EVO is great for the fgc. The MK scene just needs to be positive, optimistic, and try to keep growing your numbers.
I've always been really interested in how that came about. I've heard Schaeffer's stories, and Seth's and the Cannon's and all the old World Warrior to Daigo vs Valle in Alpha 3 stories, the rise of Third Strike (and seemingly, the current fgc), and the dark ages. But to go back to how it came about. I feel like it's this weird convergence of coincidences. Like, California being a huge media and entertainment and tech hub, California being closer to Asia(So a lot of times Socal and Norcal would get arcade games early, which was the case with Street Fighter), tech savvy kids in the Cannons, and a lot of the gaming magazines and gaming companies already existing in California. I don't say this to diminish the amazing work of the Cannons or everyone else involved over the years, but it feels like right place right time, location, location, location.
Mortal Kombat, on the other hand, though a huge phenomenon in its heyday, and originating in its own huge media town(Chicago)--mortal Kombat, the Chicago players or east coast players, or even Midway themselves didn't seem too interested in crowing a world champion in mk, which is surprising since it would have been a huge hit. Remember--anyone who's old enough--remember how Blockbuster ran a national tournament? Shit, remember that there was once a store called "Blockbuster", which sold things called vhs tapes? haha. Also, Nintendo had their World Championships. The movie "The Wizard" gave many of us the idea that there could be a national video game tournament, but mk didn't have much of that. And I think one of the biggest reasons for why the "Capcom" scene stayed so dedicated to that company and style of games is because the basic mechanics stayed pretty much consistent for each iteration or offshoot of their catalog, while the same can't be said for Mortal Kombat.
The biggest gripe og's seem to have had with new Street Fighter games was speed. Schaeffer talked about how he loved Hyper Fighting, but then Capcom slowed the game down in Super, which people didn't like(some also hated super moves), and which was improved in ST, but the overall feel of the games stayed pretty consistent. Mortal Kombat is different. There were MK1 loyalists who hated MK2, and quit playing altogether. Haha, doesn't that seem absurd? The same was true with MK2 and 3, and 3 and Ultimate; and Ultimate and 4. Mortal Kombat's core is whatever it is in each new game. Now, MK became more consistent during the 3d transition, but the reality is that the developers weren't really focused on the game's technical depth--or considering how it might function as a serious competitive game (this is my opinion, which isn't meant to be a knock against the devs or players). Capcom, however, was thinking about serious competition from the beginning of SF2, and was still interested in the competitive aspect of Street Fighter, and kept improving SF3 until they reached ThirdStrike.
And, so it seems like this long chain of coincidences (tech savvy kids from a global entertainment and tech hub, close to Asia, playing a game which has had the same basic core for twenty years, and the internet allowing players from everywhere to communicate) allowed for EVO to be possible, and Street Fighter to be its main game.
As for what the MK community can do to try to help their scene(tournament+online) and game(s) grow, and to gain more clout at a tournament like EVO, I think you should market, market, market, to new players, and politely work with the devs to try to constantly improve the game. Don't attack each other online. Don't badmouth and complain. Always be competitive, and hype, but if you want MK to get big, you're going to need entry numbers to grow A LOT. The numbers have to be there for EVO to take notice, and NRS to push even harder than they already do for their tournament audience.
