We are in the year 2025 and Dead or Alive 6 is still hanging on by a pretty strong thread in the offline tournament scene thanks to a great international effort from Japan representing DOA6 at EVO Japan and now North America representing the underrated fighter at EVO 2025. Our number one prerogative here at Free Step Dodge was to make sure that members in the community were willing to come out to Las Vegas whether the fighters are locals or are some distance away. You can see just by observing the official standings page that the mission was a success, and that Kwiggle came back for one of the biggest comebacks in his decorated Dead or Alive career.
There were some rumors of Team NINJA being involved which led to the idea of players thinking there would have been some kind of game announcement. That was definitely not the case here; this was an incredible DOA tournament that tested the current popularity of the game in the biggest way that it possibly could have been tested on God's green earth. No, it wasn't a main game at the show, but it was still at the biggest show, and this was a fantastic way to demonstrate that we can do things the old school way and without the help of the conglomerate.
This EVO side tournament almost had 40 participants, and that's not too bad given that fighters only had a month to prepare for the event; I think I would go as far as to say the numbers were actually pretty good. The tournament wasn't streamed, but the results seemed to be kept secret for nearly a week. Lord Xavier and Uncle Viz added production to the matches, so you weren't just getting replays, but an overall experience with their commentary included between sets. There was some star power added to the panel as well with Emery Reigns making an appearance alongside promotion of the XFS Tournament series.
The spectator interface is really nicely done; and it was implemented to ensure that you know who is fighting and what matches are taking place. This is a common mistake when only recordings are offered, it usually means you're bound for a mess; but they've done well at presenting the overall package here. From the leaderboard graphics to the camera transitions - the editing was actually really nice and when it's done like this, I can trust it to be done like this again. Production made this look like a completely acceptable way to issue tournament content if streaming wasn't an available option.
Pool Highlights
Dragonfly and Shaz opened up the pools for us spectators and they put on a decent set, but you could tell right away that Shaz was playing DOA5, and that's fine because we love DOA5, but you got to use that meter. If this was DOA5, Dragonfly would have been in imminent danger as Shaz uses Ein, and her Ein was one of the few winning matches at offline tournaments back in the DOA5: Ultimate days. Her gameplay here still shined. I like the way she pokes at her opponents, but Dragon's Tengu came in with the full bag of tricks and he secured a convincing victory because of it.
Pools continued with Gendo showing off a bit with Brad Wong on TaichiFlow's assertive Leifang that just exudes the very essence and attitude of the character. Xavier and Uncle Viz both mentioned they didn't know who Gendo was, but they saw a spark in his gameplay even if he was beaten down by Taichi he stepped in with some solid gameplay and tech that had spectators talking while wishing the character was showcased more often.
Scarlet Hurricane came out with Tina and showed Dragonfly's Tengu the meaning of high-damaging reads, and while Dragonfly puts up a great fight with his character, Scarlet has definitely done some heavy lab training, and it was showing in his consistency throughout the set.
My favorite recurring character in pools was none other than Omen, who probably would have left Rikuto proud with his latest Bayman spectacle. Somehow this hardened player was able to exude the same level of pressure as AquariaVerse and TaichiFlow's pernicious Leifang. Both of these players had a go at Omen in individual sets and they both felt identical in the sense that they were moving quickly, there was little defense implemented; little zoning - just a bunch of smashing.
I loved Omen's Tank Roll depth; and what I loved even more was how he adapted to both of them after getting beat once by each with waves of kicking while being pinned at the wall. He proceeded to adapt with this movement, and he turned the tables masterfully on both of them. This is the kind of gameplay you hope to see at tournaments - heavies demolishing sound technicians. Both of these Leifang players were using sound strategy, but Omen was able to flip the table on both of them; and he did so with brute force,
I am currently writing about Top 8. The write-up will resume later today. So please continue to follow this news post.
Hoodless vs MCD When you see a matchup like this your interest is definitely perked up if you've been watching any of the more recent tournament series. MCD is practically undefeated at the monthly Z-Axis tournament and he's always getting into it with Dragon NINJA, another outstanding offline player. Hoodless being known for his participation this year with his own Hoodless tournament series and also an almost undefeated record at the 'Hold That' tournament series.
Xavier mentioned that when MCD started he was just a kid and that he grown into the premier Dead or Alive Jann Lee and I couldn't agree more. His skill with the character is unparalleled within DOA6 in particular and he's learned to challenge himself with every game he plays, and I think that's taken him a long way. But their first bout at the Chinese Festival? Hoodless completely destroyed MCD to a point where I was in complete shock.
It was like Anakin vs Dooku in Attack of the Clones. You have this incredible Jedi that is not just powerful, but a student of the game that gets completely outclassed in a riveting display. I like this comparison because Dooku had fabulous footwork and Hoodless' movement on those Dragon Gunners was unquestionably the best evasion of the move I have ever fucking seen. MCD took back some control in game 2 but and you could feel his frustration mounting a bit, but Hoodless didn't just come to win the tournament he came to make statements to players that dominate in other territories. Hoodless wins this set with considerable technical fashion in mind.
Scarlet Hurricane vs Omen This was an exciting set to me because I absolutely love the matchup, and these players delivered on every value that makes a great DOA6 bout. During their first match at the 'Muscle' wrestling ring this was a brutal exchange with each player respecting one another's throw game in favor of scouting pressure points in the match. Tina was connecting with better throws, but Bayman was paying better attention to the ring rope damage and edged her out with striking pressure.
If you don't believe in Dead or Alive 6, I strongly implore that you watch their first match and continue on. Omen takes first match triumphantly, but it's not without some insane resistance from Tina. BOTH of these characters roll and boy did they roll to the highest degree with Tina's forward roll and Bayman's famous Tank Rolls; this in of itself was a spectacle. Tina caught up to his level in game 3 and secured a visually glorious win that I'm not sure my words can justify.
Omen slowly brought it back in the final game of this set, and while he did win the final game 3-1 rounds, they both proved something to everyone watching and that was that unique movement evasion of characters is really well done and executed perfectly in DOA, and when it's done right in a high level match where both players have years of practice you can get something that truly looks like something out of an action movie. DOA is constantly living proof that fighting games don't have to be like the 'other games' which in my opinion have largely become, boring, snoozy combo fests with minimal animation and outlandish seizure inducing effects that hide a lack of creativity.
Oops... I did it again. Sorry. Moving on! But seriously... tell me one thing about this match that was unsightly or not fun to watch and I'll sit here and wait for the response. Go in depth with it and give me something to really retort to. I'm waiting!
SasameYuga vs XcaliburBladeZ Now while this set was one of the more decisive of the tournament, it does seem to also slowdown; especially compared to every other battle presented at EVO which have leaned towards high pressure and high risk. BladeZ has extremely effective forms of defense and we see that a lot here. He's not hitting his biggest combos because he's playing it as safe as he can. Yuga is poking around and getting damage in but he's not winning enough rounds.
Yuga is also the first player to switch character in top 8 from Hitomi to Kula Diamond. This switch seemed to benefit Yuga, and his damage was starting to come out better than it was with Hitomi. He got a round over on BladeZ which is no easy feat, but he struggled at getting around Mariposa's offensive holds, defense and combo timing. This won XcaliburBladeZ the convincing set.
MCD vs XcaliburBladeZ BladeZ has a superpower of being able to pull any character he wants out of the random bag and this time around Phase 4 was selected. Well, actually I think he probably planned to pick Phase 4, but it doesn't change the fact that his character pool makes him one of the most dangerous players to fight at DOA tournaments. MCD is the polar opposite with a desire to play Jann Lee exclusively and be effective no matter what trial may arise.
MCD is a lot more comfortable in this fight than he was with that lunatic Hoodless. This match really allowed him to show why he dominates his territory back at home and that he's ready to main event more tournaments that are outside of what he's accustomed to. While MCD (and BladeZ) dropped combos throughout this set, MCD was showing better combo-play than BladeZ was. I mean we will definitely consider the fact that Phase 4 is harder to use, but I think it should be addressed that this was a battle of seasoned technical veterans; and it demonstrates that everyone drops combos no matter what the skill level actually is.
There were plenty of moments where MCD showed his versatility, and while he couldn't get past the confusion of Phase 4 in the first battle, he turned things around for the second fight and won a game over the legendary BladeZ. MCD has solid read skills, combined with sick combos while being a natural at getting Dragon Gunner and various throws that make the fight look like an old Bruce Lee film. His knowledge of Phase 4 obviously isn't going to top his matchup skill against Hayabusa (just watch Z-Axis) but despite this he was still ready to drop technical prowess all over the Kasumi clone.
BladeZ won the set, sure, but MCD won the players over with multifaceted components to his gameplay that make him stand out as a character purist. BladeZ continues to impress the community with insane power plays such as picking Phase 4 to begin with, combining that element with beautiful Phase 4 cancels and tech.
Nykko vs Omen Now I have what might be a bad omen for Bayman... he's fighting Leifang... again! Sometimes people forget how good Nykko can be because while his presence is known; he doesn't just show up at every event, and if you sleep on him just because he's one of the most chill people on the West Coast? Well, you might get put in a body bag on the low! They kick things off at Lost Paradise and you can see that Nykko's combo fundamentals are still strong and present, more impressive than that was his mind games that took Omen to his limits.
Throughout this entire set, Nykko refused to respect Bayman's meter, and when Omen was prepared for that to happen; well, what do you know - Nykko finally respects it. For Dead or Alive I think this proves that the game has a killer instinct element attached to it where you just know someone is going to fall for one of your tricks, and sometimes things backfire. But that feeling of a raw download has always felt more satisfying to me than a long-guaranteed combo that leaves the opponent in the air perpetually bored out of their mind.
There second and last match of this set was at Seaside Eden and Nykko had EVEN MORE tricks up his sleeve. Are you kidding me. Did you see that break blow after the pointless parry?? IT WORKED! Omen was destroying Leifang for a while, but he finally met his match here and I really liked Nykko's combo selection. It felt like the spirit of Leifang emerged from Taichi & Aqua and they were rooting on their fellow character loyalist! Nykko deflates Omen with style and with the spirit of Taichi!
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