Hey everyone, Derpy/Opening-Ad here! Awhile back, back in December of last year, I made a discussion post on Dio Vs Springtrap. Where I defended it and gave my thoughts on all of the aspects about it. That post got mixed reception on the Subreddit, but it did decently well everywhere else. And since I’m such an opinionated person, I thought I’d continue it; with a post that is pretty relevant to the Subreddit as of late. So Let’s Talk about… Debunks!
Debunks are defined as “to expose the falseness or hollowness of a myth, idea, or belief.” In a VS context, debunks are used to call out issues with either the arguments of someone, or in this case; the connections of a matchup.
Matchup debunks are not a new thing. They have been in the VS community for a long time and are typically used to unpopularize a matchup via exposing imperfections within it’s theme. They’re also occasionally used to point out flaws in a matchup’s potential but that’s a discussion for another day.
Debunks are not a bad idea in concept. In theory, they’d be some of the best things to have in the VS community. They’re a good way to make sure a matchup doesn’t take any missteps with it’s central theme. Constructive criticism on a matchup is usually a good thing. When it is done right, it can help a matchup improve itself and thus, become the best version of itself… in concept.
But, as you probably knew going into this, the reality is not quite as promising as the concept would entail. Debunks, to put it bluntly, are spite. No, they’re not “constructive criticism” like I said they could be before. They’re spite.
What do I mean by debunks being used for spite? Well, spite is also a very prominent thing within the VS community and is the act of intentionally being offensive to be annoying. That isn’t exact but it’s what it is in this context. Anyway, spite is very common within the community and is always a bad thing. People who know me decently well would know that I despise spite in VS. I have said on record that it’s the thing I hate the most overall when it comes to personal experience with the community.
Putting my personal bias aside, why exactly is spite harmful? Well, it’s used to actively cause controversy and to aggravate people into arguments that are a big waste of everybody’s time. Spite is used by trolls a lot of the time, trying to get a reaction out of people; and it works! Spite is explicitly designed to harm another individual specifically, which can get very problematic, especially to the person that is being targeted. In a matchup sense, it’s used to specifically target the matchup and people who like the matchup. Oftentimes, a matchup debunk is made when the creator or someone who likes the matchup gets into some beef with the debunker, or it’s debunked as a part of a trend against the matchup. Which are both blatant examples of spite and how it can be detrimental to the community.
The spiteful nature of many modern debunks can also be tied into the actual quality of the debunks. Most of you probably know this, but a lot of debunks nowadays are genuinely really bad. But it‘s not due to the actual quality of the arguments themselves most of the time, it’s with the execution.
Debunks have this nasty and condescending tone to them that makes them such an annoying them. The debunkers will frame the debunks as objective truth and actively make people feel bad for liking it. With titles such as “Insert Matchup Here Debunked and Why You Should Dislike It”, or “Insert Matchup Here Is Fucking Garbage Lol”. These titles don’t give off a vibe of constructive criticism, they gave off a vibe of, well, spite.
Debunks aren’t being used as a way to help make a matchup better, they’re being used as a way to put down a matchup and it’s followerers in a spiteful way. And that is the biggest issue with them. They feel more like glorified rants rather than actual criticism.
Along with that, the spiteful nature leads to a lot of reasons being super nitpicky or outright false. Since I don’t want to take the shit out of someone, I’ll take the shit out of myself… with that Asriel Vs Homura “debunk.” Yeah, if you didn’t know, I made a very shitty Asriel Vs Homura debunk awhile back that was made in DM’s on Discord while I was tired and not actually taking the time to think about what I was saying. The debunk is a glorious example of everything that can go wrong with a debunk. It has “debunks” that are objectively false or extremely nitpicky, half of my arguments don’t make any fucking sense as I hadn’t watched Madoka Magiaca at the time, and there’s this spiteful undertone that trades actual reasoning for jabs at the matchup and it’s supporters.
I’m glad I’ve learned a lot from that debunk because it is, in my opinion, an absolute crap pile. Even my Infinite Vs Necrozma debunk, the only other one that has been publicly posted, still has a jab or two at the connections instead of actual criticism. No guys, “this connection is generic!!!!” is not a good argument for debunking a connection.
Hopefully this episode… are we calling them episodes? I’m calling them episodes. Hopefully this episode shed some light on the problems with debunks and can hopefully inspire people to improve their debunks for the better in the near future. With that being said, thank you for sitting down with me on this talk, and i’ll see you later!
