Long live the night. It’s been five years since French Bread’s UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH was on the mainstage of Evo, with UNIST making a series debut all the way back in 2019. Since then, we’ve seen two new versions of the game release, and the official numbered sequel to Under Night makes its debut at Evo this year, having released this past January. It’s been a long time since we’ve seen UNI and its trademark fast-paced action here in Las Vegas, so let’s dive into what you need to know to get ready for the premiere of Under Night In-Birth II at Evo 2024! 

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Under Night’s primary tempo defining mechanic is the GRD system. For those not familiar with UNI, GRD itself is pretty simple. Every 13 seconds, the little circular timer on the bottom of the UI reaches one full cycle. Roughly, the player that’s played more aggressive during that period (indicated by the colored “GRD” blocks on each side) gets rewarded with a special state called “Vorpal.” Vorpal is essentially a buff that encourages players to always be on the offensive if possible. Players get a 10% damage boost, character specific traits, and access to an instant cancel called a Chain Shift. Winning cycle is a key part of every decision made by high level players, and constant awareness of when the cycle elapses is key to succeeding against your opponent. 

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Under Night In-Birth II brings several new universal mechanics to change the pace of gameplay from prior iterations. Most importantly, every single character now has access to a dodge-roll, called “Creeping Edge”, which costs GRD, but allows players to more easily get in on their opponents. Similarly, a new type of Vorpal State called “Celestial Vorpal” was introduced, which rewards players for winning the cycle by a large enough margin by snowballing their damage and giving them even more GRD to work with for the next cycle. 

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Under Night In-Birth II also introduces three new characters to the cast. Dual flintlock pistol wielding Kaguya utilizes high mobility alongside strong pressure and okizeme to mix her opponent, while the shieldbashing Tsurugi uses guard points to shoulder through the attacks of his opponents. The most notable of the three, though, has to be the mysterious Kuon, Linne’s brother and longstanding series antagonist finally made playable for the first time in the series. Kuon’s ability to float and high damaging combos create terrifying pressure that can absolutely devastate opponents. 

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Under Night In-Birth II will also be present at the ARC World Tour finals later this year, and qualification for it will work a little differently than the other two titles at the event (those being Guilty Gear Strive and Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising). In lieu of qualifying through a points leaderboard, the winner of each AWT Platinum event qualify for the final bracket. Thus far, there has only been one AWT Platinum event for Under Night - Evo Japan 2024, where Kyo and his Gordeau took gold this past April. 

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ARC World Tour this year also hosted Under Night this past year as a side event, with Knotts and his Seth winning the bracket. Knotts, in particular, has been one of North America’s talents to watch, having also won NorCal anime game staple Slashback. This all came to a head with his run at Combo Breaker - after losing in winners quarters to 2GB Combo’s Carmine, he won six consecutive sets in losers, finally falling in a down-to-the-wire game 10 set against the tournament’s champion, BigBlack.

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BigBlack is the player currently at the forefront of North American UNI. Thus far, they’ve won almost every event they’ve entered for Under Night, taking Combo Breaker, Texas Showdown, Crossover Arc, and TNS 9. BigBlack has a pretty sizable legacy coming out of CLR at the top of North American UNI, and he and his Byakuya, despite the nerfs given to the character going into Under Night 2. Winning Combo Breaker is no easy feat, but will he be able to prove it at an event of Evo’s scale? 

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Remember how I said that BigBlack has won almost every event he’s entered? There’s a single player in North America responsible for handing him the sole silver medal in his trophy case, a loss in Frosty Faustings grand finals to Defiant. Going into UNI2, Defi’s picked up Londrekia to supplement them alongside their old reliable Hyde. Lond is a character who was mostly overlooked throughout the lifespan of the previous version, but going into Under Night 2, the playerbase seems to have noticed a series of strong changes and consistent damage that make them a new threat. 

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There’s a large-scale Japanese contingent coming to Evo as well. In particular, Crimson Crusader, silver at Evo Japan, is making the trip over to Vegas, and he’s bringing along his world-class Gordeau. With his second place finish at Evo Japan, he’s the clear favorite to win the event. North America, roughly speaking, is pretty light on Gordeau representation, so it’ll be critical to see if the region can adapt to a player of this caliber on an unfamiliar pick. 

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Another player making the trek is oushuu-hittou. Longtime fans might find the name a bit familiar - he faced down Clearlamp in Evo 2019 UNIST grand finals, inches away from forcing a bracket reset on the legend of the game. Well, it seems like his Seth is back for vengeance; since the release of Under Night 2, he’s been hard at work honing his game, finding his way to 5th place at Evo Japan. Five years ago, ohittou found himself at the cusp of greatness on the Evo mainstage - can he finish the job he started two full versions ago? 

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A final Japanese name to watch for is Senaru. Senaru’s been a long time devotee of Sion Eltnum, Melty Blood’s guest character representative. At Evo Japan, he found himself at a respectable 9th place finish, but anything can happen with a character so unorthodox compared to the rest of the cast of Under Night. 

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Evo 2024 brings Hyde, Linne, and the rest of the motley crew of In-Births back to the Mandalay Bay for UNI2’s first Evo mainstage. Whether you’re a newcomer to UNI2 or a veteran from the UNIB days, this Evo will surely be one for the history books. 

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