Oh, and she's exceptionally excited for Marvel Infinite, even without the X-Men

Professional fighting game player Leah "Gllty" Hayes has officially joined the likes of Haitani, MOV, Fuudo and other top tier fighting talent as the newest member of team GRAPHT.

I was fortunate enough to have a conversation with Gllty in which she discussed a few particulars of her new partnership with me.

She also explained why she's plenty qualified for the spot alongside EVO finalists, and detailed the benefits opportunities for growth that this new venture will likely present her with.

Though her recent spotlight moments have all been in regards to Street Fighter 5, Gllty's first love is Marvel vs. Capcom, and she's very much excited for next month's Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite to drop.

What's more, she's not sweating most of the issues that a good many members of the Marvel community have been worried about.

Raptor: So you recently joined GRPT, was this something that's been in the works for a while, or did they just reach out to you with an offer, and you took it?

Gllty: It's been going on for a while. Actually, I had a good friendship with Haitani (him being my Makoto senpai) previously, and I stayed with MOV in Heiwajima and I was also the one who facilitated Tanukana's appearance at Combo Breaker. (GRPT and team Cyclops are affiliates) I officially met the international team manager at Eleague, and we started negotiations around E3. It continued at EVO, and then I made plans for Japan Cup.

Raptor: Oh yeah, speaking of, you're joining the likes of Fuudo, Haitani, MOV and Yukadon, some of the heaviest hitters in the business. What's it like to be on a team with top 8 EVO contenders like that? Exciting, intimidating?

Gllty: It's humbling. I'm strategically picking my residential location in Japan. I wont be in Heiwajima, I'll be in south central Tokyo next to the station. Easy access to MOV/Yukadon's house and also eSports Square, Topanga, and Studio Sky (Momochi and Choco's venue.)

I used to live in the middle of nowhere. We had a strong Urien/Karin, a strong Cammy, a strong Rog/Bison, and if you drove three hours out you can find a strong Rashid, Zangief and Chun. Ultimately, our scene wasn't very strong or robust, nor did they travel.

Improvement means accepting my limitations and positioning myself in a better environment, and I feel this is the logical ultimate conclusion. I'll be part time in Cali and part time in Tokyo, and with Marvel [Infinite] coming up, I live within 15 minutes of Killer Kai, Clockw0rk, and EG|ChrisG.

To that point, Takumi is also part of team GRAPHT, and I kept a good relationship with the Black Eye in Tokyo, and I'm sure AW|Nemo will be back in the game as well.

Raptor: Ah so you'll be playing competitively in Infinite as well?

Gllty: Of course. I was always a marvel player first. Dormammu is the strategic heart of my Dhalsim gameplay.

Raptor: Well then I'm obligated to ask, what're your thoughts on MVCI's gameplay, visuals and roster?

Gllty: Okay, I may catch some flak for this, but I never really liked the X-Men growing up. My formative impression of Magneto is he's the guy who says "PLAYTIMES OVER" and tri-jumped my little 11 year old self to death when I just wanted to play characters that I liked, such as Morrigan, Mega Man, or Servbot.

Psylocke was the only marvel character I was willing to play. I understand my feelings are my own and I cannot tell anyone they're wrong for their attachments to the X-Men, but the 'function' meme hits pretty spot on for me.

That said, between Morrigan, Jedah, X, Zero, and presumably Dormammu, I'm extremely happy about the roster. Also, while some of the models are underwhelming, the silhouettes and animations flow extremely well. The game looks and plays flashy and fluid. I do miss the comic book cel shading of Marvel 3, but seeing Dr. Strange paint the screen with projectiles is pretty awesome

"I think Capcom is just in an awkward PR position that's made worse by virtue of the internet's nature. Characters like Deadpool seem inevitable choices, but clearly licensing is an issue and they can't just get themselves in trouble over it."



Regarding the roster and how it relates to mechanics, I feel Capcom will restore a lot of consumer faith rather quickly. It's hard to understand the full gravity of the free tag system without a proper demonstration, and I feel the game would be incredibly overwhelming to get into if 50%+ of the cast were new.

The other thing is I feel the roster favors characters people liked playing from Marvel 3 and could be largely considered a successful choice for inclusion in that game, such as Spencer or Nova, or characters with cool ideas that just didn't execute well the first time like Arthur.

I remember seeing SPY|FChamp, back to the corner, land a confirm with Ultron and air combo into beam super, then tagged in Captain Marvel while the super-ass active, and box dashed to the other side, juggling from Ultron's beam super to Marvel's and cornering his opponent.

Things like Strange's glyphs + Flames of the Faltine + free tag seem like there's crazy potential when its cracked open. That's what free tag does. Cracks everything wiiiiiide open.

Also regarding the roster, I think Capcom is just in an awkward PR position that's made worse by virtue of the internet's nature. Characters like Deadpool seem inevitable choices, but clearly licensing is an issue and they can't just get themselves in trouble over it.

Raptor: You've certainly had success and built up notoriety with your stream and but at the same time you haven't won any CPT majors or invitationals. What would you say to those who would argue about your qualifications for such a prestigious team?

Gllty: Well, to be clear, I have won a tournament in Asia, defeating Tse4444 in both winners and grand finals. For those who don't known Tse4444 is a top player from Hong Kong, who qualified for Capcom Cup but was unable to attend due to work complications.

Regarding the caliber of Tse, this is a player who defeated Qanba|Xiao Hai and won a Premier event. I qualified into the Asia Amateur finals, and wound up placing just outside of the money after losing to Xyzzy and Leslie from Singapore. Of course, that wasn't CPT, however I feel the point is somewhat moot considering the players in attendance.

As far as my qualifications, I honestly can't think of a single professional player or brand manager who questioned the decision. I think a lot of Americans are confused, because they don't follow the Asian scene closely enough to realize how much work, effort, and time I spent getting to and marketing myself overseas, and subsequently how popular I've become there.

"Know your value. If it's high, you don't have to trumpet it, but don't accept less if it doesn't feel like a good fit. If it's low, identify why. Be realistic."



Raptor: Do you have any advice for players who are pursuing sponsorship?

Gllty: Know your value. If it's high, you don't have to trumpet it, but don't accept less if it doesn't feel like a good fit. If it's low, identify why. Be realistic. If your environment is bad, fix it. If your camera presence is bad, fix it. If your skills are bad, fix it. If you're nervous in front of a camera, fix it. Choke until you don't, burn off your impurities and weaknesses until it tempers you, and never give up.

Promote yourself, talk to people, engage others, ask your bracket runner if its not too much trouble to play your matches on stream. At my first tournament ever, I was like, "hi you don't know me, here's my name and who I play, where I'm from. Nice meeting you." Handshake. Stay composed.

( Video source: Eleague)

You should also learn to tell a story. The Daigo book incident happened, but in reality I was rewarding my viewers who had already contributed an excess of a thousand each with a cool souvenir memento. When they donated there was no promise of a gift or return, I just thought it was cool and special.

However, that isn't a very interesting story, and passed without incident at the time. I made sure to tip r/kappa off, and provided the groundwork for a narrative that basically amounted to "No matter what *you* think of me, I have a very loud and present stable of supporters."

"Is some of my popularity attributed to me being transgender? Yeah of course. I worked very hard on my presentation and developing myself into who I am today. The results are tangible, and you can never take that away from me."



I actually remember somewhat amusingly getting someone I had never met matter-of-factly tweeting out at me that I was a terrible person for the books. The caveat, of course, being that at the time I was rather blissfully walking through Tokyo, living my dreams, while these people were at home projecting their misery.

Is some of my popularity attributed to me being transgender? Yeah of course. I worked very hard on my presentation and developing myself into who I am today. The results are tangible, and you can never take that away from me.

Don't be that person. Don't be just another crab in a bucket clawing and tearing apart people to climb to the top. You won't wind up satisfied or feeling successful.

A huge thank you to Gllty for sharing all of this with us. If you don't already, you can follow her on Twitter here.