THE COOL KID Talks Street Fighter V, Top 8 At EVO, & His 2018 Climb

TJ Denzer,

August 21, 2018 7:30 PM

From the settling dust of EVO 2018, we got to talk to Marcus "THE COOL KID93" Redmond, who was one of the only players in the Street Fighter 5 Top 8 without an esports team behind him.

When it comes to fighting games, there are a lot of favorites and stars expected to win often, especially in a scene as old and beloved as Street Fighter. Even so, Marcus “THE COOL KID93” Redmond was probably not a name anyone was betting on when it came to the Street Fighter V Grand Finals at EVO 2018. Among several greats including Hajime “Tokido” Taniguchi of Echo Fox, Keita “Fuudo” Ai of CyGames Beast, and Christopher “Caba” Rodriguez of RISE, Redmond was an outlier who fought his way through to the Top 8. Though he did not make it to the end, (Benjamin "Problem X" Simon of MousEsports would eventually take it all in the EVO 2018 results) Redmond’s appearance was a notable one and Twin Galaxies caught up to him after the event to chat about it.

Despite being taken out by Olivier “Luffy” Hay of Red Bull eSports to land at 7th place alongside Caba, Redmond’s arrival in the Top 8 was nothing to sneeze at, in a pool of 2,499 players. 

The Cool Kid’s path to the Grand Finals went through legendary Daigo “The Beast” Umehara and Capcom Cup 2017 winner Saul Leonardo "MenaRD" Mena II in the Top 32. Despite this, he managed to come out on top of both adversaries, even handing Daigo a 2-0 loss. For that particular bout, Redmond knew he could get it done if he just had his mind and heart in the right place.

“The stars lined up perfectly for me.” Redmond explained. “At CEO 2018, Daigo was in my pool and I was confident I could beat him, but I end up losing to my buddy Kreymore before I got to Daigo. So fast forward to EVO. Now I have to play Daigo during my run to get to Top 8 and I had to beat MenaRD to get to Daigo. You can be an extremely solid player who can beat a lot of good opponents, but if your mind is not in the right place and you doubt yourself then you won't win. Your mindset reflects your play if you don't believe in yourself. So when I played both of them, I just stuck to my game and I believed in every choice I made. I didn't second guess myself. Especially versus Daigo. A lot people check themselves out mentally before they even start the match because of the name. I beat Daigo 2-0 just believing in myself, my character, and keeping the faith regardless. It definitely was a sign of growth for me.”

Redmond claims that Mena was a different challenge than Daigo because it was their first match-up in person.

“Mena was a little different because I have played him online before and that was our first ever meeting offline,” claimed Redmond. Indeed, between mentality, nervousness, and the possibility of lag and other technicalities associated with online, battling the Capcom Cup 2017 winner was a whole new fight for Redmond, but one he managed to overcome nonetheless.

Redmond isn’t new to appearing near the big stage when it comes to the fighting game scene. Though he’s never made the grand finals at EVO 2018 before, he came within a breath of the Capcom Cup 2017 Last Chance Qualifier Top 8 and outright won the 2017 Red Bull Battle Grounds just before that. Coming into 2018, The Cool Kid claims it wasn’t a change of playstyle that helped him get to where he landed at EVO 2018, but a strengthening of faith and confidence in himself.

“I often times felt like when I lost I took it way too serious,” Redmond explained. “Like I know I’m suppose to have that sense of urgency, but when I lose I always take it real hard. My training was more or less the same but my mindset had to change for the better. My faith had to be stronger. Every time I failed I just got back up. There were times I had to deal with going back home empty handed but never once did my wife ever tell me to quit. It took a lot of praying and perseverance.”

As a result of that perseverance, Redmond finds himself in an interesting position going into his immediate future of competition. Recently, he found an opportunity with eSports Ecosystem, who The Cool Kid will be representing at the SoCal Regionals in mid-September.

“I am not officially signed with Esports Ecosystem. This trip to So Cal Regionals is just for that event as of right now,” explained Redmond, but his mentality is remaining positive as he gears up for the future. “I always envisioned that I would be representing a team very soon and I wonder to myself when will my time come when I can start going to all these events and also quit my day job to further my career. That said, for right now, I’m focusing on attending SoCal Regionals in September, East Coast Throwdown in October, and the Red Bull Finals in Washington. Lord willing, I maintain my Capcom Cup points or get even more and I will be competing for the Cup in December.”

Marcus “THE COOL KID93” Redmond is a rare story among the many hopefuls who would love to do what he is doing, but in his opinion, it’s the mindset and the people he surrounds himself with that make the difference. He believes that mindset can help any would-be FGC star chase their goals.

“Never give up no matter how bad it gets,” Redmond offered. “If you believe in this dream of yours then go for it. Not everybody will believe in your dream because they don't understand it. You have to focus on the ones in your circle who believe in you and what you want. Don't surround yourself with people who don't. It'll only make you doubt your dream and change it to something that you don't even really want to do. Always remember, if it was easy then everybody would be doing it.”

For Redmond, his wife, Joy, was one of the greatest people in his circle to help him get where he was. In fact, he wasn’t even sure about attending EVO 2018, but she encouraged him to be there in that fateful competition.

“My wife believed in me from day one when I first told her about my dream,” Redmond confessed. “Never once did she deter me from it. She just continued to encourage me and push me. I wasn't even going to attend EVO because I didn't believe in myself, but she planted in my mind that I am one of the best and I just have to show them. So I went to EVO on faith alone and my wife’s word.”

Indeed, The Cool Kid proved that belief and those words correct at the EVO 2018 Street Fighter V Grand Finals. For one great night on August 5, 2018, Marcus Redmond proved himself the 7th best player on the grandest stage of the FGC, of which there were thousands playing, and thousands more watching worldwide. Will The Cool Kid continue to climb in 2018? It remains to be seen, but with a perseverance that strong, one thing is for sure. Marcus Redmond will be a true advsersary for anyone who comes up against him.

Redmond wasn't the only unsigned player turning heads at EVO 2018. Check out our interview with Injustice 2 player BigD following his fourth-place finish at EVO 2018.

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