one of the finest gaming controllers), was the most sought-after controller at this year’s Evolution Championship Series (Evo) 2025, based on a post on the r/fightsticks subreddit that monitored each controller utilized by the top 8 competitors in the leading contests. The annual tournament, which draws fighting game enthusiasts from around the globe, is a bring your own controller (BYOC) event, resulting in a diverse array of intriguing peripheral options. For example, this year, an individual brought a humorously enormous fight stick.
The compilation, which Reddit user hugs_n_giggles has been curating since 2019, features other gaming peripherals, including arcade sticks, stickless controllers, and non-DualSense game pads. While arcade sticks were the most favored category, with 32, the PS5 DualSense emerged as the most preferred game pad (10), and boasted the most winners (3). No other single peripheral matched its frequency or victories. Despite the DualSense facing disapproval from many in the fighting game community, the fact that 3 of the 8 Evo 2025 champions opted for this controller indicates it’s a premier choice.
