[Tony]

Greetings all friends, fellow members, and guests.

I am a fighting game enthusiast who intend on getting involved in the 2012 EVO Championship series.
EVO Champion series is an organization that hosts fighting game tournaments (among other competitive games such as Super Mario Kart).
The truth is, I want to exercise my competitive edge - I don't care if I win or lose. I will play to win, but if I lose... then so be it. I just want to participate in this event.
Many new fighting games are starting to make their mark on the history of video games...
KOF XIII, MK9, SSFIVAE, Blazblue, Tekken 6, and MVC3/UMVC3, SFIII3rdStrike, SFxT, TTT2, and Skull Girls
I've already expressed some disdain towards Capcom for obvious reasons, so I am trying to lean away from them (though, Street Fighter x Tekken is quite tempting but still).

My top favorite fighting game is KOF XIII as of December 25th (Christmas Day)!
The Mortal Kombat series had also got me back on good terms with the series once again.
Street Fighter... is the granddaddy of figthing games so to speak... though it is extremely overrated.
Tekken 6 was a standard 3D fighting game. The Tekken series also come in as close 2nd to KOF.
Those of you who intend on participating in a fighting game tournament... or those who have been involved already... I need help. How do you compete? What are the five fighting games available for this year? Are there any standards you have to meet in terms of credentials (reputation in fighting games).

[DropkickWeasel]

EVO is an open tournament. There are no credentials or standards to meet in order to compete. All you have to do is register to enter the tournament, as well as register for whatever games you plan on competing in. And, of course, pay off all your fees to participate. Fees are broken down like this:

Venue Fee: This is the cover charge everyone is required to pay from the start. Once you register, expect to dish out anywhere between $50-$70, depending on how long in advance you register. The earlier you register, the cheaper it will be on you.

Tournament Fee: After you register and pay your cover charge, you'll be able to select from any of the 5 games EVO has to offer. For each game you register to participate in, you'll have to pay an additional fee on top of your venue fee. The price of entering a tournament for any given game has gone up to $20 per tournament; up from $10 per tournament. So, for instance, if you were to register for KOFXIII this year(EVO 2012), you'd be paying $20 on top of your venue fee in order to participate in the KOFXIII tournament. For each additional tournament, add another $20.

As for which 5 games are available in EVO this year, they have yet to be announced. You can expect at least SSFIVAE 2012 and UMVC3 to make the list for sure. As for the other 3, it's still up in the air at the moment, so stay tuned.

The tournament itself is divided into 3 phases:

Phase 1: Qualification Pools

At the start of the tournament, players are divided into pools of eight or more people. The size of each pool depends on the overall size of the tournament. Each pool is run as a double elimination bracket, until there are only two players left. These top two players advance to the Semifinals.

Phase 2: Semifinal Bracket

Once all the pools have been run, the top two players from each pool move on to a new double elimination bracket. A loss from your qualification pool carries over to the Semifinals, so one half the players will start out on the “winners” side of the bracket, and the other half will start out on the “losers” side. The top eight players in the Semifinals advance to the Tournament Finals.

Phase 3: Tournament Finals

The Finals are basically a continuation of the Semifinal Bracket. Once again, losses carry over. The Finals end when all but one player has been eliminated.

Hope that answered your questions. Sorry if I left out anything. For more information, feel free to check out the Player Guide below:
http://evo2k.com/player-guide/

[Tony]

Thank you so much! I didn't realize it was an open tournament. I often watched videos on youtube on how to use certain characters for fighting games... just for the sake of education, you know? On KOF XIII... I'm a Duo Lon player, and by the time I started actually watched videos of someone better than me, I KNEW I was doing something wrong.
Is there a specific time you have to enter however? Because, I think this event will occur somewhere in between the 3rd and 9th of July 2012. I guess you should simply register before time. The best idea is to wait until on 5 games are announced and then take my pick.

Once again, I really appreciate your help!

[DropkickWeasel]

No trouble at all! I'm a Duo Lon player as well, actually, heh. I still need to learn how to play KOFXIII better though. Haven't had much time to devote to the game lately, but, I'll get around to it.

EVO 2012 takes place from July 6-8. Registration isn't up yet. But, as of right now, you can take advantage of EVO hotel discounts if you feel like booking your room, but that's about it for the time being. After registration for the actual tournament is online, there is no specific time to register yourself. Online registration is available up until the day before the tournament, so you'll have plenty of time. However, it is highly recommended that you register as soon as possible. Creating the tournament brackets is a tiring, stressful process, and it is very much appreciated if you don't wait until the last second to register. If you do, it only makes things harder for tournament organizers who are tasked with crafting the brackets. It also makes things harder on your wallet, considering the longer you wait, the more you'll have to pay to register. Therefore, it's win-win if you get yourself set-up as early as possible. It'll be cheaper on you, and easier on us xD