SneakyTortoise
Official Master of Salt
As we inch closer and closer to the release date for Injustice 2, I've been thinking back on the great rivalries we had during the first game's life, and thinking about what we can expect during the life of Injustice 2.
For those of you that were not around for the hype days of competitive IGAU, I've decided to compile some of the most compelling rivalries together with examples of matches from each rivalry.
First up, we have Tom Brady vs Theo.
A classic example of one of the great East Coast vs West Coast rivalries. Most would agree that Theo appeared to have little to no respect for Tom, and so challenged him to a money match at NEC XIV, in an attempt to back up his talk that he was the better player. This was during the days where Theo was still a Superman main, and he faced Tom's Aquaman in one of the most exciting money matches of the game's life.
Next up, we have SonicFox vs KDZ.
Everyone knows that Sonic picked up his God Tier status in NRS games with IGAU, but before he started to dominate the scene, there was a king he had to overthrow, the infamous KDZ.
For a while KDZ reigned supreme in the IGAU competitive scene, mirroring his character in the game. He had gained infamy during 2013 with his Evo win, and tweeting before TFC that he had already won, and that the other competitors would be informed over the course of the weekend (awesome imo). In 2014, he was certainly seen as "the guy to beat", especially after the nerfs that superman had received, where many had claimed his success had been due to his character. A lot was riding on Winterbrawl 8, where KDZ faced Sonic in grand finals.
(For KDZ's thoughts on this article, you can read here)
Third, PL vs the world.
I'm sure it comes as no surprise to those of you that were introduced to the scene with MKX, that PL was a bit of a controversial character during IGAU's life as well. Before going into UFGT X, PL made one of the greatest threads that TYM has seen. I am, of course, talking about training wheels. PL was the heel we needed, and EVERYONE was paying attention to see how he would do at UFGTX. As if the raised stakes of "top 3 or last" wasn't enough, 16Bit treated us to one of the most exciting ends to any match. An absolute must watch
Before the unity of players from different scenes, and at a time when locals lived, the regional rivalries were strong. East vs West Coast was always interesting, but one of my favourites was West Coast vs Midwest. More specifically, Wonderchef vs 16Bit.
Match-up discussions always have the potential to get heated, and Wonderchef attempting to regulate 16Bit on Catwoman tier placements and MU charts led to quite a fierce rivalry between the two players.
Wonderchef claimed that 16Bit did not know the batman MU, and with ForeverKing (who was seen as the world's best Batman at the time), visiting GGA, the integrity of both Wonderchef and 16Bit was put on the line as 16Bit faced King in tournament, resulting in one of the greatest pop-offs you're likely to ever see.
I could go on and on and on, but I feel that that pop-off is a fitting place to leave things.
Honourable mentions go out to:
Lord of the Fly vs Cossner aka "the king of the jobbers" (I can't find this match for the life of me sadly)
P2W vs Rico Suave (The $1000 money match that never was)
GGA vs the world (after sending their "scout" PPJ to NEC, who then won the whole event)
SonicFox vs Jupiter (Not so much a rivalry, but these were the two players at the top of their game at Injustice's peak, often meeting each other in grand finals).
As Brainiac says:
"Transgressions of the past shape actions to come, as "offspring" turns into "adversary"... As factions dissolve and form, and lust for power enslaves all.... Curious how lines once cleanly defined become blurred. Perhaps it is time for them to be...redrawn"
Can we expect the same for the competitive scene in Injustice 2? Will we see new rivalries form or old ones re-ignited?
Let me know what your favourite rivalry of IGAU was, what rivalries you'd hope to see return for I2 or are expecting to see erupt.
Picture source: https://pvplive.net/c/kdz-on-sonicfox-rivalry-we-will-cross-paths-again
For those of you that were not around for the hype days of competitive IGAU, I've decided to compile some of the most compelling rivalries together with examples of matches from each rivalry.
First up, we have Tom Brady vs Theo.
A classic example of one of the great East Coast vs West Coast rivalries. Most would agree that Theo appeared to have little to no respect for Tom, and so challenged him to a money match at NEC XIV, in an attempt to back up his talk that he was the better player. This was during the days where Theo was still a Superman main, and he faced Tom's Aquaman in one of the most exciting money matches of the game's life.
Next up, we have SonicFox vs KDZ.
Everyone knows that Sonic picked up his God Tier status in NRS games with IGAU, but before he started to dominate the scene, there was a king he had to overthrow, the infamous KDZ.
For a while KDZ reigned supreme in the IGAU competitive scene, mirroring his character in the game. He had gained infamy during 2013 with his Evo win, and tweeting before TFC that he had already won, and that the other competitors would be informed over the course of the weekend (awesome imo). In 2014, he was certainly seen as "the guy to beat", especially after the nerfs that superman had received, where many had claimed his success had been due to his character. A lot was riding on Winterbrawl 8, where KDZ faced Sonic in grand finals.
(For KDZ's thoughts on this article, you can read here)
Third, PL vs the world.
I'm sure it comes as no surprise to those of you that were introduced to the scene with MKX, that PL was a bit of a controversial character during IGAU's life as well. Before going into UFGT X, PL made one of the greatest threads that TYM has seen. I am, of course, talking about training wheels. PL was the heel we needed, and EVERYONE was paying attention to see how he would do at UFGTX. As if the raised stakes of "top 3 or last" wasn't enough, 16Bit treated us to one of the most exciting ends to any match. An absolute must watch
Before the unity of players from different scenes, and at a time when locals lived, the regional rivalries were strong. East vs West Coast was always interesting, but one of my favourites was West Coast vs Midwest. More specifically, Wonderchef vs 16Bit.
Match-up discussions always have the potential to get heated, and Wonderchef attempting to regulate 16Bit on Catwoman tier placements and MU charts led to quite a fierce rivalry between the two players.
Wonderchef claimed that 16Bit did not know the batman MU, and with ForeverKing (who was seen as the world's best Batman at the time), visiting GGA, the integrity of both Wonderchef and 16Bit was put on the line as 16Bit faced King in tournament, resulting in one of the greatest pop-offs you're likely to ever see.
I could go on and on and on, but I feel that that pop-off is a fitting place to leave things.
Honourable mentions go out to:
Lord of the Fly vs Cossner aka "the king of the jobbers" (I can't find this match for the life of me sadly)
P2W vs Rico Suave (The $1000 money match that never was)
GGA vs the world (after sending their "scout" PPJ to NEC, who then won the whole event)
SonicFox vs Jupiter (Not so much a rivalry, but these were the two players at the top of their game at Injustice's peak, often meeting each other in grand finals).
As Brainiac says:
"Transgressions of the past shape actions to come, as "offspring" turns into "adversary"... As factions dissolve and form, and lust for power enslaves all.... Curious how lines once cleanly defined become blurred. Perhaps it is time for them to be...redrawn"
Can we expect the same for the competitive scene in Injustice 2? Will we see new rivalries form or old ones re-ignited?
Let me know what your favourite rivalry of IGAU was, what rivalries you'd hope to see return for I2 or are expecting to see erupt.
Picture source: https://pvplive.net/c/kdz-on-sonicfox-rivalry-we-will-cross-paths-again
