Nintendo Won't Let Smash Tournaments Ban Steve
Steve has continued to be a controversial character in the competitive Smash world, with a lot of tournaments even banning the DLC fighter. Apparently, however, Nintendo is not on board with banning Steve.
Ever since Steve was added to the game, the Minecraft icon has been frustrating to deal with. Even pros have expressed anger at competing against Steve in tournaments. At first this was just his obnoxious gameplay but it soon became clear that there were some legitimate concerns after pros discovered a glitch that lets him escape combos and cancel hitstun.
Due to these ongoing complaints and concerns, Steve ended up being banned at various tournaments, both online and LAN. He is notoriously banned three times out of four tournaments a month at CoinBox, an ongoing online Ultimate tournament series hosted by Juan "Hungrybox" DeBiedma.
The Jigglypuff pro recently admitted, however, that Nintendo is not in support of this. Shocker.
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Nintendo Won't Allow Tournaments to Ban Steve
Hungrybox recently appeared on the Lights Out podcast hosted by Philip "EE" Steward, a commentator in the Smash community. During his segment, the Melee God revealed that Nintendo ruled earlier in the week that a licensed tournament in Germany couldn't ban Steve.
This German tournament is the NRW Cup: Rise of Germany, which will take place in April. Apparently, it's licensed through Nintendo so you can expect Steve to wreak havoc on the brackets.
Hungrybox went on to say that he believes Steve won't be banned at any tournaments in the near future if Nintendo continues to have its way.
"I've seen the writing on the wall. We're not gonna have it this good ever again," Hungrybox said, urging fans to keep supporting CoinBox.
For now, Steve remains banned in most CoinBox tournaments. This has, however, let some Sonic players run amuck and fans aren't too happy with that either. Steve may rejoin CoinBox at a regular basis soon, though, if Nintendo wants to keep pushing its own rules on the once grassroots Smash esports scene.
Nintendo is notorious for its oppressive behavior in regards to Smash esports. Nintendo's refusal to fix its netcode resulted in Smash being removed from the iconic EVO fighting game tournament series. Nintendo also recently placed a lot of restrictions on remaining tournaments, significantly reducing prize pools and concerning pros and tournament organizers alike.
Allowing Steve into tournaments won't be Nintendo's worst offense but it's just one of many intrusive decisions that has left the Smash community frustrated and concerned for the esports' future.
Olivia is a long-time esports journalist and editor who covers just about every game but has a deep love for the FGC. Her goal is to find community-driven stories that bring a new perspective to the esports scene. In the past, she has worked for Team Liquid, Rogue, Inven Global, Dot Esports, Upcomer, and more. Outside of esports, Olivia enjoys Kirby, Pokemon TCG, Fallout, and writing science fiction. She can be found trying out new foods, traveling, or hanging out with her two orange cats. Fun fact: Olivia can do some video game and cartoon impressions!