There are four ultimate truths in this world: death, taxes, trans rights and SonicFox wins Netherrealm esports championships. That final entry held strong once again on Sunday as Dominique “SonicFox” McLean spun up a dominating comeback from loser’s bracket to take home the Mortal Kombat 11 Pro Kompetition crown at Final Kombat 2020.

Their win comes only days after formally announcing their departure from team Echo Fox, becoming possibly the hottest free agent in esports currently.

The tournament itself, pitting the top 16 MK 11 players in the world against one another, played out as expected, with three of the top four qualifiers (SonicFox, Ryan “Dragon” Walker and Jarrad “Ninjakilla_212” Gooden) making up the final four. Seventh-seed Julien “Deoxys” Gorena rounded out the quartet.

Getting to the final four proved chaotic in multiple ways, however. The tournament itself, which was expected to draw a huge crowd to the Park West Theater in Chicago, was played to an audience of a small few, after MK 11 developers Netherrealm Studios decided to bar the public from attending the event due to concerns over the coronavirus. The championship played out with the event crew cheering on the competitors, a far cry from the raucous atmosphere of which top esports players, especially SonicFox, feed.

That didn’t stop the non-binary Evo champion from dominating early, wiping out their first three opponents before hitting a stifling brick wall in the form of Ninjakilla in winner’s finals. SonicFox’s budding rivalry with the rookie was the talk of the back leg of the MK 11 Pro Kompetition after finishing second to Ninjakilla at DreamHack Montreal and Northeast Championships last fall.

The loss set up a loser’s finals matchup with Dragon, SonicFox’s friend and opponent in numerous self-dubbed “all gay finals” throughout the MK 11 season. Dragon, who was also sent to loser’s by Ninjakilla, was unable to claim the decisive victory that eluded him for most of the season, resulting in another climactic battle between the dominant veteran and the upstart rookie.

SonicFox’s close loss to Ninjakilla in winner’s finals seemed far from their mind as they came out of the block with strategic play, mixing up combo timings and countering Ninjakilla’s zone attack masterfully. They reset the bracket with a 3-1 win and captured the championship, and Shao Khan-sized sledgehammer trophy, with another 3-1 victory.

SonicFox celebrated their championship as expected: draping themselves in the trans flag, donning full fursuit and asking everyone watching to “Vote Bernie.”

They also took to Twitter to highlight Ninjakilla’s performance and express their anticipation for the duo’s next meeting. “I wish to meet again on the battlefield sometime soon! I know you’ll come back hungrier than ever. It was an honor,” SonicFox exclaimed.

We can’t wait either, but, for now, congratulations to SonicFox as they wield Shao Khan’s hammer and give new meaning to the title “ruler of Outworld.”

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