Transformation of a Villain - The History of Leffen

the following video is sponsored by multi shine designs your one-stop shop for GameCube controllers hats pins buttons and more [Music] the history of competitive smash is one full of different stories and narratives but there's one narrative so prominent that it's become crystallized into the mythology of competitive melee you may have heard of it before five players so good at the game the day became known as the five gods of smash these were five players that almost never lost winning every tournament they would attend but there was one kid determined to change things forever he wanted to prove that in the world of smash there are no gods beyond that he wanted to become the best fighting game player of all time he would overcome any obstacle to reach the top and Goku the villain the community needed to one of its most respected players this is the story of plan [Music] [Applause] [Music] you [Music] before leffen existed there was only William Delta a kid who loved Sonic the Hedgehog was impressively good at video games by the age of four his interest in competitive gaming started with Super Smash Brothers Brawl but in 2010 a 16 year old lapin started entering melee tournaments and despite being new to the scene he had very quickly become one of the stronger players in his region his rapid improvement was a product of his intense dedication to practice Sweden was also home to Armada one of the five gods by 2011 him and Levin would start meeting in winners or Grand Finals decently often but the European smash scene was small compared to what was going on in the States so that summer weapon Armada and others flew out to California to compete at Genesis two you have to remember that this was back when Smash was grassroots no teams were paying them to fly out they just did it out of their love for the game while their lap and managed to get a few good wins but his results were ultimately not very satisfying so when he got back home he decided to switch characters and start playing Fox this was a good choice for a few reasons but a big one is that it fits so well with his approach to playing melee see weapons playstyle is bursting with confidence yet extremely disciplined he prioritizes finding the best combo or punish available in a given situation and to do this he's constantly looking for ways to safely control the space between his opponent and himself Falco achieves this kind of control oppressively with his lasers box does it with quick movement and his ability to make split-second decisions in January of 2012 he returned to America it's competed apex the second largest male a tournament to exist at that time here he would face off against mew2king another one of the smash gods amazingly their set came down to the last hit but ultimately mew2king clutched out the win it was amazing to see how quickly leffen improved as a player within two years of entering the scene he was already capable of posing a serious threat to one of the greatest players of all time but everything he did all of his success would always come at the expense of his negative personality here we have weapon verse ppmd another one of the smash gods you might have noticed the crowd was saying something about weapon here let's give it a closer listen trash spoiled this tournament is taking place in Norway yet the crowd is cheering for PP to win even though he's an American and laugh in his European it should seem backwards but it was happening for a reason back then weapon was kind of a jerk he was rude his ego was huge and he acted like a bully to players at tournaments and online even Armada who was friends with him was becoming notably more distanced but his negativity was tolerated presumably because he continued to get better and better at the game by the end of 2012 he had solidified himself as the second best player in Europe which peaked people's curiosities for when he returned to New Jersey to compete at Apex 2013 here he'd battle with hungrybox the fourth god eat meat much like his set with mew2king he brought it all the way to the last hit but ended up losing even though this was a loss he showed that he was capable of challenging multiple gods and that alone was enough to garner the respect of his American peers but when he got home there was something waiting for him that would become a pivotal moment in his career on February 9th 2013 Armada made a post on smash boards announcing that a decision was made to ban Letten through all tournaments in Sweden for at least a year his terrible behavior had finally caught up with him a massive list of his offenses were compiled into an archive known as evidence nib examples range from bullying people with disabilities to making up lies about other players and just downright being a terrible sport this was a wake-up call for him he had turned into a person that was no longer welcomed by his own community he could either change for the better or remain rotten and stay banned as time would show he chose the better path and though this came in the form of a barrier to his career you could argue that it was a necessary moment of growth that made him better as both a person and as a player in March he posted a public apology to everyone that he had wronged however the ban was still in place so the only tournaments he could attend that summer was Evo 2013 in Las Vegas his run in singles ended at an impressive 9th place and he did even better in doubles beating mew2king and hungrybox to get 5th place with his teammate ice because of his strong results at Evo and his second place finish at a tournament in France mailee autonomy decided to rank him as the 14th best player that year despite his load at the beginning of 2014 his ban was lifted the community agreed that Levin had changed for the better but let me just make one thing clear lesson still very much had an enormous ego this didn't change the fact that he was unapologetic and spoke with almost no filter but now he was a little nicer and a little more respectful to the people around him and for some that might not be enough but his tendency to call people out is what made him the villain of the smash scene it made him a heel someone people loved to hate but it was also a motivating factor for people to get good and for better or for worse it made every tournament he attended that much more exciting [Music] the dump and I'd like that yeah [Music] I [Music] what what baby [Music] for toffee [Music] [Music] Oh [Music] [Music] we want [Music] oh what a combo what a combo [Music] the world is follow up [Music] [Applause] [Music] woodpeckers I'd really like that instead of my life Wow [Music] with the year coming to a close leffen had taken out three of the five smash gods the only two players he hadn't beaten nor mew2king and mango he was easily the most improved player by far and people were starting to believe that he might become the next God but lemon rejected this idea he wasn't to be the next God he was to become the god Slayer at Beast five in Gothenburg Sweden Levin would get another shot at mango who had just been ranked as the number one player in the world and something happened here that almost never happened before the crowd started cheering for lapin to win even the commentators were noting how rare a moment like this was crowd chant cheering for leffen now that's not usually happen Mike Haggar in Sweden people usually cheer for lepida in Sweden no that's probably the place where his kid for the least in the Thai world their set was explosive any time one of them was in the lead the other would retaliate almost immediately but leffen proved his ability to be the better player he won the set and then the tournament the impact of his success was starting to make waves in the community at Paragon Orlando 2015 a desperate Armada pulled out his pocket box to try and beat Levin but to no avail for the fans watching this go down it was mind-blowing to see Armada play a character other than peach and tournament was nearly unheard of there had never been a fox player capable of forcing him into such a decision apex was once again around the corner only this time it was much bigger and with leffen on the upswing it was looking very possible that he might win his first major and decide from absolutely humiliating old-school player chillindude in an exhibition set that started over some Twitter beef it was also Levin's next chance to beat the mew2king the only God that he just couldn't seem to take down but this time mew2king was no match for him hit mew2king you do when he is done it's so many close oh no it's done did you keep done he's he's toast dude I feel that way there's icy slob coming from you King okay there's I not the time for flop you know what it really is is running it lesson right that's it that's it and let it takes it over if you to take a three stocker dreamland weapon has made history and just like that laughing had done it he had finally beat all of the gods and became known as the god Slayer now all that was left was to become the best in the world shortly after his final Godwin Lefton was picked up by Team solomid making him the first smash player to be added to their roster and they could not have picked better times do this starting with CEO 2015 left and went on an absolute terror of a run almost every tournament he went to he would get first place taking out any and all of the best players that tried to stand in his way he was nearly unstoppable he was amazing and he was cockier than ever Thomson way you think you're good I know you think you're good if I said I wasn't good you know how I was lying you do think you're good of course for the summer of 2015 weapon and arguably earned the strongest results he made it to the top and the only thing left to do was prove that he could consistently perform at this level but fate can be twisted and cruel what happened to laughing next was something that nobody saw coming and the timing of it was nothing short of a tragedy just before the big house 5 in Michigan leffen was barred from entering the United States because he was signed by TSM earlier that year it meant he was employed by an American organization so when the CBP officer discovered this as leffen was making his way to America he was denied entry for not having a proper work visa this could not have come at a worse time it was a complete momentum killer the vast majority of tournaments take place in America and now Levin could no longer participate he was effectively taken off the map no high-level practice no tournament prize money it was a huge blow psychologically but despite his post summer absence his performance in 2015 was so strong that he ended up being ranked third that year anyways his dominant results also got him the attention of Red Bull who picked him up as one of their official athletes in February of 2016 together with Red Bull Levin filed for the work visa that he needed to compete an athlete but he got denied because the United States government stated that they did not recognize super smash brothers melee as a legitimate sport it was starting to look like Levin might never come back however there was still one lucky cache weapon wasn't allowed to enter tournaments in the States but he was allowed to compete in Canada and just so happened that Canada's biggest tournament get on my level was to be taking place in May of 2016 everyone showed up to this all of the top five and so many more made their way to Toronto was leffen still capable of beating these players had they improved and now surpassed him these were questions on everyone's minds but his special weapons and the answers well the only way to find out was for the tournament's begin excellent use of that jungle in the upper limb to grab opportunity only grab follow-ups lights to slow and now sucking on the opportunity for these uh pairs judging by the weight left it able to clean it up each other sock nice bear good di on it to running all the way in man right now shut off your [Music] throw me the [ __ ] yes it goes out there it should be [Applause] [Music] whoa actually saving them let's go for the dancing step lessons not scared of it she's gonna go for dancing to it oh yeah the tale led to such a heart we're at the spot dodge let's go to the meeting near make up something jumping out of that potential hotel meeting for scrap just like the Falcon Oh horse pass like that mango nice nasty I love it make the comeback we beat all four gods in the wake the crowd cheering as he embraces his victory over every top player he based his victory of mental fortitude for surviving the absence and his victory in the tournament as it dawns on him that he just earned one of the most significant first place wins in his entire career if there was ever a moment to solidify lap in as one of the best super smash brothers melee players in the world this was it it took several months but eventually he was approved for a work visa and allowed to return to the States and ever since then he's remained one of the strongest players in the game at every event that he's attended but here's the thing about leffen his goal was never just to be the greatest Meili player in the world he adores fighting games of all kinds and his true ambition is to be the greatest fighting game player of all time in January of 2018 people were getting hyped around the world as a new fighting game called Dragonball Fighters was being released one of the things that makes this game unique is that it's drawn the attention of top players across various fighting games and then there's Lefton who comes from the world of competitive smash and that's not to say that leffen doesn't have any experience with fighting games remember how he was banned from smash back in 2013 well during that time he was actually entering tournaments for Marvel vs. Capcom a game that he's quite good at but regardless he was by no means a big name in the fighting game community he climbed the online ranks very quickly but he got his first chance to prove himself when the player sonic Box challenged him to a set because they lived so far apart this would end up happening in the games online mode which was a little less legit because of the lag but needless to say leffen got rocked but at the same time he held his own and that was enough to earn the respect of Sonic Fox in March leffen tweeted that for the time being he would be focusing on DP FZ over smash a decision that was made as a result of him being invited to compete at summit of power 2018 an invitation like that is a big deal and it got laughin motivated to work hard considering the competition he had a great performance at summit where he eventually finished at 9th place a result that showed the fgc that smash fundamentals do indeed crossover with traditional fighting games at CEO 2018 leffen exclusively entered DP FZ and ended up having one of the most hyped sets in the game's history so far it was up against the number one ranked player in the game go EG and levin went toe-to-toe with him in a battle that had the crowd and the commentators screaming from the intensity string him up using the cellos and the violin gonna happen weapon is going to sit go easy to losers in top 4800 wait a minute wait a minute let me go together he got plenty of bar we'd like to see God brought a ka revenge of assaults a couple of times hold on here we got some bars coming jogging ball nope oh my god defeat another God is he truly the God and Slayer I think this is a pretty good argument yes all the time oh my god we still chase guys [Applause] no was punch oh my god yo somebody give me a smoke today you could say that leffen is at a similar place in DB FC to where he was in melee back in 2013 and though he never quite became the best player in the world there was a brief moment in time where he was nearly unstoppable elegance and simplicity his gameplay is the result of a thirst for understanding built into a strong foundation through the labor of constant practice time and time again he's shown the importance of learning and expanding one's knowledge of their game and his efforts are shown in what he's capable of achieving he's one of the best melee players in the world and now he's making a strong argument for his ability to reach similar Heights and DP FZ when you want to be the best you have to do everything in your power to get there no matter what standing in your way and if you succeed you just might find yourself becoming the hero [Music] hey I hope you enjoyed watching that video did it make you maybe wanna try playing smash or maybe you're already into playing competitively if either one describes you then you might be interested in getting a sweet new controller multi shine designs is a one-stop location for new controllers buttons modifications and more I highly recommend you check them out if you're interested especially if you want to get a cool tinted shell like one of these and if you're watching this video around the time of its release multi shine designs and I have teamed up to do a free controller giveaway it's got a tinted soft blue shell Japanese white motherboard snapback capacitor and trimmed L in our buttons and all you have to do to enter is follow both of us on twitter and retweet the post pin to their page as always i'd like to thank my patrons we crush crypto martini rom oh bring back 1996 benton MK mister novel cat grat john man blair alexander bobby scarf and jacob popsicle if you like that video I have other smash videos for you to check out and if you want even more well I got you covered check them out you might just like them you [Music]

Channel: Slush

Views: 176,124

Keywords: The History of Leffen, History of Leffen, Story of Leffen, Leffen, TSM, TSM Leffen, SSBM, DBFZ, Dragonball FighterZ, The History of Smash, The History of Esports, Esports, Melee, Super Smash Bros Melee, SSBU, Godslayer, Red Bull Esports, Red Bull, Leffen Red Bull, Hungrybox, EVO, evo 2018, William Hjelte, Hjelte, smash documentary, smash doc

Id: a_pYV6L6Xwk

Length: 25min 0sec (1500 seconds)

Published: Sun Jul 15 2018