Step Up Your Game: Chapter 6 - Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 dedication (character selection)

The next couple of chapters, I will be focusing on how to find your team or character(s) in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Super Street Fighter 4 Arcade Edition v2012, Street Fighter X Tekken and whatever games that YOU guys want me to explain to the best of my ability on how to pick characters.

It is really hard to find a team that fits your particular style in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. I want to break down how I feel a character should be played, by separating them into three categories; Rush Down, Runaway/Keep away and Safe Rush — the latter of which meaning they can do both rush down and runaway/keep away.

A lot of people might debate this list, but it is my opinion.

Depending on what you like, this will determine on your point character or your first two characters. I also believe that any character can work depending on the team that it is on, which is why Combofiend and I's teams are very odd compared to most people.

My style is that I like to rush down in this game, so let's look at one of my teams: Iron Fist, Wolverine, Akuma. The reason why I picked Iron Fist is because I naturally gravitate to Kung Fu/Martial Arts characters — which is why I like Chun-Li, Rufus, Fei Long, etc. According to most people's tier list, Iron Fist is a really bad character. I could agree with them, but like I said before — any character is viable in this game depending on the team it is on.

The reason why Iron Fist works with my team is not because of Wolverine, its because of the Akuma Tatsu (Hurricane Kick) assist. I believe that Akuma Tatsu and Frank West shopping cart are the best assists if you pick a heavy rushdown oriented character. I also chose Akuma Tatsu over Frank because my team does not allow Frank to level up easily, unless I go for exchange, but then you have to think to yourself, "What if they break the exchange?" I know it is hard, but its still something to consider, right? I also took into account that Wolverine and Akuma Tatsu assist does more damage than the Wolverine and Frank West Shopping Cart assist.

Another thing I looked at is that the DHC from Iron Fist's Spirit of the Dragon into Fatal Claw does massive damage, and after the DHC, it gives me access to the Rising Fang assist mixup for incoming characters with the Wolverine Berserker Slash which leads to a Touch of Death combo. This is how I would pick a team, if I wanted to make a very good rush down team. Two strong rush down or safe rush characters, who can DHC into one another, because not all of them can work well together. And for the third slot I like to have a really good assist to keep the opponent in block stun, a very good projectile/beam assist or an OTG (Off The Ground) assist which hits low, e.g. Wesker or X-23.

For example: If you use Captain America's Hyper Charging Star into Felicia Rolling Buckler super, it would not work unless you DHC very early — but the downfall is that you lose your damage output, but if you have 3 meters you would have to DHC into Kitty Helper and then dash into Sand Splash and then you can do the Rolling Buckler super.

Let's look at on how to pick an runaway team. The most common one that is successful at this moment is the Morrigan Soul Fist squad. FC|NYChrisG actually probably has the best team that utilizes Morrigan at her highest potential. She has very fast jumping normals and her fireballs have high durability. She can use the Akuma Tatsu assist when people are pressuring her too hard and then she has Dr. Doom's Hidden Missiles so people can't stall at super jump position when she is in her Mirror super.

Then we have BT|Di3minion's team. Viewtiful Joe, Dr. Strange, Morrigan. I would say this team is incomplete, because I don't think Dr. Strange can contribute much besides his assist and just random supers. Dr. Strange is a safe rush, in my opinion, and he needs an assist to back him up while he sets up the traps into his teleports. But Viewtiful Joe has an awesome runaway with his Voomerang and his QCB+H move in the air (Red Hot Kick), and he has a super that can slow the opponent down to make his runaway even stronger. What's really is strong with this team is that while Viewtiful Joe is throwing Voomerangs, you can abuse Morrigan's Dark Harmonizer assist to build a ton of meter for her. If I had to recommend a character for BT|Di3minion, I would replace Dr. Strange with Dr. Doom since his missiles are amazing, and he can do a lot of damage and build a lot of meter and he doesn't need to rely on assists like Dr. Strange.

Besides a Morrigan team, you might be wondering what other keep away teams can be effective. I would think Ghost Rider, Dr. Doom with Hidden Missiles and Akuma Tatsu. I chose Hidden Missiles assist because it extends Ghost Rider's combo for a lot more damage and his DHC is pretty good with him. I also use Akuma Tatsu for close up defense and when it hits, you can perform Ghost Rider standing H H into his wall bounce move and then a followup at any range, which is basically his bread and butter.

For runaway/keepaway teams I believe that Dr. Doom Hidden Missiles, Akuma Tatsu, Haggar Double Lariat, Morrigan Dark Harmonizer, Rocket Raccoon Log Trap, Hulk Gamma Charge Up, Hawkeye Quick Shot, Sentinel Drones, and Golden Hsien Ko pendulum assist are probably the best.

And now we have teams that can do both. Some characters that can do both obviously can either rush better or runaway better. Wesker has a very strong offense, but if needed, he can play a very hard run away game with his gun shot into teleports. Zero can rush really good, but he can stay at super jump height and throw full charge Buster Shots into Lightning Dives or go into his shadow super and throw Buster Shots and Hadangeki projectiles all day.

These type of teams are a lot easier to create because there are a lot more assists to choose from to help that type of gameplay. My latest team I use Spider-Man, Felicia, and Iron Fist, I built this whole team around Spider-Man. Now, how does Felicia and Iron Fist help? Felicia is there for the Sand Splash assist and its the best long range OTG (Off The Ground) for me to get multiple web throws. If I am at a certain part of the screen, the Iron Fist Rising Fang assist is there for me while I am web zipping around the stage to get my opponent frustrated so they can run into the assist and then I can combo off it due to it being a wall bounce and a soft knockdown move.

Another team we have that is a very powerful team is Zero May Cry. Zero, Vergil, Dante. This team is very effective because Zero can rush and play runaway and can use Vergil's multiple slash assist to push the opponent full screen if needed. Dante's Jam Session assist helps when Zero wants to go for a cross up attempt. While these assists can help with the runaway/keepaway, they can also kill you because these assist are multi-hitting moves and Zero can confirm with a Buster Shot into a Lightning Dive, and then into a combo that can take you into an corner and Touch of Death you.

In conclusion, any team can be viable if you can construct it accordingly. It is really rare to pick 3 characters that you like and then make it work well unless it's 3 over the top characters. If Wolverine is your favorite character, match him up with a good assist that forces them to block so they cannot get away and also a good assist that can cover the ground, since Wolverine has no long range moves or projectiles. If the characters you like are considered "Safe Rush" then it will be easier for you to construct a team and make it work compared to a team that's 100% rush down or 100% runaway.

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Justin Wong is a member of Evil Geniuses, you can find more information about this organization at http://www.myeg.net.