Esports
Ahead of the Tekken 8 launch, Arslan Ash reminisces about Tekken 7, the game that launched his already-legendary career and made him a household name.
Since releasing on February 18, 2015, Tekken 7 took the iconic series to even greater heights, amassing more and more players around the world. It brought forward a new generation of gamers and started the careers of many young aspiring esports pros. And none had a greater rise than Pakistani gamer Arslan 'Ash' Sidique, as Tekken 7 launched him into global stardom.
After eight exhilarating years of Tekken 7, the new Tekken 8 was released on January 26, 2024. Ash, who says he owes everything to the predecessor, reminisces over the importance of this game to his career and remembers his first time playing Tekken 7 many years ago.
"When Tekken 7 was first released, I remember it was Ramadan time,” said the Lahore-based champion. "It was almost time to break the fast and my friends and I went to this place far away from home just to play the game."
The excitement of playing Tekken 7 for the first time even overpowered their appetite, despite fasting the whole day: "We just drank some water to break the fast and started playing immediately. I don't know where we got that energy from, but we were crazy about Tekken 7 from the beginning.”
While his favorite character in the game has been Zafina since 2020, before that Ash used to mainly play Kazumi. However, there's still one character in Tekken 7 that even Ash finds challenging to beat.
"Puma is still the toughest character to beat," he said. "It was too overpowering and I had a hard time beating that character. It was almost impossible. He’s one of the best characters in the game.”
Regardless, Ash found his favorite in Zafina and went on to win many championships with her before he also developed lethal proficiency on Kunimitsu.
01
Humble beginnings: a local hero takes on the world
Arslan Ash's foray into professional esports and eventual rise through the ranks to become the undisputed champion and one of the greatest Tekken players ever has been a saga followed by fans worldwide.
After countless hours in arcades, Arlsan Ash had made a name for himself competing in Pakistan's local tournaments, but it wasn't until three years after Tekken 7 release that he was finally able to take his talents abroad.
In 2018, he earned enough money to fly to Oman and Kuwait to compete at KOF GCC, where he dominated both the King of Fighters XIV and Tekken 7 tournaments, and defeated the world’s best Tekken player, Bae 'Knee' Jae-Min, 3-0 in a shocking result.
But it was the following year where the Pakistan native would truly leave his mark on the competitive scene…
02
Arslan Ash proves he wasn't a fluke
In 2019, Arslan Ash went on a legendary run. He famously won EVO Japan 2019 despite an onslaught of VISA and flight issues, reaching his destination on the day of the tournament after a hellacious five flights in two-and-a-half days.
Then, Arslan Ash went and did the same at the EVO championships later that year, winning the biggest Tekken 7 tournament in the world with another victory over Knee in the final.
Many thought Ash's first win over the South Korean in Kuwait had been lucky but, he proved at EVO that it wasn’t the case. From there, the two started an epic rivalry that pushed both of them to become the greatest Tekken 7 players of all time.
03
Is Arslan Ash the best-ever Tekken 7 player?
The argument for Tekken 7 GOAT has always been between Knee and Ash. Knee has a long history of dominating fighting games as far back as 2004 and was the king of Tekken 7 until Arslan Ash challenged him.
Knee has said that Ash made him a better player and that's no surprise considering the Pakistani seemingly had his number. Arslan Ash went on to win many Tekken 7 tournaments across the globe, including four EVO titles – something no other player ever accomplished. And along with that final EVO win in 2023, he also claimed the EVO Japan and Tekken World Tour Finals titles in the final year of Tekken 7 to become the only triple-crown champion in the game's history.
While Knee may have earned slightly more prize money, those major accomplishments of Ash's make him the greatest Tekken 7 player of all time.
When talking about what tournaments he's enjoyed the most so far however, Ash offers a surprising and fascinating response: "I don't generally enjoy tournaments. I only go to win. But I’d say I enjoyed Gamers8, because of the way they treated us, where we stayed and the food."
Gamers8 is also where Ash won the biggest prize of his career so far, earning himself a cut of a whopping $500,000, which he called "life-changing".
Unsurprisingly, if you ask Arlsan Ash he will say Tekken 7 is the game that changed his life. It's the game that not only brought him, a regular Lahore kid, success and renown, but it’s also a game that resonated with him early in his life and has continued to be an important part of it.
"Tekken 7 is the game that gave me everything. I started my career with it. All my achievements - from four-time EVO champion and all the other tournaments - it's all because of Tekken 7," said the master.
Tekken 7 is the game that gave me everything. I started my career with it
Arslan Ash FAQs
How much does Arslan Ash earn?
While we don't know what Ash makes through sponsorships and content creation, we can see that he has earned over $360,000 in prize earnings to date.
How many times has Arslan Ash won?
In official competition, Ash has won at 28 different tournaments.
Is Arslan Ash undefeated?
Arslan Ash's Tekken 7 career had way more highs than lows, but there were some struggles along the way. Ash struggled in 2022 during the post-COVID return to tournaments, placing third at EVO and shockingly crashed out of the World Tour Final at the Group Stages. However, he then bounced back by winning the Triple Crown of EVO Japan, EVO and Tekken Word Tour in 2023.
Who is the best Pakistani Tekken 7 player?
With unmatchable accolades, Arslan Ash is not only the best Pakistani Tekken 7 player, but the greatest Tekken 7 player overall. However, he isn’t the only talented fighter from his country. Both Atif Butt and Imran Khan are in the top five for Tekken 7 prize earnings.
