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In case you missed it, we recently surveyed the community to find out which Marvel vs. Capcom 3 challengers you most wanted to know more about. Once the polls closed, we grabbed Capcom Community Manager (and all-around fighting-game guru) Seth Killian to dish his thoughts on the specifics of some of MVC3's newest and most popular characters. (As a side note, in every instance, you guys chose fighters who haven't previously appeared in the franchise, which is pretty exciting.)

Perhaps the most interesting part of Killian's profiles is how they increase wonderment about MVC3's character balance. Historically, the Capcom side of the franchise has been less viable in top-tier play, but if I've got Killian's story straight, it looks like this third entry may well shake things up a bit. See below to find out which of Capcom's over-the-top pugilists won the community's hearts, and make sure to check out the Marvel-centric roundup, too!

 

1) Zero
10.5% of the community votes

Seth Killian: True to his profession, this Maverick Hunter wins by hunting down his opponents on offense, and once he's on top of you, it can be tough to push him back out again. He's got a great selection of fast, high-priority normal attacks and some of the best jumping attacks in the game — they come appear out of nowhere, stay out for a long time, and can hit from all sides.

Zero is at his best when he's coming at you like a pony-tailed, Z-Sabre-toting cannonball, and he has some new tricks for MVC3, including a highly versatile Level 3 Hyper Combo and a great aerial electrical bolt that can be used either in combos, or to generate pressure while he jumps in. His Level 1 Hyper Combos are unconventional, but his shadow helper doubles the fun by creating a mirror image of Zero to create brand new combos and mixups. And while his Taste the Rainbow Hyper Combo is a bit slow, it can hit a grounded opponent if your timing is tight  adding some much-needed punch to his combo finishers.

Zero is quick and has some fast command-movement options that look a bit like teleports, but don't be fooled. While they can be effective when buffered off of his normal attacks, they don't have any true invulnerability, so don't get overconfident with them against projectile barrages. He can charge his Z-Buster to increase his hits, but it's not usually fast enough to go toe-to-toe with other fireballers. Use it sparingly or as a way to extend his combos, and look to helpful assists like Magneto's EM Disruptor to help you out with fireball wars.

2) Dante
10.07% of the community votes

SK: On the Capcom side, the eternally wise-cracking Dante has an answer to almost anything an opponent throws his way. He's got fast, long-ranged normal moves as well as nearly 40 totally unique special moves. Spend some time experimenting with him, and you'll see that as a group, his moves give him a great response to almost anything the opponent throws his way.

He can use his QCF+C [quarter-circle forward plus C] missiles to fight fireball wars, and his jumping B has great range and crosses up easily in combination with his Air Dash. But perhaps his very best special is his teleport. It always puts him immediately above and behind his opponent, so no matter where they may try to hide, Dante can attack the back of their necks in an instant.

He does have a few weaknesses: First, his relatively limited Hyper Combo options — though his Ebony and Ivory Hyper is pretty versatile and does good damage. He also can't do block damage as easily as other characters, and he doesn't have a great command grab. While he can counter most any attack you throw at him, he can sometimes struggle against a tight defense. Outside of his teleport, he also isn't the fastest character, so his offense is helped greatly by assists that keep his opponents pinned down, like Chun-Li's Hyakuretsu Kyaku or Amaterasu's Cold Star. Sometimes, taking out his teammates is the best way to bring down Dante.

As an assist himself, his Jam Session is a great move for anyone that misses Captain Commando's Captain Corridor from Marvel vs. Capcom 2; it does solid damage and holds the opponent in place for a long time.

3) Albert Wesker
9.93% of the community votes

SK: Albert Wesker is known as an evil mastermind that's notoriously difficult to capture, and this is true in Marvel Vs Capcom 3, as well. With a huge variety of easy and instant teleports, it's virtually impossible to keep him outside if he wants to get in. He can play a limited game of keep-away with his gunshots, but most of his damage will come from dancing around his opponents' attacks and surprising them from above and behind — almost anywhere he wants.

After a few approaches with his normal attacks have taught your opponent to start blocking, you can mix it up by going for his command grab. Also, be very aware of Wesker's versatile Hyper Combos. His Maximum Wesker Hyper flies everywhere and does solid damage in virtually any situation. It can punish cross-screen opponents and tack hits on to air combos, ground combos, or Team Hyper Combos. His counter hyper is the perfect answer if you can predict your opponent's next attack, doing great damage and leading into combo followups, and his Level 3 is for when raw damage is your only concern.

Wesker is also a great teammate because Maximum Wesker adds easily after almost any other character's Hyper Combo, and he also offers a very handy assist move. Since it's just a single gunshot pointed at the floor, it doesn't look like much, but it's extremely useful for anyone that can't hit a grounded opponent by on their own. It comes out very quickly and pulls the opponent back into the air, creating a whole new world of combo opportunities for much of the cast.

P.S. Don't forget to check out the Marvel roundup! Also, unfortunately, due to a time crunch caused by the run up to MVC3's release, we weren't able to get Seth for too long. As you can see, Seth put a lot of work into these three character analyses (as well as tomorrow's Marvel trio). We're sorry we didn't get to feature six fighters today. Apologies all around!