Leonardo “MkLeo” Perez won Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Singles at Super Smash Con 2019. This sort of headline is one that is becoming more and more common as the Smash Ultimate meta progresses. MkLeo has won five of the last six major tournaments he has attended. His only misstep since May was his 2nd place finish at Smash Factor 8.
MkLeo had an early game three scare in Smash Con Smash Ultimate round 2 pools against Michael “Riddles” Kim. But after this, he was able to advance into top 16 on winners side unscathed. He defeated Robert “Myran” Herrin 2-0 and Kolawole “Salt One” Aideyan 3-0.
MkLeo’s first significant challenge of the tournament came in Winners Quarters, when Sota “Zackray” Okada pushed him to game five. Their set was so intense that Zackray broke down after he failed to upset MkLeo. However, MkLeo did fall to the hands of Ezra “Samsora” Morris in Winners Semis.
MkLeo’s losers bracket was filled with many difficult opponents. Nevertheless, MkLeo proved to have the resolve necessary to beat all of them. He defeated Nairoby “Nairo” Quezada, Tyler “Marss” Martins, and Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey in order to advance into Grand Finals. Then, MkLeo got to rematch Samsora, beating Samsora twice in order to win Smash Con Smash Ultimate Singles.
Other results from Smash Con Smash Ultimate
The Smash Con Smash Ultimate top four finishers were also ranked the top four on the Spring 2019 PGRU. However, the pecking order was a little different, with Samsora finishing in 2nd ahead of Tweek and Marss. Samsora did so with a strong run to Grand Finals on winners side. He earned victories over Andrew “ScAtt” Huntley, Spencer “BestNess” Garner, Eric “ESAM” Lew, MkLeo, and Tweek.
Though he is not currently ranked, Enrique “Maister” Hernandez may be shaking up the rankings after his 5th place finish. This Game & Watch pioneer scored many upsets and impressive wins to make top 8 at Super Smash Con 2019. Maister beat Tamim “tamim” Omary, Brett “8BitMan” Esposito, Yatiyaña “yeti” Schaper, Tomoki “kept” Ikeda, ESAM, and Paris “Light” Ramirez.
Luis “Lui$” Oceguera was another player who made a surprise appearance in the Smash Con Smash Ultimate top 8. He placed 7th, with wins over Jason “Mew2King” Zimmerman, Chris “WaDi” Boston, Salt One, and Shuto “Shuton” Moriya. Lui$ also found success with a variety of characters, including Fox, Falco, and Mario.
Several upsets occured in Smash Con Smash Ultimate Singles, resulting in some unexpected placings. Samuel “Dabuz” Buzby, Jestise “MVD” Negron, Justin “Wishes” Magnetti, and Saleem “Salem” Young all placed 49th. James “VoiD” Makekau-Tyson and Myran both placed 25th. Likewise, top 16 included many players seeded to place far worse. Among them were Raffi “Raffi-X” Azar, Nasir “BlazingPasta” Green, Riddles, Salt One, and kept.
Melee champion William “Leffen” Hjelte also had a respectable showing in Smash Con Smash Ultimate Singles. Leffen had notable wins over Seth and Maister. In addition, he defeated his notorious Twitter rival, Mr. “Years of Research” himself, Salem. Leffen finished in 17th after suffering 3-0 losses to Tweek and BlazingPasta.
