The Marvel vs. Capcom community is in a fight for its life trying to get into Evo. Events such as Undefeated 2017 in Mesa, Arizona are keeping the hopes alive. Marvel players from all over the country flew in to attend a Marvel event thrown by Marvel players.
On top of a great Marvel tournament with tons of talent in attendance, Undefeated also held Street Fighter V and a Guilty Gear tournament. The SFV tournament gave us our first look at KBrad (Kenneth Bradley) vs. Justin Wong since the notorious video of KBrad calling out Justin Wong for leaving Evil Geniuses for Echo Fox.
It was a grassroots event, held in a beercade, thrown by Arizona’s own Angelic (Armando Mejia), ALL to support the Marvel community. The love of the game and community was apparent at the venue. It was clear that this group of players are a family. And despite a game that’s declining in numbers, this community stands strong.
The results: SFV
SFV turned out to be hype, with the first set between KBrad and Justin Wong since the transition. It also had Chris G (Chris Gonzales), who finished second at Kumite in Tennessee only a few weeks prior. The smaller numbers were no indication of the level of play at Undefeated.
However, the legend that is Justin Wong did end up taking the tournament, after being sent to losers early on in top 8 by KBrad. It was a reverse sweep for KBrad, as his Cammy did a great job making Justin fight out of the corner. Despite being sent to losers, Jwong wasn’t deterred, as he won 15 of his next 16 matches. He had wins over Chris G, PNOY (Richard Kline), and the aforementioned KBrad.
1 Justin Wong
2 KBrad
3 Chris G
4 PNOY
5 Clegg Madness
5 Rath
7 Redman
7 Moss_HD
UMVC3
The main event was commentated by the well regarded East Coast Marvel legend IFC Yipes (Michael Mendoza). If Yipes shows up, it must be a hype Marvel event, and the level of play delivered. Besides FChamp (Ryan Ramirez), every Marvel 3 Evo champion was in attendance: Justin Wong, Chris G, and Kane Blue River (Nicholas Gonzales). That’s not even mentioning top players such as RayRay (Raynel Hidalgo), Cloud805 (Jonathon Morales), and RyanLV (Ryan Romero).
The best part was every former Evo champion was eliminated fairly early in bracket. It’s not clear how much time players are investing into Marvel nowadays, but the Gods of the game are now getting passed up. Jwong, KBR, and RayRay all finished outside the top 8. ChrisG barely made it into the top 3, beating Cloud805 and Jibrill in close game-five sets.
It wasn’t the results normally associated with Marvel, but it provided the extra drama. RyanLV wasn’t considered one of the best coming into today, but he leaves Undefeated as the champion. He didn’t face any Gods, but he tore up Winners bracket, beating Flux (3-0), YLTCole (3-1), and Angelic twice in winners and grands (3-1,3-1). It was a statement win, taking the first big Marvel tournament of 2017.
1
RyanLV
2 Angelic
3 Chris G
4 Jibrill
5 YLT Cole
5 Priest
7 NoelBrown
7 Cloud805
Guilty Gear XRD
1 Nerd Josh
2 Thebeatifuldude
3 Koogy
4 Toki
5 Dead Spike
5 Paracles
7 Ryyudo
7 Dejixal
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