Riddles’ frustration has polarized the Smash Ultimate community after he showed his frustration from losing to Leon by smashing up his controller.
Riddles is one of the best Smash Bros. Ultimate players in the world and has been showing up a lot of good results in the recent tournaments he’s been in. His most recent major win was at Big House 10, which featured fierce competition like Light, Onin, Tweek, and MuteAce. Due to this, Riddles is one of the favorites to take the GENESIS title—one of the most prestigious tournaments in Smash. Some even dubbed it the Super Bowl of Smash.
But not only did that not happen, he also didn’t even reach the top eight of the tournament and was bowled out at 33rd, being eliminated by a Frenchman named Leon who wasn’t even seeded.
After being eliminated this early, Riddles released his anger by spiking his controller about a minute after losing the high-stakes Smash match. He then got up, picked up his bag and headphones, and left the venue. Shortly after, he deactivated his Twitter account, which has since been re-activated as of publication.
He was still very respectful toward his opponent and no one was hurt during the controller spike. Regardless, the move drew flak, with many calling it “unprofessional.”
Some of the hate is from people who have associated Riddles with Kazuya. Characters in Smash are rated by the community to either be lame or cool. While Kazuya might be a cool character in lore, in Smash, he’s considered “lame” because he has a touch-of-death combo, which means if you get hit once by his signature move, Electric Wind God Fist, you’re probably going to lose your stock or lose the game.
However, not everyone is hating on him. Some fighting game legends, including Justin Wong and Punk, weighed in on the conversation. Their main message was to remind people that pros still have emotions and losing early at any event really stings.
Justin Wong put it relatively bluntly too: It’s okay for people to get mad, especially when this is their main source of income.
Other Smash pros were behind Riddles on the rising controversy too. They sympathized with his explosive reaction because they also felt the same way when losing in a tournament where the stakes are really high.
Other fans were also calling out the people who watched Salty Smash moments on YouTube and laughed at it but when Riddles does it, it’s something else entirely.
The issue has mostly been resolved, with people backing Riddles, including other fighting game players not in the Smash community. Riddles re-activated his Twitter account and posted a picture of him and Armada, which received a warm welcome from supporters.
