Prior to the official unveiling of the fighting games that would be part of the EVO tournament circuit in 2018, many fighting-game enthusiasts knew it would be a tough call on the final one or two spots. There were some shoe-ins such as Dragon Ball FighterZ and Street Fighter V but whether "Super Smash Bros. Melee would make it over Smash 4" or whether ARMS would make the cut was a proverbial toss up.
Taking to Twitter, EVO Global Business Developer Mark Julio addressed the large public discussion occurring on social media about the decision to not include Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite and the decision to bring in Blazblue X Tag Battle, a game that won't be released until shortly before EVO kicks off in August. Based on Julio's comments, it seems that there was more to MvC:I's exclusion than just a lack of popularity.
Official EVO 2018 Line-up
1) Tekken 7
2) Super Smash Bros. for Wii U
3) Street Fighter V: Arcade Edition
4) BlazBlue: Cross Tag Battle
5) Guilty Gear Xrd REV 2
6) Injustice 2
7) Super Smash Bros. Melee
8) Dragon Ball FighterZ