Tennessee bans controversial Smash Bros. Melee gaming technique “wobbling”

Super Smash Bros. Melee Ice Climbers mains will have to find a new strategy because of the recent  ever-expanding state ban of the broken “wobbling†tactic that started in Tennessee and other four states last week.

Different gamers expressed their excitement for the ban and said it will make it an even playing field for regular gamers.

“The ban is fair,†said Lennox Woodard, a University of Memphis exercise science major. “It breaks the game. It is not fair to players that don’t use the technique.â€

The move “wobbling†slows down Melee matches by locking players into an infinite string of attacks. It was created in Japan in the mid-2000s but gained major notoriety when American tournament competitor Robert “Wobbles†Wright used the technique to place ninth at a 2006 tournament. 

Super Smash Bros. Melee  was released on the GameCube on Nov 21, 2001 as a sequel to the popular Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 and went on to become the console’s best selling game.

Woodard said the game ban will lead to competitive players being discouraged from choosing the Ice Climbers the only characters that can wobble. 

“I think that a lot of people aren’t going to remain Ice Climbers anymore,†Woodard said. “Because they know that’s one technique that they’ll for sure win if they use it. But since it’s banned now, they obviously can’t use it, so they’re not going to use those characters.â€

Sophomore English major Thomas Shane said as a spectator who watches top-level Melee said the ban is “fair.â€

“I’m kind of mixed against it,†Shane said. “On one hand, it’s an infinite grab. If they basically grab you, no matter how many times you hit them or whatever, you’re basically dead.â€

Shane said it is “cheap†tactic because it is a broken game mechanic. As long as the player repeatedly uses the technique their opponent can’t do anything about it.

“On the other hand, it is kind of the only tool the Ice Climbers have,†Shane said. “They have other tools like hand-offs and re-grabs that can accomplish kind of the same thing, but wobbling is the strongest thing, that they have.  But it’s broken, so I understand why it got banned.â€

Shane and Woodard both agreed banning “wobbling†would discourage players from using the infamous Melee duo.

“People that rely on it would probably drop the character,†Shane said. “Because that’s the only reason they get high results because of wobbling.â€

Shane said expert players that popularized the broken technique would look towards other strategies, but overall, the players who got wins will forget them all together.

Shane said the ban would not affect the future of the gaming sequels because the ability to wobble was removed from subsequent games.

“I don’t think this would affect any of the other games,†Shane said. “Because Ice Climbers in the newest release of Ultimate for Switch don’t have any of the broken tactics they have in Melee. The only effect you’ll see is less Ice Climbers in Melee.â€