TSM’s Swedish star Leffen has managed to break the underdog status after beating Zain twice at the Ludwig Ahgren Championship Series 5 to pull off a $15,000 Major win.
The highly talented star may have been overcrowded by the deep pool of modern talent that abides in Super Smash Bros. Melee lately, probably due to his split in focus.
LACS5 is the latest invitational series that the Swedish streamer will be participating in. The invitational was hosted by Ludwig and his team. A lot of the top names in Melee, like Cody Schwab, Zain, aMSa, and Hungrybox, were part of the competition.
Meanwhile, what makes Leffen’s effort more commendable is the fact that he had only competed in two other Majors this year. Nevertheless, he was able to walk away with his first title since Battle of BC 4 in June 2023, where he had to beat Zain to the title using the Sheikh instead of Fox to win Marth.
He used the same style at LACS5 with that Shiek to take a close 3-2 win in the grand finals. Leffen has been limited to certain competition because of his living in Sweden which limits his access to certain large events and practice against top talents. Thus, he has travelled to 12 Majors and won a National at DreamHack Rotterdam 2022 since Smash Summit 9 in February 2020.
However, Leffen will not be at an upcoming Melee Major, GOML, in a bid to practice for his other FGC competitions. Though he doesn’t think he can keep up the balance forever. In his post-game interview, Leffen spoke about his position with his schedules.
“There are some times you can just perform amazingly despite not doing the right thing. Playing three games is not sustainable, and even if it was for me, it wouldn’t be for my girlfriend, my dog, and my actual body. At the end of the day, I have to make a decision, and I told myself I wouldn’t wait until after Evo.” Leffen said.
Daniel Ademiju Idowu
