The Smash community hates Mr. Game & Watch. Nobody knows this better than Enrique "Maister" Solís, a Mr. Game & Watch main from Mexico who has been dominating the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate competitive scene. 

Sometimes the hate has gotten Maister down. At one point he even contemplated switching fighters, he told Inven Global at Mainstage. But in the end, Maister always stays true to himself. And he's about to take Mr. Game & Watch to the biggest Smash tournament in history — the Smash World Tour Championships. 

Love at first sight, domination in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

What first made you pick up Mr. Game & Watch?

The number 9. I always thought, "If I landed a 9 it would be super hype." I landed two on the big stage and everyone thinks it's lame now. But I don't care. It's not to me.

Yeah, I guess people feel that it's RNG instead of raw skill. 

Well yeah, but that's what it's all about.

What do you like about him now?

He now has a left B out of shield. Before, he couldn't get out of shield pressure and now he can.

Oh man. So now he's even better! Nice. Where would you place him on a Smash tier list?

I'd say he's top 10. He's pretty good.

What do you think has made you so good with Mr. Game & Watch?

I think it's just a lot of his moves got fixed from Smash 4 to Ultimate. His nair previously had no fish hitbox. And now it does.

So you were playing him in Smash 4 as well?

Yeah, throughout that entire era. I personally didn't think he was bad. Looking back, yeah, he was pretty bad.

Maybe he's born with it, maybe it's Mr. Game & Watch... No, it's Maister

Mew2King said recently that the Smash community will often see a mid-tier fighter do well at majors, like MKLeo with Byleth, and suddenly everyone says that the character is good. But do you think it's you that makes Mr. Game & Watch look good? Or is he really that good?

I think it's me! it's definitely me! With no disrespect, there is no other Mr. Game & Watch. If he was really good, there would be just as many as Wolf and Palutena.

How does it feel to be the best Mr. Game & Watch in the world?

Pretty good honestly. I always wanted to be the best since Smash 4. Now that I am it feels pretty good. It feels pretty exciting.

Do you feel pressure to maintain that title?

No! I don't want to be the best Mr. Game & Watch. I already did that. I want to be the best of the best. 

Are you hoping to see more Mr. Game & Watch? Or do you like being one of the only top Mr. Game and Watch out there?

I would like to see more. I want to see what other people can do with him that I can't. But at the same time, I wouldn't like it because he would probably get nerfed.

People have already been asking for him to get nerfed!

Yeah, ever since I started doing well they've been saying "nerf Mr. Game & Watch." But they want him to be nerfed 'cause of me. The chance you playing me in the bracket are 1 in a million, bro. There are thousands of attendees.

Do you have a secondary?

Yeah, I have Sora. I think he's pretty good but he's very floaty. So he can be kind of tough.

When would you pull out?

I'm thinking about doing full Sora at CEO. G&W is fun but Sora is more fun. His sound effects — they sound really satisfying.

Note: Maister ended up not going to CEO. 

Would you be upset if you didn't do as well?

Yeah, absolutely. But I also know it would be normal. I'm learning another character after playing the same character for 10 years. So it's fine.

Why do you think people are so negative about Mr. Game and Watch?

I think they are just jealous about me honestly. It's like a random dude comes out of nowhere, gets top 10 PGR. That never happens! Now people want to be him or something. That's what I usually attach it to. It could be other things I'm not aware of. I don't even feel he's that frustrating.

I noticed I was the only one cheering for you to win during the Top 8 at Smash Con. 

If you're cheering I will hear you! So that's fine! *Laughs*

How do you feel about the hate you get for playing Mr game & Watch?

I think it's pretty stupid honestly. It makes me feel kind of weird. I don't get it... But I get it, you know? It's one of those things. Yeah, he's frustrating to fight against. But again, I don't know what they are on.

You made it so far in Smash Con. How were you feeling after that match against Light?

I think I didn't get pissed. I knew Light was playing really well. He won the tournament. I can't be mad. But before he won, I even tweeted that he played really well. I was playing good but he played better.

What went wrong on your end?

I was really impatient and frustrated. I just didn't want to lose. It was just that. But I was maybe getting too desperate.

No hotel room? No doubles? MKLeo? The rough journey to the top

You said it was a rough trip to get to Mainstage? What happened?

A lot of things went wrong. My hotel had a mistake and canceled my room. The hotel messed up. Because of that, I had no room for the first night. I had to find another hotel. But they gave it back the next day. They knew they messed up.

And then I saw you were left out of the doubles bracket?

That was Smash.gg's fault. I tried looking for my teammate to send an invite. But it wasn't letting me. I was looking for him on my phone, on PC... I ended up sending it to someone else. I didn't get added to the bracket. I was really looking forward to it and had been waiting since Low Tide. I wanted to see what me and BigBoss could do. 

You're currently #6 in the world. What is your goal right now?

Top three. If I keep being consistent I'll get there eventually. But it's a rough time. I have to beat MKLeo and win a tournament. Yeah, it's possible. I'm prepared for that. We're pretty even honestly. If I beat him, I would beat him 3-2.

Who do you think are the top five in Ultimate?

MKLeo, Tweek, Sparg0... Actually, I haven't seen him against Japan or EU so never mind. Me, Light, and Dabuz.

What were your feelings about the WiFi era? Do you think it counted?

Yeah, a lot of things happened during WiFi. Mostly, people got used to it. Their reaction is bad right now. Even now, a lot of people still play like they do on WiFi. A lot of people got a lot of experience, whether it was good or not. Overall, it was just weird. It had its ups and downs.

When you lost in WiFi tournaments, did you count that towards your rank?

No, totally not. Look at the meta online. You see characters like Robin, Link, all those WiFi characters, Samus... You now see Palutena, Joker, Wolf... It's just a lot different.

What do you think has made Mexico so dominant in the past few years?

The fact that they started traveling. When Leo started traveling, he was number one. He was top three in Smash 4. I started traveling, got top 10. Sparg0 is on his way there. BigBoss is on the way there.

We see the game in a different way. We study the game a bit more. We see things that other countries don't. I don't know why honestly. MKLeo described the game as being about countering habits in certain situations. Some other players don't do that.

Content creation, VALORANT, and Mr. Game & Watch hate

Are you planning to get more into streaming and content creation? Why do you feel that's good/bad for the Ultimate community?

I'm planning on getting into it. I've been streaming for three years now. But it's why I don't like the hate toward my character. I feel that's directed toward my content. I've been lucky because my fanbase is really passionate. They love supporting me a lot. But if it wasn't for that, I'd probably be doing really bad.

I get like 50 viewers on Twitch. But I feel I should have 200 at least. But because of all the hate, people say they don't want to say G&W, even if I switch. They will think it will be G&W and not tune in.

I've had an existential crisis... *Laughs* Not really, but close. I thought of switching to a whole different game. VALORANT. I play that a lot. I'm pretty good at it. I don't know if I'd play that now. I'd still consider it. It depends a lot really. It's fun and there is no character hate.