UMvC3's Forgotten Top Tier.

Today I'm exploring one of the SECRETLY top tier characters of Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3, it's Firebrand. And I've gotten the best firebrand player out there to help me out, Apologyman! Hope you enjoy the video, and me getting destroyed in matches with my new team (Taskmaster, Doctor Doom, Hawkeye).

Thank you so much to @ApologyMan for joining me in this video!
Subscribe to him on Twitch here:
And check out CLG Fighting Games here:

0:00 Why Firebrand?
1:56 What makes Firebrand so good?
4:55 Why is Firebrand so rare?
6:45 Online Matches!
27:27 FOR ALL THE MARBLES

[dingusdangus]

They really captured how oppressive it feels to fight against firebrand in ghosts n' goblins.

[PapaLobster]

JMCrofts and ApologyMan?! You love to see it! Bon Voyage being +10 on block is still so insane. I think my favorite tech for beating firebrand is just to take the hit LOL. I'd love to see ApologyMan have a good run at Evo this year

[hurryingcoyote]

Never forgotten, everytime Firebrands on screen someone will complain about the unblockable. He’s so theory, has a lot of tools that’s needed in Marvel but he lacks in damage and execution is pretty hard with him. Wall cling fireball is hard tech and not many players have been able to control the gargoyle, plus he won’t kill unless you hardtag or tac. Firebrand and Modok are too absolutely absurd characters that are hard to play but have a lot to offer. Like in theory Modok wins like well over 3/4 of cast, he can block basically everything, his reset game is nasty, and his neutral has a lot of tools., Firebrand theory is once he gets the hit he wins.

[Mario_bland]

Watching apology man giggle while destroying someone is hilarious.

[azuillian]

The best thing about Firebrand is that his theme is incredible.

[YouGuessIGuess]

Firebrand is such a cool and underrated Capcom character. I was happy when he made it into MvC and seeing the heights to which Apologyman took the character was so much fun.

[Mr.Smiley_J]

Being a huge fan of Firebrand from the Gargoyle's Quest/Demon's Crest series, I was so hype to see him in MvC. Unfortunately, I'm trash in fighting games, and didn't even get to play with him. It's neat to see him in action.

[vichetisicky]

The man. The myth. The one who eats his cereal with hot milk.

[Cirrimus]

Taskmaster retains a ton of momentum from his spidey-swing cancelled into (down shooting) arrows. If you're playing a zoning game you can get some tricky projectile cross-ups if you work that in.

[Xelae]

I'm loving the UMVC3 content, and I really appreciate learning more about the game.

[PhantomMarth]

I can't be convinced that Smash didn't draw inspiration from Firebrand when designing Ridley's kit.

[MrSleepyweezul]

I did my best at this game with a team of Firebrand, Nova and Hulk. Dunno shit about tiers or synergy or anything else, but I was racking up wins pretty consistently. Man, this makes me wanna go play some more.

[sirpikapika]

Lythero's Lobby Shenanigans videos were some of the first fighting game videos I watched, so Marvel 3 has a special place in my heart. Glad to be seeing it more often :D

[TheDonaldduck]

There's a couple of things worth mentioning about the firebrand meta and why he's just not the top tier monster you'd think he could be (long post).
First of all, like apologyman mentioned, he's a setup character, which means you really are playing JUST firebrand, and without doom and skrull, firebrand really does not fly high, so it's not just that you're working for firebrand, it's also that you have to give him an entire team so he can get to work. It's a very very committed team that crumbles once one thing goes south and a lot of people simply do not find that fun or appealing. Again, you're playing just firebrand.

Second thing, and imo the most interesting factor here, is that in the context of fighting against competitive teams, firebrand really does clap vergil but almost exclusively only vergil. Which probably makes you think "well then why isn't marvel 3 meta full of firebrands then if everyone plays vergil?" This where most people who are not very familiar with marvel 3 will get triggered, because get this: *vergil isn't the most violent criminal in marvel 3*
Don't get me wrong, he's still fucking broken, but he's not the criminal that you think he is because vergil gets clapped by anyone on incoming mixup. This is why every doom vergil team will use doom as the tool that he is to dhc into vergil safely for vergil time, so sure, once he gets to play it's fucking scary, but when it's his turn to block, he is not better than phoenix wright. In other words, you don't need a firebrand team to open him up, you just need a good meaty set up with your team.

Also, final note, Jm's team beats firebrand free. He just needed to put hawkeye on point and spam with hidden missiles. Firebrand cannot handle teams that can zone decently, let alone morrigan. This is honestly the nail in the coffin for firebrand teams, because zoning is an extremely popular tactic in mvc3 that's not just about morridoom or zero. Hawkeye is very problematic for firebrand but also Magento deals with him pretty well too. Also, dedicated chris redfield teams can be a problem as well, which are surprisingly more successful than people think.

The firebrand life therefore falls under niche, and not the meta.

[PoisonHound]

You’re one of my many inspirations thank you for the amazing video Jmcrofts!

[Josie.]

"It's +10 on block" *JMC's brain explodes*

[vinnieharper]

You do great content, jm. Your enthusiasm is s- tier. Salute.

[ArispeMatt]

Firebrand needs more references to his SNES game, I say.

[brandonwilbur]

Apologyman with the lore accurate Firebrand

[kevinkalani]

We love ApologyMan here. A great and humble guy that likes playing unique characters to make them work. But we also never forget that the man warms up the milk for his cereal. Don't think that I forgot, Vineeth.