It’s hard to argue against NB ADC I Dual Kevin being the undeniable king of Marvel Vs Capcom: Infinite right now.

Dual Kevin celebrates his win. Source; Combo Breaker 2018 Twitter.

He’s claimed the number one spot in multiple tournaments throughout the year, from Final Round to Clutch ’18, culminating in a massive victory at Combo Breaker 2018. I interviewed him shortly after his his recent win.

Ryan Collins: When did the game start to click for you?

Dual Kevin: The game clicked for me when I discovered how strong Hawkeye can actually be. I love that character and it’s easier when your favorite character is good [Laughs].

R: How do you rid yourself of the more crippling nerves when stepping on stage?

D: Getting rid of nerves was hard for me for a while. I took it upon myself to kinda copy/paste from what I see from the best of the best players in multiple games. Straight up just have a stone cold face. You’ll rarely see me show some kind of emotion when playing, win or lose. I see the greats do this like Justin or Daigo. I thought I should give it a try and it seems to work for me. Even being on top stage at EVO doesn’t bother me. I’m kinda forcing my emotions to stay calm, and after doing it for so long, it just happens naturally. Plus it doesn’t give my opponent any tells when looking at my facial expressions.

R: What, in your opinion, were the biggest factors in Banehollow sending you to the losers’ bracket?

D: I believe I faced Banehollow before online. But he wasn’t as good at the time as he is now. Winter Soldier has been a pain to deal with my team. Locking me down with the bullets/super and then mixing up with Chun Li, it is just too hard to block. I wouldn’t say it was a character matchup thing that surprised me though — he played really well and got the better of me.

R: What adjustments did you make to overcome his playstyle and claim victory in Top 8?

D: I don’t believe he is too aware of the exploding arrow/space surge tech. That’s not something I did too often in the first set but made sure I did the second set. I don’t usually use the surge much anymore like that because most people seem to be aware of it. However, when Winter Soldier is shooting a lot of bullets, you can get that surge for the armor and hit if he ain’t aware.

R: Echo Fox I dekillsage hasn’t been openly playing much MVCI these days. How did you prepare yourself for someone who’s not as active as before?

D: I’ve been studying dekillsage ever since I lost to him at Frosty Faustings, 3–0. That’s actually why I was able to block against him so well. I understand his sequence of mixups and which one he’s more likely wanting to go for. I’m always studying on my opponents, ESPECIALLY if they’ve beaten me before.

Top 3 winners of MVCI at Combo Breaker 2018. Source: Combo Breaker 2018 Twitter.

R: As a tournament event, do you feel Marvel Vs. Capcom: Infinite was represented well at Combo Breaker?

D: There was so much hype involved at CB. From the first match till the last of top 8 especially. A huge crowd was watching and we definitely needed more chairs for people to watch. I’m sure it made a lot of people want to play the game and that’s all we can ask for.

R: What makes the Midwest so strong in MVCI?

D: The Midwest is a huge region. We gonna have to want to do 2–4 drives to get offline sets in with each other. We have our locals sometimes, like Godlike Saturday’s, that brings us together. I’m always willing to help out our Midwest homies, but that hunger is still there from them. Seeing as they constantly hit me up on any new tech they find and want second opinions on it, I truly appreciate my region for making me still want to play the game as well

R: In what ways could other regions improve themselves like the dominate Midwest?

D: A lot can be done for other regions to step up. PLAY THE GAME first off. Build rivals but get behind each other’s backs. Maybe having someone within every region be a leader for the rest of the players. You could say FChamp was like that (when he was playing) for SoCal. It’s good to have someone guide the players as well.

R: What do you think MVCI needs in terms of gameplay adjustments, if anything?

D: MVCI could use some patches here or there. We could go on forever on what people want to be changed. Personally, I don’t care if it gets changed or not. I just would like more content if anything, as opposed to getting things “fixed.” I appreciate the game for what it is, and still loving it right now

R: What’s the next tournament you plan to attend?

D: Next tourney was gonna be UDF(Undefeated 2018) but plans fell through…so it should be Pasadena Regionals and then EVO the week after!