Welcome back!

Sign in or create an account to enjoy GINX perks, enter competitions and access exclusive features.

GINX TV > News > Super Smash Bros Melee

Leffen to miss Summit 11 due to visa issues, teases Melee retirement

The Evo 2018 winner hasn't competed in a Melee LAN event since February of last year.
Leffen to miss Summit 11 due to visa issues, teases Melee retirement

The COVID-19 pandemic continues to cause struggles in the Smash community, as William "Leffen" Hjelte has confirmed he won't be able to attend the upcoming Summit 11 due to unspecified and "silly" Visa issues, despite the Visa itself being approved.

The 26-year-old had been invited to the event alongside Japanese Yoshi main Masaya "aMSa" Chikamoto as both are held in high regard in terms of skill and personality but were at a clear disadvantage due to their locations, as neither could consistently enter events like the Summit Champions League to earn a spot for the invitational as they both reside outside North America.

Leffen's tweeted thread doesn't go into full detail as to what exactly happened with his application, but he does express sadness at the fact that another year of competition might be slipping through his hands after his 2020 was completely put on hold due to the pandemic, with the added sting of seeing the North American region maintain a semblance of competitiveness due to Slippi's rollback netcode

Leffen hints at Melee retirement

leffen retires melee
(Picture: DreamHack)

As a result of constant Visa issues throughout his career, The Godslayer is seriously thinking about dropping his GameCube controller permanently, focusing on Guilty Gear Strive, the latest Arc System Works fighting game which he has been practicing for the past month and even supporting by holding events such as LEVO

"At this point I'm leaning towards quitting Melee and I will focus on Strive. Being out for 2 years straight now with no end in sight is too much man, I feel like giving up," he tweeted out.

It'd be sad to see Leffen's Melee career end so abruptly, however, if he finds that same amount of passion while playing Strive we wouldn't blame him for committing full-time to his next endeavor.