King Ulsan Reigns Supreme: A Record-Breaking Tekken 8 Victory at EWC 2025

Ulsan Decimates Dreams and Bank Balances in Tekken 8’s EWC Coronation

Let’s be real, fighting game tournaments are usually a chaotic soup of upsets, salt, and one guy who somehow always picks the most annoying character. But for four days in the blazing heat of Riyadh, the Esports World Cup 2025 decided to replace that chaotic soup with a meticulously prepared, Korean-dominated tasting menu. And the main course? A heaping serving of Lim “Ulsan” Soo-hoon.

That’s right, the Tekken 8 championship, which ran from August 13th to 16th, didn’t just crown a winner; it orchestrated a full-blown regime change. Ulsan, the defending champ, showed up looking decidedly… human after a shaky season, only to then systematically dismantle every last person who doubted him. The result? He didn’t just win. He became a living, breathing, Dragunov-spamming monument, cementing himself as Tekken’s highest-earning player ever with career winnings rocketing to nearly $445,391. Not bad for a weekend’s work.

The Format: A Gauntlet Designed to Humble Legends

Before we get to the bloodsport, let’s talk about the machine designed to create it. Thirty-two of the world’s best fighters were thrown into a meat grinder of a format:

• First Phase: Eight groups of four played a brutal double-elimination bracket. All matches were a quick, nail-biting first-to-two (FT2), where one dropped combo could send you home. Only the top two from each group survived.
• Second Phase: The 16 survivors were shuffled into four new groups of four for another GSL-style double-elimination bracket. Again, FT2. Again, only the top two advanced. This is where dreams went to die.
• The Final Phase: The final eight fought in a single-elimination bracket. But here’s the twist: everything shifted to a first-to-five (FT5) format. This is where stamina, mental fortitude, and sheer will separated the champions from the “almosts”.

The Massacre: Who Got Served?

And oh, what a slaughter it was. The narrative wasn’t about who won their group; it was about which god got knocked off their throne next. The tournament’s second phase was less of a bracket and more of a witness protection program for legendary reputations.

Let’s pour one out for:

• Arslan “Arslan Ash” Siddique, the man with more EVO titles than most players have main characters, was shown the exit door by none other than Ulsan himself in a Group C elimination match that sent shockwaves through the arena.
• Bae “Knee” Jae-Min, a man whose name is synonymous with Tekken, was unceremoniously booted in the second phase by Rangchu and JeonDDing. Let that sink in.
• Atif “ATIF” Ijaz, last year’s finalist, was one win away from qualifying before being stopped by Han “Mulgold” Jae-gyun.

It was a brutal changing of the guard, orchestrated with ruthless efficiency by a squad of South Korean players who decided that the podium was their personal property.

The Viewership: Everyone Loves a Good Train Wreck (and Quality Tekken)

You’d think that knocking out the biggest international stars would kill the hype. You’d be wrong. In fact, it did the opposite. The Esports World Cup 2025 for Tekken became the most-watched event in the game’s history.

The peak wasn’t even the grand final! A staggering 89,728 Peak Viewers tuned in during the Second Phase to watch Mulgold and ATIF throw down, proof that everyone loves a good mid-card brawl with high stakes. The entire event racked up a record-breaking 1.35 million Hours Watched, nearly doubling last year’s numbers.

Why? Because the drama was irresistible. The utter dominance of South Korea (taking all three podium spots and six of the top eight finishes) created a tidal wave of viewership from their home country. Korean language watch time skyrocketed by a frankly absurd 339%. When the semi-finals rolled around and the broadcast booth was essentially a Seoul subway car, featuring all-Korean matchups, the peak viewership for Korean streams still surged by 326%. They didn’t just come to see their players win; they came to see them dominate.

The Club Championship: Where DN Freecs Became a One-Man Army

In the wider context of the Esports World Cup, it’s not just about individual glory; it’s about earning points for your club. And Ulsan might as well have carried DN Freecs on his back like a rucksack.

His victory earned the organization a cool 1,000 Club Championship points, catapulting them into 11th place with a total of 1,200 points. He is, astoundingly, the only DN Freecs competitor to ever win a title at the EWC, making him their entire esports division’s MVP. They’re now tied with bigger names like Karmine Corp and Team Spirit, but with their final event done, they’re stuck there.

Meanwhile, at the top, the race is tighter than a new pair of shoes:

Current EWC 2025 Club Championship Standings (excerpt)

Team Vitality’s Jeon “JeonDDing” Sang-hyun snagging a top-four finish added 300 points to their coffers, helping them lock down that coveted third-place spot—for now.

The Final Boss: Ulsan’s Redemption Arc

So how did the man himself do it? After dropping into the lower bracket thanks to a loss from kkokkoma (who, by the way, had a terrifying group with Kirakira, NOBI, and Knee), Ulsan switched from player to predator.

He eliminated the legendary Arslan Ash, got his revenge on kkokkoma, and then carved his way through the top eight, a bracket so saturated with Korean talent it might as well have been a national tournament. The grand final against fellow countryman Yoon “LowHigh” Sun-woong was a masterclass in composure. After trading games and letting the momentum briefly shift, Ulsan recalibrated, locked in, and took the next three tense, close sets to claim his second consecutive crown and that life-changing $250,000 first-place prize.

In the end, the Tekken 8 event at EWC 2025 wasn’t just a tournament. It was a statement. A warning. A historical reset. The old guard is still here, but they’re now looking up at a king who has built his castle on their ruins. And from the sound of the record-breaking cheers, the fans wouldn’t have it any other way.