Fighting games and esports in general have been dominated by players from Japan, South Korea, China, and in some instances from the United States or from Europe. We rarely see teams or individual players playing at a high level who come from the Middle East or the Indian Subcontinent. Arslan Ash, an esports player from Pakistan, is the first of the aforementioned regions to win a tournament as big as Evolution. If you want to prove yourself, you have to prove it on the biggest fighting game stage. Arslan Ash proved himself at Evolution Japan while playing Kazumi.

Road to winning Evolution Japan

At Evolution, he was promptly relegated to the loser’s bracket by another relatively unknown player. Loser’s brackets are always were tense and full of tough competition. His first opponent was Bae Jae ‘Knee’ Min, one of the best players in the world. Knee has a god like status in the FGC similar to Faker in League of Legends esports.

Arslan had previously defeated Knee at OUG in Dubai, UAE. Many fans believed that Knee didn’t want to play well or just choked at the event. This was a match many fans of the Tekken community had wanted to see. Arslan beat Knee in a very convincing match (2-0) and showed that his win at OUG was not a fluke but simply a better player beating another.

After this win he sneaked into top 32, where he faced Chanel, Knee’s teammate. He beat him with relative ease with a convincing 2-0. Next up was Rickstah, a very talented player from United States. Arslan managed to beat him as well with 2-0. Then the next major player he met was Pikohan_Kouki. He beat him in, guess what… 2-0. Then he beat Thai Tekken player Book in the same manner which was his first win of Top 8.

The only player Arslan lost a game to was jimmyjtran and even then he won with 2-1. His next victim would be Japan’s last hope, chikurin, who he beat effortlessly with a final record being 2-0.

CherryBerryMango was the first player at the tournament who able to put up a fight for Arslan. Arslan struggled but still managed to win a very close fight with a score of 3-2.

The Finals

The player he met in the finals was AK, Philippine’s finest. AK had not lost a set to anyone and was in the winner’s bracket. Arslan would have to beat him twice to win Evolution. He did just that with 2 very convincing matches, 3-0 and 3-1 respectively.

Arslan’s major victims at Evolution Japan

Knee (2-0) Chanel (2-0) Rickstah (2- 0) Pikohan_Kouki (2-0) Book (2-0) jimmyjtran (2-1) chikurin (2-0) CherryBerryMango (3-2) AK (3-0) & (3-1)

Arslan managed to eat through so many Tekken legends, it was insane. So many legends falling to one man can only mean one thing, that he is one as well. Tekken had just received its newest legend, not from Korea, not from Japan but from Pakistan. I can’t wait to see him in action at the Tekken World Tour and at Evolution in the USA if he appears at the events.