Micro-controversy About 'Smash' Player Riddles Throwing Controller In Frustration Reaches New Levels Of Absurd After He Leaks Kotaku Reporter's Questions

The Super Smash Brothers competitive community is notorious for taking things way too seriously, and prone to generating controversy from seemingly inoffensive moments and statements.

This is why when a round of capital-D Discourse began to brew over top Kazuya player Riddles spiking his controller in frustration over getting upset early at Genesis 9 two weekends ago, many in the Smash community were eager to move on before the discourse got out of hand.

Some brief background: Genesis 9 is one of the biggest annual Super Smash Brothers events of the year, and Riddles (widely considered one of the best players in the world) was expected to approach a Top 8 finish. However, Riddles lost to French swordie enthusiast Leon and was ousted from the tournament well before reaching the Top 8. After a pause, he spiked his controller on the ground, obviously very frustrated at not reaching his goal.

This led to some opinions, as controller spikes are frowned upon by some in the community. Riddles also plays Kazuya, a character many in the community despise for his ability to 0-to-death opponents relatively easily.

These factors led some to claim he didn't deserve to visibly show his frustration in that manner, though his opponent, Leon, said Riddles did respectfully give him a fist bump after the set. Many other top players came to Riddles' defense and said he had a regular human reaction to being frustrated, and that his spike, while maybe not justifiable, was certainly understandable, and suggested people just move on.

Why r people so invested in a riddles controller spike
There's gotta be something more important in ur pathetic lives than writing paragraphs about a dude showing frustration in competition

— ­zomba (@SalvatoreZomba) January 22, 2023

It appeared the micro-controversy would die down until Kotaku posted an article about the discourse. Their piece covers both sides of the argument, though it does contain some factual errors (for example, it calls top player MKLeo a "Marth main," though MKLeo hasn't primarily used Marth ever in Super Smash Brothers Ultimate).

Ultimately the piece seems to agree that it's fine for Riddles to show frustration so long as he doesn't take it out on his opponent, but it seems only to have added fuel to the "controversy," much to Riddles' frustration.

one final fuck u tho @Kotaku

— Liquid | Riddles (@RiddlesMK) January 27, 2023

In the Kotaku piece, the author mentions he'd reached out to Riddles for comment, but Riddles had not responded. Last night, Riddles showed how the reporter had "reached out," adding another layer of absurdity to this entire micro-drama.

CHECKED MY DISCORD DMS pic.twitter.com/3s24eDpblo

— Liquid | Riddles (@RiddlesMK) February 1, 2023

The questions posed by the Kotaku reporter struck many as inane and potentially hostile. Some thought questions like, "Why did you throw your controller?," "What were you feeling in that moment?" and "Did you anticipate losing to Leon?" had very obvious answers, while the question, "Do you have any idea why folks dislike you?" was perceived as a bizarre attempt at getting Riddles to say something inflammatory.

There is no way this person thought this was a good idea https://t.co/ulro4N0GrA

— T1 | MkLeo (@Mkleosb) February 2, 2023

Crazy how unprofessional how Riddles was approached here lol.

Also saying “any comment you’re willing to give will be tossed into a blog” is very disrespectful LMAO.

Reporter obviously just wanted the drama and didnt care about getting to the root of any story https://t.co/zYdo8BQ8Bh

— Chris Okamura (@KidLiquid) February 2, 2023

"do you have any idea why folks dislike you" i think i'd kill myself https://t.co/KkC7Lu0B6u

— #1 BIG SWIFTIE (@elite4vivian) February 2, 2023

Hopefully, this is the final chapter in a story about a video game player getting mad at a game that has somehow lasted for 10 days, but considering the scene and the players involved, that isn't guaranteed.