Las Vegas has a habit of turning fighting game finals into coronations. On Saturday night it did it twice for the same man.
Kojicoco Wins Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising at Evo 2026, Going Back-to-Back
Matthieu “Kojicoco” Fardet is now a two-time Evo champion. The Paragon-repping American closed out Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising at Evo 2026 with a grand final win over Shio. In doing so, he defended the crown he first took in 2025. He also became the only player to win the game at Evo twice.
Getting there was not a coronation march. Kojicoco went through Monarch in winners semifinals before Shio arrived in grand finals carrying the kind of momentum that usually ends title defences. However, it did not. Evo’s own account summed it up in three words after the last hit landed: back to back.
The rest of the bracket read like a checklist of everyone who has spent two years trying to solve him. Miraias took third. Monarch, BlueSkyGuyBSG, ZanDori, Paid Actor and Insurgent filled out a top eight that was, by GBVSR standards, unusually stacked. These players were all capable of taking a set off anyone in the room.
What makes the repeat unusual is the game itself. GBVSR is a title that rewards discipline over invention. There is nowhere to hide behind gimmicks, and the field has had twelve months to study every habit Kojicoco has. He won anyway, which says something about adaptation that a highlight reel does not.
The timing could hardly be better for Cygames. The same weekend Kojicoco was lifting the trophy, the official Granblue account was busy announcing Id as a new fighter and version 2.60. They also announced a Nintendo Switch 2 release dated September 17, 2026. A defending champion and a platform expansion in the same news cycle is the sort of thing publishers plan for and rarely get.
For a game frequently written off as the quiet one on the Evo lineup, that is a strong position to be in heading into the back half of the year. The next question is a familiar one. Shio has a year to answer it.
Full bracket and match history are available on the Evo 2026 start.gg event page. For more fighting game and tournament coverage, head to TalkEsport’s news hub.
