Filipino Champ vs. Kane Blueriver: A story of love, hate and poetic justice
Posted by John 'Velociraptor' Guerrero • February 29, 2016 at 8 p.m. PST • Comments: 136
Gonzalez's bask in the light of victory from his EVO 2015 Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom win was quickly darkened by Ramirez's shadow as the fellow EVO champion almost instantly started making claims against Gonzalez's legitimacy as a player.
The mild-mannered Kane Blueriver (KBR) responded to Filipino Champ's (FChamp) hot-headed accusations with simple nods of agreement, acknowledging FChamp's record and status as more impressive than his own.
Unwilling to let the reigning champ off that easy, FChamp continued to prod and poke, demanding an exhibition match and mocking KBR's repeated refusals to grant one. It wouldn't be until seven months after EVO that the two would finally lock horns in UMvC3.
The Exhibition
Kane's non confrontational responses and reserved personality, at first, didn't seem to provide fitting soil for the roots of a heated rivalry to take hold. FChamp's trademark villainous persona tested the community's limits in a way it never had before, as he tread dangerously close to becoming too much of a bully picking a fight with an undeserving victim.
Still, FChamp somehow managed to continue pursuing this new rivalry with just the right combination of sugar and spice to keep things tasteful in at least a portion of the community's eyes.
Winter Brawl 2016 was an event filled with excitement. Along with being America's first major to feature Street Fighter 5, it also featured a collection of hype exhibitions. The most anticipated of these exhibition matches was surely KBR vs. FChamp in a first to 15 in UMvC3.
Things went bad for KBR from the start. Ramirez began with the insults as he won the first game, yelling things like "you are free!" and "this is my game" at his opponent.
Through the onslaught of insults and mocking gameplay, not once did KBR deviate from his stoic demeanor. It's very likely that he was focused on the coming fruit of his labor: the reward of finally having the feud laid to rest.
Despite enduring 25 painful matches, Gonzalez would not be done with Ramirez for the weekend, as the two would meet again in the Grand Finals of the UMvC3 tournament the following day.
Kane's non confrontational responses and reserved personality, at first, didn't seem to provide fitting soil for the roots of a heated rivalry to take hold. FChamp's trademark villainous persona tested the community's limits in a way it never had before, as he tread dangerously close to becoming too much of a bully picking a fight with an undeserving victim.
Still, FChamp somehow managed to continue pursuing this new rivalry with just the right combination of sugar and spice to keep things tasteful in at least a portion of the community's eyes.
Winter Brawl 2016 was an event filled with excitement. Along with being America's first major to feature Street Fighter 5, it also featured a collection of hype exhibitions. The most anticipated of these exhibition matches was surely KBR vs. FChamp in a first to 15 in UMvC3.
Things went bad for KBR from the start. Ramirez began with the insults as he won the first game, yelling things like "you are free!" and "this is my game" at his opponent.
Click images for animated versions
Through the onslaught of insults and mocking gameplay, not once did KBR deviate from his stoic demeanor. It's very likely that he was focused on the coming fruit of his labor: the reward of finally having the feud laid to rest.
Despite enduring 25 painful matches, Gonzalez would not be done with Ramirez for the weekend, as the two would meet again in the Grand Finals of the UMvC3 tournament the following day.
The Last Laugh
Sunday would see top eight play out in the UMvC3 tourney at Winter Brawl, and as fate would have it, KBR met FChamp in winners finals. Echoing the beating from the night prior, FChamp made quick work of KBR, sending him to the losers bracket.
Maintaining that stoic attitude, Kane would carry on with a never say die mantra, eliminating UA|Noel Brown 3-0. Now without the weight of any expectations from audiences, KBR would meet his rival one last time, in Grand Finals.
To everyone's surprise, especially Champ's, Kane reset the bracket with a 3-1 spread using his traditional team of Hulk, Sentinel and Haggar. Champ would turn up the heat a bit after his loss, but in a turn of events that can only be classified as justice incarnate, Kane Blueriver defeated Filipino Champ 3-2 to win the UMvC3 tournament at Winter Brawl 2016.
And so after seven months of bad blood Marvel's EVO champion feud can finally be retired with both players having made beautifully-articulated statements via gameplay.Sunday would see top eight play out in the UMvC3 tourney at Winter Brawl, and as fate would have it, KBR met FChamp in winners finals. Echoing the beating from the night prior, FChamp made quick work of KBR, sending him to the losers bracket.
Maintaining that stoic attitude, Kane would carry on with a never say die mantra, eliminating UA|Noel Brown 3-0. Now without the weight of any expectations from audiences, KBR would meet his rival one last time, in Grand Finals.
To everyone's surprise, especially Champ's, Kane reset the bracket with a 3-1 spread using his traditional team of Hulk, Sentinel and Haggar. Champ would turn up the heat a bit after his loss, but in a turn of events that can only be classified as justice incarnate, Kane Blueriver defeated Filipino Champ 3-2 to win the UMvC3 tournament at Winter Brawl 2016.
Filipino Champ has given us yet another reminder of why we love to hate him so much, and Kane Blueriver can now continue his career in peace having earned the respect of his loudest critic.
It may not have been all that pretty going through it, but Marvel's latest drama surely was a poetic justice that we couldn't have written out any better if we tried.
You can see the full video of the UMvC3 Grand Finals bout below.
Sources: Team Spooky, FChamp's Twitter.
