Daniel “Clockw0rk” Maniago has been one of the top Marvel vs. Capcom 2 players for over a decade. Before moving on to Marvel vs. Capcom 3, he ran a set of characters referred to by the fighting game community as “Team Clockw0rk” of Strider/Doom/Sentinel.
I ran into Clockw0rk at Comic-Con and with the announcement of Strider’s return in Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, I wanted to get his thoughts on the game that will be replacing Marvel vs. Capcom 3 on the fight circuit.
What was the first thoughts that went through your mind when you heard about the roster changes?
Daniel “Clockw0rk” Maniago: The first thing that went through my mind is that I hope Strider is in it, of course. I was also hoping that Omega Red was going to be in it. I knew that chances were really slim of being in it he is kinda of an obscure character. The other very first thing that went through my mind was how early it was coming out. Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (MvC3) hasn’t even been out for a year, even a half a year, I don’t even know and it’s really surprising to me that they are coming out with a new version already. I don’t know exactly what the rationale behind it was.
I’m not saying I agree or disagree one way or another, but I know over at Capcom they’ve been getting really involved with the [fighting] community. And I feel if they are coming out with a new version so soon that they really had big things in mind that, not only they thought of but feedback from the community to really make Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 (UMvC3) the best Marvel game yet. I trust Capcom to come out with a quality product so I’m not too worried about it, and I’m really looking forward to when it comes out.
You mentioned Strider who is now part of the new roster. As a long time veteran of Marvel vs. Capcom, of the new characters announced, which ones do you think will have the biggest impact on the fighting-game community?
It’s difficult to say. I think… like people have been really waiting for Dr. Strange to be in these games for a really long time. We haven’t really seen footage yet on how he plays, but just the fact that he is in the game I think fans and veterans alike will pick up on the fact that he’s in the game and want to try him out. Even if he is a mediocre character, I feel like the community will get in-depth as far as his character design and really flesh him out. I’m really looking forward to it.
It might be too early to answer this, but do any of these new characters have you re-thinking the team your using?
It definitely changes not only my team, but just the way I play the game in general. You see, it took me a really long time to figure this out. I used to play a lot of Marvel vs. Capcom 2 (MvC2) of course, and I used to play other fighting games as well and I could never pinpoint what my style was exactly. It was only until a few months ago that I finally pinpointed my style, and it’s not necessarily a good thing. My fighting game style, the way I play, is reckless. I play really reckless. And the reason why it kinda works out for me in MvC3 the way it is right now is that if Phoenix already has five bars ready for her, then you can be as reckless as you want when you play because you’re just waiting to get Dark Phoenix anyway.
With any other characters that you have left, as well as regular normal Phoenix, you can play as reckless as you want because it’s bad for them for you to turn into Dark Phoenix. Now the problem being is that, if I do end up dropping Phoenix which is looking very likely, I’m going to have a team of Doom, someone else, and Strider. And I can’t really play reckless because I don’t have a Dark Strider to turn into, I don’t have four lifebars this time around. So, I think I have to be a lot more careful when I play and a lot less reckless. Hopefully, I can adjust well when the game comes out.
Are you seriously considering dropping Phoenix for Strider?
Yeah.
Are there any changes to the balance or gameplay mechanics that you think Capcom should have addressed now, before releasing UMvC3?
I think it’s a bit too early to talk about game mechanics. I personally haven’t played it that much. I’ve been here everyday at Comic-Con. I show up, I play maybe one or two games. I’ve played in two of the tournaments here but besides that I’ve just been hanging out. I really can’t speak about the mechanics of the game. I will say that, just me personally, I’ve been having a hard time with lifebars.
The lifebars are different?
Not so much how they look aesthetically. You have your first, your second, and your third character. The way it works in other Vs. games and regular MvC3 as well is your first character is on the top, second character is the middle, third character is on the bottom. The build they have right now is the first lifebar is your third character, second lifebar is your point character, and third lifebar on the bottom is your second character. That really confuses me. I’m not the sharpest guy [laughs] and I can’t adjust as quick as other players ,so as I was playing this weekend it’s been really confusing me.
I’ve been tagging in the wrong people, calling in the wrong assists, it’s really messing me up. So, of course I can get used to something like that eventually, but right now it’s one of the biggest hurdles I’m having trying to play this new version of the game. If they don’t change it, I can get used to it, but if they do it would be greatly appreciated. I’m getting old [laughs], I can’t keep up!
Subtle changes like that really affect gameplay for top tier players like yourself?
Yeah it can because, when you’re actually playing in the heat of the moment, you don’t really a lot of time to be looking at your lifebars. You’re focused on the action going on on the screen – this guys trying to beat you. So, for me, if I have to even think twice about what assist I’m calling by looking at the lifebars that’s already enough time where I’m un-focused enough for the opponent to take advantage of that. Maybe no one else has, but I personally have been. It might just be me. Something as subtle as that has affected my game, so we’ll see what happens.
I was able to catch you and Mike Ross playing yesterday, and in the match I saw he beat you by just a bit. Any rematch plans in the near future between you and That Mike Ross Guy?
[Laughs.] Yo, I might have to make it my goal to beat Mike Ross at least once. I have not beaten him one game in UMvC3 and we’ve played four times. Currently our record is 0-4 with me being at 0. At this point, I hope at EVO I see him in the brackets so that I can show him what MvC3 is about. That don’t got no Honda in this game! [Laughs.]
Published: Aug 14, 2011 01:30 pm