How IHeartJustice makes Phoenix Wright Top Tier

Today we're taking a look at Phoenix Wright in Marvel vs Capcom 3, with special guest IHeartJustice! IHJ is without a doubt the strongest Phoenix Wright player in the umvc3 scene, with numerous tournament placings using the humble lawyer. Let's discuss how the character works, what makes him unique, and then play some matches where we can see these insane turnabout setups and combos in practice!
Make sure to follow IHeartJustice here: ‪@IHeartJustice‬
and on twitch: / iheartjustice
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Twitter: / crofts

[@sablesoul]

It's so wild that IHeartJustice's inspiration to play that team is literally "I like Ace Attorney" and "Captain America is a good guy", like barely anything gameplay oriented lmao

[@ReikuYin]

I do miss the days of playing characters you like rather then what is considered top.

[@Nicomartz52]

Is how I play all my games

[@deathbringer9893]

@@ReikuYin my brother in christ ever since back then people played top tiers

[@panetoneninjacanal2692]

@@ReikuYin there wasnt a time where that happens, you are just talking about people playing casually

[@infamoussns]

@@ReikuYin "remember when we liked losing?"

[@ericrodriguez8805]

I love how his team is just an elementary school’s career day panel. A lawyer, a doctor, and a soldier.

[@ASeriesOfAttempts]

Wow.

[@Chunkium]

With the one kid that says wizard

[@TypetwoAbsolute]

"To be top tier you have to wear a trenchcoat" *GUMSHOE HAS APPEARED*

[@itloaf]

YO I'd love that

[@Rogue_Innocence]

He should have been used in a super haha

[@aabattery4092]

“Mr. Edgeworth may have cut my salary, but I’m gonna cut you in *two* ”

[@GlitchanBlack]

"To be top tier, you have to wear a trenchcoat in this game." Unless your name is Zero.

[@sugarplum3338]

hey pal you are going to die now.

[@HYDEinallcaps]

People may think that Phoenix is only good with max meter, but they're wrong. They just need to play Phoenix *Right.*

[@borislovothered8124]

dad joke

[@GigaOtomia]

@@borislovothered8124 You've gotta admit, it's a pretty good dad joke.

[@vladventura1928]

Good one LOL

[@ToonNick]

I heard the rim shot in my head even though you didn't type it lol

[@Flyingboy25]

@@ToonNick bro that was funnier than the actual comment lmao

[@raijuko]

Gotta respect iHeartJustice for sticking to a character he loves. I could hear him winning all the way from court lobby no.3

[@seishinaozora5839]

Just as long as he's not in Meeting Lobby 7, cause then he has to run over to Kame House.

[@xelementalsupreme9308]

@@seishinaozora5839 I respect that reference, good sir XD

[@raijuko]

@@seishinaozora5839 let's just hope he doesn't knock over the AMI urn

[@SleepayGui]

“Save your man” as he paper cuts Arthur to death 💀 17:03

[@useruser-tc7xx]

My favorite part of the video too :D

[@Valvadrix]

Phoenix's gameplay is a perfect reference to the source material. His franchise is all about starting off on the wrong foot and getting to a big turnabout once he finds all the pieces needed to solve the case.

[@aznracerboi1]

I did not know IHeartJustice, ACTUALLY HEARTS JUSTICE!! I've never been interested in top tiers (for mechanical and personal taste reasons) and this dude legit picked his team because he's THAT bout it with his theme.

[@Reineerus_The_Rat]

I'm infamous within my own group for being the guy to pick up a game, do no character research besides practice mode (or even random arcade runs), end up maining a low tier, and still whooping the guys that pick high tier. The advantage of Low Tier is that high level players don't expect to see them, so they struggle to counter

[@aznracerboi1]

@@Reineerus_The_Rat sick man, I play mega casual (just doing the magic series and barely calling assists) but Low Tier Heroes unite!

[@Itz_Puxe]

​@@Reineerus_The_Rat so true. One of my most play characters are all in the low tears but I always beat my opponents because they're not used to fighting the characters that I play, they are used to top tiers themselves

[@platinumwolf526]

I play high teirs cuz I like the characters, like it's not my fault dante and vergil are busted I just like dmc 😭

[@alexmercer5965]

I'm actually pretty surprised iHeartJustice's reasons for playing PW turned out to be so benign. I'm use to tournament players being optimization junkies who flat out tell you whose bad and whose good so I wasn't ready for the "I love Ace Attorney and I heart justice" reasoning. Love to see it though; I always respect players way more who can take mid or meme characters and make them work rather than seeing the same 6 characters in top 8. Would also love to see Scamby; His dedicated Resident Evil team of Wesker, Nemesis and Chris worked unusually well.

[@tearitup5864]

Scamby’s resident evil team is disgusting, I remember when he beat KBR in tournament and he popped off, that was hype

[@ctgmighty7039]

@@alexmercer5965 thank you for linking the fight, was about to ask

[@ctgmighty7039]

@@alexmercer5965 cheers for that i shall watch it soon

[@nivyan]

People who say they know something, rarely do.

[@cyanmarker8386]

His coverage of the stage with his team is insane. You were worried about the comments, but at least from me, those matches looked like a bullet hell with rockets the whole time

[@shadou1234567]

to be fair some teams in UMVC3 are literal bullet hells, so its par on the course. I would prefer trying to deal with everything he is throwing out then morigan with doom assist any day.

[@Hawaiiitalian]

@@shadou1234567 pls i have nightmare of having to deal with that

[@Vins663]

Another reason he kept getting evidence so quick is because the evidence order doesn't change on rematch unless you exit back to character select.

[@THeKallOfCtulu]

Wait it's not RNG?

[@joses1191]

It is rng, but it's generated on character select. It will always be the same string of items until you go to character select again, then it will generate a new order of items. If you watch his tournament play you can see him go back to character select when he doesn't get three good items quickly enough

[@zacc]

@@joses1191 that’s really smart, especially since I doubt there’s any rules against that sort of thing in tourney settings

[@matiaspereyra9392]

yeah when I heard him say "we go back to character select to reset the rng" I thought he meant it as a joke 🤣

[@zakutenakazumiya1516]

Lythero, IHeartJustice, Aonien, Wolf Street and UglyWhen.... the 5 Wrights. I would love to see them play in one session one day, esp Wolf(Wright/Trish/Rocket) and Ugly(Wright/Spencer/Doom). These guys made Wright great. But Heart and Lythero are definitely the ones bearing the torch.

[@seishinaozora5839]

I haven't heard of Wolf and Aoenien in quite a while. Ugly even more so, I wonder what they're up to?

[@Aonien]

@@seishinaozora5839 i still play daily :P wolfstreet i see him like once a year, uglywhen retired years ago, had a family so u know it's ggs

[@seishinaozora5839]

@@Aonien Wow, I didn't expect to see you here. Thanks for the reply, nice to know you still play all the time! Also thanks for the info on the other two, didn't know Ugly started a family, good to hear all's going well.

[@wailmoregd140]

Lee’s good at a lot of low tiers now that I think about it. He’s a great Android 16 in DBFZ, and he was one of the best Ganondorf players in the world back in Smash 4

[@LynxxXVI]

​@@wailmoregd140 I know this comment is super old but, to be fair, when Lee picked up 16 back when DBFZ came out, 16 was very good.

[@axeoseilez3207]

Seeing someone play my favorite umvc3 characters warms my heart

[@no_user1234]

Can’t say it doesn’t make sense that the character themed around dramatic comebacks benefits even more from comeback mechanics lol

[@coffefighterz9641]

The actual IheartJustice tech is cracking a Joke when the opponent is popping off so he laughs and fails whatever he was doing. Just like Phoenix wright doing a quick funny commentary while he is in a bad situation just to stay calm

[@ctpp64]

i actually did start that as a habit in high stress situations after playing ace attorney lol

[@tikazombie37]

I legit paused before a match to make sure he didn't start with evidence, that's optimal lawyering right there. sub 5 second turnabout

[@tonypaul9481]

"Let me get one more." *gets perfected* LMAO. Great sport this guy is.

[@Neopumper666]

YES!!!!!! iHeartJustice is not only a great player, but an AMAZING person. Seriously I CANNOT stress this enough. I met him in a gathering/tournament prior to the last EVO with UMVC3. In there I approached him to say hi and ask about his team choice and nametag, we ended up chatting for a lot of time about many things and hanging in the parking lot. During evo I thought he had forgotten me since I'm just a random player from mexico not even really competitive but he immediately recognized me and was super friendly. Enough to say I stuck around to cheer on all of his matches. My dude if by chance you still remember a super tall mexican player that you met in that arcade spot in vegas, you're still one of my favorite players! I hope we can coincide again in a tourney or something again. Legit amazing person and wish you the best! Oh yeah I spent some time during Evo disguised as "Luchador con sombrero" if a tall masked dude with a charro sombrero rings a bell xD

[@BennyHarassi]

i wonder if people know why phoenix wright is actually in this game. Capcom held an internet poll for the next character and trolls voted him in because he wasn't a fighting game character, just a lawyer. Capcom delivered and stuck him in the game using lawyer moves

[@phoenixwright784]

Are you sure on that one? I recall reading an article for... the vs title that came out on wii, can't remember what it's called, and according to the article the devs had considered adding Phoenix and Franziska to the game but couldn't figure out how to make the objection bubbles work. Considering this game came out after that one and I'd imagine the devs had figured out how they wanted Wright to work and so added him in.

[@BennyHarassi]

@@phoenixwright784 according to fandom wiki: "In an internet poll of characters fans wanted to see in Marvel vs. Capcom 3, Phoenix Wright placed second, first being Mega Man X, and Strider Hiryu being third. Both Wright and Strider made it to Ultimate as playable characters, while X made it in as a DLC costume for Zero, instead becoming a core playable character in Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite."

[@JMBoote1]

@@BennyHarassi Okay, but how does that relate to trolls voting him in, as opposed to fans? Because as someone who participated in that poll, I can tell you that I didn't notice any signs of people voting him in for the meme, like with Waluigi or anything. People just liked the character, and wanted him in.

[@BennyHarassi]

@@JMBoote1 trolls wanted him in because he wasn't a fighting game character. they just wanted to mess with capcom. I distinctly remember r/kappa organizing a troll vote

[@nintendork9207]

I choose to believe that the troll vote organized on r/kappa was orchestrated by a legit AA fan who genuinely wanted Phoenix in Mahvel. True 5head

[@pixelpastiche]

jmcrofts being an ambassador of fighting games is such a great thing. Legit he has the gameshow, he does these talk-the-talks, he covers history: godlike creator right here.

[@firedaemon33]

In Round 8, Missile saving the day is the #1 most Ace Attorney thing that can happen in this game.

[@panetoneninjacanal2692]

Can you show the time where that happened?

[@Ropalme1914]

@@panetoneninjacanal2692 19:30

[@TheTrashman9]

Doctor Strange, seeker of cosmic truths Captain America, Defender of Justice Phoenix Wright, Defense Attorney who also kinda seeks truth and justice, but mainly is just there because Maya was somehow accused of killing Dr Doom.

[@benjaminoechsli1941]

Oh yeah, "Fantastic Turnabout" was a ridiculous episode. xD

[@sergioescobar1391]

It's crazy to think that there's an entire generation of people that don't know IHeartJustice for his Phoenix Wright gameplay, but instead as one of the guys who does funny voices on Lythero videos.

[@tropicturtle9021]

When I was first discovering lythero content I had no idea who everyone was and didn’t think much on it beyond “some silly internet guys”. I got absolutely smacked when I realized IHJ was one of them.

[@minisquirtle9702]

i love how his main reason for playing Wright in this game wasnt for meta reasons or finding this strat that no one had seen before. He just likes the character. It is so INCREDIBLY refreshing!

[@pacoestevez8780]

"I have a super. It's invincible" this man

[@sa1gon1]

IHeartJustice is so hyped about his team! Love it, he seems like a great guy. I'll always love how IFCYipes calls Phoenix Wright matches. 'Sign the divorce papers!' 'Look at this stack of unpaid parking tickets!' 'This man is guilty, your honor!'

[@TheSkewedReality]

Bro the 17:04 "save your man." I dunno why it hit me so hard but I laughed at seeing Arthur get ko'd immediately got me.

[@orpheos9]

The banter during the matches was so incredibly entertaining.

[@Balthazar228]

So glad you interviewed IHeartJustice! As one of the people who requested this, it felt just too perfect for this series. One neat clarification is that PW’s objection stun varies depending on his mode. In investigation mode, he requires 4 hits of objection for his stun. In trial, he requires 3. In tournabout, he only requires 2 hits.

[@c4dlight185]

“Am I just dead??” -“Nah, ur’re fine…”- Then proceed to get combos to death!! 😂 Golden!!

[@OzymandiasWasRight]

Phoenix is an awesome example of brilliant innovation. For a genre so often criticized for the games being too similiar, Phoenix Wright comes along being super weird and adding so much to the gameplay. Such a cool interview. Great video!

[@midnight4956]

I think growing up playing this game, it took me 4 years, to realize “…hey Phoenix Wright turnabout mode X-factor just deletes people life’s faster than anyone else, other than Dark Phoenix…” that’s when I knew something was crazy about a lawyer in a fighting game.

[@larajamila005]

It's actually very in-character for Phoenix Wright (since that's pretty much his entire game) to be THE comeback character XD

[@fonzworthbentley7455]

"I know that jump Speech Bubble is not an overhead" I never imagined that I'd hear this sentence and understand it

[@bbqueen93]

After all this time, iheartjustice is so entertaining to watch. I could literally watch him ruin people's lives with Pheonix all day. Him and Lythero are so good!! Thank you for this.

[@ccasillas118]

We need more umvc3 vids I’m trying to dive more into the game and am loving it

[@FrackinFfoxglove]

Yknow, I don't know anybody that plays this character is particular, but I would really like to see a video on Amaterasu, I feel like not enough people talk about her

[@SilverSuisei]

I'm not even joking, I picked this game up solely because Phoenix Wright was playable. I was a huge Ace Attorney nerd at the time this and this game improved my ability in fighting games.

[@mellow_flamingo]

Throughout the entire MvsC series I always chose my team based on what characters I think would actually get along. Phoenix & Cap would totally hang behind the scenes

[@CrimsoniteSP]

I actually didn't know IHeartJustice was an actual competitive player. He plays a lot with Lythero and, at least in the videos, he kinda just messes around and goofs. Of course, to make the videos more fun to watch and such, but I guess I never really got to see a full display of his skill.

[@elfpi55-bigB0O85]

IHeartJustice is so good its why Lytheros videos are so edited because most of it is Justice just beating the snot out of everyone else hahahah

[@CrimsoniteSP]

@@elfpi55-bigB0O85 I've seen a few of the unedited streams, but they've mostly moved over to fighting the unfair ai and the entire Lythero team dies constantly. On a note for why Lythero videos are so edited, it's actually because of a mindset. He explained on an editing stream that he watched someone explain engagement on videos. If a viewer is not fully engaged, they're more likely to click off, especially in the beginning. And he just took that to heart.

[@rikibdgd4764]

lythero also used to play mvc3 although it was mostly with uk people so im not sure where he met iheartjustice

[@IHeartJustice]

@@rikibdgd4764 we met at evo actually!

[@rikibdgd4764]

@@IHeartJustice oh ok

[@Snoozie]

Holy shit, that's my phoenix wright mod for the Ryuunosuke suit i was NOT expecting that

[@The_WIll_OF_D99]

PW Turnabout Super is also Zero frames. so you need to block before the flash XD. zero frames are rare in fighting games but when a character has it is scary

[@thecatastrophe132]

Zero frames start up post flash are usually reserved for close range command grabs but some madlad decided “nah fullscreen” At least it’s blockable

[@Babernad]

6:14 “Dude it’s rough” he says as he picks up three good pieces of evidence in a row 💀💀💀

[@infamoushavock]

This was an amazing video, you guys should collab again! Any chance to see IHJ's Phoenix Wright is always a treat!

[@luigiluigix2]

Phoenix wright is just so cool cause you put in the work and get to be a top 5/top 3 character for 8 marvel seconds. it's just great feeling when time stops and the turnabout theme plays.

[@Rosxrio]

this guy sounds EXACTLY like dotodoya

[@fubsysukina5279]

I❤️ seems like a really down to earth person! Great video you two!

[@sakusmith3255]

Love these character specific videos 🔥

[@KleptoFG]

thank you so much for the umvc3 content lately i just started a week ago and love the game

[@itloaf]

dude this guy is so wholesome and fun to listen to -- please bring him back if you can

[@josechamu240]

“The finger is a bigger pipe”. AYOOO?

[@wolfboom2]

Back then when Lythero made Phoenix Wright a god. I will never forget the games he would have with Dante/Deadpool and Joe.

[@neonshadow5005]

There's a few examples across competitive games where a genuine love for the character pushed the player to defy the perceived odds and just make it work.

[@bobbynesss]

15:10 “I cant believe you killed 2 characters without leaving turnabout” Chadjustice proceeds to kill 3

[@cjkmelee]

This video is making this lowly melee player very interested in this fighting game

[@themanoverheaven9711]

IHeartJustice, litterally made me play this man and god i have been loving it.

[@Yous0147]

Phoenix Wright was the reason why I got UMVC3 back in the day.

[@DelphinSquared]

This is a really fun match to watch. Not because Justice is winning but nailing the gimmick character on the head is wildly exciting.

[@thellamalover4real]

Justice was so fun in this video. He was funny and nice, a great player to lose to

[@foxepunz4849]

I love characters that are intentionally weak because they become more powerful after setting up some kind of gimmick or meter

[@Giraffinator]

No one hearts justice more than this guy, that's for sure

[@59hawks]

I remember seeing Iheartjustice and Lythero's marvel phoenix wright youtube video's. I never was disappointed seeing them play

[@Vision7550]

Man this is a really awesome video!! IHeartJustice is such a cool player, this was a ton of fun to watch.

[@whatcookgoodlook]

Thanks for the quality UMVC3 content ❤

[@BiggestChungus21]

Had to hit the "pause l" when he started talking about Hagar's pipe and Phoenix having the bigger pipe

[@requiom3361]

Mr. HeDontMiss himself getting the spotlight LFG

[@ShindoKagiri]

Realistically character tiers don't matter, all depends on how you fight with those characters. People now tend to take the weakest characters and still manage to make them broken

[@press8704]

unironically ihj just lied to everybody about an unblockable setup that wasn’t actually unblockable for 7 years

[@kevinhudson9190]

The only thing you forgot is that Phoenix Wright always has a cold

[@BlueEyes274]

Ah Javi X3 He's honestly really good

[@YoTerrako]

IHeartJustice is so funny and with the you need one more made me laugh so loud

[@nintenx1235]

"In team fighters there is no 'bottom tier' just point characters" -sun tzu

[@ScoopsMayCry]

IHeartJustice is so sick wtf lmao

[@IHeartJustice]

kind words ty!

[@wolfwaffle10]

Hell yeah IHeartJustice be always hittin the gritty on them bois wit phoenix wright

[@PaigeBTA42069]

i dont think iheartjustice even brought out doctor strange once. damn

[@keiyousu7454]

Attacking Maya counts as an actual hit, so Frank West can use his camera on her to beef up his own mechanic. The Objection applies dizzy (on block and hit) based on which stance PW is in. It takes 4 Hold Its in Investigation mode, 3 Hold Its in Trial mode and 2 Objections in Turnabout mode (excluding the Objection that triggers Turnabout). The effect will stack on block, but the opponent will dizzy only when hit. When using PW's Order In The Court super, all bad evidence will be removed from his slots and he returns to Investigation mode.

[@toulouse4209]

This doesn’t have to do with the video but I was really hoping Phoenix Wright came to smash ultimate he’s just so cool and fitting

[@deafmelonex6983]

Absolutely sick nasty display from the both of youse! I love watching a unorthodox team in this game, and Justice knows how to bring the hype!

[@demondrereed3367]

Absolutely nobody: Phoenix Wright:" I HAVE EVIDENCEEEEEEE, YOU DID ITTTTTTT"🤣

[@Sard_Onyx]

This was a really fun video. Great stuff.

[@SageRuffin]

Javi shops at Ross. FChamp shops at Savers. Probably. Edit: Hey, jmcrofts, that blow-up at the end probably wouldn't have happened if you shopped at Ross.

[@PSIDoubleFlash]

[@springyplush9269]

Don’t know how many people have requested him, but I know he’s appeared on the channel before. Why he’s not much of a competitive player in the scene. He’s definitely a big name and influence to many. I think you should have Maximillian Dood on next!

[@dracocrusher]

I wonder how much synergy this team would have with Doom? You send out the Dr. Strange orb, get them blocking, sent out Doom's Hidden Missiles, the assist tracks, they're forced to block even longer as you get the final piece of evidence? Might not work that cleanly, but it feels like it'd be worth a try.

[@LordBaktor]

This guy sounds like a less hyperactive version of DotoDoya, which is nice because I always feel like asking Doto to chill a little.

[@dariogalvan3207]

I love IHeartJustice commentary while he's playing, he' so charming lmao

[@TsuikeNovaus]

That was 9 matches in 10 mins, wow.

[@feyntmistral1110]

jmcrofts using the Madcatz controller because he was thinking fighting Phoenix Wright was going to be simple. I've seen gameplay, I know the norm, this was the only explanation.

[@KTGaming_89]

Im just amazed UMVC3 has this much depth to where people are still finding out characters that were supposedly bad can be really good. We need a Hsien-Ko specialist

[@scottbradley379]

My man iheartjustice, he's such a great guy

[@volzepi]

The first Phoenix wright playing I watched a lot was Lythero. I believe IHeartJustice and Lythero are friends and play Fighters Z together often

[@Mintininja_SSB]

The only thing I know about UMVC3 is that phoenix is in it and no matter what I will only play him :)

[@D1gi4rs]

jmcrofts: Iheartjustice, the only Phoenix Wright player Lythero: *say sike right now*

[@imnotgay_butineedthemoney]

Love the commentary. 💕

[@JTF374]

...he got his experience from Lythero, and there's no other way to look at it when you see how much time he colabs with him in the Lobby Shenanigans series

[@michaelpowell3204]

Javi is a treasure

[@PomadaGaming]

true,even though he isn’t by any shape. Turnabout mode tho yeah top 3 character. I heart pretty cool

[@YouGuessIGuess]

What a fun character. I really enjoyed the rundown and these matches.

[@kirbyfreakyt4695]

IHJ *ALWAYS* plays low tier meme characters well. Have you SEEN their Videl in DBFZ?

[@Zethios]

Always good to see Javi getting the recognition he deserves