Smasher:MkLeo
MkLeo, also known simply as Leo, is a smasher from Mexico who is currently residing in Florida. He is widely considered to be the best Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player in the world, dominating the competitive scene since the game's release and being ranked 1st on the Spring 2019 PGRU. Originally playing Ike, he later found tournament success with Lucina and Wolf before picking up Joker shortly after the character's release. In Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, MkLeo played Marth and Cloud, with Bayonetta, Meta Knight, Lucina, and Corrin as strong secondaries. He is his country's best player and was considered to be the best player in the world in 2018 after ZeRo's retirement. He is also widely considered the best Marth and Cloud player in the world, one of the two best Lucina players in the world (along with Mr E), one of the best Bayonetta players in the world, and formerly considered one of the best Corrin players and the best Meta Knight player prior to dropping both characters. Leo arguably popularized both Meta Knight and Marth, characters that had been seen as mediocre after their nerfs from Brawl, as top players such as Abadango have since used Meta Knight against other top players until his nerfs in game updates, as well as lower-leveled players picking up Marth due to his dominance with him. He is so far the youngest player to win a major Smash 4 tournament, doing so at only 15 years old, achieving this feat at 2GGT: ZeRo Saga. Due to his aggressive style and heavy punish game with Meta Knight and proving his skills surpass those of top players at a very young age, some compare him to Nairo's early Brawl career. He is also a proficient doubles player and usually teams with komorikiri or his cousin Javi. Leo/komorikiri consists of Cloud/Cloud and have taken 1st at majors such as Super Smash Con 2017, 2GGC: SCR Saga, Shine 2017, and GameTyrant Expo 2017. They were considered to be the best team in the world throughout 2017. Leo/Javi generally consists of Cloud/Sheik or Cloud/Cloud and dominate the Mexican and American scenes, taking impressive first places at major tournaments such as 2GGC: Civil War, 2GGC: Nairo Saga, and Canada Cup 2016. The duo has wins over the likes of ZeRo and Nairo, Mew2King and Ally, and Larry Lurr and ANTi. Leo was ranked 3rd on the Panda Global Rankings 100 and was formerly ranked 1st on the Mexican Smash 4 Power Rankings. On January 4th, 2017, MkLeo was signed by Echo Fox[1] and Most Valuable Gaming. Contents
Playstyle[edit]Leo is known for his aggressive, yet calculated, playstyle with most of the characters he plays with, which grants him a strong punish game, as well as being known for his intense mindgames. As Marth, he is well known for his masterful spacing of Marth's aerials, as well as a surprisingly aggressive approach with a character that is often played with a more patient and defensive playstyle. His Marth in particular has been very effective against Bayonetta as Leo is known to lab that matchup a lot. As Cloud, he is more known for his defensive spacing and reserved usage of Limit Break-boosted moves, though he does retain his signature aggressive playstyle with him whenever he has the advantage, allowing him to pressure the opponent very well. As Meta Knight, he is known for his mastery of Meta Knight's combos, his uncanny ability for reading the opponent's air dodges, and his proficiency at executing the Rufio, Meta Knight's famous death combo. His Bayonetta is noted for its comeback ability and above average combo game. He is also notorious for his player knowledge, defeating his opponents convincingly after initially losing to them in their first encounter. However, he does have some problems on the Ryu match-up, having dropped sets to Darkshad, Trela, Venom, Klein, and takera (though he began showing improvement in the matchup lately, notably having a perfect record against Locus). He is also known to struggle against grab-focused characters such as Donkey Kong and Bowser; at 2GGC: MkLeo Saga, he said that the player he dislikes fighting the most is Tweek since he often plays Donkey Kong against Leo and has taken numerous sets off of him with the character.[2] Tournament History[edit]
2008-2014: Pre-Smash 4[edit]MkLeo's tournament record before Smash 4 is relatively unknown (though it was implied he has been playing competitively since 2008). His first tournament victory came at Anime Expo Mexico TNT 2009, at only 8 years of age. [3] 5 years later, he attended Smash Factor 3 in Project M singles, losing to his cousin Serge 0-3 in winners finals, but defeating Ally 3-2 in losers finals. He lost to Serge again 2-3 in grand finals to place 2nd. 2015-Early 2016: Growing Fame Outside of U.S.[edit]In 2015, MkLeo was a Meta Knight main and considered the best player in Mexico. He burst into the international Smash scene when he won Smash Factor 4, Mexico's largest Super Smash Bros. for Wii U tournament at the time, defeating Mr.R in Grand Finals 3-1, 2-stocking him in each game he won despite Mr. R recently getting 2nd at EVO 2015. Later in the year, at another Mexican tournament, True Combo, Leo defeated Vinnie 3-1 in Grand Finals, further proving his capabilities as a player and creating more interest in the Mexican Smash scene as a whole. In 2016, Leo's usage of Meta Knight progressively decreased as he started to use Cloud and Marth more and more. Following Meta Knight's nerfs in game update 1.1.5 and Marth's buffs in the same update, he began to rely more on him and Cloud, only playing Meta Knight in specific match-ups such as Peach, Ryu, and Sonic. Due to visa issues, Leo was unable to attend an American tournament prior to October 2016. He received his Canadian visa after registration for Get On My Level 2016 had closed, but a decision was made by TOs to allow him to enter despite this, due to a widespread community approval. He defeated False and Nairo to reach top 8. Leo was matched up against Ally and was defeated 1-3. In loser's bracket he faced ZeRo in a highly anticipated set, which he narrowly lost 2-3 in a last hit, last stock situation, proving that he could go toe-to-toe with many other top players. His run ended with a very impressive 5th place. At Smash Factor 5, after losing to Wonf in winners quarters 2-3, Leo made a run through the losers bracket, getting the runback against Wonf in losers semis 3-0, eliminating Dabuz in losers finals 3-2, and beating Mr.R twice in grand finals (3-0 and 3-2) to win the tournament. At Canada Cup 2016, Leo once again confirmed his place among the best in the world. He double eliminated Mew2King, and despite losing to Ally in winner's finals 2-3, he ended up taking 2 sets off of Ally in two very close 3-2/3-2 grand finals sets to get 1st place. 2016: USA Debut and Becoming Top 10[edit]In October 2016, MkLeo's visa was approved, allowing him to travel to the United States. His first American tournament was KTAR XIX where he placed 3rd, beating Nairo a second time 3-2 but losing to ZeRo 2-3 in winners finals and Salem 1-3 in losers finals. At UGC Smash Open, he lost to Marss 2-3 in winners and was then upset by Darkshad 1-3 in losers, finishing at a disappointing 13th place. At 2GGT: ZeRo Saga, MkLeo was sent to losers by VoiD 2-3; subsequently, he made an incredible losers run, defeating Dabuz 3-1, ANTi 3-0, and Ally 3-1. He then defeated ZeRo 3-0 in loser semis, becoming the 16th player to defeat him. He then won the rematch against VoiD in losers finals 3-0 to reach Grand Finals against Larry Lurr. He reset the bracket 3-1 and claimed the second set 3-2 to win his first American national tournament. On top of this, Leo was the youngest person to ever win a Smash 4 tournament and still is today. Soon after, he was sponsored by Echo Fox and Most Valuable Gaming as a result. 1st Half of 2017: GENESIS Champion and Becoming One of the Best[edit]MkLeo travelled to California to participate in the upcoming international tournament GENESIS 4. His first event there was 2GGC: GENESIS Saga, set the weekend before GENESIS, where he beat Rich Brown and his cousin Javi both 3-1 to make it to top 8. He was then sent to losers by VoiD (2-3) and eliminated by Tweek (1-3), placing 5th. At GENESIS 4, Leo solidly cruised through his round 1 and 2 pools, defeating You3 and Raffi-X both 2-1. In top 32, he beat Elegant and komorikiri in two very close 3-2 sets. In top 8, he beat Mr.R 3-0, then he defeated Ally 3-1 in winners finals and 3-2 in grand finals, winning his second supermajor tournament in a row. At the Texas regional Austin's Really Feeling It 16, Leo was defeated by Trela 1-3 in winners finals. After defeating Karna 3-0, once again Leo fell to Trela 1-3 in grand finals, placing 2nd. At Frostbite 2017, in top 48, he was defeated 1-3 by Kameme and sent to losers. In losers, he defeated Abadango 3-0 before being eliminated once again by VoiD 1-3 and finishing at 13th place. At Frame Perfect Series 2, Leo defeated Ranai in a rather dominant 3-0. He was then sent to the loser's bracket by ZeRo 0-3 in winners semis, landing next to Dabuz in bracket where he won 3-2. Leo then went on to face komorikiri in loser's semis, defeating him 3-0 in Cloud dittos, before losing to ZeRo again in losers finals 0-3, placing 3rd. At 2GGC: Civil War, Leo was upset by Meteor 0-2 in winners semis of his pool. He then lost in another upset to AC 2-3 in Meta Knight dittos, finishing at 65th, his worst placement yet. MkLeo attended KTAR XX where he qualified for top 8 winners after defeating Mr.E 3-0 in a highly anticipated Marth ditto set. He then beat Nairo 3-1 but lost to ZeRo 1-3 in winners finals and Tweek 2-3 in losers finals, placing 3rd. Returning back to Mexico, he attended The Arena 2017 using almost exclusively Corrin. He defeated Wonf 3-0 in winners finals, but lost to Javi 1-3 in the first set of grand finals. Switching out of Corrin, he won the second set 3-1. At DreamHack Austin 2017, MkLeo made it to top 8 winners without losing a game, beating players such as Locus and Whispy. He then defeated VoiD 3-2 and Ally 3-1 to reach grand finals, where he lost to ZeRo 0-3 twice, placing 2nd. MkLeo traveled to Japan for the first time and attended his first event there, KSB 2017. He solidly won the tournament: defeating Ranai, Edge, and Abadango solidly. He then attended Umebura Japan Major 2017 defeating the likes of Kirihara 2-1 and Choco 3-0 until losing to KEN 0-3 in winners finals. After defeating Choco 3-2 again in losers finals, he won both sets of grand finals against KEN 3-2 and 3-0 using Meta Knight, taking the tournament. After returning to the USA, he attended 2GGC: Nairo Saga, making top 8 winners without dropping a single game. He defeated Ally 3-0 in winners semis, but lost to ZeRo 2-3 in winners finals (this time using Cloud) and Salem 2-3 in losers finals, placing 3rd. At CEO 2017, MkLeo made it to winners quarters after beating ZD 2-0 and Marss 3-0 where he lost to Larry Lurr 2-3 for the first time. He made top 8 after defeating Dabuz 3-2. He went through the bracket, defeating Salem 3-2 (with a choice of Corrin games 4 and 5), KEN and Nairo 3-1 and Larry Lurr 3-0 in a runback before finally losing to ZeRo 1-3 in grand finals (again playing Corrin in games 3 and 4), placing 2nd. 2nd Half of 2017: Sudden Drop and Quick Resurgence[edit]At EVO 2017, MkLeo was upset by False 1-2 in his pool in winners. Then in the same pool, he was upset again by MuteAce 0-2, placing 65th (his worst since Civil War). One week later, at DreamHack Atlanta 2017, MkLeo was upset 1-2 by Vinnie in pools, entering top 64 on losers side. After defeating Rideae 2-0 and Manny 3-1, he lost to ZeRo 0-3 (despite choosing Meta Knight games 2 and 3), placing 17th. Despite the underwhelming placings, he did win International Gaming Expo 2017 in Texas, defeating players such as Ryo and Konga. MkLeo attended Smash Factor 6 in his native Mexico. He solidly cruised through the bracket, defeating NAKAT 3-0 to make top 8 winners. After defeating his cousin Javi 3-2 though, he lost to Mr.R for the first time losing 1-3 in winners finals (despite choosing Meta Knight games 3 and 4). After defeating NAKAT again 3-0 in losers finals, he won both sets of grand finals 3-0 and 3-1 over Mr.R using solely Marth, taking the tournament. The following week, he attended Super Smash Con 2017 where he solidly made top 8 winners, defeating Komorikiri 3-2 in pools, then Salem 3-1 in winners quarters. In top 8, he defeated WaDi 3-0, but lost to ZeRo 1-3 in winners finals and Nairo 1-3 in losers finals, placing 3rd. At 2GGC: SCR Saga, MkLeo made top 8 winners after defeating Tweek 3-0. In top 8, he lost to ZeRo 0-3 but then made a losers run, defeating CaptainZack 3-1, Mistake 3-2 and Larry Lurr 3-1 before losing to ZeRo again 2-3 in grand finals, placing 2nd. At Shine 2017, MkLeo made top 8 winners after defeating Ally 3-1. He lost to ZeRo 1-3 in winners semis and Tweek 0-3 in losers quarters (despite counterpicking Corrin, Bayonetta and Toon Link against Tweek's Donkey Kong), placing 5th. MkLeo was invited to PAX Arena at PAX West 2017. He lost every set in his round robin pool except against KOSSismoss, whom he defeated 2-1, to be seeded in losers side for the final bracket. In the top 10 bracket, he would lose his first round set to another Donkey Kong, this time Konga's 1-3, finishing at a very underwelming 9th place. At GameTyrant Expo 2017, MkLeo solidly made top 8 winners after defeating Salem 3-1. He then beat Mr. R 3-1 but lost to Elegant 1-3 in winners finals. In losers finals, he defeated ZeRo 3-1 for the first time since 2GGT: ZeRo Saga (using Meta Knight). He then won both extremly close sets of grand finals against Elegant 3-2/3-2 to win the tournament. At 2GGC: Fire Emblem Saga, MkLeo was upset by komorikiri 2-3 in winners quarters and VoiD 2-3 in losers, placing 9th. However, he defended his title at Canada Cup 2017, defeating Larry Lurr 3-2 in winners finals and Lima 3-1 in grand finals. However, he was unable to break the curse at 2GGC: MkLeo Saga, losing to Tweek 2-3 in winners finals and KEN 2-3 in losers finals, placing 3rd. At the 2GG Championship, MkLeo barely won in his group to qualify for the championship bracket, defeating Kirihara 3-2 and Salem 3-0 after losing to Shuton 0-3. In the championships, he was able to beat Abadango 3-2, 3-0 ZeRo with Meta Knight, and beat Salem 3-1. In grand finals, he lost the first set to ZeRo 2-3, but managed to take the last set 3-1. MkLeo was invited to Smash 4 Boot Camp one week later. He lost to Tweek 1-2 and Cosmos 0-2 in his group pool, entering top 16 on losers side. He beat Dabuz 3-1 but lost to Larry Lurr 1-3, placing 9th. 2018: Claiming the Throne[edit]MkLeo successfully defended his title at GENESIS 5, narrowly defeating Dabuz 3-2 in winner semis, defeating Salem 3-0 in winners finals and Mistake 3-1 in grand finals. He traveled to Japan to attend EVO Japan 2018 and again won the tournament from the winner side, defeating Abadango 3-2 and 3-1 in winners finals and grand finals respectively. MkLeo qualified for Niconico Tokaigi 2018 by winning Umebura Tokaigi Qualifier 1, defeating Shuton 2-0 in grand finals. At Tokaigi 2018, MkLeo placed 2nd, losing to Tokaigi 2017 champion Nairo 0-2 twice in grand finals. At Midwest Mayhem 11, MkLeo lost to Dabuz for the first time 2-3 in winners finals and Zinoto 1-3 in losers finals, placing 3rd. At Smash Masters League: Battle for Vegas, MkLeo placed 2nd, losing to Nairo twice (2-3 in winner semis and 0-3 in grand finals). However, he came back with a win at Noods Noods Noods: Oakland Edition, defeating ANTi 3-0 in both winners and grand finals. MkLeo would later get his redemption on Nairo at SwitchFest, defeating him 3-2 in winners finals and 3-1 in grand finals to take the tournament. At Get On My Level 2018, MkLeo remains on top by taking the tournament, defeating Nairo 3-2 in winners finals and 3-1 in the second set of grand finals (despite losing the first set 1-3). He would be unable to win the next major tournament, Smash 'N' Splash 4, however, losing to Salem 0-3 in winners semis and 1-3 in losers finals, placing 3rd. On May 9, 2018, MkLeo was revealed to be one of the invited players to attend E3 2018 for Nintendo's invitational tournament for the next iteration of Super Smash Bros., named Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. At the Super Smash Bros. Invitational 2018, MkLeo would team with Mango to defeat Mr.R and Lucky to advance to winner semis, playing Bayonetta. MkLeo would defeat Mango's Inkling with Sonic to advance to winners finals with Solid Snake against ZeRo's Sheik. MkLeo barely lost to ZeRo so he dropped into losers finals where he faced Plup. After sweeping Plup's Ridley with Bayonetta, he faced ZeRo again in grand finals, which was best of 3, and managed to reset the bracket 2-0 with Bayonetta and Sonic over ZeRo's Mario and Sheik. However, MkLeo would lose 1-2 in the second set to ZeRo's Mario, finishing 2nd at the invitational. At 2GG: Hyrule Saga, MkLeo was upsetted 1-2 by zaki in pools. He made a long losers run, defeating Lima, Javi, Chag, Elegant and Salem to make top 8. In top 8, he lost to CaptainZack 1-3, placing 7th. However, he would bounce back with a win at CEO 2018, defeating Cosmos 3-0 in winners finals and after losing to Tweek 0-3 in the first set of grand finals, he won the second set 3-1 to take the tournament, soldifying himself as the best in the world following ZeRo's retirement as he was ranked 1st on the PGR V5. MkLeo was unable to attend EVO 2018 due to chickenpox, but was able to attend Super Smash Con 2018 where he won the tournament without dropping a set, defeating Samsora 3-1 in grand finals. MkLeo's last smash 4 tournament was Shine 2018. After he cruised solidly through pools, he was upset 1-3 by JaKaL in top 32 winners. In the losers bracket. He defeated SuperGirlKels, Smokk, and Dabuz to advance to top 8 on the losers side. After an extremely close set with VoiD where he won 3-2, he barely lost to Tweek's Bayonetta ending his run at 5th place. MkLeo ended up as the 3rd best Smash 4 player of all time on the PGR 100, under ZeRo in 1st and Nairo in 2nd. 2019: Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]Following his performance at the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate invitational, MKLeo went into Ultimate with strong results. MkLeo's first national tournament for the new game was Smash Conference United. He won the event, defeating Samsora 3-2 in grand finals. He placed 4th at Glitch 6, losing to Light and Nairo 1-3 each. At the first supermajor for the game, GENESIS 6, MkLeo was sent to losers by Samsora 2-3 in winners semis. However, he made an impressive losers run, defeating Light 3-2, Dabuz 3-1, Samsora 3-2 in a runback then VoiD 3-1 twice in grand finals to take his third GENESIS title in a row. With his impressive showing at GENESIS 6, MKLeo was shaping up to potentially be the best player in the world alongside Tweek. At Frostbite 2019, MkLeo placed 2nd, defeating UtopianRay, Nairo and Myran before losing to Tweek in Winners Finals 3-2 and again in Grand Finals 3-0, leading many to give the new "best in the world" title to Tweek. After winning the Smash Ultimate Summit, he faced a few underperformances: 7th at both 2GG: Prime Saga and Pound 2019, and a shocking 33rd at Umebura Japan Major 2019. With the release of Joker in Challenger Pack 1, MKLeo decided to devote more time to the new character and picked him up as a main. Though he got 33rd at his first tournament using the character, Umebura Japan Major 2019, he began devoting more time to the character and became known as the best Joker main in the world. After his 4th place at Get On My Level 2019, he won two S-tier events in a row. At MomoCon 2019, he placed 1st, mainly using solo Joker, and impressively beat Marss 3-2 in Winners Semis and Tweek 3-0 in Winners Finals and 3-1 in Grand Finals. Once again going solo Joker at Smash 'N' Splash 5, he secured another 1st place, where he defeated Marss 3-1 in Winners Semis, Ally 3-1 in Winners Finals, and Samsora 3-0 in Grand Finals (with a commanding 3-stock in game 3 of Grands). Later in June, he took another 1st place at CEO 2019 and cemented his status as the best in the world; he only dropped 2 games the entire tournament to ProtoBanham and Marss (though Tweek was notably absent from the tournament). Marss would finally go on to take two sets off of Leo at Smash Factor 8, making Smash Factor 8 the only Smash Factor tournament that Leo attended and didn't win, instead finishing in 2nd place. Leo still took the number 1 spot on the Spring 2019 PGRU, but Marss' recent victory over MkLeo just before EVO left an interesting scenario to play out. MkLeo lost to kameme 0-2 in Winners Top 24 at EVO 2019, the largest Smash tournament to date. He made a losers run, beating Maister, ScAtt, and Abadango to reach Top 8. He faced off against zackray for the first time in Losers Top 8, a fated battle the community had waited for since the game's release. MkLeo beat zackray, Raito, Samsora, and Glutonny to reach Tweek in Grand Finals. Although Tweek won the first two games and had a close Game 4, MkLeo reset the bracket and won the final set 3-0 to take his first EVO championship and the first Ultimate tournament at EVO. Because of his performance in addition to the first PGRU season, there was no doubts that he was the best Ultimate player. He cemented his status even further with another 1st at Super Smash Con 2019, with an incredible bracket reset against Samsora in Grand Finals; Grands played out much like EVO, where Samsora was up 2 games and was poised to take Game 4, yet Leo managed to reset the bracket and win it. Leo is undoubtedly the best Ultimate player, but whether anyone will be able to take and keep his throne is yet to be seen. Tournament placings[edit]
Super Smash Bros. Melee[edit]
Super Smash Bros. Brawl[edit]
Project M[edit]
Super Smash Bros. for Wii U[edit]
Super Smash Bros. Ultimate[edit]
Trivia[edit]
External links[edit]
Gameplay videos[edit]Super Smash Bros. for Wii U[edit]
References[edit] |
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