Jemmillion: Congratulations on being one of the winners for the July 2015 East Coast Player Spotlight! How long have you been playing fighting games? Do you play any others competitively besides Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3?
Geobraun: Thanks, this is a really exciting opportunity for me! I think I played Marvel vs Capcom 2 for the first time when I was like 13 or something? But I didn’t really start competing until I got involved in the FGC about three years ago. I focus mainly on Marvel vs Capcom 3, but I play Street Fighter 4 here and there for fun, and I’ll certainly be playing Street Fighter V competitively.
Jemmillion: In Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, the main team that you use is Spiderman/Doom/Hawkeye. What attributes do the characters have that you believe give them good synergy?
Geobraun: This team is built entirely around Spiderman. The main theory behind the team is that Spiderman can play extremely patient and defensive, waiting for a single mistake by the opponent, and then punish with a guaranteed kill combo off of virtually any hit. Doom is probably the best partner for Spidey. Spiderman gets incredible value out of missiles assist, both in neutral and in combos. In addition, Doom allows for raw tag setups that can add extra damage to combos that wouldn’t otherwise be available. Hawkeye is more of a personal preference, and is the most “controversial” part of the team due to my unorthodox assist choice in poison tip. It’s difficult to explain my reasoning without actually showing what it does for me in-match, but basically, it adds so much damage (netting almost 400k extra damage in certain situations) and consistency to the team that it mitigates bad match-ups and makes Spiderman a much scarier character.
Jemmillion: In June 2015, you got top 8 at East Coast Throwdown. Tell us a little bit about what that experience was like for you.
Geobraun: To be honest, although I did pretty well, I was not very happy with my performance at ECT this year. I had to play a lot of matches against some solid players, but my main goal was to beat Flux using a new strategy with one of my side teams. I really wanted that win badly, but my plan didn’t work out. In loser’s bracket, I was supposed to play one of my demons in marvel (Randomfiend), but he had to leave early for personal reasons. Although that let me advance in the bracket, I’m never a fan of getting bye’s in tournament; I’m here to PLAY! And then losing to Marlinpie in top 8 was a really hard loss for me as well because I felt really confident going in and I wanted to use that opportunity to really prove myself as a solid player who deserved to make. I know I could have won that, but he played really well, and I didn’t. Like I said, I was pretty disappointed, but I think I learned a lot from the experience as a whole.
Jemmillion: Which characters are your most difficult match-ups? Which are the easiest?
Geobraun: Nova and Morrigan are easily my worst match-ups. Those characters are hell on Spiderman, because he can’t follow his normal gameplan at all. Strider and Rocket Raccoon are also troublesome, but that’s mostly just me, not so much because of my characters. Personally, I like fighting big bodies and characters with limited mobility, because they just can’t catch Spiderman, so I can do whatever I want. I also feel confident against most C. Viper teams and Phoenix teams.
Jemmillion: Who is the toughest player that you’ve ever fought against? Why?
Geobraun: Even though we play all the time, I’m going to say that the toughest opponent that I’ve faced is Demon Hyo. He doesn’t do anything fancy, he just makes the right decisions at the right times, and he won’t let you play the game you want to play. Playing long sets against him can be extremely frustrating because he really gets inside your head and it feels like there’s nothing you can do against him. He exposes bad habits with simple answers so you feel stupid when you make mistakes. Just getting outplayed and losing to simple stuff so many times made me think about the game differently, and I think practicing against him helped me take my game to a new level.
Jemmillion: There have been a lot of players recently challenging you to live-streamed exhibitions. Do you plan to follow through? What are your views on their reactions to your playstyle, especially in regards to Spiderman?
Geobraun: Yeah, I have a money match set up for Summer Jam 9 against a Spiderman player from Canada named Broshadian. I have a very risk-averse playstyle, so I don’t like to attempt difficult combos in tournament. Spiderman has a lot of unfavorable point match-ups and Marvel is a very momentum-driven game, so a single dropped combo can mean you lose you the entire match. I don’t like taking that chance. Apparently, people think that’s ridiculous, but it’s been getting me consistent good results with consistent improvement, so I firmly stand by my theory.
Jemmillion: Are you currently sponsored? If not, are you currently looking for sponsorship?
Geobraun: I am currently sponsored by a very new team in the FGC, “Guardian eSports.” You can like and follow the team on Facebook and Twitter if you want a free and easy way to support your favorite Spiderman player!
Jemmillion: What are your goals for the rest of 2015 that you plan to accomplish within the FGC?
Geobraun: I usually approach things one step at a time. So, I’m really just looking forward to doing well at Summer Jam 9 at the end of this month. A top 8 there would actually mean a lot to me, so we’ll see if I can pull that off. Other than that, I’ve been working on some new teams for counterpicks that I’d really like to level up with. Specifically, I have a unique take on RayRay’s team (different team order, different assists) that I think fights Morrigan pretty well, so I’m excited about getting better with that team.
Jemmillion: Will we be seeing you attend more events in the future? If so, which ones?
Geobraun: Yes! Definitely look for me at Summer Jam 9. I’m considering going to GUTS, TFC, and then I’ll be at NEC, for sure.
Jemmillion: If you could be one superhero and one fighting game character, who would it be? Why?
Geobraun: Ummm, probably Spiderman. I just think he’s a role model kinda superhero, because he deals with all the problems that normal people face, and he doesn’t always necessarily “want” to do the right thing, but he knows he has to. I also like that he’s always just corny, silly, and jokey all the time. He’s fun!
As for a fighting game character, I think Zangief. He just does what he enjoys doing, and then he puts on a show so that other people can enjoy it as well. He seems like he’s always having a good time, and he makes other people happy, too. I like that.
You can follow Geobraun at the below social media sites:
https://www.facebook.com/george.braunstein
https://twitter.com/AT_Geobraun
Learn more about Guardian eSports at the below sites:
https://www.facebook.com/Guardianesportsgaming?fref=ts
https://twitter.com/GRDNEsports
Want to learn more about the FGC (Fighting Game Community)? Check out:
jemmillion.wordpress.com 