Smash Ultimate pros demand Steve ban after 15-year-old Acola wins major

The Super Smash Bros Ultimate scene has been thrown into a panic after a 15-year-old prodigy from Japan managed to win his first-ever major in North America by only playing Steve.

Acola stunned the Smash world on Sunday by winning the ‘Gimvitational’ upsetting experienced pros such as Moist Esports Paris ‘Light’ Ramirez and Team Liquid’s Michael ‘Riddles’ Kim with his Steve.

It shouldn’t be too much of a shock, however, as Acola has dominated Smash in Japan never finishing below second in seven events so far, including a victory in Kagaribi #7 to qualify for the Gimvitational.

Nonetheless, with Acola’s Steve play edging out some of North America’s best, calls for the controversial Minecraft fighter to be banned have been exasperated.

Smash pros demand tournaments ban Steve

Following Acola’s historic win, players and fans began calling for Steve to be banned. But why? As explained by Sword_Jair on Twitter, his heavily favored mixups create what some argue is an unfair matchup.

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“Acola figured out Steve perfectly. He just repeatedly sets up heavily favored mixups with block wall/minecart/anvil the whole game where you barely get anything for guessing right and take 90 for guessing wrong,” he said, adding that there is no way to circumvent this.

Meanwhile, Smash pros Light, Cosmos and Marss began tweeting the hashtag “BanSteve.” The Fox main further stated, “we need to deal with Steve.”

Not everyone called for bans, however. Top player Leonardo ‘MkLeo’ López commented how the community should “learn how to fight Steve,” while admitting that the fighter has some issues due to how he functions.

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“He just doesn’t play the same game, but we are still playing the same game, so I don’t wanna talk about banning yet. I don’t think it should be necessary. Let’s see what happens,” he said.

Even Melee God Juan ‘Hungrybox’ Debiedma, who has been a big supporter of Acola, admitted that Steve is the “best character” while still commending the Japanese upstart for his ability to use the fighter.

It will be interesting to see how the community ends up dealing with Steve and if these recent results are enough to warrant action of some sort.

With Nintendo unlikely to further patch the game, it may be up to the scene at large to figure out a compromise with the Minecraft fighter.