Written by Glenn | 27 December 2011

Out of all five honors, the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 series Match of the Year for 2011 was probably the hardest to decide. It came down to this: Do we honor an everlasting moment or a match that had several great moments?

That everlasting moment, known today as “Bionic Marn,” was second on my list. It reminded me of Super Bowl XXXIV. Most people don’t remember what happened for the majority of the game; they just know that the Titans were stopped at the 1-yard line on the final play of the game.

The more I watch the Match of the Year, the more I believe it truly is one of the greatest matches around. Start off by matching two of the best players in North America. Add in a Phoenix team against an anti-Phoenix team with a championship on the line, and there’s a recipe for some great viewing. There was also a Bionic Marn moment.

Here’s some stats on the match:

• These guys played nine games in two sets. Only twice did more than one character survive in a game (and each guy had one of those moments).
• The survival rate combined for both guys was 22.2 percent, way below the tournament average (although, Phoenix’s survival rate was double at 44.4 percent)
• The guy that lost the first character overall in the game won five of the nine games.
• In six games, the guy that was down to his final character first came back to win.
• There were two comebacks at 0-2 (yup, both with Phoenix).
• The losers bracket representative was down 2-1 and then down to his final character before rallying to force a second finals match.
• Overall, the champion won 5 of the final 6 games played. However, that one game he didn’t win will be remembered for a very long time.

The match of the year is …

The Canada Cup 2011 championship: Filipino Champ vs. Justin Wong

(The match starts at 1:54 and continues on the second video)