Defend the North 2023’s Biggest Events and Players to Watch

Fighting Games

July 11, 2023

Jordan Ashley

Defend the North 2023 is one of the US’s biggest competitive fighting game events, with numerous tournaments happening as we run up to EVO. This is a great fighting game event with tournaments in most of the major titles and a good number of the best active fighting game players turning up.

If you want to see who are the standout names in each of the major titles around right now, then this everything to expect at Defend the North.

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Defend the North 2023

Street Fighter 6

One of the biggest titles is obviously the biggest fighting game right now, Street Fighter 6. It’s got a prize pool of $5,000 but also some of the top players are attending. Particularly worth looking at is MenaRD. The two-time Capcom Cup winner is the player to beat right now in Street Fighter 6. If he wins this tournament, he’ll be heading into EVO having taken 3 big SF 6 wins in a row.

Tekken 7

The tournament at Defend the North 2023 will be a part of the bigger Tekken World Tour 2023. With points for the overall circuit at stake, some big players are turning up here. You can see Cuddle Core, YUYU, and Fear competing for their share of points of the leaderboard here.

Guilty Gear Strive

Guilty Gear Strive might not be the hot new thing like Street Fighter 6, but it’s one of the best anime fighting games for a reason. This game is going to be a highlight of Defend the North 2023, but it isn’t a part of the Arc World Tour, so there’s no big leaderboard to keep in mind with this tournament.

Other Tournaments at Defend the North 2023

Those are some of the main highlights for Defend the North 2023, but there’s loads more games being covered. These are the other main events at the tournament.

Dragon Ball FighterZ
DNF Duel
Melty Blood: Type Lumina
Mortal Kombat 11 Ultimate
Ultimate Marvel Vs Capcom 3
King of Fighters XV

Along with those major tournaments, there’s a few more games running as side tournaments. These will be more minor tournaments, but a great place to see some of the best retro fighters. These are the tournaments at this part of the event.

Street Fighter V
Ultra Street Fighter IV
Killer Instinct
Injustice 2
Marvel Vs Capcom Infinite
Samurai Shodown

That’s everything to watch for at the Defend the North 2023 tournament. It’s going to be a great chance to see how players perform in titles like Street Fighter 6, and even see how the wider circuits like Tekken World Tour are developing for the year.