| 22 June 2011
This is a four-part series called "The Team Concept," where we explore what has happened in the year since Justin Wong has joined Evil Geniuses. How have players in fighting games been affected by teams and organizations coming into this realm?
The message came by way of a text while I was driving home on a cold June evening to Long Beach from Irvine. A friend told me to stay tuned to the Evil Geniuses website that night for a major announcement.
The messenger didn't want to give away what was going to happen, but no need; I already figured out the news, so I raced to a coffee shop and kept refreshing the Evil Geniuses page for what was the obvious announcement, that Justin Wong was going to be joining the organization.
The response was overwhelming, to the point the Evil Geniuses' site crashed. Justin posted this message on the day of the announcement:
"I am glad to be a part of Team EG and feel like I have found a new home. I am excited about my future with Team EG and will do my best to be the best fighting pro-gamer in the world!"It has been one year since Justin signed with Evil Geniuses and a lot has happened to him as well as other players. And that's the whole point of this three-day, four-part series. My goal in this series is to look at the idea of being on a team from several perspectives. You'll hear from a team owner, Justin, and others who aren't on teams but were.
All because of what happened June 24, 2010.
Only a handful of players had been on teams prior to that day. Now, if a player isn't on a team, he or she is probably new to the scene, on the cusp of something big, or so old that they seem to scoff at the notion of it all. Look at the top 16 Super Street Fighter IV placers at CEO 2011 two weeks ago. Out of the 16, 12 are on a team (and a 13th would soon join days later). Seven of the top eight finishers in the Marvel vs. Capcom 3 tournament are on a team. This would have never crossed anyone's mind a year ago.
As much as I have stayed cold to some of the changes and additions to what's been going on in the various tournament scenes, the additions of teams has been mostly a welcoming sign. When I started Get Your Tournament in 2006, the only thing I knew about teams was Le Equipe Metroid (whom I competed against in score tournaments) and all of the Halo teams in Major League Gaming. As the months passed, I learned about more teams, but they were mostly competitive in the PC realm.
Once Justin was signed, it was as if a big bell rang and it was time for these teams to start picking fighting game players. And that's what seemed to happen. The good part is that it's not like any of these teams have picked slackers, scrubs or "guys off of Xbox Live" (go watch "I Got Next" for that line). Justin got off to a hot start days after joining the team, winning the eSports World Cup's Super Street Fighter IV tournament in Paris.
I hope more players get signed in the future. And that's the sentiment shared by everyone that I've spoken to in the past week regarding this subject. Hopefully it'll make the various scenes more competitive. And it's already insanely competitive.
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The Team Concept - The Series
PART 1: The Day That Changed Things
PART 2: Justin Wong's Year
PART 3: On a Team, Then Off a Team
PART 4: Growing a Team
