From October 10th to 12th, EVO (Evolution Championship Series) France took place in Nice, marking the first European edition of the most legendary fighting game tournament. On this occasion, and with 2XKO, Riot Games’ new title, just released in early access for PC, the very first tournament of the First Impact series was held, a competition that French player Marwan "Wawa" Berthe dominated.

First Impact is a series of competitions set to take place throughout the end of 2025, sponsored by the North American publisher, with the aim of introducing esports for this new game. For this inaugural event, numerous top-tier FCG players traveled to the south of France to compete for the first-ever EVO title in 2XKO’s history. Among them were two true superstars of the scene: Dominique "SonicFox" McLean, an eight-time EVO champion across six different games, and William "Leffen" Hjelte, a Super Smash Bros. legend and the winner of EVO 2018 on that very title.

Wawa, the prodigy

Wawa, however, brought a slightly more unconventional profile, with less experience across multiple games compared to some of his rivals. Despite this, he remains the EVO and 2022 World Champion of Dragon Ball FighterZ, arguably one of the games most similar to 2XKO. He would go on to dominate this new title decisively before stepping away a few months later to explore other franchises like Smash and Street Fighter, while eagerly awaiting new releases from Riot Games.

Ultimately, it was Wawa who emerged victorious in this first “official” outing of 2XKO, under the watchful eye of the North American publisher. Entering the upper bracket against SonicFox, he managed to defeat him two games to one, advancing to the upper bracket final against Steve "Supernoon" Carbajal. Facing the North American Twisted Minds player, Wawa stayed composed and won convincingly 2-0 to secure his place in the grand final. In the EVO France grand final, the French player once again faced Supernoon and defeated him 3-1. Wawa thus claimed this first victory, losing only three rounds across nine matches, although 2XKO is yet to be featured in the main events of the FCG’s biggest tournaments.

Final Results — EVO France 2025, 2XKO

1 - Marwan "Wawa" Berthe (France)
2 - Steve "Supernoon" Carbajal (United States) — Twisted Minds
3 - Dominique "SonicFox" McLean (United States) — Luminosity Gaming
4 - Kev "K7 Showoff" Hunt (United States)
5/6 - Callum "Mystic" White (Great Britain); Jo'siah "Hikari" Miller (United States) — BMS
7/8 - William "Leffen" Hjelte (Sweden) — TSM; "Senshii" (France) — Night Penguins