The Intensity of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Continues at ReveLAtions 2012

It comes as no surprise that Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is still the number one fighting game in tournaments these days, and ReveLAtions was no exception. Many big name players were there, including Justin Wong, Combofiend, and EVO’s champion Filipino Champ. Many competitors tried their hand at playing and were knocked out either early or stayed in and gave some people a run for their money. But it wasn’t all about competition in the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 side. The crew from “Assist Me!” made an appearance and was interacting with every one of their fans who came up to them. Stay tuned for an in-depth article about “Assist Me!” on Velocity Gamer.

Below are some of the highlights from the matches that were displayed on the big screen.

Not many people are rocking it with Shuma Gorath nowadays. In a world where top tier characters are essential to getting far in the competition, it was cool to see someone playing a character that does not see much competition. Foo played a decent game this tournament, starting it off with Shuma Gorath, Dr. Strange, and Amaterasu on his team. He was first pitted against Danimals and his Wesker, Amaterasu and Sentinel. The matches were back and forth with Shuma getting massive support from the audience as the underdog. At the final match against Danimals, Foo switched his team to Thor, Wesker, and Dr. Strange, which was very surprising. It was surprising to see that he switched out Shuma and Ammy for Thor and Wesker, but it worked out in his favor because he took that final round and the overall match. It wasn’t easy though as he whiffed a Wesker hyper that almost cost him the match. But his patient game of trying to get into Danimals’ Wesker who was playing keep-away won it for him in the end. However, Foo got knocked out of the winner’s bracket later on by TTF Dios X and his team of Storm, Doctor Doom, and Sentinel, even with the team change in the middle.

TTF Dios X fought a good fight himself. In another match-up, he switched his team and ran Wolverine, Doctor Doom, and Sentinel against AGE Fanatiq’s Magneto, Storm, and Sentinel. He lost against him and was moved into the loser’s bracket where he would face the well-known player Ricky Ortiz. However, this match proved to be everything but fun. He ran the same team and Ricky played with Wolverine, Wesker, and Akuma. TTF Dios X was a very good player and took all three victories from Ricky, knocking him out of the competition. It was clear that Ricky was quite salty about it, for when the third round was over, Dios went to shake his hand and Ricky just ignored him. Competition runs deeper for some players and they take it hard when they lose. But this is the nature of the world.

Like the Shuma Gorath player, those who play with characters who do not see the light too often are supported immensely. At EVO, the character M.O.D.O.K. surprised us all when he made it to top 8 in a world with mainly top tier. The killing machine made an appearance at ReveLAtions as well through many players including Hiro, a competitor who used the team of M.O.D.O.K., Dormammu, and Doctor Doom. His match-up against Branflakes’ Spider-Man, Storm, and Doctor Doom was just whiffs everywhere. In the first round, Branflakes whiffs his Doctor Doom hyper, using the level 3 Doom Blender (Doom’s Time) instead of the level 1 Finger Lasers (Proton Array), which ultimately cost him the match. But Hiro was no stranger to whiffs, as he used M.O.D.O.K.’s Killer Illumination hyper instead of one of the other ones, costing him round two. In the end, Hiro was the victor in this match and later faced the ever so famous Justin Wong. He held his own against the super player and did take one round against JWong’s team of Wolverine, Storm, and Akuma. But in that match, JWong reigned supreme and knocked Hiro out into the loser’s bracket.

Justin to the Wong. He has a huge standing in the fighting game community, playing almost every fighting game for years. This year, he was a finalist in many games and was one of the favorites to win at least one of them. In UMVC3, he was pretty consistent in playing his team of Wolverine, Storm, and Akuma. His match-up against GGP | Manic’s Wesker, Vergil, and Strider Hiryu was intense. At first, it seemed like no contest when JWong took the first round in a massive sweep. But when you corner an animal, it tends to bear its fangs, and Manic did just that. He fought back in the second round and happy birthday’d Akuma, then offing Wolverine. JWong stepped it up and took the next two rounds and the match. After that, he played against Realpolitix and his team of Deadpool, Doctor Doom, and another character that isn’t seen much, Arthur. But the interestingly different team was no competition for the unstoppable JWong, as he took that match with a 3-0 sweep.

Previous to his match with the famous JWong, Realpolitix faired pretty well in his earlier match-ups. He faced MoTempest, another M.O.D.O.K. player with Morrigan and Strider Hiryu alongside. After taking the first two rounds, Tempest decided on a team change and switched out Morrigan for Dr. Strange. But this effort was in vain as Realpolitix won and took the match against Tempest. After losing to Justin Wong, he was placed in the loser’s bracket and was then knocked out by Killer Kai’s Zero, Wesker, and Taskmaster team.

This was not the last we were going to see of MoTempest. His final match of the competition was against the familiar GGP | Manic. His Morrigan-M.O.D.O.K.-Strider Hiryu team served him well in the first round against Wesker, Vergil, and Manic’s very own Strider Hiryu. But Manic beared his fangs once again and took the last three rounds in victory, even after the team sub with Morrigan to Dr. Strange from Tempest.

Prior to being in the loser’s bracket, GGP | Manic fought against the most oddball team of the tournament. His team was pitted against IGL Royal Flush and his team of Thor, M.O.D.O.K., and Viewtiful Joe. It was a shocker to see Viewtiful Joe make it so far, so it was exciting to see what Royal Flush could do with him. Unfortunately, we were never really given this chance to see Joe in action, for whenever he would come out, he was dead in an instant. A top tier team knocked out the oddball team. After this victory, Manic lost against JWong and was in the loser’s bracket where he beat Tempest. But the next fight after that was the end of the road for Manic, for he was pitted against Team hAZmat’s very own Forward. Forward’s memorable team of C. Viper, Doctor Doom, and Strider Hiryu knocked out Manic’s, but first taking a happy birthday to the face.

hAZ Forward had a few interesting matches prior to being knocked into the loser’s bracket. One of them had his team fighting against WL Uncle Matt and his team of Taskmaster, Doctor Doom, and Dr. Strange. It was the first time Dr. Strange’s Seven Rings of Raggador beam counter was used in day two of competition, considering it was a very particular move. But even with the counter, Forward was still rocking Uncle Matt, so he switched it up for the third round. He subbed out Doctor Doom for Dormammu and tried his luck. But his luck had ran out and lost to Strider Hiryu’s level 3 Ouroboros. Although this was a clear victory for Forward, the celebration was short-lived. The one responsible for his placement in the loser’s bracket was Pad Trick, one of the few competitors who was a pad player. An opportunistic player who ran Vergil, Dante, and Strider Hiryu, he performed one of the few perfects of the tournament thus far. In round two, he perfected Forward with a happy birthday at the very beginning.

This was not Pad Trick’s first victory in the tournament. He fought against CJ Showstopper, a player who seemingly had coaching advice from champion Filipino Champ. But even with that advice, Pad Trick defeated Showstopper’s team of Magneto, Vergil, and Doctor Doom in a 3-0 sweep. Before CJ Showstopper’s trip to the loser’s bracket, he fought his fair share of intense matches. With Filipino Champ by his side, Showstopper indeed lived up to his name. Two matches on the big screen kept the audience enticed most of the time. The first match was against FBG | DJ Vest and his team of Wolverine, Super Skrull, and Sentinel. The first two rounds was an easy victory and the overall match win was so close he could smell it. But DJ Vest made the smart move by switching out a character that did not see much action for one that may serve him well. Subbing Wolverine for Haggar proved to be a good move. The next two rounds were in DJ Vest’s favor, as X-Factor Haggar would rock the balls of Showstopper and his team. But the team did not go down without a fight, for a combination of a near infinite Magneto and technical Vergil almost KOed Super Skrull with a 198 hit combo in round four. Now it was Showstopper’s turn to switch things up. With the help and advice from Filipino Champ, Doctor Doom was traded in for Wesker. Matchpoint showed that the switch to Wesker was wise, for the strategy of X-Factor Haggar to pwn was short-lived when Wesker played runaway to run out the X-Factor. This round and the match ended in Showstopper’s favor.

And that was just the beginning! Showstopper really gave the audience a show when he was pitted up against Vodo and his team of Spencer, Doctor Doom, and Vergil. Not too many Spencer’s made it to the tournament so to see one on a team meant we could only expect some intense zip line action. The match began with Showstopper taking the first two rounds, even one with a perfect through an almost happy birthday of Doctor Doom. Vodo was down, but he was not out. The third round was one hell of a comeback with a level 3 X-Factor Vergil total party wiping Showstopper. He underestimated the power of a well controlled and X-Factored Vergil, so in the next round, he made sure to take care of him early. Snapping back the lead Spencer for Vergil was a good move and ultimately got the victory. Juggling with Magneto to the point of us thinking, “is he going infinite?” gave the audience something to talk about for days.

Showstopper’s team, especially the partnership between Magneto and Vergil, was not the first time we saw two characters with real synchronization. At the beginning we saw a partnership that felt like these two characters have been friends for years, despite hating each other in the comics. Dr. Snake Tits and his team of Magneto, Dr. Strange, and Doctor Doom showed that birds of a feather flocked together, and the doctors were inseparable. Against WL Chris King’s Magneto, Nova, and Hawkeye, the match was intense. Hawkeye was happy birthday’d early, giving Snake a near perfect win. Chris did fight back to take round two, but never underestimate the power of the doctors and they claimed the ultimate victory together. It was clear that Dr. Strange was the MVP of this team.

A few other notable matches were between those who made their name known in the fighting game community or FGC. One such match was between CFD Hi I’m Nastyy and the popular player EG PR Balrog. Nastyy ran a Super Skrull, Wesker, and Captain America team against Balrog’s Dante, Vergil, and Wolverine. Balrog gained a lead at the beginning, but started to struggle against the might of Super Skrull. When he was beginning to fall, he almost does a complete 180 of his team and played with Spencer, Wolverine, and Wesker. Unfortunately, this did not work in Balrog’s favor and Hi I’m Nastyy took the match victory. That Super Skrull man…insane. The following match on the big screen was between UVG Noel Brown and Thulgak. Noel ran a Wesker, Frank West, and Wolverine team, while Thulgak ran Tron, Dante, and Wesker. It could get pretty intimidating to play against someone who is well known and it looked like it got the better of Thulgak, who lost 0-3 against Noel.

Speaking of big names…EVO’s very own champion Filipino Champ, not surprisingly, competed in this year’s ReveLAtions. Along with being a courtside coach, he played his own games. First up for FChamp was against DASH and his team of Taskmaster, Wolverine, and Wesker. Against FChamp’s Doctor Doom, Sentinel, and Dormammu, he was able to take the first round. But after losing the second round, DASH made a team change and switched out Taskmaster for Captain America. However, this was a futile effort as FChamp was the clear victor for the final two rounds, ending with a snapping back Captain for Wesker to get rid of him early. His next match was against someone who was able to take him to matchpoint. This individual was AGE @Stierknives and he ran a Spencer-Sentinel-Akuma team. This time, FChamp brought out the ever so loved team of Magneto, Doctor Doom, and Phoenix. Stierknives was able to claim a victory in the first round, but lost the next two. However, he made a comeback and won the fourth round, bringing it to matchpoint. Now, FChamp was done messing around. He laid waste the team that brought him down and claimed victory of the match. Stierknives was given this opportunity to fight against FChamp when he beat The Chunksta and his team of Dante, Vergil, and Magneto.

It was déjà-vu all over again when it was FChamp vs. his teammate Combofiend. Would there be a repeat of EVO, or a complete change? Combofiend ran his Spencer-Nova-Hawkeye team against FChamp’s Magneto-Doctor Doom-Phoenix team. It is always tough to deal with dark Phoenix, so one must get rid of her as quickly as possible before there are five bars of meter. While Combofiend did his best to kill her, the partnership of Magneto and Doctor Doom building meter proved to be too much. At least in the first round, he was able to take her out with two level one Gimlet hypers from a level 3 X-Factored Hawkeye. But FChamp’s Phoenix carried him to victory once again and the boos from some of the audience members followed. FChamp may have knocked Combofiend into the loser’s bracket, but he was not without his victories already. Previously, he bested TGL | LLND in a sweeping victory against his Chris, Hsien-Ko, and Amaterasu team.

Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 is a fast paced game that in a blink of an eye, the whole match could possibly be over. Will this quickness translate into the finals, or will we see more drawn out matches? Stay tuned on Velocity Gamer for the finals coverage of Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.