San Jose, California’s own Michael “Michaelangelo” Lerma has been a strong competitor in the Mortal Kombat franchise since the series reboot was released in 2011. He’s had multiple top eight placings at various majors and has continued his consistency in Mortal Kombat X with his patented Quan Chi since last year under the Yomi Gaming brand after moving to and residing in Atlanta, Georgia for over a year or so. His most recent accomplishment was placing seventh out of over 700 players in MKX, which was no easy feat by any stretch.
Last Wednesday, the annual GameStop Expo took place at the Anaheim Convention Center in Anaheim, CA, and Lerma was privately invited to try out the latest build of Injustice 2 by WB Games and NetherRealm Studios in front of a crowd of over 5,000 GameStop employees, according to Lerma.
Unfortunately as I just mentioned, this was a private event so there was no stream or recorded footage of IJ2 being played. However, I held an email interview with Michael to get his initial impressions about IJ2 and his future as a competitive gamer in both the aforementioned game and MKX.
Marcos Blanco: First of all, it’s been a couple of months since you placed top eight at Evo 2016 for MKX for the first time. How did you feel about your placing and have you still been playing it seriously?
Michael Lerma: It was such a euphoric feeling standing on the Evo stage accepting a medal I had been dreaming of getting for a long time. I’m still training in MKX to prepare for SoCal Regionals 2016 and I expect to see many good friends and have a crazy time!
MB: IJ2 is on the horizon as NRS’ next big fighter. Do you feel it will replace MKX as your main fighting game of choice once it’s released? Did you play the first IJ seriously prior to MKX?
ML: I know the focus will shift to IJ2 because whenever a new fighting game comes out, that’s what people are paying attention to. I will still support MKX seeing as I’m a huge fan of the MK series. MkKis in my blood, literally! I have a tattoo of the damn game!
I did compete in the first IJ for a couple of months, but had to stop because life doesn’t always allow you to put the time that you would like into your passion.
MB: So you told me you were invited to GameStop Expo which took place last Wednesday to play the latest build of IJ2, along with some other well-known players. Can you describe the IJ2 event that went down, since there was no streamed footage of the event? Were there other players who got invited?
ML: Yes. I was personally invited by the good people over at WB Games. The event was f*****g nuts! 5,000+ GameStop managers were invited to this convention to see and test the latest games they will have in their stores. Bryant “Kitana Prime” Benzing was the other player who got invited to the event.
MB: What are you initial impressions of IJ2 so far? What are the major differences between the first game and this one, besides the new gear system? Does it change how you approach the game? Also, is there anything new that NRS has added to the game that they haven’t announced yet?
ML: My impression when I first picked up the game was not a shock. NRS improves with every new game they create and they definitely delivered with IJ2. The difference between IJGA and IJ2 is a whole lot! Better graphics, better walk speed, faster gameplay, more detailed quotes from the characters and better anti-airs which means you have to respect your opponent and not just jump in like a wild person.
There’s definitely new mechanics. The roll and air tech is a big one that will be a big part of your strategy. If they haven’t announced something new yet I don’t think I should say.
MB: Which characters did you play as, and were there any unannounced characters that you got to try out or are you not allowed to say?
ML: I played as Supergirl. That’s the character they wanted me to showcase at the event. I had to make her look as good as possible so I memorized her entire move list and started working hard to create combos for her. I only had a day to practice so I hit the lab hard! All the characters on the character select screen have been announced.
MB: You told me you got to talk to Mortal Kombat co-creator, Ed Boon. Care to share what you two conversed about exactly?
ML: Boon is one hell of a nice guy! He’s as big of a troll in real life like he is on Twitter. Always getting a rise out of people. We talked about the MKX patch but I can’t go into detail on it. I also told him to put Plastic Man in IJ2 because that’s my all-time favorite DC character! I also showed him my MK tattoo and told him “Look what you made me do!” He replied “Sorry for making you do that, (laughs)”.
MB: I know you’re a huge fan and a serious competitor of the MK series. If MK still has a future in the FGC along with IJ2, will you play both games competitively in the long run? If so, who are you looking forward to playing as in IJ2?
ML: I’ll always be a competitor at heart and I do look forward to competing in both NRS titles. I’m probably going to be playing a zoner/setup character because that’s my favorite play style in a fighting game. Lately I have been thinking of helping the FGC out in another way besides just competing and entertaining. Commentator, announcer, event organizer… who knows what the future holds for Michaelangelo. All I know is it’s been a dream of mine to work in the gaming industry ever since I was a little boy and I don’t see myself slowing down!
Sources: Yomi Gaming; GameStop Expo