Smasher:MkLeo: Difference between revisions

Little seemed to change once October came, as the next three majors were by far the worst of MkLeo's slump. The first was at {{Trn|Rise 'N Grind 2023}}, where after losing 3-0 to {{Sm|Skinny the Pooh}}, MkLeo ran into Riddles in Loser's Round 4. Despite pulling out Marth, who he used to defeat Riddles previously, Riddles won the set 3-2, eliminating MkLeo at 17th. This trend would continue at {{Trn|Luminosity Makes Moves Miami 2023}}, as MkLeo would lose yet another set to a {{SSBU|Mario}} player, this time to {{Sm|Kurama}}, before losing 3-1 to {{Sm|SHADIC}} for 13th. Finally, at {{Trn|Port Priority 8}} he lost to rising star {{Sm|Kaninabe}} 3-2 before losing to MuteAce in the runback 3-0 to place 17th yet again. A recurring theme in these sets were MkLeo's choice of characters: for example, his loss to Skinny the Pooh was with Joker, a character known to struggle against Mario, and his loss to MuteAce was with Byleth even though MuteAce had soundly defeated MkLeo's Byleth beforehand. As such, many began to question MkLeo's character roster and whether he was juggling too many characters at the same time. In, many players also began questioning whether MkLeo was anywhere near the top 10 that season, let alone in the top 10.

There was still some hope left, as aside from a disappointing {{Trn|Sunrise 2023}} run, where he placed 9th losing to {{Sm|KID}} and {{Sm|Supahsemmie}}, MkLeo managed to clean up his game and saw a small resurgence in the last few weeks of the season. First, his trip to Europe saw him attend the major {{Trn|Ultimate Fighting Arena 2023}}, and his performance marked MkLeo's best performance in months. After falling to {{Sm|NaetorU}} while using {{SSBU|Lucina}}, MkLeo ran through the Loser's bracket, surviving game 5 sets against {{Sm|BassMage}} and {{Sm|Tarik}} and defeating the tournament's #1 seed {{Sm|Tea}} before falling to {{Sm|Raflow}} for 4th. Although this was the first European event he failed to win, on the other hand MkLeo's win over Tea marked his first top 20 win since Sonix at Wavedash 2023. In addition, MkLeo's performance at the final major of the year, {{Trn|Watch The Throne}}, was equally as solid. Although his first two days were rough, where he defeated {{Sm|KEN}} but lost to Sonix, {{Sm|Lui$}}, and Sparg0 in the Gauntlet to start on the Loser's side, MkLeo managed to defeat ApolloKage and {{Sm|Dabuz}} before losing to KEN in the runback for 7th. Despite this placement, MkLeo once again claimed a few top 20 wins. These two runs convinced players that MkLeo could see a potential comeback in the future: despite ultimately finishing 11th on the [[LumiRank 2023]], many players were confident that MkLeo could regain his former glory, especially after he announced his motivation returning for the game.