Smasher:MkLeo: Difference between revisions

Leo's first tournament of the year was {{Trn|GENESIS 7}} where he tried to defend his three-year winning streak. He was initially sent into Loser's bracket by {{Sm|Samsora}} in a game 5 set during top 8 and, after fighting through several top players, lost to Marss 0-3 in Grand Finals, ending the streak. He would bounce back next month with his victory at {{Trn|Frostbite 2020}}. Although he was upset 0-3 by {{Sm|Prodigy}} in winners Top 96, he tore through the Loser's bracket, defeating the likes of {{Sm|Salem}}, {{Sm|Dark Wizzy}}, Samsora, {{Sm|Nairo}}, {{Sm|Zackray}}, {{Sm|Dabuz}}, {{Sm|Tea}}, and {{Sm|Tweek}} to reach Grand Finals; many of these sets went to game 5, including a reverse 3-0 on Tweek and a last-hit scenario with Tea. In Grand Finals, he 6-0'd Maister to win the whole tournament, famously choosing {{SSBU|Byleth}} for the final game.

With the [[COVID-19|COVID-19 pandemic]] shutting down tournaments worldwide, MkLeo began to participate in online tournaments. However, he quickly realized that Joker performed noticeably worse online and attempted to find a new online main, using Byleth, Lucina, Cloud, Wolf, and Greninja throughout the [[Wi-Fi Warrior Rank v5]] season. At the start of the season, MkLeo would struggle to place top 8 at major online tournaments, falling to Wi-Fi Warriors such as {{Sm|IcyMist}}, {{Sm|BestNess}}, {{Sm|Epic_Gabriel}}, and {{Sm|Kola}}, as well as other players such as {{Sm|Hungrybox}} and rat. He also developed a bracket demon in {{Sm|Sonix}}, who held an 8-2 record over him by the end of the season. He would match his worst offline placement twice, first at {{Trn|The Box}}, losing to {{Sm|Jw}} and Prodigy, and then at [https://start.gg/tournament/the-box-juice-box-8/details The Box: Juice Box 8], losing to {{Sm|GamingHI9x9}} and {{Sm|AoS}}.

In the 6th season, MkLeo started to play more Byleth and produced solid results such as 5th at A-tier {{Trn|Zinc Tank 3}} and 9th at S-tier {{Trn|Lockhart Series}}. However, throughout the first half of the season, MkLeo would fail to claim victory at any major online tournament and his only victory would be at the B-tier {{Trn|Frame Perfect Series: ONLINE}}. It wouldn't be until November when MkLeo would finally win a major tournament: the S-Tier tournament {{Trn|Ultimate 32}}. Starting off in the top 32, MkLeo defeated several top players including BestNess, {{Sm|Sharp|p=Rhode Island}}, and {{Sm|Sparg0}} as he used solo Byleth throughout most of the top 32 and top 8 brackets. Coming from Loser's side, he faced Maister in Grand Finals, where he lost the first two games. He then switched to Ike, considered one of Mr. Game & Watch's worst matchups, and pulled off a reverse 3-0 against Maister, resetting the bracket. He then defeated Maister 3-0 in the reset, winning the largest tournament of the season. Despite being an online tournament, several players compared MkLeo's performance to his runs at EVO 2019 and Super Smash Con 2019 and congratulated him on his victory.

And it did mark a return to form, as despite the many upsets that took place at the tournament, MkLeo managed to cruise into top 8, having only pulled out Corrin for three games total. Leo then defeated both Light and Sparg0 with Byleth before swiftly taking out Glutonny to win the tournament, marking his first supermajor win of 2022 and winning his runback against three players that had defeated him that season. The rest of the season marked a return to form for MkLeo, as he continued to place in the top 2 at every tournament he attended. His victories over {{Sm|Sparg0}} at {{Trn|Relax & Smash at GeekFest Cancún}} were enough to barely edge his rival out on the rankings. Although he remained the best player in the world for the [[PGRU v3]] season, a mere 0.7 points separated him and Sparg0, making it the closest someone has dethroned him.

The competition continued to tighten in the next season, with MkLeo facing three obstacles that challenged his position on the throne. First, he has yet to be freed from his biggest demon Min Min, a character he has since announced was his least favorite character.<ref>{{cite web|url=https://twitter.com/Mkleosb/status/1546367332888502272|title=MkLeo on Min Min}}</ref> This demon haunted him at the supermajor {{Trn|Double Down 2022}}, where he eventually ran into ProtoBanham, who had previously defeated MkLeo at Smash Ultimate Summit 4 using a mixture of Min Min and Lucina, this time fought MkLeo using mostly the former. ProtoBanham managed to defeat MkLeo and his Corrin in Winner's Finals, but MkLeo managed to win the runback in the first set of Grand Finals, this time using {{SSBU|R.O.B.}}, yet another character he had been working on. However, he was unable to defeat ProtoBanham in the second set, leaving ProtoBanham as the winner. Following the tournament, MkLeo conceded that he played too many characters and noted his struggle against Min Min.

The final obstacle came in the form of a character crisis as MkLeo not only dropped Corrin and R.O.B., but began to slowly shift away from his Byleth in favor of Pyra and Mythra, due to him finding the latter two more fun to play. This, however, started to work against him, as seen in his 5th-place finish at Super Smash Con 2022. Although he remained confident in the character after winning the major {{Trn|Rise 'N Grind}} solely using the character, this confidence was shattered by his performance at Smash Ultimate Summit 5. Having ended up in the Gauntlet round after losing to {{Sm|Riddles}} in pools, MkLeo, unfortunately, was unable to make it out on the Winner's side after Glutonny reverse 3-0'd him, leaving MkLeo in the Loser's side. In the final bracket, MkLeo saw a humiliating beatdown from Tweek during the first two games of their set, forcing him to switch to Byleth. However, despite coming very close, MkLeo was unable to complete the reverse 3-0 and Tweek eliminated him in 9th; not only was MkLeo unable to face acola, who would've been his next opponent after Tweek, but it also marked the first time ever since Umebura Japan Major 2019 where he failed to make top 8.  

And a clearer answer did present itself. Having returned to Byleth, MkLeo not only won the tournament, but bested the competition by winning every single game he played save for the first game against {{Sm|Kurama}}, whom he ultimately won the runback. Furthermore, MkLeo finally had his long-anticipated set against acola, which went 3-0 in MkLeo's favor in both Winner Semis and Grand Finals. With Light finishing in a disappointing 13th and MkLeo defeating acola twice, doubt on MkLeo's abilities quickly faded away.  

Unfortunately, this tournament was MkLeo's last hurrah of the season, largely due to situations out of his control. MkLeo had been developing hearing problems, which led to him canceling most of his travel plans, including a [[Tournament:Battle of Z: Forma de Leo Saga|tournament dedicated in his honor in Canada]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1ss5cse|title=MkLeo's hearing problems}}</ref> Although he had planned on only attending the circuit finale tournaments, those plans were ruined following the {{Trn|Smash World Tour 2022 Championships}}'s cancellation and the shutdown of the {{Trn|Panda Cup}} that followed. With the two major end-of-season tournaments gone, the only other tournament MkLeo attended was the {{Trn|Scuffed World Tour}}, the Smash World Tour's replacement tournament. MkLeo's performance, however, was significantly weaker than his previous Ludwig appearance: he ultimately placed 5th, going game 5 against Kazuya players {{Sm|Ferps}} and {{Sm|Riddles}} - the latter of which he reintroduced his {{SSBU|Marth}} into top competitive play - but being 3-0'd by {{Sm|Tweek}} and {{Sm|Shuton}}, both of whom solidified themselves as MkLeo's new bracket demons. Despite this disappointing season, as well as a rather inconsistent season overall, most power rankings, including the half-year [[UltRank 2022]] and the yearly [[OrionRank 2022]], still ranked him first, albeit with very close competition from both acola and Sparg0.

After MkLeo's most fragile year yet, a few changes were necessary if he were to keep his hold on the throne. The most notable change was his character lineup, as MkLeo swapped out his {{SSBU|Byleth}} for his former main {{SSBU|Joker}} while maintaining many other characters as secondaries. He put this Joker to use at {{Trn|Let's Make Big Moves 2023}}, but the choice initially backfired, as after being defeated by {{Sm|Tweek}}, he stubbornly stuck with the character against {{Sm|Sonix}}, resulting in his first ever loss to his former online bracket demon, ending his run at 4th. This disappointment didn't stop him, and he stuck with his character choices in {{Trn|GENESIS 9}}. Although he used Joker for most of the tournament, he pulled out {{SSBU|R.O.B.}} against {{Sm|Justice|p=Washington}} to barely clutch out a 3-2 victory, and used [[Pyra (SSBU)|the]] [[Mythra (SSBU)|Aegis]] against Sonix, where despite going down 2-0, MkLeo managed to reverse the bracket and redeem his previous loss. Although he did also pull out his Byleth, it ultimately cost MkLeo his set to {{Sm|MuteAce}}, who defeated the Byleth in the first 2 games and took a win over the Joker in the fourth, knocking MkLeo into Loser Finals. Following yet another reverse 3-0, this time against {{Sm|Light|p=Connecticut}}, MkLeo stuck with the Joker for all 2 sets against MuteAce, and despite MuteAce surviving to high percents for almost every game, MkLeo was able to defeat MuteAce twice, claiming his fifth ever GENESIS title.  

Unfortunately, GENESIS was going to be an outlier for his season, as MkLeo followed it up with his worst performances since the early metagame: 9th place finishes at {{Trn|Collision 2023}}, {{Trn|Smash Ultimate Summit 6}}, and {{Trn|Get On My Level 2023}} -- with more losses than wins at Summit -- as well as a 13th place finish at {{Trn|Battle of BC 5}}. His record against Tweek, {{Sm|Riddles}}, and {{Sm|Glutonny}} continued to worsen as they became three of his biggest bracket demons, with Riddles notably defeating him 3-0 at both Collision and Summit. Furthermore, MkLeo began dropping more sets to players outside of the top 10, including to {{Sm|ShinyMark}} at Collision, {{Sm|ApolloKage}} at Summit, and {{Sm|Jakal}} at {{Trn|Crown the Third}}. Conversely, his record against the top 10 worsened, as for the first half of 2023 he not only had a losing record against his three bracket demons but also a losing record {{Sm|acola}} and an even record with {{Sm|Sparg0}}, with acola soundly defeating MkLeo at Summit and Sparg0 double-eliminating MkLeo at {{Trn|MAJOR UPSET}}, which marked the first ''Ultimate'' major that MkLeo lost from the Winner's side of Grand Finals. These performances were also hindered by MkLeo's continued character crisis, from adding {{SSBU|Meta Knight}} to his lineup at Summit to sticking to only the Aegis and Byleth for MAJOR UPSET and Crown, to returning to Joker at Get On My Level. Due to his underwhelming major performances and poor record against players in the top 10, most players stopped considering MkLeo for the season's top 3, let alone the best player in the world. This was ultimately reflected in his final placement on the [[LumiRank Mid-Year 2023]], where he fell all the way down to 7th, the first time he was not ranked in the top 5 since the [[PGR v2]].

When October came around, it seemed like nothing has changed, as at {{Trn|Rise 'N Grind 2023}}, MkLeo once again saw his worst placement at a major since Umebura Japan Major 2019. After losing 3-0 to {{Sm|Skinny the Pooh}}, having stuck to Joker the entire set despite his Joker historically having trouble against {{SSBU|Mario}}, MkLeo unfortunately ran into Riddles in Loser's Round 4. Despite pulling out Marth, who he used to defeat Riddles previously, Riddles ultimately defeated MkLeo 3-2, eliminating MkLeo at 17th.