Despite the barriers and racism in Esports, the greatest fighting game player in the modern era, according to the gamers themselves, is Dominique “SonicFox” Mclean.
SonicFox (born March 2, 1988) is currently a three-time EVO champion, having won Injustice in 2014 and Mortal Kombat X in 2015 and 2016. Although he was originally known for dominating the Injustice, Skullgirls and Mortal Kombat series, he has left his mark in Dead or Alive, Under Night In-Birth, Marvel vs. Capcom and DragonBall FighterZ.
In addition to being capable of quickly picking up any fighting game, SonicFox is well known for wearing his trademark blue fur hat and displaying a carefree attitude at tournaments. He is said to always have fun playing fighting games, and became notorious for easily brushing off losses and bouncing back stronger.
In 2016, he earned almost $200,000, taking home three ESL Mortal Kombat X Pro League championships and the most coveted prize of them all, the Evolution Championship Series title — his third in his career. He already has paid for his college in full, something he pursues on the side of his pro fighting game career.
“It’s a very solid way [to invest in my future], but I know that it won’t last forever,” he said. “That’s why I’m still going through with college right now. After I finish college, I want to end up working for a fighting game company or potentially start developing my own fighting game. But for right now, money is nice. It’s nice.” VERY NICE, he is fast approaching the half million dollar mark on career earnings and he only turned pro 5 years ago.
His continuous victories are fairly well-received in the NetherRealm community, which built off of games, such as Injustice 2 and Mortal Kombat.
“The unstoppable force that is SonicFox won — as I’m sure a number of people predicted — because he’s such a dominant force of nature,” Mortal Kombat co-creator and NetherRealm creative director Ed Boon told ESPN after SonixFox picked up another win and $10,000 on the newly released NetherRealm game Injustice 2.
However, there is one game where SonicFox has met his match…and that is because the match is none other than his brother!
Kristian ‘Mr.Kwiggle’ McLean
SonicFox is arguably the greatest fighting game player this generation and undoubtedly the best Netherrealm Studios player ever. In addition to that he is considered the best skullgirls player and is currently dominating the scene in DragonBallFighterZ. However there is another fighting-game out there that he has yet to conquer and that’s because of one man: His brother Kristian “Mr. Kwiggle” McLean. While Fox is easily known in Las Vegas for his back to back EVO world championship in 2015 and 2016, Kwiggle has proved himself as a champion having won almost every major tournament on the east coast at least once.
In the early years Kwiggle became enthralled in video games, particularly fighting-games. Often playing Tekken 3 and Dead or Alive at his home in New Jersey with his brothers and cousins.
At the age of 18 his fondness for gaming took to new heights as he began entering fighting-game tournaments and esports.
After this experience he became hooked immediately wanting more and honing his skills in Team Ninja’s Dead or Alive. This would prove to be where he shined. When Dead or Alive 5 was officially released in September 2012 Mr.Kwiggle was already a major player continuing his rise up the leaderboards. After finding his footing in 2014 he began to dominant every competitor that he would come across, even toppling his brother in tournaments on all but one occasion. By 2015 Kwiggle was the most decorated player with one of the longest win streaks in the game’s history, having defeated everyone before he turned his sights towards the world title at the first Dead or Alive Festival held in Tokyo, Japan. In the Grand Finals he defeated Terurock’s Lei Fang to take home the title for the USA and be crowned the best DOA player in the world.
When asked “What makes you so good at fighting games?”
“For me. I think what makes me good is that I’ve grown up playing what is now the best fighting game player in years, and we were both very competitive growing up. It was brotherly fun, but we were also super competitive at the same time. We played so many different games; like almost every version of Mortal Kombat, Soul Calibur, Tekken, and DOA. What I noticed now, looking back, is that I’m very good at adapting, and my reactions are good. I still have a lot of room for improvement, but I would say those two things help me right now.”
While he is primarily known as a Dead or Alive player he has often helped his brother in learning tech with characters from other games such as Mortal Kombat X, Skullgirls, and Injustice 2. Kristian saw his rise to dominance and fame in the FGC in the only way he could, as a brother. Tom Lee-creative director of Team Ninja acknowledged the duo as ?“Quite possibly the most talented siblings in esports today.”