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.

I don't want to make this a whole thing, but I'll be asked about it constantly so I might as well clarify:
TLDR: Visa issues due to really silly reasons will prevent me from traveling to Summit despite the visa being approved and sinking an immense amount of work trying to fix it

— TSM FTX Leffen (@TSM_Leffen) July 1, 2021

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. 

Really fucking depressed about being robbed from yet another year of melee competition.
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.

— TSM FTX Leffen (@TSM_Leffen) July 1, 2021

Leffen hints at Melee retirement

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. 

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"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.