15-year-old Chilean prodigy ‘Blaz’ took second place at Evo France in one of his biggest victories yet, while a breakout 16-year-old player shook up Tekken brackets and finished 17th.
Highly-anticipated fighting game tournament Evo France took place in Nice from October 10-12, marking the first-ever European branch of the Evo brand that started in Las Vegas way back in 1996.
While young players have made waves in the fighting game community since the genre’s ‘golden age’ in the mid-90s, it’s quite common to see older competitors continuing to place highly in major tournaments to this day.
But now more than ever, teenage players are dominating the competitive fighting game scene, as evidenced by the results from Evo France this past weekend.
Blaz takes second place at Evo France
The most obvious example of this trend is Derek Blaz, a 15-year-old Street Fighter pro from Chile who started shaking up the scene upon the release of Street Fighter 6 in 2023.
He’s won a number of online tournaments in the official Capcom Pro Tour and has also secured several Top 8 placements at majors like Blink Respawn, Combo Breaker, and Ultimate Fighting Arena.
Even more impressive are his two second-place finishes at two of the biggest Street Fighter tournaments in the world; the 2025 Esports World Cup and Capcom Cup 11.
He continued his reign of terror at Evo France, where he put up a tough fight from the lower bracket against Korean pro Leshar in Grand Finals. Having made second place in three of the world’s biggest fighting game tournaments at just 15 years old, Blaz is a rising star on just about everyone’s radar.
16-year-old Tekken player beats seasoned pros
He wasn’t the only teen shaking things up at Evo France, either; a 16-year-old Tekken player named Neia went viral that weekend for making it to the Top 24, where she notably defeated pro players Hakim ‘Skywalker’ Touré and Jonathan ‘Tibetano’ Medina.
Not much was known about Neia before her jaw-dropping performance at Evo France. Now, she’s solidified her place in the competitive scene and made her mark on the map as a breakout talent, earning praise from the French community for her skills.
These two players made waves at Evo France, but even more teens are making waves in fighting game esports; 17-year-old Hong Kong-based player Micky made it to the Top 8 at Evo Las Vegas earlier this year, while Chilean Street Fighter player ‘Craime’ shocked viewers after securing fourth place in Blink Respawn 2024 at just 13 years old.
It seems that younger players are starting to steal the spotlight within the fighting game community. The older generation is now passing the torch to these rising stars, and only time will tell how great they will become as they continue to hone their skills.
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