MenaRD, god of madness

You watched Kumite in Tennessee last weekend, didn't you? You did - you're a stand-up type of individual. So we'll just say you did.

While you were watching, did you notice that MenaRD did something strange? Something a little unorthodox? And I'm not talking about the fact that he played Elena. Although that's pretty weird, too, if you think about it. Elena is basically the complete and total opposite of Birdie, MenaRD's character in SFV: she has no command-grab pressure, no easy access to big damage, and no armored moves that allow her to easily blow up your pressure. Her strengths are almost all things that Birdie sucks at, from her excellent walkspeed and far-ranging buttons to the fact that you can play her incredibly safely and then get your health back.

So, okay, that's weird, right? It's weird that MenaRD did a one-eighty on us in terms of character selection. But that's a weirdness warm-up compared to the really wacky thing that he did. Take a look:

Yes, friends, your eyes do not deceive you. Not only did MenaRD pick Elena, he picked ULTRA ONE Elena. ULTRA. ONE.

For the uninitiated, here's the thing: nobody uses Elena with ultra one. And by "nobody," I mean NOOOOOOOBODY. Like, not-even-scrubs type "nobody." Like, if-they-took-it-out-of-the-game-we-would-never-have-known type "nobody." That's what I mean when I say that nobody plays Elena using ultra one. Except, apparently, that MenaRD DOES run ultra one. And what's even crazier? He almost won! If not for a classic Wolfkrone throwback performance with C. Viper, MenaRD would've taken the whole thing. As it was, he finished ahead of SFIV all-star Smug and SFV assassin Punk. (Also, he finished first in SFV and beat Punk in their exhibition. Which, I mean, whatever.)

So is MenaRD secretly a genius? A lot of his decisions seem, let's say, puzzling. Using ultra one with Elena is, to reiterate, batty. Running Birdie in SFV is also highly suspect. Even this weird hand gesture is, uh, not ideal:

They say that madness is doing the same thing and expecting different results, but maybe MenaRD is showing us the true meaning of insanity: doing totally different things and expecting the same kind of success that other, more conventional players have. Y'know what, though? The man's been making it work. I, for one, look forward to see just what type of craziness he comes up with next.