Leffen
Leffen at the tournament Heir 5 in Oadby in August 2018
Current team
TeamTeam SoloMid
GameFighting games
Personal information
NameWilliam Peter Hjelte
Nickname(s)God Slayer
Villain of Super Smash Bros.
Born (1994-10-16) October 16, 1994
NationalitySwedish
Career information
GamesSuper 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
  • EVO champion (2023)

William Peter Hjelte, 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]

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

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 from Sweden, while his father is Korean who was adopted from South Korea.[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

Year Ceremony Category Result Ref.
2022 The Streamer Awards Best Super Smash Bros. Streamer Nominated [36]

Notable tournament placings

Only Majors and Supermajors are listed.

Offline tournament Online 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 2012January 6–8, 201233rd25thZoler
Epita Smash Arena 5April 20–23, 20125th2ndFuzzyness
Smashers' Reunion: Melee GrandeJuly 13–15, 20123rd2ndDr. PeePee
Apex 2013January 11–13, 201317th5thIce
EVO 2013July 12–14, 20139th5thIce
Apex 2014January 17–19, 20144th9thDr. PeePee
B.E.A.S.T 4February 12–16, 20141st2ndIce
Republic of Fighters 3May 17–18, 20141st2ndFuzzyness
MLG Anaheim 2014June 20–22, 20145th5thHax
EVO 2014July 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 2015January 30 – February 1, 20153rd3rdIce
I'm Not YellingApril 11–12, 20153rd1stMacD
Press StartMay 9–10, 20159th2ndMacD
CEO 2015June 26–28, 20151st2ndHungrybox
WTFoxJuly 10–11, 20151st2ndMango
EVO 2015July 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 2015November 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 2016June 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 2017July 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, 20172nd1stMew2King
Smash Summit 5November 2–5, 20173rd1stArmada
DreamHack Winter 2017December 2–3, 20173rd——
GENESIS 5January 17, 20183rd——
Smash Summit 6May 2, 20185th1stArmada
Smash 'N' Splash 4June 1–3, 20183rd——
EVO 2018August 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——

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 6February 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——

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.
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