Thousands of people looking to make their mark in fighting games entered the Evolution Championship Series over the years, but only 89 people can say they were crowned as a champion on the main stage. Of those 89, only seven can bolster their legacy with a title tied to "Mahvel."

For seven years, the main stage either featured Marvel vs. Capcom 3 or Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, and no one has been able to grab the title more than once.

Even among the seven champions, three names are synonymous with the lifespan of the game: Justin Wong, Ryan "Filipino Champ" Ramirez" and Christopher "Chris G" Gonzalez.

Now that its the tail end of marvel 3, it was rly an honor to stand at the same level as @JWonggg @fchampryan @NYChrisG u guys are beasts. - Job Figueroa (@EternalFlocker) July 16, 2017

The reverence they give each other feels almost symbolic; every hero needs a foil -- challenging a rival is part of challenging yourself. As many expect Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite to be the next hallowed ground for these wars to continue and new ones to start, discussions about whose game it truly was are dissected with the same vigor as analysis of Kendrick Lamar albums.

What do some of their most notable peers have to say about the winners and their reigns? What matters most when saying you are an Evo champion? The numbers you went up against? The depth of the talent pool? Constantly defending your position at event after event? Or the rest of the year as a champion?

What does it truly mean to be an Evo champion?

Job "Flocker" Figueroa, 2013 winner, felt that there was no clear way to define a champion's reign since it is unique to that player.

"[Filipino] Champ does his best to cater to the public in the sense of playing the villain -- if he has to -- or creating hype in the form of money matches or exhibitions with added trash talk," Figueroa said. "I don't feel like Justin did anything crazy out of character to cater to the title, probably because he has been there before, and Justin often does ridiculous things of his own accord on the norm, [such as] donating huge amounts during the Evo drive for Marvel or sending various players to Evo out of pocket and out of faith ... Point being that Justin's position didn't really change because he has been in the spotlight for so long that he carries himself like a champ at all times."

"Champ does his best to cater to the public in the sense of playing the villain -- if he has to -- or creating hype in the form of money matches or exhibitions with added trash talk." Job "Flocker" Figueroa

"Chris G -- his reign to me felt like it was more of a target than a title since he was already in the spotlight for his bullet hell, his dominance," he added. "I don't really remember much of anything happening during his reign other than the struggles of him trying to rep what he believes when he said on stream. 'I'm the best,' which from his track record was hard to deny."

Maybe hindsight was the best teacher for Flocker. As he had his thoughts on what he didn't do outside of the game, that may have added some additional weight on his decision.

"Closest picks are definitely between Justin and Champ because I think they did the most outside of simply playing the game and performing well."

Nicolas "KaneBlueRiver" Gonzalez, 2015 champion, had a different idea.

"Evo is the largest tournament and one of the hardest to win -- that's a fact. ... Some of them feel they got to keep proving that it wasn't a fluke, some of them see it as the validation of a lifetime of effort, some as the missing piece of the puzzle, some as the validation of an uncontested season, etc.," he said. "I don't see winning Evo as making you the king for the next 365 days. I see winning Evo as putting you on the books forever, from then on, because you were able to show not only your skill, but also your endurance and your force of will."

With his emphasis on what goes on in game, there's no surprise that would influence his pick.

Justin "JWong" Wong spent a lot of time on Evil Geniuses playing fighting games, including Marvel, before his move to Echo Fox. Provided by Chris Bahn/DreamHack

"In terms of exclusively Marvel 3, Chris, by far; he had already pretty much proven himself as the best already," Gonzalez added. "I'd say he won at least a single instance of every relevant major for the game during its history. That Evo was just the final piece he needed to cement himself. Now that the history of the game is pretty much done, for me, he is the greatest in Marvel 3. He won Evo, Capcom Cup and everything in between."

Fourth place finisher in 2014 and runner-up in 2015, Raynel "RayRay" Hidalgo, stuck between FilipinoChamp and Justin, felt that what happens out of game definitely deserves some weight.

"With Justin and Champ, the most respectable aspect was always how open they were to play with people. Exhibitions, casuals, never missing a major or regional, no matter the size. [I] always felt like having a champion that feels like any other member of the scene was always super important," said Hidalgo. "I have to go with Justin as the most notable champion because I felt that he won the hardest Marvel tournament to ever happen. The level of play and talent was at an all-time high. Plus, after all that, he continued to completely dominate the tournament scene after his win."

The first man to leave his mark, inaugural Evo Marvel 3 champion Jay "Viscant" Snyder believed that it is what you do all year long at events that determines your legacy.

"Marvel's a pretty consistent game in the long run, the top players may occasionally drop games and sets but the gods almost always were around at the end. People like Chris G, Flocker -- when he was active -- Justin Wong and now RyanLV are basically guaranteed Top 8 just for showing up. That means more to me than being someone who could sometimes win a tournament but sometimes drown in pools," Snyder said.

"My vote is for Chris G. He was the best and most consistent for the longest period of time. Justin and Champ were always good but Chris won the most events over the longest period of time."

With Rene "RyanLV" Romero likely the final Marvel 3 champ, he won't have the time to build a legacy like the others.

"RyanLV has no reign but even then people were expecting him to win because he was doing ridiculously well prior to Evo. And with Infinite coming out soon, he won't get a chance to do anything really other than bask in the glory of being the last winner, which that in itself is an amazing accomplishment," Figueroa added.

He'll have a chance to see if he can do what Justin did -- move from one Marvel game to the next and try to be a force in both. Anybody can get it, the hard part is keeping it.