Hype, hype, hype, hype, hype, hype!!
One of the top contenders at this year's EVO did not disappoint its fans, as the finals to Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 drew some of the biggest cheers from the audience. While there were many fights, there were certainly some awesome things that may have been some of the top moments in EVO 2013.
One of said moments happened early on when two of the most disliked players of UMVC3 played their matches. ChrisG was pitted up against Ranmasama in the first match, but although Chris is generally disliked by some members of the community, he does have a pretty amazing Morrigan. But a keep away game in any fighting game can be quite boring to watch ' the audience loves excitement and punches to the face!
However, that is not the play style of Morrigan being handled by ChrisG. His play style is definitely that of keep away with Soul Fist flying every which direction. There were times when he did get in close and pulled off some hand-to-hand combat with Morrigan, but for the most part it is just Soul Fists for days. But even when Morrigan was taken out in one match against Ranmasama, ChrisG was still a force to be reckoned with.
His Vergil is not one to turn away from either. Heck, an X-factored Vergil in the hands of any top competitor is dangerous. Although he bested Ranmasama with his team of Morrigan, Doctor Doom and Vergil, ChrisG was knocked out by the crowd favorite Justin Wong with his team of Wolverine, Storm and Akuma at a later match.
Another player not liked so much in the FGC (Fighting Game Community) is Filipino Champ (F Champ), last year's EVO champion for UMVC3. When he was up on stage for his fight, there was nothing but a wave of boos from the audience. But F Champ, being the competitor that he was, just basked in it and welcomed the dislike. Although he is a good player (except for his team including Phoenix), his personality is not the greatest, and typically does not show good sportsmanship during the match or afterwards.There were times where he would not acknowledge his opponent by shaking hands, and even playing mind games by starting the match, only to drop into the character select screen and change his team. This strategy of starting a match and changing a team throws off the momentum of an opponent and may cause them to perform poorly. It is not a bad strategy to say the least, but it looks disrespectful.
F Champ bested ATX Zak in his first round, and did not display good sportsmanship, tea bagging his opponent in the middle of combos (AN: I could understand at the end of a match in the player's victory where tea bagging is partly acceptable, but in the middle of a combo? Come on, what is the deal with that?). Not many people like his team of Magneto, Doctor Doom and Phoenix, but that was the team that got him into the finals so F Champ can't be blamed.
To clarify, Phoenix is not well received by those in the FGC considering how overpowered she is. Much like Superman in Injustice, those who win with Phoenix are not considered true champions, but are instead labeled as players who just want to win for the sake of winning.
But the reign of the former champion (F Champ, ha!) stopped short when he was pitted up against Cloud805. Against Cloud's team of Zero, Vergil and Dante, he definitely gave F Champ a run for his money. At the beginning, F Champ went with his trusty Magneto, Dormammu and Doctor Doom team, and when he saw that it was not working out well (since Cloud took two games, leaving him with one more to knock F Champ out), he made the switch to Phoenix ' still pulling off mind games.
But those tricks did not work for long. With a quick death of Magneto at the beginning and Dormammu following closely behind, F Champ was unable to get the super meter to the fifth level for Dark Phoenix, and she was dead in a matter of seconds. After this moment, the crowd gave the loudest cheer I heard all tournament. My hands were literally shaking at the loss of F Champ. Maybe now he will be cut a slice of humble pie.
Although Cloud805 took out the champ of last year, he was then brought down by Justin Wong. There were dropped combos for days in that match up.
Although there were favorite players to win, the crowd loved one character in particular. Angelic's Shuma Gorath was a crowd favorite, and whenever it was his turn in a match, the crowd cheered 'Shuma! Shuma!'
In a world of top-tier characters and the teams consisting of pretty much the same fighters, it was a breathe of fresh air to see a rare one being used properly.
Players have their favorite characters, and Shuma was Angelic's. He fought a good fight, but was knocked out of the running by the favored Justin Wong. Justin Wong himself was fighting a good fight and, although he was knocked in the loser's bracket by FS EMP Flocker, he climbed up that ladder. He went straight to the top to face Flocker once more in the Grand Finals.
It was J Wong's team of Wolverine, Storm and Magneto against Flocker's Zero, Vergil and Dante. Zero was a hated character during the show, as his infamous 'corner loop' could mean the loss to a character most of the time. And even when Zero was knocked out, Vergil, a powerful and fast fighter to say the least, would just pick up the slack.
In the Grand Finals, it was back and forth in the number of wins. J Wong bested Flocker in the first set of matches, resetting the bracket and taking the finals to the championship.
Now, this is how a grand final should be. Both J Wong and Flocker had two games to their name and only needed one more to take the crown. J Wong fought a good fight and the crowd was hoping to see one of his famous comebacks with Akuma, but Flocker proved to be too much. He beat J Wong in the end, and was crowned champion of EVO 2013 in UMVC3.
The finals of this game in particular brings in the crowd and plenty of cheers to follow. Some players got a taste of what it was like in the top 8 spot and others did not. What was very surprising was the absence of Combofiend. He got knocked out early, thus saving a spot for those not so well known in the FGC. Maybe some players will clean up their act too and become someone who plays for the love of the game, and not just to win a championship.
Stay tuned for more coverage on the finals for EVO 2013!
EVO 2013, finals, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, UMvC3
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