Evo 2013 Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 against ChrisG
Justin Wong vs. ChrisG in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 at Evo 2013 is a legendary match for the fighting game community as it saw two of the Marvel “gods” clash in a dramatic display of world class skill. As it turns out, there was also some luck involved.
There are many moments one might stop and highlight during this incredible bout, but a seemingly random crouching medium punch anti-air from Justin in game four doesn’t immediately stand out as one of them. Upon closer inspection and with some contextual commentary from the legendary player, however, it might be the single most impressive moment in the set.
The reason this interaction flew widely under most of our radars (beyond the fact that the action in UMvC3 flies by insanely quickly) is because it visually makes total sense. Wolverine’s crouching medium attack sees him perform an upward swipe that looks like it should function just fine as an anti-air, and at one point Justin used it to fend off Chris’ incoming Vergil.
Here’s the thing, this move is only active on frames six, seven, and eight, the last of which is the only one where Wolvie is swiping above his head. Here’s the other thing, ChrisG was attacking with Vergil’s Helm Breaker, a dominating downward sword strike that projects an incredible hitbox out in front of the character from frames 12-21.
Below is a rough comparison of the two moves with their hitbox indicators on. These are two separate images blended together, and are only meant to offer a rough idea of what the hit and hurt boxes on these moves look like next to one another:
Here’s a quick example of Wolverine performing the move in slow motion from Jason_GameDev. He points out how it appears as though there’s really only one frame where Wolverine would even have a chance at beating Helm Breaker:
I never practiced it and for some reason I just thought it would work. I went home to practice it and couldn’t do it at all 1/10
— Justin Wong (@JWonggg) August 20, 2024
Below is a video of Justin going back to watch and provide commentary on this epic set. He gets to the situation in question at the 11:37 mark and spends some time talking about how significant it was.
“I never practiced [crouching medium] in my life and I pressed it,” he starts. “The best part was I went home afterwards to try to recreate that situation to practice for next time because I don’t know the timing. Out of 10 tries I got it zero times. Zero times I was able to pull that off.”
This means that on the biggest stage of them all and against one of his fellow Marvel “gods,” Justin Wong had a split second inclination to go for a frame-perfect interaction that he’d never practiced before. He did it, it hit, and he used that hit to help secure one of the greatest comebacks the Evo main stage has ever seen.
You can watch the full match as Justin breaks it down with commentary here. If you’re seeing it for the first time or watching it with new eyes, we’d love to hear your reactions to this amazing moment after you’ve had a chance to process.
If you’re interested in more edge of your seat Marvel vs. Capcom Evo action, be sure to check out Papa Lobster’s breakdown of the first MvC3 Evo win.