Minecraft Steve is known for breaking things. He breaks blocks in his minecraft. broke the internet When he was announced in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and now, the character has thrown the Smash Bros. Ultimate competitive scene off balance.
Steve (along with alternate costumes for Alex, Enderman and Zombie) joined the Smash Ultimate roster in October 2020 and was immediately recognized as one of the games. The most mechanically complex fighterMinecraft’s crew soared to the top of Ultimate’s tier list, with the competitive community generally viewing fighters as the best in the game.
Steve’s unique playstyle basically forced his opponents to play Smash Bros. in a completely new way. While taking his block-building mechanics into account, he had to balance dozens of other minds in his game and considerations already on the table during Smash his Brothers battle. Talk of banning the character has been bubbling for a while due to his massive damage and reigning stage control, but the conversation has changed with a brand new discovery that makes Steve an even more formidable foe.
Recently, Smash players discovered a new potentially game-breaking technique inside Steve’s kit. Dozens of competitive smash events to ban charactersSheen has not agreed in any way with the final community-wide decision regarding Steve’s future in competitive play, but Steve Maine, who has spent countless hours with the character, knows what’s next. I am worried about
“It’s definitely nerve-wracking and stressful to hear about Steve’s ban,” said Kevin “Rockman” B., SoCal region’s Alex Main who has been active in the Smash scene for the past five years. of people worry that the time and effort they put into their character will be wasted, and those who do coaching or have YouTube channels based on their characters [they might] A lot of people feel they have to leave the game because they don’t have a character that resonates with them like Steve. “
“Phantom MLG”: A new technique that changes Smash Bros.
So what is this game-breaking technique? The Smash community calls it the Phantom MLG, which allows Steve players to instantly cancel the hitstuns of many attacks, thus punishing opponent combos. increase.
Simply put, Steve can ignore one of Smash’s most basic concepts with this input. Normally, when a Smash character is hit, it will get knockback, making him more susceptible to attacks and unable to defend against enemy attacks. Phantom With his MLG, Steve can completely prevent knockbacks and instantly retaliate with his own combos. Phantom MLG is currently only possible with Steve, and if this technique is used properly, Steve and the rest of his Minecraft crew can gain a huge advantage over other rosters in his Ultimate.
This move is essentially a complete game changer as it punishes opponents for even trying to hit Steve with low percentages.If you want to see what the Phantom MLG looks like in action, check out the video below. please.
Ever seen Steve hitstun cancel a clip?
Did you hope they were fake?Sorry for bursting the bubble!
Introducing the Phantom MLG: pic.twitter.com/OJ2GIM5Env
—XCido (@XCidoClipDump) February 25, 2023
An unbalanced character has the potential to be devastating to the fighting game community. This is a familiar concept in smash scenes. Meta Knight in Super Smash Bros. Brawl was notoriously overpowering. Broad ban on characters.
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U’s Bayonetta had major problems towards the end of her competitive career. Bayonetta was never banned from the game despite being clearly better than the rest of the roster. The fans left the audience all at once Before the Bayonetta vs Bayonetta Grand Finals begin. Character banning is a situation that the community does not take lightly.
“Banning a character always makes it unfair in some way,” said Eric “ESAM” Liu, a high-ranked Smash Ultimate Pikachu main. Was a member of the Universal Ruleset Committee voted to ban Meta Knight knowing most of the community was playing that character and also banning a character is really bad for people If all the main players quit when Steve got banned, I don’t know if that’s more than those who quit.If that makes sense, of Steve.”
One tournament organizer, who requested anonymity, believes the community-wide ban on Steve is justified. are still considering all options.
“
“An unbalanced character causes a lot of frustration for other players because it can make them feel unfairly beaten,” said Ultimate Player, who has been competing since 2015. Sam “SBF” Brooks-Franklin said.New Steve tech allows players to exploit exploits that other characters can’t access.As a result, it’s a very unhealthy mechanic.This is why Steve is widely considered to be the best character in the game. Because it was discussed to be banned — and now he’s been given additional tools to make his character even stronger [more] More polarizing than he already is. “
Some think Steve should be banned outright, but some Steve Maines are trying to save the character by suggesting banning the Phantom MLG tech itself instead of the character as a whole.
“The compromise of ‘banning glitches, not characters’ comes with its own set of complications because it’s very hard to monitor,” Megaman said. And ultimately it’s up to the Smash Ultimate tournament organizers what they want to do with Steve.”
These complications include the impracticality of reviewing long matches to see if Steve used the technique, and players’ reluctance to report moves when there is uncertainty. increase.
I honestly think Steve’s ban is a step forward. The current “validation rules” may be valid, but the TO doesn’t have time to check what could be a game of up to 7 minutes.
Given how inconsistent the multihit is anyway, I feel like I might not report it if I’m not sure
— PXL | SBF (@imSBF) February 28, 2023
The concept of banning only technology, not characters, will be implemented within the next week. Collision 2023 is the next major Smash event scheduled from March 10th to March 12th. The tournament host spoke to FinalRJ about how Steve will be dealt with at next week’s event in light of this week’s debate. Collision has banned him from using Phantom MLG technology, but has not banned Steve from attending events.
“I think Steve is, without a doubt, the best character in the game,” said FinallyRJ. “But with that being said, being the best doesn’t mean deleting. I try to take a non-destructive approach first. Removing characters from play means time to learn.” I believe it is a disruptive choice for those who have spent the ins and outs… [Phantom MLG] Techniques can be managed within the event settings. I believe we have enough staff to test this theory. “
If an opponent believes that Steve player has illegally used Phantom MLG technology during a collision match, the player must save a replay of the battle and submit it to the Tournament Moderators for review. If it works, this could be a path forward for larger events, but smaller events with smaller crews can struggle to review individual matches in a timely manner.
Players remain unsure about bans
Still, Ultimate is a more balanced game than the Wii U smashes that came before it. Steve has long been considered a top-notch character, but he doesn’t dominate tournaments as much as Bayonetta did at the time.
“At this point, I think it’s hard to tell if Steve should be banned for this tech.” Also, we haven’t had any major tournaments where Steve players have exploited this mechanic to win, although new rules at larger tournaments actually prevent us from using the technology.”
RockMan and a handful of other Steve mains are trying to go straight to their source, Nintendo. The player has contacted the Smash publisher through the company’s support line in hopes of receiving one final patch specifically for this glitch.
This is one of the recent chats one of our members had with Nintendo Support.
Let Nintendo do something if more people manage to send in reports
Better to try than to do nothing
It will take 10-15 minutes to complete the reporthttps://t.co/lwzgMweoAo https://t.co/5GW1BFsPAn pic.twitter.com/2vS85lavYp
— BLZ | Many (@ManyManit4s) March 1, 2023
But Smash Ultimate is that The final combat balance update for 2021, the fix for this issue seems like a long shot. However, Nintendo’s statement at the time of the final patch stated, “Other than addressing the issue, this is the last update related to game balance adjustments,” so Nintendo hopes to resolve this issue with Steve. A problem worth solving. If the issue is not resolved, Steve seems likely to break the hearts of those who have spent so much time competing with the character.
“With more experimentation, we can see if the glitch doesn’t seem to have as much impact as it once did, or tournament organizers can monitor if this happens in tournaments and find ways to make appropriate adjustments. I hope so,” said RockMan. “But I and many others are ready to change the character we play or drop out of the competitive scene entirely.”
Some of these interviews have been edited for clarity.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN.
