All is right in the world as Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 will be the ninth and final game at Evo 2017. After raising $77,000 for charity, the Marvel Community earned its way into Evo, barely edging out the second place game: Pokken. One of the most historic fighting game franchises will get its final sendoff Sunday at the Mandalay Bay Sports arena.

The win, in large part, was due to the Marvel Community actively campaigning through different avenues to help raise funds. The names you’d expect to see rallying the troops to get their beloved game into the Super Bowl of fighting games. IFC Yipes (Michael Mendoza) held a fundraising stream, Angelic (Armando Mejia) was responsible for Undefeated 2017(a Marvel centered tournament), and Justin Wong dropped a spirit bomb to pull away in the last minutes of the vote.

In the same way, the entire Marvel Community helped donate. Marvel had less money on each donation, but almost twice as many donations as any other game. The community rallied behind a franchise that hasn’t not been at an Evo in 15 years. It was important for the entire fighting game community to get Marvel 3 in for one last hurrah.

Furthermore, the vote inspired the Evo staff to donate $10,000 to help Pokken tournaments in the future. Despite a valiant effort from the Pokken community, they unfortunately lost a close battle. But, this donation drive showed the love and compassion for that game. Finishing second isn’t what Pokken fans wanted, but it did legitimize their game and community. That won’t go unnoticed by the fighting game community.

From the start, it was clear the community wasn’t going to let Marvel fade slowly into the night. Everyone did a great job spreading the word and fighting for their game. It was a community effort and will give the Marvel Community a greater sense of purpose watching on finals day at Evo.

In the end, all the communities involved raised nearly $150k for charity. It wasn’t a perfect system. It pitted fighting game fans against each other, but despite a few hiccups, it was all done respectfully.

How to change the system?

This was the second go-around for the Evo staff doing a community funded vote. The first time was a unique idea that had never been explored. That idea also gave way to the Super Smash Bros Melee renaissance. It wasn’t a perfect plan, but it did inspire and bring together an entire community.

The question needs to be asked, will this do the same for Marvel? It’s yet to be seen, but when a community joins together for a common good, it strengthens the very foundation. The vote was never intended to divide fighting game fans. It’s a way to gauge which game the fighting game community wants represented at its largest event.

I have no answer for a better system. Games will always be left out. That’s the nature of Evo. In this sense, each community has equal footing. It’s not meant to be divisive, but passionate fans will sometimes go down that road. With all the new fighting game releases, Evo has to do something like this to, first, keep fans happy, and second, keep the games with most interest at Evo.

For now, Marvel 3 gets another shot before Marvel Infinite hits the shelves. It will be a great sendoff to a game that has brought us some of the best and most interesting story lines since its release. Will Evo do a vote in 2018? I don’t know. But watch the strength and resolve from the Marvel Community.

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