A look back at an epic and innovative contest of comic book proportions.
The OMEGE FIST TOURNAMENT (OFT) was a fantasy-based concept created for the original A.C.M.G. Facebook Group.
The idea stemmed from the idea of fantasy football, pro wrestling, and other combat competitions but consisted of comic book characters spanning from many publishers coming together in a multiversal tournament to see who would be the most powerful of them all.
The results of this led to a four-year event with each becoming bigger than the next.
Yet, this also was the first stage of downfall of a once positive social media environment as society (and its ideology) seem to be changing for the worse.
Here is a look back at how this came about
THE ORIGINAL OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT (2014)
The first OFT (with the help of former A.C.M.G. member Quincy M. Price) was put together using fighting game characters to see if the members of ACMG would be interested in seeing who they believed was the number one character in the whole tournament. Characters from some of the most popular fighting games in history such as STREET FIGHTER, FATAL FURY, TEKKEN, MORTAL KOMBAT to name a few were paired in a fantasy fighting match up. Members of A.C.M.G. voted democratically to see who they thought was the more dominant combatant.
When it came to the FINAL FIST ROUND it came down to legendary characters RYU and the EMPEROR SHAO KAHN.
As the tournament went on the fighting game fans of A.C.M.G. began to really get invested in it as they voted and commented on who their favorite was.
Of course, the rules were as follows, the fighter with the most votes would be the winner of that fantasy fight and would move on to the next round.
It's amazing how far we have come with technology today because in 2014 we did not have a better solution to accumulate votes like we can today.
Consequently, we would have to manually count each vote by comment. Back then you didn't have a poll feature on Facebook groups, nor did we have multiple emojis that could be used for vote counts.
It was the bare minimum compared to today, and with a few hundred members (and growing) at the time it was a tedious task. But it was well worth it to see that so many people were immersed in what we were doing.
With 48 characters in two tournament brackets it somehow led to us making the semifinals a triple threat for both the A and B sides.
So, we turned it up even more as I produced videos to hype the anticipation of the SEMI-FINAL FIST round.
The videos consisted of music by the once ultra popular Kanye West (not to be confused with his alter-ego Ye) which at the time we were allowed to use on Facebook and YouTube without question.
The video edits helped greatly to hype things up. Just another reason I miss the energy of those times. Both for what social media was as well as Kanye.
The second video I used one of my favorite bands to bring the chaos of braket B. None other than System of the Down's Toxicity. Legend.
It was a fun way to bring excitement and since we were using it for commercial use of any goods and services it was made for social fun engagement. NOTE: None of the tournaments profited. All prizes were sponsored or paid for by me.
Bracket A video (Kanye West)
Bracket B video (System of a Down)
After two epic fantasy fights the members of A.C.M.G. decided that the two who would face each other in the FINAL FIST ROUND would be two legends in fighting game history.
The results were in, much like it was for 2023, Street Fighter wins over Mortal Kombat as RYU became the first ever OMEGA FIST CHAMPION.
It was remarkably interesting that virutally a decade later Street Fighter 6 would once again dominate over Mortal Kombat 1.
The result of this fun fantasy experiment after weeks among hours of production was a success. But the question is will we do it again and how we can make it more impactful for the members.
The answer to that came when I decided to up the ante.
THE OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT 2 (2015)
A NEW CONTEST IS BORN IN THE FORM OF OFT II
With the success of the first tournament, it allowed me to make an attempt to really step it up. Making it into something that members of the group would really want to jump on. The one thing that people love to do is discuss and/or debate on who they believe is the best. People also like it even more when they can convince people of what they believe is true.
This gave me the idea of making a contest out of the concept of giving contestants a chance to debate and campaign their picks to see what the members of A.C.M.G. felt was a dominant team. YES! This time I Upp'd the stipulation with a TAG TEAM BATTLE which this time was based on US Comic Book characters. Contestants would have the chance to pick two characters with a few rules. The reason I decided on US based characters is because manga/anime characters can be a bit extreme in terms of power and ability. US based characters can be powerful but also sensical which brings the competition on the level. Also, comic book mythology was more familiar to people at the time.
HERE IS THE VIDEO THAT TALKS ABOUT THE RULES OF OFT 2
The winner of this tournament would win an assortment of prizes from VIEW FINDERS I.S.A.D. and former sponsors PRINTHEADZ: Custom Prints and Design who provided a CHAMPIONSHIP package (A T-shirt, Mug, and Mouse pad designed by VIEW FINDERS I.S.A.D.)
THE CONTESTANTS OF OFTII
12-contestants and members of the A.C.M.G. stepped up to the challenge to claim their teams as the second OMEGA FIST CHAMPION (and proclaiming them as the first ever OMEGA FIST WINNER).
The match making for the tournament was quite a challenge as I had to make sure that fantasy fights were fair and balanced at the beginning. It was especially important to give everyone a chance to make it. Now granted their pics are their own so if they pick a character that may be considered weak to the rest that is the gamble that they make. The other important thing to note is that none of the contestants know what the other contestant has picked as their chosen characters in the tournament until the very moment they compete.
OMEGA 12:
Brandon D Daniels
Quincy Price
Compound Fracture
Robert A Moore (Former co-host of TALK TIME LIVE podcast)
Logan Dobbs
Lou Johnson (Former co-host of TALK TIME LIVE podcast)
Dennis Glover
Nate Drowell
Ed Douglas
Robert Wilson
Mike Jones
Randy Green
The BATTLES:
There were some intense battles with some real power players. There were also some “interesting” picks like former member Compound Fracture (origin or such a name is unknown in the world of Goggle other than the definition) who chose Thanos and Megatron (which I can see why he chose the two).
But an interesting pick goes to one Robert Wilson who went with the fun picks of War Machine Vs. Justin Hammer (seriously he even made a campaign video for the OFT II hyping the arrival of Justin Hammer).
The battle went back and forth with fun (and sometimes intense) debating with sources of information about their characters for the voters to decide which would lead to the TRIPLE THREAT FINAL FIST ROUND (a Triple threat final round consisting of three teams due to the number of contestants that participated that year) which became a very EPIC and controversial conclusion.
The Controversial FINAL FIST ROUND!!!
After an epic debate in a triple treat battle between the teams of Quincy Price (representing King Thor and Darkseid), Nate Drowell (representing Franklin Richards and Prof. Zoom), and Randy Green (representing Superman and Dr. Fate) the members of A.C.M.G.
The battle throughout the day went back and forth. Every hour one tied while the other superseded in votes.
By the end of the time limit there was an interesting development that occurred for the first time in OFT HISTORY.
The result of the count turned out to be a tie between Quincy Price’s team and Nate Drowell’s. Randy Green had the lowest amount eliminating him from the TRIPLE FIST FINAL ROUND.
In the event of a tie, I would step in to make the final vote (something that I didn’t want to do at all). Consequently, I had to do a lot of extensive research on the two teams to see who I thought was in fact the more dominant team. NOTE: This would not be a tie if not for a member of the group playing around with their vote. The rules were that if you make a vote, you must explain why they thought that team was the most dominant team of that match up and they had to do so before the 12-hour time limit. Here’s what went down as explained in a previous post I made: LAYING DOWN THE LAWS OF THE OMEGA FIST
“If you read the previous results of the OFT first round eliminations, we discovered that voting was becoming unjust. Members were voting for the more popular vote of characters they may have seen on TV or movies (e.g. Superman) or because they knew a person who was a contestant in the tournament which means that they are not voting for a character particular which I found to be unfair, unethical, and irresponsible on the part of some voters.
A rule was then added to assure that people would be legit and valid reasons as to why they are voting for the characters chosen by the contestant. This not only met with fair results, but it also educated others (me included) to characters that we never had the chance to invest in.
Again, make sure your vote counts.
Unfortunately, that was not the case for one of the members as he decided to play around and not make a valid call. Some of the members didn’t understand what he was saying or doing as he posted pics of Rey Mysterio Jr. from the WWE and reciting remix versions of the song in relation to Thanos and Thor. It came off convoluted in translation and didn’t make any sense.
As a result of counting the votes two times to make sure that it was indeed a tie which means I must read all 144 comments that was on that post.”
And at the end of the day, I made my decision, and we had a winner.
QUINCY M. PRICE became the 2015 OMEGA FIST CHAMPION
Quincy won after careful consideration, which I have explained in detail. For winning the OFT II Quincy received the prizes on behalf of PRINTHEADZ.
And thus ends an epic event in A.C.M.G. history. How will A.C.M.G. top this?
END NOTE: There were some in the group that felt I was playing favorites with Quincy leading to his decision. While we did work together on the first tournament in terms of our level of friendship it was far from what one considered strong or tight.
In fact, I was not truly close with many in the group mostly due to my status as an admin with responsibilities to uphold safe space for all and maintain balance. Many couldn't understand the weight and responsibility involved in what I had to do for the group and the A.C.M.G. brand. Their lack of understanding led to resentment.
Although I wasn't tight with everyone in the group it didn't stop me from working and interacting with them because the bigger picture for me was to create a community. That means even being fair to those who I don't always agree or work with. Quincy was one of those people. So, trust me, I was very fair and impartial in the decision. Price is very well informed with his comic book knowledge and earned his way to winning OFT II.
THE OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT 3 (2016)
We asked the previous question how would we top OFT II?
By upping the ante on all aspects. This year we added 16 contestants to battle with bigger implications.
Added to that, we decided to allow three-character teams this year for contestants giving them a better chance to produce an immensely powerful team.
As the rules before in OFT 2, no OMNI or OMEGA Level characters are allowed in a team to make it fair for all participating.
Plus, it will make it much more challenging. In addition to the OMNI or OMEGA level characters BATMAN was not allowed to be picked.
The reason being, this was around the time when the running gag with comic book fans was that no matter what BATMAN could survive anything and defeat anyone due to his cunning and strategic mindset to persevere through very tough challenges.
As ridiculous as that sounds comic book fans took this as a religion. It was best that we take him out of the equation all together.
OFT 3 Hype video (D12)
ENTER THE OMEGA 16
Some veterans and a lot of new contestants ready to go! Each competitor this year chose some remarkably interesting characters to compete in. The match ups will not be easy.
Everyone was excited about OFT3. EVERYBODY.
We also had a new sponsor this year that awarded great prizes to this year's tournament.
Hack and Slash Games have put together a hell of a card battle combat game called OPHIDIAN 2360 which is one of the most innovative and fresh concepts in quite some time.
Mixing elements of RPG, MMA, RTS, and more to create this HYBRID EPIC experience.
They not only provided us with an OPHIDIAN 2360 prize package for this year's champion (which consist of the ULTIMATE COLLECTION of OPHIDIAN 2360 cards, but also the game mat as well), they will also provide a starter deck of cards for every contestant in the Facebook Fantasy Battle.
SECOND SPONSOR:
Also sponsoring the tournament this year in none other than J1 STUDIOS who will provide a FREE SUNDAY PASS for this year’s J1-CON event in Philadelphia to the winner of the tournament (NOTE: If the contestant was from the west coast and wasn't able to make it to the event, we will find a replacement prize).
AN IMPORTANT NOTE REGARDING J1 STUDIOS:
In 2018, a situation developed involving former A.C.M.G. member and owner of J1 STUDIOS and J1 CON Jason Richardson where allegations were made by his ex-girlfriend Jess Kalup and others claiming he allegedly committed multiple counts of sexual misconduct.
Upon further investigation, which included a meeting with the alleged victims, a reporter from local news group Billy Penn (an affiliate of WHYY), and members of his former media group, it has been decided that we discontinue any working relationship with Richardson.
It is important to note that A.C.M.G. or its affiliate brands have no association with him or his brands.
ENTER THE OFT: STREET FIGHTER EDITION
A.C.M.G.’s first venture into a fighting game tournament. The winner of this will receive a $100 PSN Credit Courtesy of VIEW FINDERS I.S.A.D. multimedia design firm.
So, there you have it. How did the third OFT event turn out? Who will have the dominant team in the tournament? Who will win this year’s new SF EDITION?!!!
EXTRA BONUS:
FOR THE TOURNAMENT WAS OUR EXCLUSIVE TALK TIME LIVE PODCAST
We at TALK TIME LIVE decided to take a step further and produce a special edition podcast including highlights of the tournament.
SPECIAL GUEST: THE WORLD WARRIOR
To top all this great chaos the TALK TIME LIVE podcast had the opportunity to talk with none other than Kyle Hebert himself. Known for voicing many great characters in anime (Gohan, Kiba from Naruto, Captain Aizen, and more), he is also the voice of the iconic Street Fighter character RYU (also the character to be voted as first ever OMEGA FIST CHAMPION).
In this incredibly fun interview, he not only talked about STREET FIGHTER V (newly released at the time before The Shadow Falls Story Mode) but he also gave best wishes to all the contests of the SFV EDITION of the OFT3 and provided us with a greeting's soundbite for the OFT 3 highlight podcast.
EPIC!!!
The WATCHERS of the OMEGA:
There were a lot of close calls throughout the tournament but this time I was prepared as we enlisted A.C.M.G. members who were willing to oversee the tournament and make sure that no controversy would take place and we got a sure winner for each match and the contest. ENTER the “WATCHERS of the OMEGA” a select group that will no doubt keep watch, interject if needed, and determine a winner if in the event of a tie.
This group consisted of Mike Jones, the First ever contest OFT CHAMPION Quincy Price, and COSMIC Lou Johnson did a phenomenal job covering the tournament.
ONE SHALL STAND, MANY SHALL FALL:
Many great battles in this tournament including the rematch of now TALK TIME LIVE co-host Robert A. Moore and A.C.M.G. favorite Dennis Glover.
Each battle provided a lot of critical thinking and opportunity to learn more about the characters chosen by our 16-contestants. Those who participated like the McKinnon Bros (Travis and Elisha) who said they almost lost it waiting to see if they won their match ups.
As always, the tournament would start at noon.
The first rounds of the tournament are always interesting as the contestants know the contestants they will be facing but do not know what characters they have chosen which creates a lot of eagerness, pressure, and anticipation.
If they survive the first rounds, then they can soon strategize on how to compete with the next competitors, hopefully making it to the final fist round.
Many great battles in this tournament including the rematch of Nate Drowell and A.C.M.G. favorite Dennis Glover.
WHO BECAME THE WINNER OF THE OFT3?
The OFT3 was a much better contest with honorable contestants looking to have a great debate over their favorite fandom.
Each contestant performed greatly as they campaigned to the voting members of A.C.M.G. as to why their chosen character team is in fact the most dominant of the sixteen in the OFT.
When it was all said and done there was only ONE LONE DOMINANT CHAMPION, and his name was………..
Robert Moore became the third annual OFT CHAMPION (and the second contest winner) with his team Doomsday, Superboy Prime, and Mobius.
His match-up against A.C.M.G. member JAY PAT (who also competed in the OFT3 SFV Tournament) was as epic as you could get. Had Jay or Robert won the FINAL FIST ROUND he would have made legendary status with the OFT if he had the chance to win both tournaments.
However, the votes were in and the members’ votes heavily favored Robert’s team.
The video game tournament portion of OFT was no cake walk as contestants were very much skilled and ready to compete for the bragging rights and a $100 PSN credit and a STREET FIGHTER Encyclopedia courtesy of VIEW FINDERS I.S.A.D. along with other prizes.
For three weeks they have been competing in some very hard-hitting fights, especially with the McKinnon Bros debuting into OFT and A.C.M.G.
At the end it came down to FINAL FIST ROUND finalist Jay Pat versus A.C.M.G. moderator and co-host of TALK TIME LIVE Andre Stokes. NOTE: Since Andre was heavily affiliated with A.C.M.G. the deal was that if he won, he would give half of his PSN credit to the MVP of his choice in the SFV Tournament. Their battle was hard and epic as the two went back and forth. But the question is who won? Here is the video of that final match up.
So, the OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT 3 was a complete success without any form of controversy.
The big question is, HOW THE HELL DO WE TOP ALL OF THIS?!!!!
Believe it or not, we have…………….
ENTER THE OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT 4 (2017)
This year we have improved the ante in the biggest way we know how. Part of our tradition is that we create a custom title belt which is worn to the winning team’s characters. Well, this year we are not only going to make that happen with this newly designed OFT4 title.
But for the very first time EVER in OFT history we are not only providing the winning team with a title, the WINNER of the 4th annual OFT will also have an actual title belt provided by VIEW FINDERS I.S.A.D.
This year, the OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT just got REAL!!
Along with receiving the prestigious OFT CHAMPIONSHIP title the winner will also receive the latest set of OPHIDIAN game card set courtesy of returning sponsors HACK and SLASH GAMES.
InksterPrints Custom T-Shirts once again looked out and provided the OFT4 winner with their traditional custom t-shirt designed by VIEW FINDERS I.S.A.D.
But that’s not all!
Just like last year all the contestants of the main tournament will be provided with a starter pack of OPHIDIAN game cards and for the first time each contestant of the main tournament will be provided with the signature OFT4 t-shirt courtesy of InksterPrints Custom T-Shirts formerly in South St. Philadelphia.
The NEW OMEGA CONTESTANT
The excitment was so great with the news of a prized title belt that we once again got hype videos celebrating their entry into the tournament.
Like this one.
and much like last year we will have a video game tournament which we renamed:
This year we have added a new stipulation to the video game portion of the tournament.
Not only will the contestants compete in STREET FIGHTER V
We provided a $100 PSN credit to the winner, but A.C.M.G. members and world traveling entertainer & magician RAN’D SHINE will add another $100 credit courtesy of Randy Shine Entertainment.
The OFT4 is nothing short of EPIC!!!
The MONTH of OMEGA begun on AUGUST.
Who will be able to own the very first OMEGA FIST CHAMPIONSHIP TITLE!!!
THE TOURNAMENT GOT BIGGER and a bit toxic.
Once again, we decided to give each contestant the ability to produce a three hero/villain team which will increase the discussion of who is the most powerful team in the tournament.
We also had the return of the Watchers to monitor each match as the two competitors would debate why their team was the most powerful. This was the year where Facebook made it a bit easier to count votes as they added multiple emojis which would allow A.C.M.G. members to vote using the icons based on the team they thought was the most powerful.
ANOTHER FAMILIAR GUEST COMES TO THE OFT:
Much like last year we had a special podcast covering the event. Last year also brought us the presence of the one and only Kyle Hebert who at the time was his third appearance on TALK TIME LIVE.
This time we wanted someone who equaled the impact that Hebert brought. The only person who would rival Kyle for such an occasion would none other than the original voice of KEN MASTERS (and Dante from Devil May Cry) actor and stunt coordinator Reuben Langdon making his second appearance in honor of the OFT4.
WHEN IT WAS ALL SAID AND DONE, WE HAD OUR CHAMPION
The OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT 4 was another great success and we have our first ever Title holder. The A.C.M.G. members voted and it was unanimous Quincy M. Price as he became the first time ever 2X CHAMP and the first to own the prestigious OFT "FANDOMWIEGHT" CHAMPIONSHIP BELT"
Quincy once again to his credit knows comics more than most, which is a lost art in today's comic book fandom as most know the mythologies from the movies they watch.
There are fewer and fewer fans who know the source material. I believe mostly because we have a generation that relies on making their point with 240 characters or less.
THE END OF AN ERA:
While both tournaments went smoothly it was not without their flaws. One of which was contestants reaching out to myself trying to smooth their way ahead of the tournament which unethical to the rules.
Others on the Watcher committee felt they needed to help their friends in the tournament, which was also unethical.
On top of this, things in social media became unpleasant in the sense of people began to act more negative to each other rather than fair and competitive.
It wasn't just the tournament either, it was happening all around social media platforms and the toxicity continued to grow like the Walking Dead.
The other noticeable thing going on was people in the group associated with a contestant would vote for their friend simply because it was their friend.
The Watchers and I decided that for a vote to be valid the voter must explain why they voted for the person's team.
We would be able to tell whether a voter was a true comic book fan or not doing so.
The OFT was meant to do two things:
Make a fun way for people to connect with something they all like.
Allow people to learn more about comic books and characters they never heard of.
We've had people wanting to learn more and began reading comics based on the knowledge given by the contestants of the OFT.
It was a win/win but as time went by people just became more bitter and shady online taking the way the fun I had when this all started.
Not to mention that I also flipped the bill for some of the prizes while also getting sponsors and guests as well.
By the end of the tournament, I was spent wondering if I will even attempt to do an OFT 5.
As much as I really wanted to it never came to be.
While we ended it with a bang, I knew it would be the last unless I started seeing a more positive connection within the group members.
It only got worse over the years as social media became the target of politics and fake news which created the short attention society we have today.
For what it is worth, the OMEGA FIST TOURNAMENT will be remembered for its innovation and its attempt to entertain, educate, and excite.
For those four years it did just that and exceeded expectations.
I only wish that we could do it again in a more positive environment where like-minded people can have fun without attempting to make enemies out of everyone.
If it never happens again, I am proud of what the event was able to accomplish, and it will go down as one of my favorite milestones.
Cheers to all the past contestants' guests and more who made it all happen.
NOTE: All logos, graphics, videos, and podcast production were designed and developed by Dax J. Martin-Cheeves on behalf of A.C.M.G. and VFISAD.COM
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