Every sport has its great moments: the balletic play, the sudden upset, the perfect shot that just makes it in. For pro gaming, that moment was Umehara鈥檚 parry.
鈥淲hile not everyone will understand the technical and psychological details behind the play, anyone can appreciate the simplicity of punches, kicks, a skin-of-your-teeth comeback, and get swept up in the raw enthusiasm of the crowd,鈥� says Seth Killian, a game designer who shot the now famous clip of the fight. 鈥淓vo Moment #37 is a small window into our world, and into why we have so much fun here.鈥�
That moment 鈥� 鈥渕oment #37鈥� 鈥� happened at the semi-finals of the 2004 EVO Championship, a tournament for fighting games that draws competitors from all over the world. Japanese competitor Daigo Umehara faced off against American Justin Wong in Street Fighter III. Umehara played as Ken, the burly blonde guy on the left at the beginning of the video; Wong was the female Chun-Li.
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In the final round, Umehara found himself down to very low health. One blow would be enough to take him out of the match. Wong went in for the kill with his character鈥檚 鈥渟uper combo鈥�, a series of quick kicks that should have been a sure win. But, to the crowd鈥檚 amazement, Umehara managed to parry every single kick 鈥� and then defeated Wong. The skill involved was not just in anticipating Wong鈥檚 attack: he also had to tap out each parry at the exact moment each of Wong鈥檚 kicks was being executed.
In the 10 years since, the clip from the match has garnered more than 50 million views on YouTube. Fans have broken the parry down in and anime, and Umehara has gone on to set world records and write a book of his own. , a sports journalist in California, wrote an entire book about the parry called Evo Moment 37. So what makes this one play so important?
鈥淚 think the moment, and it鈥檚 not just the fighting game community or competitive gaming community as a whole but also just regular people, speaks to the tune of never giving up,鈥� says Cravens. 鈥淎s long as you鈥檙e alive, as was the case with Daigo, you have a chance.鈥�
Few other moments in esports have risen to the kind of renown as Umehara鈥檚 parry, but here are some of the contenders:
: Natus Vincere vs Invictus Gaming in multiplayer online battle game Defense of the Ancients (DotA) at The International 2 tournament in 2012
What鈥檚 happening: The Invictus Gaming team turns invisible, puts Natus Vincere鈥檚 players to sleep, and clumps them together to make them easier to attack. But what Invictus doesn鈥檛 know is that several members of Natus Vincere are immune to the impending kills. Through a complex combination of moves, Natus Vincere breaks free and takes down the other team in what many call one of the greatest plays in DotA鈥榮 history.
: Lim 鈥淪layerS_BoxeR鈥� Yo Hwan vs Hong 鈥淵ellOw鈥� Jin Ho in StarCraft: Brood War at the EVER 2004 OSL semi-finals
What鈥檚 happening: The crowd anticipated an epic battle between these two prominent Korean players, but BoxeR swept three matches in a row against YellOw in less than half an hour. Each time, BoxeR 鈥渂unker rushed鈥� his opponent, planting defensive structures in key locations that were difficult for YellOw to handle. The strategy was a bold display of BoxeR鈥檚 ability to play with his opponent鈥檚 expectations, and the swift and brutal win has gone down in StarCraft history.
Read more: 鈥�Esports: Video games jump from couch to stadium鈥�
