the broken side at a significant disadvantage. The following rules will be used in the event of a breakdown:

  • In the event of an equipment failure, they player has the option to stop the Game in progress to obtain an replacement.
  • If a Game is stopped in progress, the reporting player must forfeit the current round.
  • New equipment must be immediately available. If replacement equipment cannot be obtained in a timely manner, the player must continue to play on their current equipment or forfeit the Match.
  • Once replacement equipment is obtained, the player is given the rest of the round to configure their buttons and test the new equipment. If the player gains an undue advantage by doing so (e.g. charging an abundance of super meter), they must forfeit the Game.
  • A player may opt to switch out equipment between Games at no penalty. When this occurs, the player will be given ample time to configure his buttons before the next Game begins.

One of our favorite moments of Evo 2015 would have to be this preemptive celebratory moment with Woshige:

Another high point of Evo 2015 was when 801Strider got three perfects in a row on 12-year-old Skullzer. Despite the age difference, a brutal lesson was on display: you give it all you got at Evo, regardless of who you're fighting:

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