My EVO 2011 Fantasy Brackets

So I know I posted my opinions and predictions on EVO already a few days ago, but today Shoryuken.com posted brackets for the people in SSFIV:AE and MvC3 who are already seeded, so I thought I’d fill them out and give some quick opinions just for fun.

Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition

Top 8 Rundown

1. MadCatz Daigo Umehara – This year’s EVO isn’t a question of “Will Daigo win?” but rather a question of “Will Daigo even lose a single game?”
2. Wolfkrone – I talked about it briefly in my longer EVO Predictions article, but the general gist of it is that nobody in America is hungrier for an EVO win than Wolfkrone is. He knows his character like the back of his hand, he knows all the other matchups in the top8, and he just generally knows the metagame really well. Aside from Daigo or other Yun players, I can’t foresee him losing to anyone unless he plays really sloppy for some reason, which is very unlike him.
3. PR Balrog – Nobody is hungrier for an EVO title than Wolfkrone, but PR Balrog is very, very close. PR ‘Rog also knows his character just as intimately as Wolfkrone does to the point where he can stand up to the Japanese better than anyone else. This is one of the reasons I have him getting third over Tokido – PR ‘Rog has clashed with the murderface before and if he plays perfectly he can handily win.
4. MadCatz Tokido – If you look up “godlike” in the dictionary, you’ll see Tokido posing over a lifeless victim with the Japanese character for heaven on his back. Tokido is an amazing player and an amazing person, even though he tier whores like a motherfucker. But like I said before, nobody can beat Daigo in this game and if PR Balrog plays perfectly then he can win this match, so I’m going to bet on Tokido getting 4th for now. But to his credit, I will say that it is extremely unlikely that he will place lower than 4th.
5. DMG Inthul – Inthul is a very strong player who started gaining notoriety when SSFIV came out for not only playing Fei Long extremely well, but for playing him extremely well on a PS3 pad. For those who don’t know, most competitive SF players choose to play on arcade sticks instead of pads because most agree that it allows a more natural feel. But once in a while, a “pad warrior” will surface who displays such incredible skill that it makes you wonder why you paid $120 for a MatCatz Tournament Edition stick. Inthul is an incredibly good player and Fei Long is an incredibly strong character in AE, but the real handicap for Inthul is the fact that PS3 pads are banned from EVO. Using a stick will likely feel unnatural for him, but hopefully he’s had enough time to practice on one.
6. Infiltration – Infiltration is an incredibly good Korean Akuma who placed very well in EVO 2010. He’s an extremely strong player and I don’t see him having any trouble against anyone besides the Japanese. But he’s no murderface.
7. Arturo “Sabin” Sanchez – Arturo is a very good player who has been playing Dhalsim since back when he was known as Mahatma Gandhi and has been playing Rose since she before bought a Shamwow. His performance in AE has been surprisingly strong to the point where I’ve decided to be pretty damn generous in some of his matches. Most of the matches I gave him are purely because of his character’s matchup against his opponent’s character, with his Dhalsim being able to take out Dieminion’s Guile and Alex Valle’s Ryu [hopefully]. This is probably the single choice on this list that I am least certain about, partly because I’m not 100% sure if Sabin can pull it off and partly because Filipino Champ would probably have this spot instead if he were seeded on this list.
8. Poongko – Poongko is one of the best players in Korea and plays Seth. Seth has been in the SFIV series since the first game came out on consoles but was nerfed in SSFIV and again in AE. However, this resistance apparently only makes Poongko’s penis harder determination greater, as his performance in AE is nothing short of mind-blowing. His weaknesses lie mostly in his character having the lowest health and stun resistance in the game, meaning that a hard-hitting character like Balrog can give him a lot of trouble, mixup characters like Akuma can make him pay if he guesses wrong, and a single touch from a Yun with full super meter will probably mean an instant game loss. Still, Poongko is probably THE player to watch in the AE event.

Marvel vs Capcom 3

Top 8 Rundown:

1. EG Justin Wong – Justin Wong’s tournament performances in MvC3 majors is like the structure of a typical Batman story arc – He kicks ass all the way to Winner’s Finals only to be beaten by something he hasn’t seen before and/or can’t handle, he goes back to the EG Batcave to think up some new technology and browbeat minor thugs in a gruff voice in Loser’s Finals, then he figures out how to defeat his opponents, resets the bracket in Grand Finals, and then poses dramatically in the night with his oversize novelty check containing his winnings…or he picks Tron like an idiot and loses, but that part doesn’t fit into my metaphor. Anyway, I think that Justin Wong is, in addition to being the best MvC3 player in the world, finally coming to terms with the fact that he doesn’t have a decent Tron and that he can’t run characters on his team just for the assist like in MvC2, so I think that as long as he remembers this and plays his team of She-Hulk/Wolverine/Akuma he’ll have no problem resetting the bracket against Tokido.
2. Tokido – If you look up “tier whore” in the dictionary, you’ll see Tokido beating Justin Wong just because he had Phoenix on his team. Tokido is an amazing player but a horrible person, in part because he tier whores like a motherfucker. In my longer EVO Predictions article, I went over how much I hate Phoenix and why in great detail, so it should be no surprise that I think Tokido is going to do undeservedly well in MvC3 just for playing this stupid character.
3. Complexity Filipino Champ – He plays Phoenix, ’nuff said.
4. UVG Noel Brown – Noel Brown is one of if not the best players on the East Coast and is likely going to be the highest placing East Coast player in MvC3. Noel is incredibly strong and knows a lot about the game and his team. But he doesn’t play Phoenix, so unfortunately he’s going to be forced down to 4th place.
5. Chris G – Chris G is in competition with Noel Brown for the title of “Best on the East Coast”. He’s also a sort of low tier hero with his use of Ryu which many consider unorthodox. Regardless, he knows his team extremely well and is a very strong player. But again, he doesn’t play Phoenix, so unfortunately he’s going to be forced down to 5th place.
6. Complexity ComboFiend – ComboFiend is an old school MvC2 player who is also sort of a low-tier hero in MvC3 (and pretty much every other game he plays) for his use of She-Hulk and Taskmaster (before their popularity exploded) and Spencer. He’s a very solid player but hasn’t made any grand showings since he won Final Round 14 by defeating Justin Wong after Bionic Arming Marn into a state of depression. EVO might change that, but I can’t see him getting higher than 5th (because…you know…no Phoenix), and to be honest, that’s pretty generous since Fl0e could easily be a match for him.
7. Marn – I’m not gonna lie, I don’t like Marn. This is the guy who almost single-handedly killed the US Guilty Gear scene. But I will admit that he is a solid player and I wouldn’t be at all surprised if he made the Top 8 at EVO. I can’t picture him placing higher than 7th though because Noel Brown is undefeated against him.
8. RyRy – Another strong East Coast player, RyRy seems to have somewhat of an affinity for the game. However, not only does he not play Phoenix but he also still plays Sentinel, which will likely prove to be his downfall since Sentinel is one of the easiest characters to fight against in MvC3.

Agree? Disagree? Don’t care? Let me know what you think or post your own brackets in the comments below. I might update this again

Tune in on Friday for my scheduled post about the problem with game reviews.