Now that Apex 2015 is over and done with, it can be safely said that it was a pretty big deal. The popular fighting game tournament set a few records, with over 1024 entrants in Super Smash Bros. Melee - beating out the previous record held by EVO at 970 - and over 800 entrants in Super Smash Bros. for Wii U, claiming the title for biggest Smash 4 tournament as well. Amidst this craze a huge rivalry was settled and a new one was formed.
After considerable smack talk back and forth, competitive Melee gamers Leffen and Chillindude settled it in Smash as Fox, with the stakes being that the loser could never play as Fox's original colour in any fighting game tournament in the future, ever. Leffen was the underdog and the villain in this situation, with a notorious reputation for extraordinarily bad sportsmanship - in his native Sweden, he was once banned from all Smash events due to his poor behaviour. Chillindude - the good guy of the match-up - had created a "diss video" to counter the negative comments of his cocky rival, the contents of which would come back to haunt him.
Chillindude was the one everyone was rooting for; somewhat of a legend in the community, many combos for Fox have been named after him. The ensuing battle was a high-adrenaline, tense experience as both players were roughly neck and neck for most of the fight. Unfortunately for Chillindude, he cracked under pressure and the "father of Fox" was shamed in front of thousands by his bitter rival, his rights to Fox's original colour forever rescinded. Leffen dominated the last few matches. You can watch the whole sorry contest here:
As Leffen was rubbing it in, another popular player named Mango took the stage to back up Chillindude. Mango challenged Leffen to a duel in an effort to redeem Chillindude's broken pride and put Leffen in his place, adding on a bet of $1,000 to keep things interesting. Leffen accepted his challenge and the big fight happened the next day. This fight was perhaps even closer than the previous one, but in the end Leffen claimed victory once again; kicking Mango out of the running with his tail between his legs. Leffen didn't end up winning the whole tournament, coming in at 3rd place, but his defeat was merely bittersweet after this.
Perhaps it was one of those "you had to be there" moments, but stories such as this highlight just why fighting game tournaments are so much fun. While it's already exciting enough to watch people play games at ridiculously skillful levels that you will never equal, it's the rivalries and drama that happen off-stage that make these things so tense and interesting to watch.
What do you think? Are you a big fighting game enthusiast? Did you want Leffen to sweep the floor at this one? Sound off in the comments below.
[source kotaku.com]
Comments 26
For some reason...
heaves sigh....
EDIT: Pretty intense matches, though.
Best 'settled it in smash' story ever.
Nope, cheered against Leffen in every match.
I was one of the few people who thought Chillin could win. He practiced real hard for it too yet came off so far. The man was just broken after the first few sets. He had it in him to win but Melee is momentum based and when you feel crushed you get crushed.
Mango losing to Leffen though I couldn't see happening. I watched the BEAST 5 match when it happened and thought Mango just didn't have the heart to win. His body language was way off and the lack of confidence showed in his play and defeat. However at Apex I thought Mango was at top form and motivated at that yet he again lost to Leffen. It just wasn't close.
At least Mango took it well enough lol.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ca7MI_zakPE
FInally someone whos swedish and in the competetive scene. Im coming leffen, im starting to get good in smash bros
No one thought Chillin' was going to beat Leffen. But I knew PPMD and Armada would.
@97alexk Did you forget about Armada? Leffen is only half Swedish. lol
How in seven hells was Leffen ever considered the underdog, he has showed consistently that he is better than Chillindude and is considered by many to be the 6th god of Melee.
I don't really care for fighting tournaments but the picture at the bottom was great.
I'm of the opinion when someone like Leffen behaves in such a poor-sportsman like way that you should take him out back, return the favor, and leave him in a dumpster.
OMG im sooooo glad that Chillin and Mang0 got REKT. If you are the better player, then brigging rights to you!
This is great for the community also, a anti hero, a spiccy rivalry who doesnt like drama and hype?
Join the smash bros community guys!
@Thearenaud44 Pretty sure there's a difference between an anti-hero and a straight-up villain
oh the drama.
Leffen is a piece of poopitypoop, and the more I learn about him the more I despise him. Too bad he didn't get his donkey handed to him here as well. I mean, at this point he's an expert at just that.
Haha what a failure man. Don't make bets you can't win!
The only good thing that came out of this is that I'm very tempted to get into competitive Smash so I can try to kick Leffen where it hurts. It wouldn't be near as bad if he was just an anti-hero, but he isn't. He's just a straight up jerk. I was practically praying for Mango to win. Leffen needs to be taught a lesson, especially since there's probably going to be a lot of other people emulating him and making the competitive Smash community a terrible place.
This was one of those cases that Leffen was the villain you were supposed to hate, but he was some awesome that he became the hero in the situation.
Smash needs a villain and Leffen is doing a great job. I didn't want Mang0 to lose, but the sets were so hype that Leffen deserves every bit of victory.
His laughing in the Chillin' sets were psych out master techniques. Chillin' was going to lose. There was no option.
Best tournament yet.
aMSa has the next tournament tho. <3
"My b".
The thing that hurts most about this is that Chillin has been playing Fox for, I believe about a decade (correct me if I'm wrong). Yet now, he's in a situation where, unless someone else plays to get Chillin vanilla Fox back, he'll never be able to reclaim 'his colour'.
If you like body bags there was yet another grudge match at Apex with Street Fighter 4.
FT10: PIE Smug Vs. Bry Keys - Grudge Match @ APEX 2015
[youtube:6mbn8jo_UM0]
Leffen is amazing. He has skill to back up his trash talk and he's actually really entertaining. He's not unsportsman like or a villain.
He's an anti-hero and a damn good one. He created so much hype at this tournament. I'm rooting for him at Evo 2015.
one of the biggest super smash bros event, the article report a guy named Leffen ended in third place but no word about the guys at first and second places ...strange ...
Not sure what was more humiliating, his shameful defeat or the embarrassing 90's-style rap video.
"to watch people play games at ridiculously skillful levels that you will never equal"
Speak for yourself...
@DarkKirby A proper grudge match settled in a proper fighting game. That was awesome, best part of APEX.
When you go that far out your way to call out your opponent/rival on the world stage, losing is NOT an option. At least Mang0 was smart enough to just put money on the line; he can always make that back. But a bit of Chillin's "street cred" will forever be in Leffen's hands until Chillin' beats Leffen in the brackets (frendlies dont count without something on the line). And even if he DOES win, it'll be bitter sweet because he'll never get the original Fox color back.
This does make for some quality drama, though. Like something out of an anime. V:
Another chapter concluded... The Smash Bros Documentary really makes a difference, I wouldn't have cared about this without watching that first.
Even a 10+ year veteran can be beaten... Chillin has always been batting against a slightly higher league, so I guess he wanted to try defying that longtime status.
Show Comments
Leave A Comment
Hold on there, you need to login to post a comment...