Most Valuable Gaming (MVG) is diving into the new year by going global.
As part of their expansion plans for 2017, veteran event director Alex “Vayseth” Varga has joined the Florida-based eSports organization, which is partly owned by Melee legend Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman. In collaboration with MVG, Smashboards brings you this information exclusively.
Varga is best known for directing the Super Smash Bros. for Wii U portion of last October’s The Big House 6 and is set to fulfill the same role for Genesis 4 in January and Frostbite in February. He has also long served as a liaison between the Japanese and American scenes, having lived in both regions for a significant amount of time. His efforts have led to players from both sides of the globe travelling out to each other’s events, such as the Japanese delegation to the UGC Open last December. According to MVG, Varga goes hand-in-hand with one of their goals this year: bridging the North American and Japanese Smash communities.
“I am extremely excited to be part of an organization that will fully support my dream to bridge the gap between the US and Japanese Smash communities.” Varga told Smashboards. “Together we are not only going to deepen our ties with Japan but other countries around the world.”
The first of MVG’s inter-country initiatives will be the second installment of their Frame Perfect event series on March 18 - 19. Built on an international mindset, the organization initially announced the attendance of 12 foreign players that included Dreamhack Melee champion Adam “Armada” Lindgren, his brother and a host of Japanese Smash Wii U talent. However, the event was to lack representation from the Japanese Melee community.
aMSa, one of Japan’s top players and ranked 32nd globally, will be going to Frame Perfect II
“We know people have been asking for more love for the Japanese Melee scene,” Varga said. As he documented in his article series on Japanese Smash, Melee in the country is small compared to newer titles in the series. In light of that, MVG will also be sponsoring Yoshi specialist Malaya “aMSa" Chikamoto’s trip to Frame Perfect. “Melee was the first game I organized an event for. That is why I’m super excited to welcome him [Amsa] to Florida.”
With the amount of Japanese players coming to the United States, Varga is planning to return the favor.
“Our number 1 priority is the US-Japan exchange. Up until now I have been working extremely hard to get Japanese players to compete here in the US, but it's finally time for players from the US to go over there.”
On May 6 - 7, MVG and the team behind premier Japanese event series Umebura will be collaborating on the organization of Umebura Golden Week in Tokyo. It aims to be the first time that a sizable delegation of American players will attend a Japanese major. It will also be the first tournament in the country to be simulcasted in both English and Japanese.
For those looking to fly out to Japan, Varga had this to say: “Any players who are interested in getting over to Japan should contact me so I can fill you in on the details, so we can work together to bring US players the opportunity to experience the Japanese Smash scene.”
Despite MVG’s perspective shifting to an international one, Varga insisted that the organization’s homebase of Florida would not be forgotten.
“Most of all, I am looking forward to getting to know the Florida Smash community better and bringing them exciting Smash content and opportunities previously not possible. I'm excited for the future of the South East Region, I'm excited for the future of US/Japan relations, and I am excited for the future of Smash in 2017.”
Stay tuned to Smashboards for more on MVG’s 2017 initiatives and breaking Super Smash Bros.-related news.
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