After Dominique “SonicFox” McLean placed third instead of his usual first in the Injustice 2 finals earlier this weekend at Evo 2018, his fans wondered if the multi-game phenom was slipping. His Injustice 2 skills had only wavered because he was focusing on Dragon Ball FighterZ, right? But then, during a DBFZ exhibition match against his rival Goichi “GO1" Kishida, SonicFox kept dropping combos and lost several matches in a row. It didn’t seem like the blue fox could turn it around and win it all at Evo 2018 this year.
The Dragon Ball FighterZ scene is just as dramatic as its source material, though, and the DBFZ finals matches lived up to all the potential promised by SonicFox and GO1’s ongoing rivalry. It kicked off with SonicFox taking out Shoji “Fenritti” Sho first, thereby guaranteeing himself a third-place finish. Right after that, SonicFox faced GO1 and served up a 3-0, sending GO1 down to the losers bracket after Fenritti.
During the final moments of that third match, GO1 saw an opening to turn the round in his favor. He had managed to collect all the Dragon Balls and summoned Shenron, the dragon who can grant him an in-game power-up. He chose to restore health for Vegeta, his lone remaining fighter, but it didn’t even matter. SonicFox cleared the deficit and took the win.
Donning his blue fox mask after his big finish, SonicFox raised his fists in triumph, seeming untouchable. GO1 did not look happy. He shook his head in disappointment as he walked off stage, his anger fueling him through his losers bracket match against Fenritti and earning him a second shot at SonicFox.
This time, GO1 didn’t mess around. Meanwhile, SonicFox looked like the combo-dropping mess that he had been during their exhibition match. He lost all three of these games in a row, resetting the bracket. GO1 had three more games left to win, and in that moment, he seemed poised to snatch the Evo 2018 trophy from SonicFox’s paws.
The drama came to a screeching halt when SonicFox asked Evo staffers a question. At length, the commentators learned that SonicFox had asked to switch chairs and positions from the right side of the screen to the left. After some debate and a coin flip, SonicFox got his way and ended up on the other side of the screen.
Maybe that side is lucky, or maybe the lost momentum was enough to shake GO1’s winning streak, or enough to snap SonicFox back into his sense. Whatever the reason, the chair switch gave SonicFox renewed strength during his first match in the final set against GO1. In that match, GO1 once again managed to get all of the Dragon Balls, and once again chose to recharge his health bar, and... you can guess what happened next, right? We just saw this episode! SonicFox chipped down every bit of GO1's renewed health and won the match. Of course, after that, SonicFox went on to win the final two matches and take home the trophy.
As SonicFox donned his blue fox mask again and rapturously rolled around on the stage in delight, the camera swung back to GO1, who was about to overcome the hardest possible challenge of the night: he uncrossed his arms, turned his grimace into a smile and lifted his hands together for a polite clap. Good job, GO1. Maybe, on next year’s episode of Dragon Ball FighterZ, the climax will resolve in a whole new unexpected way. Stay tuned!