15-Year-Old Smash Prodigy Causes Mass Uproar Over Minecraft Steve
A 15-year-old Super Smash Bros. prodigy has already made a name for himself as one of the most tantalising young prospects in the game by unseating Japanese veterans in regional tournaments, but now he's kicked up a right fuss in the community by stunning fans with a Major-winning performance on Steve.
The rising star named "acola" was recently hailed as the "next god of Ultimate" by esports royalty Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma, who himself is one of the five "gods" of Smash Bros.
Making waves though winning his first four offline events in one of the most competitive regions in the world, acola has now made an almighty splash after winning his first international major: 'Gimvitational'.
acola Stuns Smash Bros Scene With First International Win
Having presumably booked time off school to be able to compete in the North American event, acola joined a wealth of talent from the United States and other countries such as Mexico and Canada, in his first-ever offline international event.
Facing off against some of Smash Bros. most esteemed players, acola stunned the world by beating Moist Esports star Paris "Light" Ramirez and Team Liquid’s Michael "Riddles" Kim to take home the lion's share of the $35,000 prize pool.
The 15-year-old used only Steve in his run to glory, despite being familiar with characters such as Kazuya, leaving the community to call for some huge changes to the Minecraft box-head.
Smash Community Want Steve Banned From Tournaments Following Acola's Win
Having seen acola obliterate the competition with Steve, players have now called for the pixel-person to be banned. The hashtag 'BanSteve' began to circulate on Twitter, while others began to break down why he's so overpowered.
"Acola figured out Steve perfectly. He just repeatedly sets up heavily favoured mixups with block wall/minecart/anvil the whole game where you barely get anything for guessing right and take 90 for guessing wrong," said one personality on Twitter.
"It looks like there's basically no way to circumvent him setting up this mixup if you're decently far away from him because once there's a single block on the ground you can't rush down/interrupt steve," they added.
Hungrybox offered a slightly different angle though, claiming acola's skill was why he won, not just the use of the overpowered Steve.
A similar sentiment was shared by fellow pro player Leonardo "MkLeo" López who called on players to learn how to play against Steve rather than moan about him.
As MkLeo implies, Nintendo aren't quite like other esports developers that chop and change the meta willy-nilly, meaning it might be time players get to grip with his pickaxe once and for all.
Even though the community might be in uproar, it won't take away from acola's victory, as he's certainly set to become one of the greats in the future.
