Justin Wong

Last updated

Jwong
Justin Wong at Combo Breaker 2018.jpg
Wong in 2018
Personal information
NameJustin Wong
Born (1985-11-15) November 15, 1985 (age 38)
NationalityChinese-American
Career information
Games Street Fighter series
Marvel vs. Capcom series
Playing career2003–2004
2008–2019
2021–present
Career highlights and awards

Justin Wong (born November 15, 1985 [1] ), occasionally shortened to Jwong, is an American professional fighting game player. He now resides in Canada.

Contents

Wong has won more EVO titles than anyone else with nine tournaments won: seven for Marvel vs. Capcom 2: New Age of Heroes between 2001 and 2010, one for Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike in 2009, and one for Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 in 2014. [2]

Career

Justin Wong was only 15 years old when he traveled to B5 in 2001 and won its Marvel vs. Capcom 2 tournament. At the time, Wong did not think much of his fighting game career, later saying "I just wanted to play and play. The prizes were very small, and it was just myself breaking even." He traveled to the Evolution Championship Series in 2002 to successfully defend his Marvel vs. Capcom 2 title and came in ninth at Capcom vs SNK 2 . [3]

Evolution 2004

In the Evolution 2004 Street Fighter III: 3rd Strike losers bracket final, Wong's Chun-Li lost to Daigo Umehara's Ken Masters when, in an unexpected comeback, Daigo managed to parry all 15 hits of Chun-Li's super art II – a feat noteworthy for its difficulty as each parry must be performed within a window of roughly 1/6th of a second before the attack connects – and land a max damage combo. This incident has been widely shared in a well-known viral video known as "Evo Moment #37". [4] [5] [6] [7]

2009

Wong took part in GameStop's Street Fighter IV US National Tournament in 2009, which he won. After the main tournament, a set of special exhibition matches of Street Fighter IV took place in San Francisco, California, on April 18 after the actual competition ended. It featured Iyo who had recently won the Japanese National SFIV tournament, Poongko who won the Korean SFIV National Tournament, and Daigo Umehara who came by Capcom's invitation, [8] and Wong himself. Wong defeated Iyo and Poongko, but lost to Umehara who went on to win the tournament. [9] [10] [11] He was awarded a tournament seed at Evolution 2009 in Las Vegas.

Wong gained more fame after the footage of his matches in GameStop's competition were spread on the internet. As of July 19, 2009, the video of the match against Umehara received almost 80,000 hits on Niconico video sharing site. [12]

Evolution 2009

For winning the US GameStop tournament, Wong started his Street Fighter IV competition as a seeded player in the semi-finals on July 18, the second day of Evo 2009. He beat four opponents and had to start the next day by playing against Daigo Umehara. [13] In the third and the last day, Umehara defeated Wong and put him into the Losers Bracket, then advanced to the grand finals just to meet Wong again. In the final showdown, Wong changed his character from Abel to Balrog (boxer, called M. Bison in Japan) to counter Umehara's signature Ryu. The two fought until the last game possible, but Wong lost the competition. [14] It was this point of the tournament that had more than 23,000 users viewing the stream broadcasting. [15]

Seasons Beatings IV

Wong joined a tournament called Seasons Beatings on October 16–18 in Columbus, Ohio. [16] [17] He participated in the Street Fighter IV 3 on 3 on the second day with two teammates and won 1st place. There was an exhibition match between him and Daigo Umehara which he lost by two games to ten. For Street Fighter IV Singles, Justin, who this time chose to play Fei Long, won in the Winners Bracket's final against Umehara. He later lost to Umehara after Umehara bounced back from the Loser's Bracket. [18] [19]

2010

In June 2010, Wong left the competitive gaming group Empire Arcadia and signed with professional gaming organization Evil Geniuses with Martin "Marn" Phan [20] and was later joined by Ricki Ortiz.

Evolution 2010

Wong won the Marvel vs. Capcom 2 tournament coming out of the loser's bracket. [21] He also placed just out of the top 8 in Super Street Fighter IV, losing to Bruce "Gamerbee" Hsiang. [22]

Wong also participated in the reality show WCG Ultimate Gamer. [23] He made it as far as the Gauntlet (series of semi-final elimination challenges), but was eliminated during the Forza Motorsport 3 driving challenge.

2011

PDP.com's Mortal Kombat Nationals

Wong stormed through the tournament without losing a set up until the grand finals where he won the tournament and the $10,000 1st prize using Kung Lao, playing against Floe's Ermac in the finals.

2015

In 2015, it was announced that Wong would be participating in the Red Bull Kumite 2016 Street Fighter V invitational tournament. [24]

Personal life

Justin's engagement to Jacqueline was announced on July 28, 2018, and they have a daughter. Justin Wong attended Murry Bergtraum High School for Business Careers and was often seen at the world-famous Chinatown Fair in Chinatown, Manhattan, where he would be seen playing Marvel vs. Capcom 2 and sometimes Dance Dance Revolution . [25] [26]

As of 2022, he lives in Vancouver, British Columbia. [27]

References and notes

  1. ↑ Wong, Justin [@JWonggg] (November 15, 2023). "Unfortunately I turn 38 today…" (Tweet). Retrieved February 4, 2024– via Twitter.
  2. ↑ "Evo Tournament Results 1996-2011". January 27, 2013. Archived from the original on January 27, 2013. Retrieved February 7, 2017.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: bot: original URL status unknown (link)
  3. ↑ Smith, Wynton (July 12, 2016). "The evolution of the world's largest fighting game tournament". ESPN .
  4. ↑ Livingston, Tim (August 19, 2008). "EVO 2K8: Fighting Games Personified". Sports Joystick. Archived from the original on December 2, 2008. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  5. ↑ Spitalieri, Mike (March 22, 2007). "The 9 biggest moments in pro gaming". GamePro. Archived from the original on October 21, 2008. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  6. ↑ McCarthy, Dave (August 31, 2006). "The best of YouTube Article". EuroGamer. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  7. ↑ Miller, Pat (March 13, 2007). "Fei Long and Justin Wong". The Escapist Magazine. Archived from the original on February 6, 2013. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  8. ↑ Oichi (May 31, 2009). "Arcadia July - Umehara Six Page Interview". VersusCity. Retrieved July 19, 2009.[ dead link ]
  9. ↑ Ng, Terry (April 19, 2009). "Justin Wong Wins SFIV National Tournament and Daigo Wins International Title". Kineda. Archived from the original on May 20, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
  10. ↑ Gilbert, Ben (April 19, 2009). "Justin Wong wins national SFIV tourney, Daigo remains world champ". Joystiq. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  11. ↑ Bright, Hailey (June 21, 2009). "Justin Wong (Street Fighter IV National Champion)". Coin-Op TV. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  12. ↑ "ストIV世界大会 ジャスティン×ウメハラ【高画質】". April 21, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2009.
  13. ↑ Evo2009 (July 16, 2009). "Evo2009 SFIV: Semi-Finals Winners Bracket". Evolution Championship Series. Archived from the original on July 20, 2009. Retrieved July 19, 2009.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: numeric names: authors list (link)
  14. ↑ Ng, Terry (July 20, 2009). "Daigo Wins Evo 2009 Street Fighter IV Championship Title — Defeats Justin Wong". Kineda. Archived from the original on July 23, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
  15. ↑ "Evo 2009 Live Broadcast". Shoryuken. July 20, 2009. Archived from the original on July 20, 2009. Retrieved July 20, 2009.
  16. ↑ "Seasons Beatings IV live broadcast from Ohio". Get Your Tournament. October 16, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
  17. ↑ "Seasons Beatings IV". Get Your Tournament. October 16, 2009. Archived from the original on October 17, 2009. Retrieved October 17, 2009.
  18. ↑ Catalyst (October 18, 2009). "Seasons Beatings IV live now, with early results". EventHubs. Retrieved October 18, 2009.
  19. ↑ "Seasons Beatings IV". Frame Advantage. October 18, 2009. Retrieved October 22, 2009.
  20. ↑ dunn (June 24, 2010). "Evil Geniuses welcomes Justin Wong". Archived from the original on July 23, 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
  21. ↑ Izuna (July 11, 2010). "Justin Wong Wins MvC2 EVO 2010". 1up. Archived from the original on June 29, 2011.
  22. ↑ Protocol Snow (July 15, 2010). "EVO 2010 — Taiwan shocks the world". Protocol Snow. Retrieved March 4, 2011.
  23. ↑ "Meet: Justin Wong". Archived from the original on March 4, 2011. Retrieved February 22, 2011.
  24. ↑ "Red Bull Kumite announces first participants". www.dailydot.com. Archived from the original on January 15, 2016.
  25. ↑ "So it's been on the down low for a little bit..." July 28, 2018. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  26. ↑ "Here comes a new challenger". January 26, 2019. Retrieved August 5, 2019.
  27. ↑ ""Justin Wong (@jwonggg)"" . Retrieved December 10, 2022.

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