‘Super Smash Bros. Ultimate’ Player Loses Tournament Match Because of a Hug

A competitive Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player nearly turned a match around to win but ended up losing because another player hugged him at the worst possible moment.

The player by the name of Plastic Poptart was competing against SevereCalamari during a close match in the DAT BlastZone 28 Grand Finals when the ill-timed hug cost him a match. Controlling Lucina against his opponent’s Wolf, Plastic Poptart was down to one stock against SevereCalamari’s two when he evened things out with a quick back air and forward smash to send Wolf flying. It was at that moment that another competitive player, Kibzu, hopped up from the crowd to give Plastic Poptart an enthusiastic hug. The player had already jumped to the left of the stage, and the embrace caused him to send Lucina plummeting straight downward in a quick sequence of events that removed his final stock.

The Twitch clip above cuts off after the hug happens, but not before the announcers for the match voiced their disbelief that Plastic Poptart lost because he got outplayed by a hug. It’s an unprecedented outcome to say the least, and in the full video seen at the top, the announcers criticized Kibzu for his unrestrained enthusiasm that cost Plastic Poptart the match.

SevereCalamari was a good sport about the whole situation though and called for a replay of the final stock. When the botched match ended, neither of the players had done any damage to each other, so starting over again at one stock each with 0 percent damage on both Lucina and Wolf was easy enough and provided the best way to replay the final stock. The replay didn’t last long though with Plastic Poptart finishing off his opponent in less than 30 seconds once the actual fighting started.

Kibzu, the player who hugged Plastic Poptart and caused the situation, apologized on Twitter to everyone involved and took full responsibility for the incident. The player said he thought that Plastic Poptart had won the match after knocking Wolf off the stage.

More clips and videos from DAT Team’s Twitch page including full tournament broadcasts can be seen here.