As "Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3" approaches its sixth year, some think the game has been figured out. At the very least, the fan base has seemingly figured out a few rules that separate the heroes, the heralds and the heels. If you want to be loved, you probably shouldn't pick Zero ... or Morrigan, or Vergil, or Phoenix.

Thanks to a roster of 50 characters and three-on-three matchups, competitive players can craft 19,051,200 possible team combinations (factoring in possible assist choices and team order). That lends itself to niche choices at times, and the more obscure picks quickly become fan favorites. Players who use them are often obstinate. They take a more difficult road, chained to character loyalty or a play style that seemingly doesn't work at the top level.

Enter Ryan "RyanLV" Romero.

Long before Nicholas "KaneBlueRiver" Gonzalez declared Marvel as a game that belonged to the world, the Marvel vs. Capcom series was mainly an East Coast-West Coast rivalry. Since then, we've seen "the next great player" rise out of places like Indiana, Arizona, Seattle, Maryland, Florida, Texas and Illinois. It seems fitting that one of those rising stars comes from the same desert that every player aspires to travel to once a year to test his or her skills: Las Vegas.

"'Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3' was my first competitive fighter," Romero said, "but I played games like 'Soulcalibur,' 'Mortal Kombat,' 'Marvel vs. Capcom 2' and 'Smash' growing up. Just not seriously."

Romero, 19, started with a Magneto, Chun-Li and Phoenix team composition for his first competitive tournament. Magneto and Phoenix have seen success; ask Jay "Viscant" Snyder, whose Jean Grey squad won EVO in 2011, or Ryan "Filipino Champ" Ramirez, who used Magneto and Phoenix to win in Vegas a year later. The Chun-Li pick, though, was a wrinkle.

"It was my only team when I started winning all my locals," Romero said. "Eventually, one of the Vegas guys counterpicked me with a Morrigan team, and I got absolutely destroyed. After that, I drew some inspiration from Filipino Champ and picked up Chun-Li, Morrigan, Phoenix for that one matchup and got my revenge at the next tournament. From that point on, I had that team ready as a counterpick."

Most people would have dropped Chun-Li, but she was too near to Romero's heart.

"I played her since release," he said. "She looked super fun in all the gameplay trailers, and she was the first character I got good with, so I just stuck with her."

"I instantly thought he was the last unique top player the UMvC3 community was missing. There is no one who plays Chun[-Li] at such a high level."" Luis "Paradigm" Cervantes on Ryan "RyanLV" Romero

He remained a mystery to players outside of the deserts of Vegas and the sister scene in Arizona. Despite the pervasiveness of social media in a community where everyone seems to know everyone, Romero remained an enigma until Curleh Mustache West Vol. 4.

"The Curleh Mustache series was made for a lot of reasons," Michael "IFC Yipes" Mendoza explained, "but the main two are to get all of these regions active, to give them a reason to compete and step their game up, as well as to embody the hype that can only be found in Marvel and showcase it to the world.

"I heard a lot about him from Arizona and Vegas players when he wasn't traveling, and they told me that this kid was going to be an issue in the near future. The first thing that stood out to me was the fact that we finally had a Chun-Li playing against high-level competitors, and he's putting in work with her on top of that."

Luis "Paradigm" Cervantes faced Romero in bracket play that day, and he came away with the same impression.

"I instantly thought he was the last unique top player the UMVC3 community was missing," Cervantes said. "There is no one who plays Chun at such a high level."

Ninth place at an event that featured mainstays such as Christopher "NYChrisG" Gonzalez, Daniel "Clockw0rk" Maniago and Juan "Priest" Corona served as a warning to the community. And a week later at EVO 2015, Romero had a realization that would set up a personal evolution.

"It was actually in the middle of EVO 2015 pools where I realized that I was better off having the Morrigan team as my go-to and the Magneto team as the sub," he said. "Shortly after that, I realized that I didn't need the Magneto team at all and dropped it altogether. The plan was simple at first: Run away with triple jumps and build meter for Phoenix. After playing it a lot more, it became more complex. I actually play neutral with Chun instead of just running away like I used to. I really don't consider it a Phoenix team anymore; it's a Chun team until I get the hit, then it's all Morrigan."

Curleh wasn't a fluke. Romero earned wins at Socal Regionals 2015: Prelude II, SoCal Regionals 2016 and Absolute Battle 7, as well as a fourth-place finish at Socal Regionals 2015 and runner-up finish at Combo Breaker 2016.

Any remaining doubters realized Romero was a force at Undefeated 2016 in Arizona. Romero took down Raynel "RayRay" Hidalgo, the current world No. 4 according to Shoryuken. Romero even snared a set from ChrisG, the top player on the globe, before losing two straight sets for a second-place finish.

This year, Romero has traveled to Chicago for a win at Frosty Faustings IX and went back to his local scene in Arizona for a first-place finish at Undefeated 2017. He's beaten KaneBlueRiver (No. 2 worldwide), Justin Wong (No. 3), Cole "Flux" Tocci (No. 9), Kenneth "K-Brad" Bradley (No. 16) and Priest (No. 21), among others. Romero himself is No. 5.

With "Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite" coming in 2017, there are questions about what's left in the tank for the current version of the game. Romero, having cemented a place in the scene by breaking away from the status quo, isn't planning to move on anytime soon, though.

"I will always play UMvC3, even when Infinite comes out," he said. "I think there will always be people playing 'Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.' It won't play anything like 'Marvel vs Capcom: Infinite,' so we could have a situation similar to 'Smash 4' and 'Melee.' I think that the PC release really has the potential to shake things up.

"The possibilities are endless, so I'm really excited."

Ryan "RyanLV" Romero has won two "Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3" tournaments thus far in 2017. His goal for EVO 2017 is to make the top eight. Winning it, he said, hasn't crossed his mind just yet. Courtesy of Rob Paul

Hard not to be excited when you've proven that you are here to stay.

Things had changed, though. Once praised for his execution and seemingly impossible comebacks with Chun-Li when foes thought they had dismantled his team, he's started hearing jeers from the crowd.

It's the Phoenix pick that does it. Didn't impact Romero, though. He doesn't plan to change. Why would he now?

"I think Undefeated was the first time I've ever been booed," Romero recounted. "It doesn't bother me at all, but I honestly just don't get it. Everyone hates Phoenix, yet almost everyone plays anchor Vergil, who literally does the exact same thing. The people who boo Phoenix are the same people that get super hyped and pop off when X-Factor Level 3 Vergil slaughters an entire team in five seconds. I don't think I'll ever understand."

Yipes once said, if you aren't being hated on, who are you? The hate comes, but so do the accolades; the only thing that stays is the love for the game.

"The fact that one bad decision can have devastating results and end a match instantly just keeps everyone, including spectators, on the edge of their seats at all times," he said. "The colors, the characters, the nostalgia, the players, those things just draw people in. Ultimate's competitive scene even has a storyline and intense rivalries that people love watching."

And whether he'll say it or not, Romero is one of the storylines.

This year's EVO, set for July 14-16, likely will be the swan song in the desert for competitive 'Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3.' A top-eight finish, Romero said, would "make the whole thing come full-circle" for him. He isn't even thinking about winning it all yet, but it's certainly possible.

Regardless of the result, Romero, and his Chun-Li, will remain. The game is too addictive for him not to.

"It's just so different from all the other fighters that it stands out by default," he said. "No other game is as explosive as Marvel."