Return of the Swede

With the conclusion of Smash and Splash 3 it can now be said that two of the fading stars of the melee scene have shown some spark heading into the summer of smash. With Leffen's impressive losers run to Grand Finals which included eliminating Professor Pro, Ice, n0ne, and Westballz just to qualify for top 8, Leffen definitely made a statement that his consistentcy was returning and that he would only lose to top players. His loss to Zain must have been some type of wake up call, because Day 2 Leffen was on a mission to show off that he was far from out of this tournament. But would he have enough gas left in his tank to defeat the convincing Hungrybox?

After qualifying for Top 8 Leffen's first round match was against Axe, who had a 2-0 record against him in 2016. In the first game Leffen went full .zip boys, bullying Axe with uptilit and taunting on platforms after hitting some impressive tech-chase upsmash reads. By elminating Axe the gatekeeper in such decisive fashion, his next match against Mang0 would be all the more interesting.

After losing to an impressive looking Hungrybox due to a few crazy call-out rests set up by corner pressure, Mang0 was looking to get the runback at all costs and start some momentum for the upcoming smash season.

And it looked like Mang0 would do exactly that, taking the first two games in quick, dominating fashion and securing a 2-1 stock lead on Final Destination in game 3. But in true Mang0 fashion, after a Leffen SD Mang0 instantly homie stocks bringing the game back to even. Relentlessly Leffen starts his chain grab. Mang0 knows that there's and lets out a little smile while trying desperately to escape the combo, but Leffen doesn't drop and secures the pivotal game 3 victory. 

After this near-death experience Leffen went Super Saiyan 2 and decisively handled Mang0, leading him to Shroomed in a form that had not been seen since 2015. Armed with his new Marth, Shroomed took game 1 by one stock much to the crowd's delight, wondering if Leffen would be upset twice by Marth in one tournament and potentially spawning another Samus-esque meme. With the Dreamland couterpick Shroomed would opt for Sheik and lose by only one stock, leaving us to wonder if he would stay on his main for the rest of the set.

But instead we were treated to more Marth on Yoshi's, where Shroomed lost in another close game by one stock. Shroomed remained confident and decided for the runback, but after again losing two quick stocks it looked like Leffen was about to secure his seat in Loser's Finals. Digging in his heels, Shroomed answered back and squeaked by in another close game by one stock, and would have his signature energy going into game 5. But the Leffen counterpick was too strong, and perhaps the download was complete with the Leffen 3 stock on Pokemon Stadium, securing him his LF spot against Armada, who had just lost to a planking Hbox in a war of attrition. 

Before Loser's Finals, Armada declared his confidence that today would be a Swedish victory, possibly referring to the USA chant that had started in his sets against Hbox. Leffen and Armada have a complicated past, but this marked that no matter what they fight on the same team when it comes to competing outside of their home country. But the team-kill was inescapable, and only one Swede would advance to Grands. The last time they played, Armada was dominated in the Fox ditto and had to try his hand at Peach unsuccessfully. The Fox ditto seemed close as always, but in game 2 Armada pulled out a convincing 3 stock. But Leffen was having none of it, and decisively two stocked Armada twice to grant him the 3-1 victory and his chance to take down Hbox in Grands and cement one of the most dominating loser's runs since Mang0 at Pound 3. 

After playing so many styles of Puff this tournament, ranging from the aggressive read-heavy gameplay against Mang0 and then the incredibly patient, campy style against Armada, it was a mystery how he would play against Leffen. In game 1 we saw a mix between the two styles that would last throughout the entire set, Hbox carefully planning when to attack and staying away from ledge stalling. Leffen would secure the game 1 victory in narrow fashion, escaping a rest combo in a last stock situation to take the momentum from the first game. But Puff's Dreamland counterpick was a force to be reckoned with all day, and Leffen would fare the same as Mang0 and Armada among others and fail to steal the game from Hbox. But it wouldn't matter as Leffen kicked it into overdrive, and secured his own counterpick of Pokemon and also Hbox's counter, an interesting choice of Battlefield over Fountain. Leffen was poised to win the Smash n Splash crown after now taking sets off all the Gods in attendance and looking dominant.

But by the time of the second set, it seemed that Hbox's foot had healed, and his bair game was looking way more on point. The first game included the runback to Battlefield where we started to see the passive Hbox playstyle creep back. This would set the tone for the rest of the set, with Hbox going back to ledge stalling on Pokemon to some effect before Leffen was able to figure out how to counter the strategy with down-tilt. But it wouldn't be enough to stop the Florida smasher, who two stocked Leffen on his own counter. Even though Leffen was able to win on the Pokemon runback, the Dreamland counterpick remained strong. Leffen was able to make it close, coming down to a last stock situation but Hbox appeared to have more gas left as the set approached the 40 minute mark and nailed him with the tech-chase rest to crown him the victor. 

Although Leffen wasn't able to close it out at the very end against a formidable Hungrybox, his run was nothing short of redeeming for his shaky year. By taking sets off of Professor Pro, Ice, n0ne, Westballz, Axe, Mang0, Shroomed, Armada, and Hungrybox it's without question that Leffen has returned just in time for summer, adding another storyline heading into CEO, Dreamhack, and EVO in the coming months.