Smasher:Leffen

Alex
Alex.jpg
Character info
Melee main	Alex
Other Melee characters	Alex, Alex, Alex
Smash 4 mains	Alex Kong, Pikalex
Project M mains	Captain Alex, Alex, Zero Suit Alex
Other Project M character	Alex
Team info
Crew(s)	Team Alex
Personal and other info
Real name	Alex Hijelte
Birth date	January , 2002
Location	Earth Kanto
Miscellaneous info
Skill	Top professional

Alex is a professional Smasher from Stockholm, Sweden. He started off as a Falco main, but later switched to Fox, and is now known as one of the most technical and powerful Fox mains in the world. He places very well in tournaments, consistently placing within the top 3 at even the largest tournaments in the world. He is currently ranked 2nd on the European Melee Power Rankings, and is considered to be one of the six best players in the world along with Armada and the four top players in the United States: PPMD, Mango, Mew2King, and Hungrybox (the five latter are known as The Five Gods), with many ranking him as high as at least Top 3. He is also the only player in competitive Melee history to have taken sets off of each of the Five Gods.

Tournament history

Emergence as a top 6 player

At Apex 2014, Leffen defeated Hungrybox 2-1 in winners' quarters, before losing to Mew2King 1-3 in winners' semis. He eliminated Colbol 2-0 in losers' quarters, and then had a close and intense set with Mango in losers' semis, but was ultimately eliminated 2-3.

Leffen won his first national at B.E.A.S.T 4. He lost to Ice 2-3 in winners' semis, but then eliminated Fuzzyness 3-0 in losers' quarters, Overtriforce 3-1 in losers' semis, and Ice 3-2 in a rematch in losers' finals. In grand finals, he managed to win two sets against Armada, 3-0 and 3-1, respectively. Later, Leffen won Republic of Fighters 3, qualifying for the MLG Anaheim 2014 championship bracket. He defeated Ice 3-1 in winners' semis, but lost to Armada 0-3 in winners' finals. After eliminating aMSa 3-2 in losers' finals, he came back and won 6-0 against Armada in two best of 5 sets.

In his pool at MLG Anaheim 2014, Leffen defeated PPMD 3-2, Axe 3-1, Colbol 3-1, s0ft 3-0, and Remen 3-0, but lost to Mew2King 1-3 and Hax 2-3. Seeded in losers' bracket in the championship bracket, he defeated both Westballz and Hax 3-2, before losing to PPMD 1-3 in losers' quarters, placing 5th overall. At EVO 2014, Leffen defeated Lambchops 2-1, OkamiBW 2-0, and S2J 2-0 in the winners' quarters pools, but lost to Mew2King 0-2. In losers' bracket, he was eliminated by Silent Wolf 1-2, finishing off at an underwhelming 9th place overall.

At COMEBACK I, Leffen defeated Android 3-0 in winners' semis to make it to winners' finals against Armada, in which he lost 1-3. After defeating Android 3-1 in losers' finals, he lost again to Armada in grand finals, this time 2-3, placing 2nd in Melee singles. Leffen also won Melee doubles with Beat, defeating Dev and Kuja 3-1 in winners' semis, Android and Zoler 3-1 in winners' finals, and Armada and C 3-1 in grand finals.

At The Big House 4, Leffen defeated Hungrybox 3-2 in winners' quarters to advance to winners' semis. He then faced off against Armada in another close set, ultimately managing to clench out a victory 3-2 and advance to winners finals for the first time at an American national. However, he lost 0-3 to Mew2King in winners finals and 1-3 to Mango in losers finals, with a 4 stock to close out the set.

At B.E.A.S.T 5, Leffen managed to solidly defeat Armada 3-1 in winners semis to advance to winners' finals. He managed to take his first victory over Mango in a 3-2 set to advance to grand finals, where he would once again face Armada. Despite a closely fought set from both players (with Armada notably 4-stocking Leffen Game 4), Leffen managed to win grand finals 3-2, earning his first national victory with at least 2 of the "gods" present.

At CEO 2015, Leffen earned 1st in singles, making it his first American national victory. He had a close set with Plup in winners quarters but ultimately won 2-1, and proceeded to sweep the rest of the tournament, beating Shroomed 3-0 and Armada twice in winners finals and grand finals; each set was 3-0 and 3-1, respectively, in Leffen's favor. In doubles, Leffen teamed with Hungrybox, placing 2nd; they had managed to trade sets with PewPewU and SFAT and take a set off of Armada and Shroomed, but they ultimately lost a close second set 2-3.

At FC Smash 15XR: Return, Leffen once again earned 1st in singles. He defeated Swedish Delight 3-0 in winners quarters, he then beat Hungrybox 3-1 in winners semis and Armada 3-1 in winners finals, including a 4-stock in game 1 on Final Destination. In grand finals; he met Hungrybox once again and beat him 3-1.

Notable tournament placings

Melee

Tournament	Date	1v1 Placement	2v2 Placement	Partner
STIIG	July 13th-20th, 2010	—	4th	AJP
SKN2	October 8th-10th, 2010	7th	7th	AJP
B.E.A.S.T	January 7th-9th, 2011	9th	13th	AJP
SKN3	February 11th-13th, 2011	3rd	3rd	AJP
Tampora 2	April 29th-May 1st, 2011	2nd	3rd	AJP
GENESIS 2	July 15th-17th, 2011	17th	13th	AJP
B.E.A.S.T II	August 10th-14th, 2011	4th	5th	AJP
Tampora 3	November 25th-27th, 2011	4th	3rd	Zoler
Beauty 3	December 2nd-4th, 2011	2nd	2nd	Zoler
Apex 2012	January 6th-8th, 2012	33rd	25th	Zoler
Gamers Meetup STHLM	February 18th-19th, 2012	2nd	1st	Fuzzyness
Epita Smash Arena 5	April 20th-23rd, 2012	5th	2nd	Fuzzyness
Haags Kwartiertje 6	June 16th, 2012	4th	4th	Beat
Smashers' Reunion: Melee Grande	July 13th-15th, 2012	3rd	2nd	Dr. PeePee
King Funk's Castle II: Måske	October 4th-7th, 2012	3rd	2nd	Ice
hf.lan 4	December 1st-2nd, 2012	2nd	3rd	NMW
Apex 2013	January 11th-13th, 2013	17th	5th	Ice
EVO 2013	July 12th-14th, 2013	9th	5th	Ice
hf.lan 6	December 14th-15th, 2013	2nd	1st	Ice
Apex 2014	January 17th-19th, 2014	4th	9th	Dr. PeePee
B.E.A.S.T 4	February 12th-16th, 2014	1st	2nd	Ice
Republic of Fighters 3	May 17th-18th, 2014	1st	2nd	Fuzzyness
MLG Anaheim 2014	June 20th-22nd, 2014	5th	5th	Hax
EVO 2014	July 11th-13th, 2014	9th	3rd	Ice
COMEBACK I	August 1st-3rd, 2014	2nd	1st	Beat
Hit & Stun Tournament 2	September 6th-7th, 2014	3rd	2nd	Ice
Beauty 8	September 12th-14th, 2014	2nd	1st	Professor Pro
The Big House 4	October 4th-5th, 2014	3rd	3rd	Hax
DrømmeLAN 4.0	November 7th-9th, 2014	2nd	2nd	Ice
hf.lan 8	November 22nd-23rd, 2014	1st	1st	Ice
Beauty 9	December 5th-7th, 2014	2nd	2nd	Pop
B.E.A.S.T 5	January 9th-11th, 2015	1st	2nd	Ice
Paragon Orlando 2015	January 17th-18th, 2015	3rd	3rd	MacD
Apex 2015	January 30th-February 1st, 2015	3rd	3rd	Ice
Cannes Winter Clash	February 27th-March 1st, 2015	1st	—	—
NeoNebulous 7	March 28th, 2015	1st	1st	G$
Beauty 10	April 2nd-6th, 2015	2nd	2nd	Professor Pro
I'm Not Yelling!	April 11th-12th, 2015	3rd	1st	MacD
MVG Sandstorm	April 18th-19th, 2015	5th	1st	MacD
DrømmeLAN 4.5	April 24th-26th, 2015	2nd	2nd	Fuzzyness
Press Start	May 9th-10th, 2015	9th	2nd	MacD
Battle Arena Melbourne 7	May 22th-24th, 2015	2nd	1st	Blue2ez
CEO 2015	June 26th-28th, 2015	1st	2nd	Hungrybox
FC Smash 15XR: Return	July 4th-5th, 2015	1st	—	—
WTFox	July 10th-11th, 2015	1st	2nd	Mango
EVO 2015	July 17th-19th, 2015	5th	—	—
Super Smash Con	August 6th-9th, 2015	1st	1st	MacD
Heir II the Throne	August 14th-16th, 2015	5th	2nd	Ice
PAX Prime 2015	August 28th-30th, 2015	2nd	1st	MacD
Paragon Los Angeles 2015	September 5th-6th, 2015	5th	—	—

Project M

Tournament	Date	1v1 Placement	2v2 Placement	Partner
King Funk's Castle II: Måske	October 4th-7th, 2012	2nd	1st	Fuzzyness
Apex 2014	January 17th-19th, 2014	9th	—	—
B.E.A.S.T 4	February 12th-16th, 2014	3rd	—	—
COMEBACK I	August 1st-3rd, 2014	2nd	—	—
Hit & Stun Tournament 2	September 6th-7th, 2014	2nd	—	—
Beauty 8	September 12th-14th, 2014	3rd	—	—
The Big House 4	October 4th-5th, 2014	33rd	—	—
DrømmeLAN 4.0	November 7th-9th, 2014	2nd	—	—
hf.lan 8	November 22nd-23rd, 2014	1st	—	—
B.E.A.S.T 5	January 9th-11th, 2015	4th	—	—
Beauty 10	April 2nd-6th, 2015	1st	—	—
DrømmeLAN 4.5 All-Star	April 24th-26th, 2015	1st	—	—

Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
DrømmeLAN 4.0	November 7th-9th, 2014	1st	—	—

Super Smash Bros. for Wii U

Tournament	Date	1v1 placement	2v2 placement	Partner
Beauty 9	December 5th-7th, 2014	1st	—	—
B.E.A.S.T 5	January 9th-11th, 2015	3rd	—	—
Paragon Orlando 2015	January 17th-18th, 2015	9th	—	—
DrømmeLAN 4.5	April 24th-26th, 2015	1st	—	—

Controversy

Despite being considered one of the best professional smashers in Melee, Leffen has led a controversial career as a smasher, stemming from his reportedly rude conduct during and outside of tournaments. Several players, including lower-leveled smashers new to the scene (who were usually the victims of his bullying), accused him of:

• deliberately sandbagging in tournaments by playing low tier characters against less-experienced players, insulting and berating their skill throughout and after the match.
• spreading exaggerated rumors about other players.
• making rude and acerbic comments on friendly discussions in SmashBoards and deliberately starting arguments with users.
• further blaming other people when confronted about his actions, using his status as a top professional player to decrease his punishments.

This behavior became noticed by Swedish tournament organizers and Melee professionals, both of whom gave him repeated warnings concerning his behavior; in August 2012, he was eventually threatened with a ban from tournaments if he did not improve his attitude. Leffen did not take the claim seriously; as a consequence, the Swedish community continued to discuss banning him. On February 9th, 2013, after a lengthy online discussion about his poor behavior within the Melee community, Leffen was nationally banned from Swedish tournaments, and was later internationally banned in Finland. Several members of the community compiled many pieces of evidence concerning his behavior into a downloadable archive, and demanded that the only way Leffen's ban would be lifted was for him to create a lengthy apology stating everything he has done wrong in the past and how he would change his behavior in the future.

On March 21st, 2013, shortly before B.E.A.S.T 3 (the first major tournament he was banned from), Leffen made a public statement asking for forgiveness; despite this, he was not immediately unbanned, and he ended up missing both B.E.A.S.T 3 and almost one year's worth of tournaments. On January 24th, 2014, it was announced by Armada that the Swedish ban on Leffen was no longer in place [1]. However, Leffen still remains a relatively controversial figure in the community, especially on social media such as Twitter and Facebook due to his strong comments.

At European tournament Heir II the Throne, Leffen was banned from commentary on all future European Smash Circuit events for saying that it wasn't a 'serious' tournament and players were playing their secondaries and not trying.

Trivia

• At Apex 2015, Leffen defeated Mew2King in tournament for the first time in his career, which marked Leffen as the first, and currently only player, to have won at least one tournament set against each of The Five Gods.
  • Also at Apex 2015's Salty Suite exhibition, Leffen won a $100 money match against Chillin in Fox dittos; after winning all five games of the set, Leffen won both $100 USD and the "rights" to use Fox's default costume.
• Leffen is commonly considered a villain in the smash community due to his reportedly rude conduct and his skill equaling that of the Five Gods. He reports that he enjoys his given title due to the community's occasional stagnation in games, although there is common controversy over whether he should embrace his title or not.
  • Ironically, his surname is Swedish for "hero".
• At FC Smash 15XR: Return, Leffen became the first player to four stock Armada in bracket, in game 1 of winners finals on Final Destination.

External links

• AllisBrawl profile
• Twitter account