Smasher:Leffen
| Leffen | |
|---|---|
| leffen.jpg | |
| Character info | |
| Melee main | Fox |
| Other Melee characters | Falco, Yoshi, Marth |
| Project M mains | Fox, Zero Suit Samus |
| Other Project M characters | Falco, Snake |
| Personal and other info | |
| Real name | William Hjelte |
| Birth date | |
| Location | Stockholm 
|
| Miscellaneous info | |
| Skill |  Top professional  |
Leffen is a professional Smasher from Stockholm, Sweden. He started off as a Yoshi main, but later switched to Fox, and is now known as one of the most technical and powerful Fox mains in Sweden, and even in the world. He has managed to place very well in tournaments; he took 17th at Apex 2013, 9th place out of 709 entrants at EVO 2013 (currently the largest Melee tournament in the world), and 4th place at Apex 2014. At Apex 2014, Leffen defeated renowned smashers such as Hungrybox and Colbol before being eliminated by Mango in Losers' Semis. He is currently considered to be among the best European Melee players, along with Armada and Ice, and is commonly cited as one of the six best players in the world alongside Armada and the four top players in the United States: Mango, PPMD, Mew2King, and Hungrybox.
Leffen won his first national at B.E.A.S.T 4, where he defeated Ice in losers' finals and Armada in two sets of grand finals after being knocked out of winners' bracket by Ice. Later, Leffen won Republic of Fighters 3, once again defeating Armada in two sets of grand finals. Leffen notably beat Armada 6-0 in grand finals, after previously being knocked out in winners' finals 3-0 by Armada.
Notable tournament placings
Melee
| Tournament | Date | 1v1 Placement | 2v2 Placement | Partner |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| B.E.A.S.T | January 7th-9th, 2011 | 9th | 13th | AJP |
| GENESIS 2 | July 15th-17th, 2011 | 17th | 13th | AJP |
| B.E.A.S.T II | August 10th-14th, 2011 | 4th | 5th | AJP |
| Apex 2012 | January 6th-8th, 2012 | 33rd | 25th | Zoler |
| Epita Smash Arena 5 | April 20th-23rd, 2012 | 5th | 2nd | Fuzzyness |
| 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 | 1st | 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 |
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 | — | — |
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 soon caught on, and Swedish tournament organizers and Melee professionals gave him a serious warning in August 2012, threatening to ban him from tournaments if he did not improve his attitude. Leffen did not take this seriously, claiming that it was "bullshit" that "would never go through in a million years." 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. They stated 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), he did indeed make a public statement asking for forgiveness. Months later, 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.
