There's a very large cross section of players that know Aris and know MKX and got the joke. Then there are people that know MKX that didn't recognize it was a joke but knew Sonya is not an honest character and they didn't get misinformed about the game.
For the remaining like 2 people who happen to be watching top 8 for a game they don't know at 8am, I apologize on behalf of Aris for misinforming you about the honesty of the top tier characters in this game. Let it be known that had K&M made this very comment it would've been a seen as a great joke and great example of their strong commentary. However, since Aris is a "nobody" according this thread he clearly has no knowledge of the game and has no right to commentate.
If you don't know Aris, then keep your opinions about commentators to yourself because you clearly have VERY little exposure with FGC events and the various commentators and thus you don't understand what constitutes a good commentator.
Aris is a divisive figure and I don't expect everyone to agree one way or the other about the positivity of his presence, but the dude brings his followers and noteriety to matches he commentates, much more so than K&M. We should welcome the exposure for a game that less than 1/7 of the entrants for the main event game. Instead people want to bitch that they weren't hosting open mic night at the biggest tournament of the year.
To start, since I have to somewhere, this "large cross section of players that know Aris" would probably know him more for the controversy he tends to leave in his wake moreso than his average-at-best commentary on games he doesn't actively play and acceptable commentary on games he does. I doubt if I put a poll out there that put him against Tom, Pig, KP, hell DMS and 16 bit and K&M, that he would overtake even a single one of them for MKX.
Aris provides not a single solitary thing that another person can't just do. As a commentator for our game, a game he hasn't touched or looked into in months, he provides not a single iota of value unique to him in any way. If K&M had said it, it WOULD have been a big joke because they are actually active in the game and community, and not openly expressing how they haven't given the game a sideways glance since KP2 dropped. I haven't got the patience to flip through 5 months of old tweets or footage to try and find when he last mentioned the game. Do you know why you get the impression that Aris comes off as a "nobody" to people in the community? Do you know why it's assumed he has no knowledge of the game? It's because anyone who has joined after 5 months into the games life would understandably never know if he played the game at all, since past that point it would be a challenge to see him having engaged with us in any way whatsoever outside of taking up commentary positions where better suited people could be.
I don't need to know Aris to know his commentary on our game is lacking to say the least, and counterproductive to say the most. I also don't need a degree to know what makes a good commentator, and I can tell you it's more than a complete lack of knowledge and some random jokes that aren't entirely jokes. The reason most people thought he was serious isn't because the idea of Sonya being honest is a thought we'd entertain, its because Aris could be fully believed to honestly think that because in frame of knowledge he is EASILY and BY FAR the least knowledgeable out of just about any candidate you could reasonably put on the mic. He isn't even the funniest guy, there are funnier guys who know more. Aris has absolutely NOTHING about his commentary that makes someone say "Oh man, who else could we choose aside from him?". He's actually probably the only guy that you could say "Oh man, literally anyone else could do this better.".
Aris is a good commentator for games that he is active in, as I've said about 3 times. Aris on Tekken 7 commentary? A good fit, great even. Aris on Soul Caliber? Sure, I'd find that to be just fine. For our game, though, he was easily the worst of the options we had. This isn't a charity stream, notoriety and followers take a backseat to valid information from qualified and active representatives. People aren't bitching that it wasn't open mic night, rather the opposite. They're bitching because they gave the mic to the one guy who, frankly and again considering the other options, had the least business taking it. I'm 100% standing by this stance, I like Aris and I think that in spite of his controversies here and there he is fantastic in his element and is a nice enough guy, but never in a billion million years would I pass up the line-up of Kitana Prime, K&M, Tom Brady, Pig of the Hut, and DMS and then look at Aris and say "This is the best option to represent our community on commentary in top 8 at the biggest tournament in the world."
I think with one focus that would be one hellova event
