Author: Franz "d3v" Co

After a two-year hiatus, SNK’s The King of Fighters series returns to the Evo main stage once again with The King of Fighters XIV. However, the road to Evo 2017 has been rather bittersweet for the community. KOF XIV’s competitive following has, at least in the West, been rather more subdued compared to its predecessor — in spite of the fact that The King of Fighters XIV is, from a gameplay standpoint, arguably the best the series has been since the Ultimate Match version of KOF 2002.

Despite the smaller competitive scene, that doesn’t mean that the players’ passion for the game has diminished in the West. This is especially true in the series’ more traditional strongholds within Mexico, Latin America, as well as the United States. Familiar names dominate competitions in this side of the world, with players such as Arcade Shock’s Reynald Tacsuan, Ramon “Romance” Navarrete, Luis Cha, Eric “Juicebox” Albino, Team Spooky’s Josh “NerdJosh” Jodoin, Raphael “Laban” Ramos, Chris “Hellpockets” Fields, and more.

In addition to these are names more commonly associated with other games. While Evil Geniuses Christopher “NYChrisG” Gonzales competed in The King of Fighters XIII, he seems to have found more success in The King of Fighters XIV, with a recent top 8 finish at CEO 2017. Meanwhile, one of ChrisG’s rivals in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Black Eye’s Nicolas “Kane Blueriver” Gonzales has also done well in KOFXIV, actually qualifying for this year’s The King of Fighters XIV World Championship in Japan.

The King of Fighters XIV however has found more success as a competitive game outside of the West, specifically in China. During The King of Fighters XIV World Championship, most of the top 8 finalists were Chinese players. First and foremost among these is DouyuTV’s Zhoujun “Xiao Hai” Zheng, who arguable be the strongest KOFXIV player in the world at the moment. Another strong Chinese player is PandaTV’s Haojun “Dakou” Su. These two are joined by a host of other top Chinese players from teams such as DouyuTV, HuomaoTV, and PandaTV.

Of course, other countries and regions have strong The King of Fighters XIV representation as well. Japanese player M’, who is arcade hardware company Sanwa Denshi’s first sponsored player, made a name for himself by winning The King of Fighters XIV World Championship. Meanwhile, Korea has also traditionally strong KOF scene, and Evo 2012 King of Fighters XIII champion Kwang-noh “MadKOF” Lee still remains a big threat, and could take it all again if he returns to Las Vegas [and it turns out that he is – Editor]. Meanwhile, Europe also has a strong The King of Fighters XIV scene, with players such as Frionel and Alioune Camara also having strong showings at The King of Fighters XIV World Championship.

All in all, despite the low turnout, the possibility of big name international competitors converging in Las Vegas make The King of Fighters XIV at Evo one of the hypest tournaments yet. The multi-national nature of the KOF competitions at Evo has always energized the crowd — raising the stakes by unifying spectators by country or nation of choice.  At times, KOF at Evo feels almost like a World Cup soccer game, where national pride is on the line. With this in mind, The King of Fighters XIV at Evo 2017 may yet show that it’s not the size of the community, but their passion that counts!

When the games for Evo 2017 were first announced earlier this year, there was one big omission that everyone noticed: for the first time in the tournament’s history, there was no Marvel vs. Capcom game in the lineup. Happily, the Evo 2017 Player’s Choice donation drive gave players and fans the chance to put a game back in. The community came out in force with an overwhelming response, raising over $70,000 for Make-a-Wish International, and getting UMvC3 back on the roster for Sunday.

In many ways, however, the story of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 at Evo 2017 is bigger than just that of the game getting back in through the donation drive. With this likely being the last year that the game is at Evo, many players are looking to this one final chance to make a name for themselves in the game.

What really makes this special is the fact that, throughout the game’s seven-year history at Evo, no single player has won the tournament more than once. Unlike Marvel vs. Capcom 2, which was pretty much dominated by Justin Wong, every single Evo tournament for the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 series (both “vanilla” and Ultimate) has had a different winner.

Among these previous winners are a number of players considered to be part of the pantheon of “gods” of Marvel. These are players such as Splyce’s Ryan “Filipino Champ” Ramirez, Job “Flocker” Figueroa, Evil Geniuses’ Christopher “NYChrisG” Gonzales, Black Eye’s Nicholas “Kane Blueriver” Gonzales, and of course Echo Fox’s Justin (“Marvelous”) Wong. Among these, there are players who have threatened to win more than once. FChamp had an amazing run in 2013, only to be stopped by Justin Wong in the finals. Similarly, KBR looked poised to win once again last year, before falling to ChrisG. Speaking of which, ChrisG has always threatened to reach the upper echelons of the tournament, only to fall short until his win last year. With these players having only one Evo win each, winning a second would cement their position atop the pantheon.

Aside from these however, there are other players, also considered as “gods” of the game who have yet to win at Evo.  Players such as Eduardo “PR Balrog” Perez or Panda Global’s Raynel “RayRay” Hidalgo. Both these players have had amazing runs at previous Evos, but have yet to take the top prize.

It’s not just the “gods” that are on the lookout for the win. There are a number of  top Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 players that are out to prove themselves as well. These are players like Vineeth “Apologyman” Meka, Daniel “Clockw0rk” Maniago, Abraham “GoldenBoyNeo” Sotelo, Armando “Angelic” Mejia, Cole “Flux” Tocci, Jan-Michael del Rio, Ryan “RyanLV” Romero, Jonathan “Cloud805” Morales, and more. These players have either had amazing runs at past Evos, or have been putting in some amazing performances in recent tournaments — and most would like nothing more than to reach the same level as the “gods” with an Evo 2017 win.

Their efforts have come on the back of a resurgence in interest in UMvC3, thanks to the current-generation re-releases, the spectre of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite on the horizon, and the Curleh Circuit. Many of the players listed above have gained a lot of momentum thanks to recent tournaments on and off the Curleh Circuit. Meanwhile, the re-releases of the game have brought about a wave of newly-discovered tactics and tools that players can use in competition.

All things considered, it seems that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 final year at Evo will be a big one. With the donation drive, as well as the champions vying for the chance to be the only two-time UMvC3 champion, the challengers looking to deny a them that while ascending to godhood, as well as the increasing level of competition in the game, everything is in place for a hype tournament this year. The Marvel vs. Capcom series has always been a part of makes Evo what it is, and as such it’s fitting that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 goes out with a bang.