Leffen

Last updated

Leffen
Heir 5 - Leffen (cropped).jpg
Leffen at the tournament Heir 5 in Oadby in August 2018
Current team
Team Team SoloMid
Game Fighting games
Personal information
NameWilliam Peter Hjelte
Nickname(s)God Slayer
Villain of Super Smash Bros.
Born (1994-10-16) 16 October 1994 (age 29)
Nationality Swedish
Career information
Games Super Smash Bros. Melee
Guilty Gear Strive
Project M
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3
Dragon Ball FighterZ
Playing career2011–present
Team history
2015–presentTeam SoloMid
Career highlights and awards
Super Smash Bros. Melee
  • 2× B.E.A.S.T champion (2014-2015)
  • 2× Super Smash Con champion (2015), (2019)
  • Community Effort Orlando champion (2015)
  • HTC Throwdown Champion (2015)
  • 2× DreamHack champion (2016), (2018)
  • 2× Get On My Level champion (2016, 2017)
  • EVO champion (2018)
  • Battle of BC 4 Champion (2022)
  • LACS 5 Champion (2023)
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate
  • DreamHack Winter champion (2019)
Guilty Gear Strive

William Peter Hjelte (born 16 October 1994), better known by his gamer tag Leffen, is a Swedish professional fighting game player and streamer. Although mostly known as a Super Smash Bros. Melee player, he has also competed in Dragon Ball FighterZ , Guilty Gear Strive , and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate . In Melee, Hjelte plays the character Fox, and is considered one of the best players in the world, having been ranked as one of the top seven Melee players in the world every year since 2014. [1] A 2021 list compiled by PGStats ranked Hjelte as the sixth greatest Melee player of all time. [2]

Contents

A Super Smash Bros. competitive player since 2009, he rose to international success in 2014, becoming the first player to beat each of the "Five Gods of Melee" —Armada, Mew2King, Hungrybox, Mang0, and PPMD— in tournaments over the course of his career (a feat only accomplished since by Plup), earning him the nickname of "God Slayer". He has won many tournaments ranked as majors in his career, starting with the Swedish tournament B.E.A.S.T 4 in 2014, which saw him become the first person other than one of the Five Gods to win a major since 2008. Since then, some of his most notable tournament wins include the 2015 and 2019 editions of Super Smash Con, CEO 2015, and Evo 2018. [3] Since Armada's retirement in 2018, Leffen has been considered the undisputed best Melee player in Europe. [4]

Although recognized as one of the best players in Melee history and having a dedicated fan base, Leffen has also been considered one of the most controversial and polarizing players in Super Smash Bros. history, due in part to accusations of aggressive and anti-social behavior— which resulted in a temporary ban from the Swedish competitive Melee scene in 2013. As a result, he has been referred to as the "Villain of Super Smash Bros."

Career

Hjelte started playing Super Smash Bros. in 2009, when he was introduced to Super Smash Bros. Melee . He initially started as a Yoshi and Falco player before switching to Fox. Leffen feels that he made the gradual switch from Falco to Fox because he views Falco as requiring more discipline and Fox being more suited to his play style. [5]

He placed 9th in the Swedish national tournament B.E.A.S.T 2 within his first year of playing Melee. [6] Throughout 2014 Leffen began placing highly in tournaments and defeating the top five Melee players regularly. Prior to EVO 2014, Joe Cribari of Nintendo Enthusiast listed Leffen among the three "underdogs" with the greatest chance to win the tournament. [7] He finished 9th at EVO 2014.

In VGBootCamp's Apex 2015 Salty Suite, Hjelte defeated Kashan "Chillin" Khan in a first-to-five set without dropping a single game. [8] Because of this, Hjelte has the "rights" to use Fox's default color. [9] [10] Mang0 subsequently challenged Hjelte to a US$1,000 money match if they were to face-off in the Apex Singles bracket. Hjelte would in turn beat Mango when they played in Winners' Semifinals. [10] After defeating Mew2King at Apex 2015 in singles bracket, Hjelte has taken at least one set off each of the "five gods" of Melee. Hjelte ultimately finished third in Apex 2015 Melee singles. [11]

On March 9, 2015, Hjelte was signed by Team SoloMid as its first player on their Super Smash Bros. division, as well as their first fighting game player. [12] At CEO 2015 in Orlando, Florida, Leffen won his first American major, defeating Armada. He placed 5th at EVO 2015 later that year, despite being a favorite to win. He was upset by Panda Global's Plup who played Samus. [13] Melee it on Me ranked Leffen as the 2nd best player in the world in their summer 2015 mid-season rankings. [14] Leffen was barred from entering the United States just before The Big House 5 tournament because he was travelling on an Electronic System for Travel Authorization (ESTA) and employed by US-based Team SoloMid. [15]

On February 16, 2016, Leffen became sponsored by Red Bull as an official Red Bull Athlete. [16] As of 2018, he was no longer with Red Bull.

Visa issues and EVO 2018

Leffen in 2017 Leffen at GOML 2017 (1).jpg
Leffen in 2017

On April 29, 2016, Leffen announced that his Form I-129 petition to obtain a visa had been denied by United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. [17] On 4 May 2016 it was initially announced that Team SoloMid was able to secure a P1 Visa for Leffen so he can be able to attend US-based tournaments throughout July which includes EVO 2016 and that TSM was working on extending this visa for the long term. [18] However, on July 14 Leffen announced that he had run into additional delays in the visa approval process and would miss EVO. [19] Finally, on October 3, Leffen's visa was approved, allowing him to compete in US-based tournaments again, in time for The Big House 6. [20] In August 2018, Leffen won Evo 2018, defeating Armada 3–0 in grand finals to claim the trophy. [21]

Other games

Hjelte has competed in fighting games including Dragon Ball FighterZ , Ultra Street Fighter IV , Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 , and The King of Fighters XIII . According to the PGRZ, Hjelte is considered the 28th best Dragon Ball FighterZ player of all time. [22] In an interview with EventHubs prior to Apex 2015, he suggested he might play Guilty Gear Xrd on his Twitch stream after Apex 2015 concluded. [23] As of the release of Guilty Gear Strive , Hjelte has been hosting online tournaments for the game, hosting the title's first major, the Big LEVO. At Evo 2022, Leffen placed 3rd out of 2,161 entrants in Guilty Gear Strive, making this the first time that a player has made Top 8 at EVO in both a Smash title as well as a traditional fighting game. The following year, Leffen would take 1st out of 2,474 entrants in the same game at Evo 2023, becoming the first person to hold victories in both Smash and a traditional fighting game in EVO.

Personal life

Hjelte is Korean-Swedish; his mother is a native Swede, while his father is a South Korean adoptee. [24] Hjelte says his family does not regularly follow Korean cultural traditions. [24]

Leffen stated in 2015 his goal is not to just be the best Super Smash Bros player, but the best fighting game player. [25]

Controversies

Leffen is a controversial figure in the Super Smash Bros. community, where he has been accused of aggressive and toxic behavior, bullying, and poor sportsmanship, notably due to his tendency to target other players or figures of the community with insults or confrontational statements, both online and in real life; other accusations include spreading false rumors about other players, intimidating newcomers, and making fun of individuals' illnesses or disabilities. [26] [27] [28] This earned him the nickname of "Villain of Super Smash Bros.". [27] Over the years, part of the scene has frequently requested for Leffen to be banned from the community due to his behavior, claiming that the perceived lack of punishment came from his popularity with part of the fanbase, and fears of being harassed by Leffen and said fanbase if someone spoke out against him. [29] [26] A 2015 Kotaku article noted that "Leffen likes to shit talk and make fun of his opponents." [27]

Leffen's behavior caused him to be banned from the entire Swedish tournament scene for much of 2013, as well as from the online forum Smashboards, on which he was active. [30] One of the officials behind the tournament ban stated that this was due to heavy bullying and overall poor treatment of fellow players, spreading false rumors about other players stealing or taking illegal drugs, making fun of others' diseases and disabilities, poor sportsmanship, trying to push people out of the community, and being "extremely mean" to his partners in Doubles if they made mistakes. [30]

Leffen, who openly admitted to hating Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and competing and streaming the game purely for money, published tweets in September 2020 in which he stated he would "rather flip burgers at mcdonalds[ sic ] [than stream Ultimate] if it paid the same amount," and that streaming Ultimate was harder than working a minimum wage job. [31] [32] [33] His posts went viral on Twitter, drawing criticism regarding the struggles faced by minimum wage workers; he later apologized for his tweet, but reiterated that he would rather work a minimum wage job. [34] [33]

In an April 2015 interview, Leffen justified his behavior by claiming he was trying to elevate the level of play on the Melee scene, stating "I actually do like the villain role. [Melee]'s very stagnant sometimes. Since everyone is friends, nobody is really pushing each other — you’re not going to try that hard to beat someone you're close with." [27] Talking about Leffen's behavior in the Super Smash Bros. community, GENESIS owner Sheridan "Dr. Z" Zalewski stated in 2019 that "I hate to say it, but everyone who actually runs the community wants this [kind of behavior] to happen" due to the interest it creates from fans. [35]

Awards and nominations

YearCeremonyCategoryResultRef.
2022 The Streamer Awards Best Super Smash Bros. StreamerNominated [36]

Notable tournament placings

Only Majors and Supermajors are listed.

Offline tournamentOnline tournament

Super Smash Bros. Melee

Tournament [37] Date1v1 Placement2v2 PlacementPartner
B.E.A.S.TJanuary 7–9, 20119th13thAJP
GENESIS 2July 15–17, 201117th13thAJP
B.E.A.S.T IIAugust 10–14, 20114th5thAJP
Apex 2012 January 6–8, 201233rd25thZoler
Epita Smash Arena 5April 20–23, 20125th2ndFuzzyness
Smashers' Reunion: Melee GrandeJuly 13–15, 20123rd2nd Dr. PeePee
Apex 2013 January 11–13, 201317th5thIce
EVO 2013 July 12–14, 20139th5thIce
Apex 2014 January 17–19, 20144th9thDr. PeePee
B.E.A.S.T 4February 12–16, 20141st2ndIce
Republic of Fighters 3May 17–18, 20141st2ndFuzzyness
MLG Anaheim 2014 June 20–22, 20145th5thHax
EVO 2014 July 11–13, 20149th3rdIce
COMEBACK IAugust 1–3, 20142nd1stBeat
The Big House 4October 4–5, 20143rd3rdHax
B.E.A.S.T 5January 9–11, 20151st2ndIce
Paragon 2015January 17–18, 20153rd3rdMacD
Apex 2015 January 30 – February 1, 20153rd3rdIce
I'm Not YellingApril 11–12, 20153rd1stMacD
Press StartMay 9–10, 20159th2ndMacD
CEO 2015 June 26–28, 20151st2nd Hungrybox
WTFoxJuly 10–11, 20151st2nd Mango
EVO 2015 July 17–19, 20155th——
Super Smash ConAugust 6–9, 20151st1stMacD
PAX Prime 2015August 28–30, 20152nd1stMacD
Paragon Los Angeles 2015September 5–6, 20155th——
HTC Throwdown 2015September 9, 20151st——
EclipseNovember 14–15, 20152nd2ndIce
DreamHack Winter 2015 November 26–28, 20159th5thIce
B.E.A.S.T 6February 20, 20162nd——
Enthusiast Gaming Live ExpoApril 29 – May 1, 20167th2ndHungrybox
Get On My Level 2016May 20–22, 20161st3rdHungrybox
DreamHack Summer 2016 June 18–19, 20161st——
The Big House 6October 7–9, 201617th——
Smash Summit 3November 3–6, 20169th3rdMafia
DreamHack Winter 2016November 25–26, 20163rd——
UGC OpenDecember 2–4, 20164th2ndIce
Don't Park on the GrassDecember 17–18, 20161st4thIce
GENESIS 4January 20–22, 20175th2ndIce
B.E.A.S.T 7February 17, 20172nd2ndIce
Smash Summit 4March 3, 20173rd2ndIce
DreamHack Austin 2017April 29, 20177th——
Royal FlushMay 12, 20175th2ndIce
Smash 'N' Splash 3June 2, 20172nd——
DreamHack Summer 2017June 17–18, 20172nd——
EVO 2017 July 14–16, 20179th——
Get On My Level 2017July 28–30, 20171st1stIce
Super Smash Con 2017August 10–13, 20179th——
Shine 2017August 26, 20175th3rdIce
GameTyrant Expo 2017September 29 – October 1, 201713th——
The Big House 7October 6, 20173rd——
Canada Cup 2017October 28–30, 20172nd1st Mew2King
Smash Summit 5November 2–5, 20173rd1st Armada
DreamHack Winter 2017December 2–3, 20173rd——
GENESIS 5January 17, 20183rd——
Smash Summit 6May 2, 20185th1stArmada
Smash 'N' Splash 4June 1–3, 20183rd——
EVO 2018 August 3–5, 20181st——
Super Smash Con 2018August 9–12, 201865th (DQ)——
The Big House 8October 5–7, 20185th——
Smash Summit 7November 14, 20182nd5thMango
DreamHack Winter 2018December 1–2, 20181st——
GENESIS 6February 1–3, 2019129th (DQ)——
Get On My Level 2019May 17–19, 20193rd——
Smash 'N' Splash 5May 31–June 2, 20193rd——
Smash Summit 8June 15, 20193rd4thTrif
Super Smash Con 2019August 10–11, 20191st——
Shine 2019August 24–25, 20195th——
The Big House 9October 4–6, 20193rd——
GENESIS 7January 24–16, 20205th——
Smash Summit 9February 13–16, 20209th——
Smash Summit 10 OnlineNovember 19–22, 20201st——
Smash Summit 12December 9–13, 20215th——
Pound 2022April 22–24, 20225th——
Smash Summit 13May 12–15, 20229th——
Battle of BC 4June 10–12, 20221st——
The Big House 10October 7–9, 202217th——
Ludwig Smash InvitationalOctober 21–23, 20223rd——
Smash Summit 14November 3–6, 20227th——
Mainstage 2022December 2–4, 20225th——
GENESIS 9January 20–22, 20237th——
Battle of BC 5May 19–21, 20235th——
GENESIS XFebruary 16–18, 20245th——

Project M

TournamentDate1v1 Placement2v2 PlacementPartner
Apex 201417–19 January 20149th——
B.E.A.S.T 412–16 February 20143rd——
COMEBACK I1–3 August 20142nd——
The Big House 44–5 October 201433rd——
B.E.A.S.T 59–11 January 20154th——

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

TournamentDate1v1 placement2v2 placementPartner
B.E.A.S.T 59–11 January 20153rd——

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate

TournamentDate1v1 placement2v2 placementPartner
GENESIS 6 February 1–3, 201917th——
Ultimate NimbusMarch 3, 20199th——
Smash Ultimate SummitMarch 8–10, 20199th——
2GG: Prime SagaApril 13–14, 201949th——
Pound 2019April 19–21, 201913th——
Get On My Level 2019May 17–19, 2019257th (DQ)——
Super Smash Con 2019August 8–11, 201917th——
Shine 2019August 23–25, 201933rd——
MainstageSeptember 20–22, 201917th——
Smash Ultimate Summit 2October 24–27, 20199th——
DreamHack Winter 2019November 29–December 2, 20191st——

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ken Hoang</span> American professional esports player and Survivor contestant

Ken Hoang, also known as Kenny, SephirothKen, or Liquid`Ken, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player and television personality. Hoang was widely considered the most dominant Melee player in the world during the early years of the game's competitive scene in the early to mid-2000s. Hoang primarily plays Marth in Melee and is credited for pioneering several gameplay techniques integral to the game's competitive play, including the "dash dancing" movement technique and the "Ken Combo", an effective Marth combo for which he is the namesake. Hoang's dominance in the game earned him the nickname "The King of Smash".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mang0</span> American esports player

Joseph Manuel Marquez, known by his gamertag Mango, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player and streamer from Norwalk, California. Known for his aggressive, high-risk playstyle, he is widely considered one of the game's greatest players of all time, and is one of the "Five Gods" of Melee, along with Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma, Adam "Armada" Lindgren, Kevin "PPMD" Nanney, and Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman. Marquez began his career playing Jigglypuff, however he has primarily played Falco and Fox since 2011. He has been part of the Cloud9 esports team since 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mew2King</span> American professional esports player

Jason Sheldon Zimmerman, known by his gamertag Mew2King, commonly shortened to M2K, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. player from Cinnaminson, New Jersey. He has won more than 70 tournaments during his career, primarily in Super Smash Bros. Melee. Zimmerman is one of the "Five Gods" of Melee, along with Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma, Adam "Armada" Lindgren, Kevin "PPMD" Nanney, and Joseph "Mang0" Marquez and is also widely considered one of the greatest Super Smash Bros. Brawl players of all time. He has also competed at a top-level in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Project M.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Apex (tournament)</span> Annual esports competition in New Jersey

Apex is an annual esports tournament held in New Jersey that is focused on Super Smash Bros. The event's first incarnation was in 2009 with Jesus "Jman" Fernandez as the champion of Super Smash Bros. Melee and Elliot "Ally" Carroza-Oyarce as champion of Super Smash Bros. Brawl. Each year the event grew with more competitors entering. Apex 2014 garnered 629 entrants and was the 2nd largest tournament for Melee at the time after EVO 2013. Though the tournament initially focused on Brawl, the feature game has since switched to Melee due to its popularity. In 2010, an event for Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64 was added. In 2014, the fan modification of Brawl, Project M was added for singles only. Project M has recently been removed as an official event out copyright concerns under Nintendo of America sponsorship and Third Party relations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Armada (gamer)</span> Swedish Super Smash Bros. player (born 1993)

Adam Lindgren, known by his handle Armada, is a Swedish professional Super Smash Bros. player from Gothenburg. He is widely considered one of the greatest Super Smash Bros. Melee players of all time and the greatest Melee Peach player of all time. Lindgren has won several major tournaments: he is a three-time champion of GENESIS, two-time champion of EVO, two-time champion of Apex and one-time champion of The Big House. Considered one of the "Five Gods" of Melee, alongside Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Joseph "Mang0" Marquez, Juan "Hungrybox" DeBiedma, and Kevin "PPMD" Nanney, Lindgren was ranked one of the top two Melee players in the world every year from the beginning of formal rankings in 2013 until his retirement from singles tournaments in 2018, with Lindgren ranked as the number one Melee player in the world in 2015 and 2016. A 2021 list by PGstats ranked Lindgren as the second-greatest Melee player of all time. Lindgren retired from professional Melee singles tournaments in September 2018, citing declining interest in the game, although he still occasionally enters doubles tournaments teaming with his brother Andreas "Android" Lindgren. He also runs a YouTube channel with over 125,000 subscribers.

Kevin Nanney, also known by his gamer tag of PPMD and formerly known as Dr. PeePee, is an inactive American professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player. Nanney is one of the "Five Gods" of Melee, alongside Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Joseph "Mango" Marquez, Adam "Armada" Lindgren, and Juan "Hungrybox" DeBiedma. He is a two-time champion of the Apex tournament series and was ranked as one of the top six players in the world from 2010 to 2015, after which he was removed from rankings due to inactivity. Nanney uses Falco and Marth and is known for his intelligent and patient playstyle. A 2021 list compiled by Melee Stats, which was hosted on PGstats, ranked Nanney as the seventh-greatest Melee player of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Hungrybox</span> Argentinian-American professional esports player

Juan Manuel DeBiedma, better known by his alias Hungrybox, is an Argentine–American professional Super Smash Bros. player, streamer, tournament organizer and commentator. Recognized as one of the greatest and most successful Super Smash Bros. Melee players of all time, he is one of the "Five Gods of Melee" along with Adam "Armada" Lindgren, Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman, Joseph "Mang0" Marquez, and Kevin "PPMD" Nanney, and is regarded as the greatest Jigglypuff player in history. He is also an active competitor in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, and has been a member of Team Liquid since 2015, becoming its co-owner in December 2021. He is currently ranked as the 8th best Melee player in the world for 2023.

Professional Super Smash Bros. competition involves professional gamers competing in the Super Smash Bros. series of crossover fighting games published by Nintendo. Organized tournament competition began in 2002 with Super Smash Bros. Melee, released for the GameCube in 2001; however, in the series' native Japan, there have been tournaments as early as 1999 with the original Super Smash Bros. for the Nintendo 64. Later tournaments have featured the other games in the series, with the two largest and most popular Smash Bros. scenes revolving around Melee and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate for the Nintendo Switch. Smaller scenes exist for the original game and Project M, a popular fan modification of Super Smash Bros. Brawl for the Wii, and to a lesser extent, Brawl itself. Major Smash Bros. tournaments include the GENESIS, Evolution Championship Series (EVO), Super Smash Con and The Big House annual series. Major League Gaming (MLG) has also previously included Smash Bros. games in its Pro Circuit.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">PC Chris</span> American professional esports player

Christopher Szygiel, better known by his handle PC Chris, is an American former professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player. He is best known for defeating top professional player Ken Hoang in grand finals of MLG New York 2006, in what was considered one of the greatest upsets in competitive Melee history at the time. Szygiel was documented in an episode of the 2013 documentary series The Smash Brothers. His handle PC Chris comes from his hometown of Port Chester, New York.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Westballz</span> American professional esports player

Weston Dennis, better known as Westballz, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player from Burbank, California. Widely considered one of the game's best and most technical Falco players, he has defeated several top professional players in tournament including Joseph "Mango" Marquez, Juan "Hungrybox" DeBiedma, Kevin "PPMD" Nanney and William "Leffen" Hjelte. A 2021 list compiled by PGstats ranked Dennis as the 26th-greatest Melee player of all time.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Big House (tournament)</span> Annual video game tournament

The Big House is an annual Super Smash Bros. tournament series held in Michigan since 2011. It is considered one of the largest and most prestigious Smash Bros. tournament series alongside GENESIS, Evolution Championship Series (EVO) and Super Smash Con.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Genesis (tournament)</span> Series of Super Smash Bros. tournaments

Genesis, stylized as GENESIS, is a series of annual Super Smash Bros. tournaments occurring in the San Francisco Bay Area of the US state of California. The first Genesis tournament took place in 2009 in Antioch at the Contra Costa County Fairgrounds.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Plup</span> American professional esports player

Justin McGrath, better known as Plup, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. player from Orlando, Florida. McGrath is considered to be one of the best Super Smash Bros. Melee players in the world, having been ranked as one of the top 10 Melee players every year since 2015.

The 2016 Evolution Championship Series was a fighting game event held in Las Vegas on July 15–17. Being hosted on the twentieth anniversary of the Evolution Championship Series, the event offered tournaments for various video games, including Street Fighter V, Super Smash Bros. Melee, and Pokkén Tournament. Participation reached record-breaking numbers, with over 5,000 people registering for the Street Fighter competition alone. 2016 was the first time the Evo Grand Finals were held in an arena and were broadcast by ESPN2 in addition to Twitch.

The 2015 Evolution Championship Series was a fighting game event held in Las Vegas on July 17–19. The event featured a major tournament for nine fighting games, including the largest Super Smash Bros. tournament up to that point and a highly popular Ultra Street Fighter IV tournament. The Street Fighter IV tournament was won by Yusuke Momochi, defeating GamerBee in the Grand Finals.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Tweek (gamer)</span> American professional esports player

Gavin Dempsey, also known as Tweek, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. player.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">MkLeo</span> Mexican professional Super Smash Bros. player

Leonardo López Pérez, better known as MkLeo and sometimes Leo, is a Mexican professional Super Smash Bros. player. He was widely considered the best Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player in the world during the pre-COVID era, and was ranked #1 in the Panda Global Rankings for the first and second half of 2019. Prior to the release of Ultimate, he was ranked as the best player in the world at Super Smash Bros. for Wii U for the first half of 2018.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Axe (gamer)</span> American professional esports player

Jeffrey Williamson, known professionally as Axe, is an American professional Super Smash Bros. Melee player. As of 2023, he is ranked as the 17th best Melee player in the world and has finished in the top ten of formal rankings presented by Red Bull and esports team Panda Global every year between 2016 and 2022. Some of his notable tournament placements at major Melee tournaments include first place at Smash Summit 8, second place at GENESIS 6, and fifth place at EVO 2014.

References

  1. ↑ Lee, Daniel (18 December 2014). "Melee It On Me - SSBM Rank 2014 (6)". Melee It On Me. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  2. ↑ "The Melee Stats Top 100: The Top 10". PGstats. 22 November 2021. Retrieved 22 November 2021.
  3. ↑ "Ultimate SSBM Rank". 25 November 2016. Retrieved 25 July 2017.
  4. ↑ Baer, Bob (26 January 2021). "Valhalla Online a showcase for top EU Melee player Leffen, online software Slippi" . Retrieved 9 December 2021.
  5. ↑ Womack, Barrett (24 March 2015). "Friendlies: TSM Leffen, Smash's Loveable Villain". Red Bull . Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  6. ↑ Juggleguy (3 January 2012). "Melee in 2011: Year in Review". SmashBoards . Retrieved 27 March 2015.
  7. ↑ Cribari, Joe (10 July 2014). "Who Will Be Crowned Greatest Smash Player Alive at EVO 2014? "5 Gods" vs "3 Underdogs"". Nintendo Enthusiast. Archived from the original on 29 January 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  8. ↑ VGBC's Salty Suite - Chillindude (Fox) Vs. Liquid Chillin (Fox) SSBM - Super Smash Bros. Melee (YouTube) (Livestream). VGBootCamp. 4 February 2015. Event occurs at 4:37. Retrieved 7 February 2015.
  9. ↑ Guerrero, John "Velociraptor" (1 February 2015). "Leffen and Chillin settle their Super Smash grudge in one of the most disrespectful first to five sets ever". EventHubs. Retrieved 5 January 2015.
  10. 1 2 "$1,000 and America's pride on the line as Mango plays Leffen in winners semi finals at Apex 2015".
  11. ↑ Martin, Michael (2 February 2015). "Apex 2015 Fighting Game Tournament Roundup". IGN . Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  12. ↑ Walker, Ian "Iantothemax". "Team SoloMid Signs William "Leffen" Hjelte". Shoryuken. Shoryuken. Retrieved 9 March 2015.
  13. ↑ McWhertor, Michael (20 July 2015). "Evo 2015: 12 great fights you shouldn't miss". Polygon . Retrieved 15 August 2015.
  14. ↑ Demers, Matt (1 October 2015). "Leffen denied entry to USA for Smash tournament". TheScore eSports . Retrieved 24 October 2015.
  15. ↑ Demers, Matt (1 October 2015). "Leffen denied entry to USA for Smash tournament" . Retrieved 8 November 2015.
  16. ↑ Womack, Barrett (16 February 2016). "How Leffen Will Take Over the World". Red Bull eSports.
  17. ↑ Tamburroby, Paul (29 April 2016). "ESPORTS PLAYER DENIED VISA AS "SUPER SMASH BROS. MELEE IS NOT A LEGITIMATE SPORT"". CraveOnline . Archived from the original on 9 December 2017. Retrieved 30 April 2016.
  18. ↑ "Leffen Visa Update". Team SoloMid. Archived from the original on 7 May 2016. Retrieved 4 May 2016.
  19. ↑ "Leffen to miss Evo, will not play or stream Melee until visa issues are resolved". The Daily Dot . 14 July 2016. Archived from the original on 5 August 2016.
  20. ↑ "Leffen's Visa Approved". Shoyruken. Retrieved 3 October 2016.
  21. ↑ "TSM Leffen Wins EVO 2018 In Dominant Fashion". GameTyrant. Retrieved 31 October 2018.
  22. ↑ PG Stats (25 May 2020). "PGRZ 30-21". Red Bull.
  23. ↑ Taylor, Nicholas "MajinTenshinhan" (29 January 2015). "4 of the 5 Smash gods fell to his confidence and lack of fear - Leffen talks Apex, Smash 4, his mindset, Guilty Gear Xrd and more". EventHubs.
  24. 1 2 Shin, Jung (2 November 2014). "Interview with Leffen, Part 1". GGNOREAD. Archived from the original on 3 February 2015. Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  25. ↑ Hjelte, William. "Meet TSM Leffen". Youtube. Retrieved 24 April 2015. Event occurs at 3:09
  26. 1 2 "Young Swedish gamer Leffen shakes up world of 'Super Smash Bros. Melee'". Toronto Sun. 26 November 2022. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  27. 1 2 3 4 Hernandez, Patricia (24 April 2015). "Meet The 'Villain' Of Super Smash Bros". Kotaku . Retrieved 26 January 2016.
  28. ↑ Rogowski, Cameron (2 June 2016). "Leffen, the God Slayer Still Throneless". Esports Edition. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  29. ↑ Richman, Olivia (1 April 2022). "Leffen under fire for past toxic behavior towards Mew2King, Kensou, and Smash community". Ivenglobal. Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  30. 1 2 Hernandez, Patricia (2 February 2015). "One Of The Best Smash Bros. Matches In History Went Down Last Night". Kotaku . Retrieved 3 February 2015.
  31. ↑ "Leffen's Tweet before DreamHack Winter 2019".
  32. ↑ "I fucking sold my body and soul to make that money". Twitter.
  33. 1 2 Tamburro, Paul (28 September 2020). "Smash pro Leffen apologizes for 'sh**ty' comment on minimum wage jobs". GameRevolution . Retrieved 14 April 2022.
  34. ↑ "Leffen apologizing for his Tweet".
  35. ↑ Wright, Steven (16 August 2019). "HOW FIGHTING GAME TOURNAMENTS ARE DEALING WITH TOXIC AND UNRULY PLAYERS". The Verge . Retrieved 13 April 2022.
  36. ↑ Miceli, Max (22 February 2022). "All nominees for QTCinderella's Streamer Awards". Dot Esports. GAMURS Group.
  37. ↑ "Melee - leffen". SmashBoards . Retrieved 20 November 2021.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.