At a local tournament in Florida where Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was played, a 16-year-old was coached by ChatGPT. In the final decisive match of the best-of-3, he won against his opponent.
What question did the 16-year-old ask ChatGPT? The 1v1 tournament of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate “Summer at the Skypad #6” (start.gg) took place from June 24-25, 2025, in Florida. During a break between Game 2 and 3 in the series of 16-year-old Zorrin against the Smash player Lucida, Zorrin asked the simple question: “I have 3 stage bans in SSBU. I play Corrin against Robin, which stages do I ban?”
ChatGPT gave him a quick response and recommended Zorrin to ban the “Kalos Pokémon League” and the two Animal Crossing stages “Town and City” as well as “Smashville”. In a post on X, he showed the conversation between him and his coach ChatGPT (X.com). The last match of the series went to 16-year-old Zorrin, leaving his opponent in disbelief.
How did Lucida react to this support? Lucida took the loss pretty well and posted a post on her X account:
I lost tonight at my local tournament against a 16-year-old who asked ChatGPT for matchup tips after the second game. I just can’t keep up with these zoomers anymore…
An response from her to this X post provided some clarity, stating that it was very funny for a free local tournament, but the future should consider whether such an approach should be allowed or not. The current rule of the Smash scene prohibits coaching between matches.
In the video, you see the trailer for Super Smash Bros. Ultimate:
ChatGPT as an Advantage in Competitive Play
How helpful is AI in competitive tournaments? The website Dexerto asked an expert for his opinion regarding the use of ChatGPT during the series between Zorrin and Lucida. Alex Jebailey, the founder of CEO (Community Effort Orlando), a tournament series in various fighting games, says:
AI is here to stay, you can’t avoid it. It’s a great tool for text-based things. I’ve asked it for strategies to beat certain characters myself. The answers are mostly generic, but still helpful.
Furthermore, Alex Jebailey states that real skill will prevail in the crucial moment, and they have to see how players incorporate AI into their battle strategies and what rules the tournaments set.
He also emphasizes that every advantage counts when it comes to prize money and sponsors, and AI is no exception. A likely safe way for Alex Jebailey to address this issue would be to introduce a mere 1-minute break between matches in a series. This should prevent players from receiving tips on matchups or similar advice.
Whether AI will be accepted in the competitive Smash Bros. scene or even banned entirely remains to be seen. The Japanese Smash pro Hurt was punished for using a mod for the online mode: A pro uses a mod in a fighting game to improve the online mode, gets directly punished
