Talking Marvel Vs Capcom With Kumite In Tennessee Champ Punisher

When fighting game fans think about the top Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite players, your mind would probably tend to go to either the legends, like Justin Wong of Echo Fox, IFC Yipes, and Chris G of Evil Genius, or maybe it turns to the top new blood, like SonicFox of Echo Fox, Cloud805, or Punk of Panda Global. However, one name missing from that list is Gilbert “Punisher” Matos, who won the Kumite in Tennessee MvCI tournament without losing a set. Born in the Dominican Republic and currently living in the Bronx, Matos had an interesting path to get to where he his now. 

The Beginning

To start, he’s actually never really used a traditional arcade stick in competitive play. While that’s not necessarily a problem now, back in the younger days of fighting game competition it would have been a huge deal. He was primarily a pad user growing up, but switched to the interesting Hitbox controller about four or five years ago while competing in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3. 

“I used to play on a PS3 pad, but all the (MvC3) tournaments in America were played on Xbox 360s, so I had to bring a converter,” Matos told me. “The problem was, converters often either dropped inputs or added inputs for player 2 and I hated losing games due to hardware issues. It was a difficult switch at first, but now I’m thankful I made the move.” 

For those unaware, a Hitbox is a controller that eschews the traditional arcade stick and uses buttons for movement instead. Generally, players use their ring finger to go left, middle finger to hit up, pointer finger to hit right, and thumb to hit down, though other players may have their own ways of inputting moves. Users often argue inputs are easier and faster to do on a Hitbox versus a traditional arcade stick, and while that’s mostly true, Hitboxes are very unforgiving when it comes to input error and can easily cause strategic and timely moves to not come out.

One instance of this easier movement, Matos said, was that his M.O.D.O.K. in UMvC3 had the ability to tri-dash consistently. This gave him a leg up on other users and let him “blow people’s minds” on a regular basis. 

Infinite Possibilities

When MvCI was first released, Matos told me he was worried about how limited players would be based on the streamlined experience Capcom created for Street Fighter V. His worries were soon put to rest, as MvCI proved to be one of the most creative fighting games of all time, despite the simplified engine. 

“No more touch of death combos and the ability to reflect projectiles are just some of the reasons I love [Marvel vs. Capcom] Infinite. I’ll never got back to Ultimate [Marvel vs. Capcom 3.]” Matos said. 

Matos’ main team in the game is Hawkeye & Rocket Raccoon, though he mentioned he did play some Gamora before settling on his main team. Matos mentioned that it was a tough transition from using Hawkeye in UMvC3 to using him in MvCI, and how frustrating it was for him to try to re-learn a character he thought he already knew. 

“At first, I thought he sucked,” Matos said. “But then I realized I was using him wrong. I knew if I kept playing and practicing, I would get better.” 

As far as Rocket is concerned, Matos sang the character’s praises, telling me that he feels the space vermin is much stronger in Infinite versus his UMVC3 appearance. Matos said Rocket owes his rise in power and popularity to his increased mobility across the screen, his slide attack, his larger armory of traps that can't be push-blocked, and his more consistent damage and range of normal attacks. 

Championship Mindset

I asked Matos his mindset heading into Kumite in Tennessee, and he told me things went a little differently than he expected. The Wednesday prior to the big tournament, he attended Next Level’s weekly MvCI tournament and placed fourth. He was obviously upset, as he thought he could’ve done much better. Then, the day before his flight out, he played a long, 50+ game set with Canadian Marvel vs Capcom pro player and Canada Cup 2017 Champ Teemo, that went better than expected. With so much inconsistency surrounding him, how did Matos flip the script and come out a champion? He put himself in a positive mindset before the event, and kept himself grounded. 

“I knew that if I got a hit in, I would have the ability to do my combo, do a reset, and stay calm and focused to follow up based on my opponent’s next move. If I got hit, I knew it wasn’t the end of the world, plus I would be getting meter while being hit. I really kept myself in check throughout the tournament.” 

That sort of mindset took Matos from finishing fourth in a weekly, to winning a pretty big tournament just four days later. To get there, he had to slay one of the biggest beasts in the community, SonicFox, twice. Their matches were interesting because both players use Rocket Raccoon, a mirror match that isn’t regularly seen. 

“The Rocket mirror is ugly!” Matos said. “There’s so many traps on screen at once, and Rocket’s limbs are so small that it’s challenging to land a hit unless it’s a mixup.” Matos mentioned to me the following scene as one of the most impactful of his matches with SonicFox, where Matos utilized his Space Stone to his advantage:

While both characters laid traps, SonicFox’s Rocket still had some recovery frames of animation to overcome. Matos used his Space Stone to pull SonicFox towards his already laid trap, causing him to be hit by it. It’s those little plays that will often determine the victor and the loser of a given match. 

Other Ventures

Matos mentioned he doesn’t just play Marvel, even though that’s the game he’s most famous for. He mentioned his love for Menat in Street Fighter V, and said he was very excited to see how she played in the new Arcade Edition update. As for the game on everyone’s mind, Dragon Ball FighterZ, Matos said he was “definitely” interested in the game and would be picking it up upon release. 

Parting Shot 

I gave Matos the floor for one last message to the Marvel community, and his words were both inspiring and uplifting. If the community listens, success will be sure to follow. 

“If I had one thing to say to the Marvel community, it would be that if you love the game - support it! Run the game at your local events, post videos online, and attend and host tournaments! The game isn’t dead, just look at the tournament numbers for all these events and you can see there’s still love. So what if we haven’t heard from Capcom about Marvel for a while? Stay together, evolve and get stronger, and forget what other people say!”

No doubt Matos invites players to challenge him and eachother from all corners and have fun doing it. Maybe you'll meet him halfway on the circuit?