Career
2012
Gonzalez made a name for himself in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 by using a team consisting of Morrigan, Doctor Doom, and Akuma. In March 2012, Gonzalez left Local Battles and joined FingerCramp. [4] At EVO 2012, Gonzalez successfully made the Top 8, where he successfully defeated Justin Wong, Job "Flocker" Figueroa, and Peter "Combofiend" Rosas. He was ultimately defeated by Ryan "Filipino Champ" Ramirez, finishing 3rd. Gonzalez would later go on to substitute Akuma for Vergil on his main team. In October, Gonzalez left FingerCramp and joined AfterGlow Elite. [5]
2013
Gonzalez attended CEO 2013 and won the Injustice: Gods Among Us and UMvC3 tournaments. Gonzalez made Top 8 in Injustice: Gods Among Us and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 at Evolution 2013. Gonzalez received 3rd place in Injustice: Gods Among Us using Green Arrow. He was defeated by Denzell "Crazy DJT 88" Terry twice, once in the Winners Bracket and once in the Losers Bracket. Gonzalez also lost to Justin Wong in the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament, finishing tied for 5th. [6] Gonzalez later attended Capcom Cup, qualifying for the Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition v2012 tournament and being voted into the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament. Gonzalez defeated Michael "IFC Yipes" Mendoza in the Grand Finals in order to receive the trophy. [7] Gonzalez would later defeat EVO 2013 champion Job "Flocker" Figueroa in a first-to-5 exhibition. [8] Gonzalez got 7th place in the Street Fighter tournament, being knocked into losers by Naoto "Sakonoko" Sako and then being eliminated by Hajime "Tokido" Taniguchi. [9]
2014
Gonzalez was released from AfterGlow Elite as it was disbanded. [10] Gonzalez moved from his hometown of New York City to Los Angeles, California. There he was sponsored by GamesterGear for Final Round XVII. Gonzalez would permanently be part of the team later on. [11] Gonzalez plans to continue using Sakura in Ultra Street Fighter IV, and will be using Yang, Evil Ryu, and Elena as alternates. [12] Gonzalez attended CEO 2014 and won the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 Tournament, although he was unable to defend his title in Injustice: Gods Among Us being defeated by ForeverKing and DEG. [13] Gonzalez has competed at EVO 2014, most notably receiving 2nd place in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, losing to six-time Marvel vs. Capcom 2 champion Justin Wong. Also notable was Gonzalez failing to make the Top 8 for Injustice: Gods Among Us receiving 13th place. [14] In late October, Gonzalez announced his departure from GamesterGear. [15] After not showing up at a major tournament in three months, Gonzalez made a return to the scene by entering NEC 15, placing Top 8 in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Mortal Kombat (2011), and Ultra Street Fighter IV. Also notable at the tournament was Gonzalez receiving first place in the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 based tournament Curleh Mustache Battle Royale 4 which took place at the same time as NEC 15. [16]
2015
On March 10, Gonzalez was picked up by Tempo Storm as their first player in their Fighting Games division. [17] On April 2, it was revealed that Gonzalez would be featured on Cross Counter's hit show "The Excellent Adventures of Gootecks and Mike Ross" for four episodes. [18] In June, fellow Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 god Justin Wong placed a $300 bounty on Gonzalez, Wong himself, and Ryan "Filipino Champ" Ramirez for eliminating them in the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament at EVO 2015. [19] Gonzalez earned $300 for eliminating fellow god Justin Wong from said tournament, but was eliminated by Japanese player Ryota "RF" Fukumoto in a mirror match to get into Top 8. [20]
2016
On March 2, Gonzalez was released from Tempo Storm as his contract expired. [21] At EVO 2016, Gonzalez won the Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament out of the Loser's Bracket with an impressive showcasing of how deadly his team's synergy of MorriDoom and anchor Vergil can be. [1]
Gonzalez has picked up Street Fighter V and mainly plays Guile in said game. [12] Prior to Guile being released in late April [22] he played Cammy and Nash. [12]
2020
On June 23, 2020, Gonzalez was released by Evil Geniuses [24] for comments he made on Facebook [25] in 2017.
Daigo Umehara is a Japanese esports player and author who competes competitively at fighting video games. He specializes in 2D arcade fighting games, mainly those released by Capcom. Known as "Daigo" or "The Beast" in the West and "Umehara" or "Ume" in Japan, Daigo is one of the world's most famous Street Fighter players and is often considered its greatest. His longevity is seen as an incredibly rare thing in the world of competitive video games. He currently holds a world record of "the most successful player in major tournaments of Street Fighter" in the Guinness World Records and is a six time Evo Championship Series winner.
The Evolution Championship Series, commonly known as Evo, is an American annual esports event that focuses exclusively on fighting games. The tournaments are completely open and use the double elimination format. As with Super Battle Opera, contestants travel from all over the world to participate, most notably from Japan. The first Evolution was originally held as a Super Street Fighter II Turbo and Street Fighter Alpha 2 tournament called the Battle by the Bay. It changed its name to Evo in 2002. Every successive tournament has seen an increase of attendees. It has been held at various venues across the Las Vegas Valley since 2005. As of 2021, the event is jointly owned by Sony Interactive Entertainment and the Endeavor esports venture RTS.
Justin Wong, occasionally shortened to Jwong, is an American professional fighting game player residing in Canada.
The fighting game community, often abbreviated to FGC, is a collective of video gamers who play fighting games such as Marvel vs. Capcom, Mortal Kombat, Soulcalibur, Street Fighter, Guilty Gear, The King of Fighters, Blazblue, Super Smash Bros., Tekken, Mobile Suit Gundam: Extreme Vs., Dead or Alive, Samurai Shodown, Shadow Fight 2 and many others. The fighting game community started out small in the late 1990s and throughout the 2000s referred to as the grassroots era, but it has grown to a larger scale in the 2010s, with many tournaments being held around the world. This is predominantly due to the rise of esports, online gaming, and digitized viewing habits on live streaming sites such as Twitch.
Capcom Cup is an annual fighting game tournament specifically focused on the Street Fighter series. The event's first incarnation was in 2013 which featured Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition version 2012, Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and Street Fighter X Tekken version 2013 as the three main games each with 8 qualifiers. In 2014, Capcom Cup was an Ultra Street Fighter IV exclusive tournament with 16 qualifiers. The 2015 Capcom Cup was doubled to a 32-man format and was later increased to a 48-man format beginning with Capcom Cup IX in 2022–23. The series of qualifying events for the tournament are known as the Capcom Pro Tour and include many of the largest, most prestigious pre-existing fighting game tournaments such as Evolution Championship Series and DreamHack.
Lee Seon-woo, known as Infiltration, is a professional esports player from Seoul, South Korea, specializing in fighting games. Lee is a six-time Evolution Championship Series (EVO) champion; winning Super Street Fighter IV Arcade Edition v2012 in 2012, Street Fighter X Tekken in 2012 and 2013, Street Fighter V in 2016 and 2018 and Samurai Shodown in 2019.
Alex Valle, also known as CaliPower and Mr. Street Fighter, is a Peruvian-American fighting game tournament organizer and a retired professional fighting game player. Valle is mainly a Ryu specialist and is considered one of the most influential people within the fighting game community.
Yusuke Momochi, better known as Momochi, is a Japanese professional fighting game player, particularly of ones in the Street Fighter series by Capcom. Momochi won the Capcom Cup 2014 championship, as well as winning the EVO 2015 title for Ultra Street Fighter IV.
Du Dang, more commonly known by his nickname NuckleDu, is an American fighting game player known for playing Guile and Decapre in Ultra Street Fighter IV, Guile and Zangief in Street Fighter X Tekken, and Guile and Rainbow Mika in Street Fighter V. NuckleDu was ranked as the 13th best player in Ultra Street Fighter IV by EventHubs, and was ranked at #19 in the previous year and #32 in 2013. In Street Fighter V, he was undeniably the most successful player in the latter half of Season 1.
The 2016 Evolution Championship Series was a fighting game event held in Las Vegas on July 15–17. Being hosted on the twentieth anniversary of the Evolution Championship Series, the event offered tournaments for various video games, including Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Pokkén Tournament. Participation reached record-breaking numbers, with over 5,000 people registering for the Street Fighter competition alone. 2016 was the first time the Evo Grand Finals were held in an arena and were broadcast by ESPN2 in addition to Twitch.
Stunfest 2016 was a fighting game tournament that took place on May 21–22 in Rennes, France. Being a Premier Event of the Capcom Pro Tour, the winner of the event would qualify for the 2016 Capcom Cup. The Grand Finals of Stunfest 2016 were dominated by Asian players such as Tokido and Daigo Umehara, with European players like Luffy being eliminated on day one. Japanese players Fuudo and Yusuke Momochi faced off in the final round, with Momochi winning the tournament.
NorCal Regionals 2016 was a Street Fighter V tournament that took place in Sacramento, California on March 25–27. Being one of the eleven Premier Events of the 2016 Capcom Pro Tour, the winner of the tournament automatically qualified for the Capcom Cup in December 2016. As the 14th NorCal Regionals event, NCR 2016 featured a "Pool of Death", where players registering "at the door" rather than in advance were punished by being placed in the same pool with one another. The Pool of Death was won by Vietnamese player Marn, who was knocked out of the Top 8 by Tokido. The tournament was won by Infiltration, who dominated the competition throughout the finals.
The 2014 Evolution Championship Series was a fighting game event held in at Westgate Las Vegas on July 11–13. The event featured a major tournament for eight fighting games, including Ultra Street Fighter IV and BlazBlue: Chrono Phantasma. The event was part of the first Capcom Pro Tour.
The 2013 Evolution Championship Series was a fighting game event held at Paris Las Vegas on July 12–14. The event featured a major tournament for nine fighting games, including Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition and Injustice: Gods Among Us. The event's Super Smash Bros. Melee livestream was controversially blocked by Nintendo of America, though the company decided to allow the tournament to be streamed after being faced with community backlash.
Hajime Taniguchi, better known as Tokido, is a Japanese fighting game player who plays the King of Fighters and Street Fighter franchises. He is known for playing multiple fighting games on a competitive level in addition to Street Fighter, including Tekken, Marvel vs Capcom 3, and BlazBlue. Tokido is a three-time EVO champion, having won Capcom vs. SNK 2 in 2002 as well as winning Super Street Fighter II Turbo in 2007 and Street Fighter V ten years later. Tokido has had 28 Evolution top 8 finishes, having EVO medals in 12 different games across more than 20 years.
The 2012 Evolution Championship Series was a fighting game event held at Caesars Palace, Las Vegas on July 6–8. The event featured a major tournament for six fighting games, including Super Street Fighter IV: Arcade Edition and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, as well as various smaller-scale competitions.
The 2017 Evolution Championship Series was a fighting game event held in Las Vegas on July 14–16 that was part of the long-running Evolution Championship Series. The event offered tournaments for various fighting games, such as Street Fighter V, Tekken 7, and Injustice 2. Over 10,000 people registered for the event with Tekken 7 receiving double the number of players from the previous year.
SoCal Regionals 2017 was a fighting game event that took place in Santa Ana, California on September 22–24. Held by Level|Up, the event featured eleven tournaments, among which the debut competition of Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, one of the Street Fighter V Premier Events of the 2017 Capcom Pro Tour, and a Tekken 7 tournament that was part of the 2017 Tekken World Tour Master.
Ryan Joseph Hart, also known as Prodigal Son, Tsuujin, Robotnik, The Terminator and NeriahSensei, is a British professional fighting game player. He specialises in 2D and 3D fighter games released by Capcom, Bandai Namco, Sega, Midway, NetherRealm Studios and SNK. Ryan holds numerous National, European and World titles and has won the Evolution Championships twice. Hart also holds four world records within the Guinness World Record's for most international Street Fighter competition wins, most well-travelled fighting game champion, the longest winning streak on Street Fighter IV, and the most consecutive opponents on Street Fighter V. While Hart is predominantly known for his professional gaming career, he is also a commentator, tournament organiser, author, presenter, event host, model, translator and content creator.
The 2009 Evolution Championship Series was a fighting game event held in Rio Las Vegas on July 17–19. The event featured major tournaments for various fighting games, including Super Street Fighter IV and Marvel vs. Capcom 2. The release of Super Street Fighter IV drew many new players to the tournament scene, and Evo 2009 is remembered as one of the biggest years of Evolution's growth.
