A long-awaited show match, rivals leave fans emotional, a Smash player comes to the rescue: FGC’s hopeful week

The FGC is always full of excitement, chaos, drama, and emotion. Unlike other scenes, there is still a bit of grassroots undertone at even the largest events. There is grit and passion unlike you’ve ever seen. While that often leads to a lot of toxicity and drama, this past week has been full of hope.

I wanted to highlight some events from the past week that have shown how special the fighting game community is. The pro players support and respect one another, unlike anything you’ll see in other titles. Here are some of the most wholesome, emotional, and exciting moments from the FGC as of late.

Oh, and one negative one to keep the salt flowing.

The Super Smash Bros. esports scene is fueled by passion, something I’ve pointed out many times. This creates incredible rivalries, salty community drama, and intense tournaments with pride on the line. However, it also means the best players in the world are often still struggling.

Recently, former top player Leonardo “MkLeo” Lopez announced to his fans that he wouldn’t be able to compete at Kagaribi #15, a massive Ultimate major in Japan. Even with his fans donating on stream, MkLeo fell short by $1,200 due to big medical bills last month. This is heartbreaking to hear: one of the best North American players can’t compete because their sponsors won’t fly them out and they don’t make enough money playing Smash to even get to the event.

It shouldn’t be like this. These players dedicate their entire lives to Smash.

A reply gave the Smash community tons of hope. It was simple. Juan “Hungrybox” DeBiedma wrote: “DMing you.”

Smash players immediately knew what was up. Hungrybox has been fighting, with his own money, to keep Smash alive and growing. He is funding his own massive locals in Orlando, hosting a weekly online tournament series, and flying players to various events. Would MkLeo be next?

While it’s one of those “this shouldn’t even be happening” scenarios, Hungrybox’s quick response showed that the community has each other’s backs. That passion, love, and grit is something you don’t see in most other esports titles.

I think the Street Fighter 6 scene has become a little stale. I say that because the rumor of a crossover character coming as DLC has been getting all of the attention, rather than any match outcomes or even any drama with Capcom. Instead, we’re talking about Tifa.

Yes, a Final Fantasy character could be coming to Street Fighter 6 in Season 4. A leak from a now-deleted Reddit thread showed the four DLC fighters for Season 4: Vega, Gouken, Final Fight’s Mike Haggar, and Final Fantasy 7’s Tifa Lockhart.

This is the same account, RnK_Clan, that successfully leaked the entirety of Season 2. So take it with a grain of salt, but I’d be pretty confident. Tifa has been confirmed by multiple sources, but not by Capcom.

Tifa would be the first non-fighting game crossover in Street Fighter. It’s possible this is canon in-game, thanks to Season 3’s Ingrid, a goofy character who can open other dimensions.

The response has been all over the place. A lot of players have started begging Capcom to stop with the crossovers. It starts to make the game feel cheap and goofy, something other fighting games have run into as they add more and more guest characters.

“Why is everything a crossover?” asked one fan.

The FGC is just not into gimmicks. We don’t like skins. We don’t like mainstream crossovers. We’re gatekeepers. We want our games to stay focused on what matters. Not attention-grabbing DLC.

The Dragon Ball FighterZ Masters Showdown side tourney at Evo Japan pitted long-time rivals Dominique “SonicFox” McLean and Goichi “Go1” Kishida against one another. These are two massive names in the FGC scene that have clashed a few times at previous Evo stages while competing in Dragon Ball FighterZ.

However, SonicFox and Go1 have been checking out other games the past few years, playing Dragon Ball less and less. SonicFox has been grinding 2XKO while Go1 has become the best Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves player in the world.

When the match began, SonicFox and Go1 put on a choreographed fight scene, pulling off synchronized move after move. Later, Sonic stated: “We wanted to leave the fans with one final special moment between us.”

The two may never face each other in Dragon Ball FighterZ again.

The Dragon Ball FighterZ community was left in tears. Many expressed how emotional the moment made them. Getting to see the two face off one last time in such a special way was an unforgettable moment in FGC history. It’s another one of those feel good stories that shows that the FGC may be small, but it’s bursting with more passion than any other scene.

I’ve been giving Evo a lot of s*** for its corny expansion stuff after the Saudi Arabian takeover. And so has the FGC as a whole. In the past, Arslan Ash even feared that this continuous expansion would erode the prestige of the Las Vegas event, which is a valid concern. Especially for someone who has won it so many times.

Anyway, I gotta give credit where credit is due. The upcoming Legends LIVE showmatch between Daigo Umehara and Saul Leonardo “MenaRD” Mena II is one for the history books.

After winning multiple Capcom Cup championships, MenaRD is considered one of the best Street Fighter players in the world. But MenaRD has always felt this title isn’t solidified without an exhibition match against veteran Daigo.

“It would be the greatest honor of my career if I had the opportunity to fight you in a first-to-10,” MenaRD wrote on X to the legend last year. “Since I was young, I have dedicated myself to preparation, and I wonder how far we could take it if we decided to focus on a single set between us for months.”

Daigo actually responded, saying he wanted to make it happen. Since then, the FGC has wondered whether the two would ever have the opportunity. MenaRD represents new-gen talent at its finest, an intense fighter who uses his wins to help his community. Daigo is an old-school grinder who has been competing for over two decades, often considered the GOAT even if he isn’t the current top player.

Now, the match is happening on April 29th. Many fans have entered the lottery to buy tickets for the match, which takes place in Kawasaki, with some saying they’d pay a fortune just to watch the match go down.