Onin harassed for winning Super Smash Con 2022 with Steve
Angel “Onin” Mireles just won the Super Smash Con 2022 Ultimate Singles at just 16 years old.
Smash Con concluded after four days of vendors, friendlies, and tournaments with the Ultimate Top 8. The Main Stage area was packed with Smash fans cheering on the top Ultimate players from around the world.
On one side was Enrique “Maister” Solis from Mexico, the best Mr. Game & Watch player in the world. After losing to Onin in the Winners Final, Maister dropped to the Losers Finals to take on Paris “Light” Garcia for a spot in the Grand Finals. The match was largely one sided and it seemed like Maister was on fire with his beloved main.
On the other side was Onin, who worked his way through the Winners side with Steve to get to the Grand Finals, including beating Maister in Losers Finals. Then the two met again, where Maister would have to win the first game to reset the match and then win once more to take hte title. It seemed like a pretty tall order against someone who had seemed to easily beat him earlier in the night.
The crowd started off largely on Onin’s side. Mr. Game & Watch is not a favored character in the competitive world and many find his strategy quite repetitive. But then Maister came out with Sora and the crowd went wild. Fans screamed “thunder,” “fire,” and “ice” every time Sora used his neutral B, Magic. Unfortunately, Maister kept messing up on the recovery, allowing Onin and easy first win.
Maister came back with Mr. Game & Watch but the crowd was still behind him. For the first time in the entire tournament, the crowd started cheering his name. It was clear that the Smash community didn’t want Steve to win the tournament. The character is seen as a bit OP and has been controversial for months now. But Onin won this game as well.
Maister went Sora again at this point and had a very strong showing. He finally got a win and things were looking up. Confetti even went off, dramatically coating the stage and falling all over Maister and Onin mid-match. Both looked amused but some fans in the crowd found it to be in poor taste, believing that the TOs were even rooting against Steve. But it later came out that the confetti was an accident.
The next game Maister looked strong once again and the match was close. But Onin was on fire. His playstyle with Steve is incredibly calculated, similar to Tea on Pac-Man. Every block he puts out and every move he does is purposeful. He had great map control throughout, not allowing Maister to get to him without a struggle. In the end, Onin hit him with a gold sword for the win.
Smash community reacts negatively to Steve winning Super Smash Con 2022
More confetti came out but not everyone in the community was happy with the results. Sora was the clear favorite character, most likely due to this being the only time Sora has won in a grand final match.
Sora Winrate for Top 8 of Super Smash Con 2022!
1-2 (33%)— Sora Stats (Unemployed) (@SoraStats) August 15, 2022
“Really happy to see improvement,” Maister said after the tournament, “but I feel I could’ve won this event, so; not satisfied. Playing this as a free agent is tough.”
2nd at Super Smash Con. Really happy to see improvement, but I feel I could’ve won this event, so not satisfied.
Playing this as a Free Agent is tough, I know there must be an org out there, all I need is a chance. DM Me if interested.
Also…SORA FINALLY DID IT LETS GOOOO pic.twitter.com/ONjvJpWlGs
— LG | Maister (@Maister_SSB) August 15, 2022
On the winners side, Onin has been getting first in every event he enters ever since he started to main Steve, including here at Smash Con. Onin even beat Leonardo “MkLeo” Perez earlier in the event, the best Ultimate player in the world. Clearly, he was on quite a roll.
Onin was playing R.O.B. during quarantine but lost to Steve at a local and then online during a Coinbox tournament. He then decided to play Steve because he was “blocky, funny and he seemed pretty good.” He mostly played online due to a lack of competition in his region. The practice clearly paid off.
“My mom is going to be so happy,” Onin said in an interview after the tournament.
Unfortunately, some people in the Smash community had the opposite feelings about his win. A lot of harassment and negativity was already coming Onin’s way online, with many people expressing that Steve is OP and should even be banned. Ever since Steve was released as DLC, the Smash community has been discussing his campy playstyle among other frustrating qualities.
https://twitter.com/BanStevePLEASE/status/1558964853280210948?s=20&t=dvvNLKLtSKLrtP94nxjIcg
Prominent members of the Smash community have started speaking out against the harassment, reminding players that Onin is just 16. While hating Steve is valid, nobody wanted the hate to be targeted at Onin himself.
All jokes aside:
Steve is busted, and Onin is good, and he was the guy to do it.
However – he’s going to receive more hate / nasty DMs then he ever has because of the nature of the community.
Be part of something better and please don’t dogpile a teenager for playing Steve.
— hungrybox (@LiquidHbox) August 15, 2022
Many people responded that Onin is an amazing player regardless of who he plays as. While Steve is definitely OP, Onin’s way of playing the Minecraft character is definitely calculated and entertaining. The crowd couldn’t help but be in awe of many of Onin’s plays regardless of their feelings about the character himself.
Still, the Smash community at large is hoping to see less of Steve at future majors leading up to the Smash World Tour.
