After two days of hard-fought competition, the playing field for each of Evolution 2013’s major games have narrowed down to eight elite players per title. If you’re new to a game or two (or even Evo as a whole), read on to see who you should look out for (and why).

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What is Top 8?

Each tournament game for Evo goes through a series of qualification pools to eliminate the majority of the competitors. The top two players from each pool are then entered in a single tournament bracket, where they play a series of double-elimination matches to cull all but the top eight. (If you lost a game in your pools but still made it to the end of the losers bracket, your loss carries over.) Four players qualify in the winners bracket (if they lose, they’re sent to the losers bracket) and four players qualify in losers bracket (meaning that if they lose, they’re eliminated from the tournament). At the very end of each game is the grand finals, where the winner of the losers bracket takes on the winner from the winners bracket — and since the latter didn’t drop a match to get to the finals, he/she only has to take one set to win the tournament, while the losers bracket player has to win two.

King of Fighters XIII

King of Fighters XIII was the sleeper hit of last year’s Evo finals thanks to an incredibly hype back-and-forth set between CafeId’s MadKOF and Bala. In the winners bracket, CafeId|Verna will play Hee San Woo and MCZ|Tokido will play MadKOF; in losers, AGE|Romance will play AS|Reynald, and Fox will play DM.MCZ|Xian.

Players to watch: Tokido is a longtime Street Fighter player who left his mark on the United States by winning Evo’s first-ever Capcom vs. SNK 2 tournament in 2002 — but he’s never been particularly well-known for his King of Fighters play. Not only did he qualify in winners, he beat Xian to do it, so he’s definitely a player to watch — though it’s anyone’s guess as to whether he’ll be able to overcome last year’s Evo champ MadKOF.

Both Reynald and Romance are also frequent tournament winners and are sure to be crowd favorites — they will have to play each other in losers. The winner of this match could very well have a shot at winning it all, so treat it like you’re watching the finals!

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Smash had its fair share of drama before Evo even started, thanks to Nintendo issuing a last-minute ban on streaming the finals and then revoking it hours later — but the top eight could be just as hype. Wobbles, Hungrybox, Dr. PeePee, and CT.EMP|Mew2King made it to top eight in the winners bracket, while Shroomed, Mango, Ice, and Armada qualified in losers.

Players to watch: Mango was a popular favorite to win it all before the tournament started, having won five Road to Evo tournaments during the 2013 season, but he qualified in losers after Wobbles beat him 2-1. He’s still a significant favorite, though; during his previous Road to Evo tournament wins, he defeated many of the other top eight qualifiers, including Dr. PeePee, Hungrybox, Mew2King, and Shroomed.

Wobbles has managed to beat Mango and qualify in winners, so he definitely has an edge going into the finals. Also worth noting: In 2006, he invented a technique called “wobbling,” which is basically an unescapable grab infinite with Ice Climbers that some tournaments have banned (though the general tournament standard rules keep it legal). It’s highly situational and hard to execute.

Hungrybox is one of Florida’s top players, and he’s been putting on quite a show with Jigglypuff. Some of the Smash players I’ve spoken to on the show floor are picking him to win it.

Armada may very well be something of a people’s champ, as he held a fundraiser to make it all the way out to Evo from Sweden. He has been a top-level player for a fairly long time now, following a breakout performance at RoX4 in 2007. Also, Ice is another European player who is not so well-known; this year might be the one where he cements his rep.

Injustice: Gods Among Us

This is the first year at Evo for Injustice: Gods Among Us, but that hasn’t stopped it from being one of the biggest events this year. Several notable players were knocked out early, including two-time MK9 winner Fnatic|Perfect Legend and Evo 2012 MK9 second place finisher RG.EMP|CDjr. EGP.FLK|MF Slayer, VxG.EMP|KDZ, Crazy DJT 88, and AGE|NYChrisG have qualified in winners, and VxG.EMP|REO, EMPR|Theo, EG|PR Balrog, and RDK|Godspeed have all qualified in losers.

Players to watch: Chris G is on a tear in several games right now, and one of those games is definitely Injustice; most recently, he won CEO 2013 using Green Arrow. Judging from his performance between the two tournaments, he’s a good pick for winning here.

Crazy DJT 88 just won Mortal Kombat 9 yesterday, and there’s enough overlap between the two games that he’s got a good shot at a second Evo title on Sunday. Likewise, REO is another MK9 veteran that has put up solid Injustice games, though he lost earlier to MF Slayer.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3

No one puts on a show like Marvel players — and no one gets hype like a Marvel crowd. FS.EMP|Flocker, EG|Justin Wong, Angelic, and Cloud805 have qualified in winners, and Ranmasama, NYChrisG, ATX|Zack, and coL|Filipino Champ qualified in losers.

Players to watch: Justin Wong is poised to take his Marvel title back; he’s consistently placed high in this year’s Road to Evo events, and he sent last year’s winner Filipino Champ into losers on Saturday with very aggressive but consistent play.

Judging from his overall Road to Evo dominance, Chris G was the clear favorite going into the tournament this morning — and while he did take an early 3-2 loss to Windzero, he avenged it in losers and went on to defeat an entire roster of top Marvel talent, including PR Balrog.

Flocker has also been shooting up the ranks lately, with a key win over Chris G at UFGT9 earlier in the year. Between Flocker and the lesser-known Cloud805 and ATX|Zack in top eight, it looks like Marvel might very well be entering a New Age of Zeroes.

Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition ver. 2012

Street Fighter IV is the main event for Evolution 2013 — in part no doubt due to tradition, and in part because it consistently gets the largest entry pool out of any game. In the winners bracket, Xian will play HORI|Sako and PR Balrog will play Tokido; in losers, MCZ|Daigo Umehara is matched up against Infiltration, and GamerBee will face Haitani.

Players to watch: To be perfectly honest, anyone in this top eight could take it. That said: All eyes should be on Infiltration and Daigo, as they’re reprising last year’s Street Fighter 25th Anniversary finals.

Infiltration was the favorite going into Evo due to his overall dominating performance over the last year’s top eight bracket; PR Balrog shut him down in a convincing set on Friday night, so focus should definitely be on him as he takes on Tokido in the winners bracket.

Also, Xian has gradually been building up a string of high-profile tournament wins, most notably winning CEO 2013 and playing a very close few sets against Infiltration at NorCal Regionals.

So, that’s the rundown. Let us know who you think will take each game in the comments below. Enjoy the finals!