Best Bout Beatdown and EVO

Today I'm going to talk about 2 fighting game communities. One is a local community of people who meet twice a week and hold small tournaments. The other is a once a year tournament held in Las Vegas, consisting of more than 1000 people.

Best Bout Beatdown

A subset of Best Bout Gaming, B.B.B.was created to grow the local fighting game community in Portland. The headquarters is located on the East side of Portland where they hold weekly tournaments and practices.
Once a month they host a tournament where people can pay to play or watch for free. The games are usually Street Fighter 4, Marvel vs Capcom 3, Mortal Kombat 9, King of Fighters, and Persona 4. Each game requires a fee to play, but the winners get a portion of the final pool.



EVO Championship Series

I'm doing it for the shirt.... 

Short for Evolution, EVO is a yearly tournament with 8 different games to play in. Hosted in Las Vegas and bringing in over 1000 players and spectators, it is the largest fighting game tournament to date. It consists of 2 halls, one for competition and one for free play and community events. It is initially free to attend, but to participate it requires a $50 pass that allows access to any tourney, any hall friday-sunday, and you get a free shirt.



These are both great opportunities to experience the community. There are seriously all sorts of people from all walks of life who all share the same passion.

Online Community
In terms of the online community there are a few quality websites for news and information ranging from all fighters, to specific games. If you're interested in joining the online community I've suggested some websites below (links included free of charge)

Shoryuken - General hub of knowledge for fighting games. Strong forum community, lots of information
EVO - Home page for the Evo Championship Series.
Test Your Might - Mortal Kombat specific forums.
/r/fighters - Subreddit dedicated to fighting games. On the sidebar there are other subreddits dedicated to specific games.

Once again ask away if you have any questions and keep on practicing.