When anyone thinks of some of the most important times in EVO history, EVO Moment 37 will inevitably be at the top of the list. It was one of Daigo “The Beast” Umehara’s crowning achievements when he parried an entire super move from Justin Wong and countered with his own combo to set the room on fire with shock and excitement. Now, thanks to the archives of EVO Business Dev Mark “MarkMan” Julio, an alternate viewing of that exciting Street Fighter III: Third Strike match is available for all to see. (Be Aware: All proceeding videos contain NSFW language.)
It was on April 10, 2019 that MarkMan posted a clip and the full match up on his personal Twitter. The video provides a fresh angle, seperate from the clip we most often see of Evo Moment 37. Mostly, you get a better listen at the commentary going on around the videographer as the match was happening, but perhaps most interestingly and amusingly is the commentary leading up to Moment 37 as we know it.
Just today... I found a stack of old tapes and discs that we filmed from past fighting game events (early 2000s). Check out this alternate viewpoint from one of the legendary moments in competitive gaming history... https://t.co/X5z9EzpiUR pic.twitter.com/fcuuHjSfe5
— Mark Julio (?????) (@MarkMan23) April 10, 2019
With a pixel of life left in his bar, Daigo nonetheless came back on Wong and forced him on the defensive. As they measured each other up, the crowd could sense Wong’s desperation. He went for the super to catch Daigo out and you could hear the crowd’s sentiment in that moment - “Don’t do it. Don’t do it!”
Well, Wong did it, and Daigo answered the raw super with a series of parries on each of Chun-Li’s kicks and then a jumping parry before launching into the combo that would seal Wong’s fate. The crowd goes wild and Evo Moment 37 as we know it was put in the books. You can check out the entirety of MarkMan’s unearthed footage from the fight below.
Despite that we don’t learn anything out of the ordinary beyond some fun crowd commetary, MarkMan’s discovery is a cool one - A unique angle on a legendary moment and some extra context from fans who were there to boot. If you were there, it must be wild to see this through another set of eyes. It’s a beautiful little bit of FGC and competitive gaming history to say the least.
Will we see more Evo history made in 2019? Undoubtedly, but one can only hope it’s this good.
