Leffen hits back at fans calling for Joker nerfs after MKLeo’s Smash Con comeback

Super Smash Bros. fans are calling for nerfs to Joker after Leonardo ‘MKLeo’ Perez’s incredible Smash Con 2019 championship run, but Melee legend Leffen definitely doesn’t agree.

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Echo Fox’s MKLeo stunned the Smash community after coming back from 0-2 down in the Grand Finals to reset Ezra ‘Samsora’ Morris and take the top honors at the Dulles Expo Center with six-straight match wins using Fighter 71, Joker.

The win was eerily similar to his Evo 2019 Smash Grand Finals set against Gavin ‘Tweek’ Dempsey, where MKLeo went down 0-2 early as the Loser’s representative only to complete the perfect reverse-sweep.

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MKLeo winning the back-to-back events has fueled a ton of fans’ beliefs that Joker needs a nerf in response to the Mexican pro’s astounding late-game heroics.

• Read more: Etika honored at Super Smash Con with touching tribute

But Leffen doesn’t seem to be one of those people, as the longtime pro voiced his concerns with the wave of calls for changes.

“Leo is easily the best,” Leffen said. “It will be truly sad if Joker gets nerfed and the others never get to beat this version of him.”

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The 24-year-old Swede made a case to protect the integrity of the scene by recalling the various eras of domination featuring different Melee players, hinting at how the “storylines” would never exist if nerfs had intervened.

“Imagine if Fox got nerfed after I won three majors in a row in 2015,” Leffen said. “Or Peach when Armada had his streak, or Hbox last year. There can’t be any storylines if everyone just calls for nerfs instantly.”

Though there might be strong characters in the game’s state, Leffen’s argument focuses more on the player side of the issue than anything else.

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A lot of the times, crowds at sporting events get hyped because they’re seeing a player who’s failed many times before, finally pushing back against the big teams and overcome their past hurdles.

• Read more: Ultimate singles champion MKLeo “didn’t expect to win” at Evo

If Joker were to get balance changes in any capacity, the next person to beat MKLeo could have their victory marred by people arguing that the win only came after the character was hit with nerfs.

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Previously, Smash legend Gonzalo ‘ZeRo’ Barrios touched on something similar when he called out the Smash community for their “knee-jerk reaction” to ban Ultimate’s newest character, Hero.

Super Smash Bros. players will have to wait and see if Joker ultimately gets a nerf in the next patch, as concerns loom of how powerful he can be.