The first new Evo Champion of the year has been crowned. After a grueling run through Losers bracket, including a Game 5 win in the Grand Finals Reset over the man who sent him to losers, Defiant is the Evo 2025 Champion for UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH II Sys:Celes.

Defiant was playing hot coming into Evo, with first-place finishes at MAX MODE 2025 and CEO 2025, and a second place at Boston Blue Beat: Beach Episode 2025 in the months leading up to the event. He looked about as strong as could be on Friday, dropping just one game to Snappy in Winners Quarterfinals to earn his spot in Winners side Top 8. Despite his great showing, he fell immediately to losers on Saturday after a 2-1 loss to his fellow American player BigBlack. In Losers, Defiant’s Hyde took out suteneko 2-1, Mario 2-0, and Knotts 3-2 to work his way to Grand Finals, where he had to win two straight best-of-5 sets over BigBlack. Nine games later, Defiant had done it, earning his very first Evo Championship with a dramatic Game 5 victory.

Even with strong international competition in attendance, BigBlack was able to make his way into his fifth straight Grand Finals at a UNI2 event after doing so at MAX MODE 2025, COMBO BREAKER 2025, CEO 2025, and Boston Blue Beat: Beach Episode 2025. He dropped just one game on Friday in the leadup to Top 8 to CROW, but was otherwise flawless. After defeating Defiant in Winners Semis, BigBlack put on a dominant performance in Winners Finals, shutting out Knotts in a 3-0 victory to make his way to Grand Finals. Unfortunately for BigBlack, Defiant climbed all the way back to meet him there, and just like their MAX MODE and COMBO BREAKER sets, Defiant was able to come out on top once again. BigBlack will go home with another Evo medal to go with the one he earned for his 7th place finish last year.

Knotts finished 13th at least year's UNI2 bracket, but those who had been paying attention could see that he was on the rise. He won Slashback 2025 in April and finished 2nd at COMBO BREAKER 2025, only losing to BigBlack. He went on a tear on Friday, dropping only a single game to 2GB Combo en route to Winners side Top 8. He kept the momentum up with a 2-0 over Revert to open Top 8 before he finally ran out of gas, dropping 3-0 to BigBlack in Winners Finals and 3-2 to Defiant in Losers Finals to finish third. That's still a huge improvement over last year's performance, and will give him his first Evo medal as a result.

Mario was a strong candidate to reach Top 8 of Evo 2025 after his fifth place finish last year, but things were looking dire after a 2-0 loss to Japanese player CROW. Mario dialed in, though, rattling off four straight wins on Friday night, and he was able to keep the momentum going in Saturday's finals. He took out OmniDeag 2-1 and Revert 2-0 before finally falling to Defiant 2-0, ending his Losers side win streak at six games, the best Losers run of any player in UNI2's Top 8. Mario will go home with another Evo medal, and an improvement over last year's result.

Revert, the top Canadian UNI2 player, was coming off three straight wins at Canadian events prior to Evo, and he kept up that momentum, winning 12 straight games to start the event. But then he was matched up against Senaru, the reigning Evo and ARC World Tour champion, in Winners Quarters. Revert wasn't shaken, as he rattled off another 2-0 victory to punch his ticket to Top 8 Winners side. His momentum was finally stopped in Top 8 on Saturday, as he fell 2-0 to Knotts in Winners Semifinals and 2-0 to Mario in Losers Quarterfinals, but he'll still go home with a well-earned medal for his efforts at his very first Evo.

Other Japanese players like CROW, WATANABE SHACHOU, MIYAGI Muteki, and reigning Evo champion Senaru had more hype surrounding them entering this year's bracket. But the final Japanese player standing was suteneko, a Mika player entering his first ever Evo. He fell early to American Eltnum player OmniDeag, but he absolutely clutched up in Losers, winning five straight 2-1 sets, including a Top 8 qualifier over 2GB Combo and a huge upset in Losers Round 1 of Top 8 over Senaru to climb all the way to 5th place.

Senaru came into Evo as the clear favorite. Not only was he the reigning Evo Champion, but the reigning ARC World Tour champion as well. Despite rolling through his first six opponents undefeated, Senaru fell to Canadian Linne player Revert. He bounced back with another 2-0 victory over CROW to advance to Top 8, but his run was shockingly stopped by his fellow Japanese player suteneko. Despite the disappointing finish compared to his incredible placements from the last calendar year, it was still a solid performance for Senaru, who adds this Top 8 to his 2024 championship and his 7th place finish in the original UNDER NIGHT IN-BIRTH in 2019.

OmniDeag earned his way into Top 8 by winning three straight sets after falling to Revert 2-0, defeating players from three different countries. He took down Canada's Negareaper 2-0, Brasil's Knox 2-1, and the United States's brkrdave 2-0 to make his first Evo Finals. He fell 2-1 to Mario for 7th place, but that's a huge improvement for the American Eltnum player after last year's 17th place finish.