Leffen unable to attend Smash Summit 11 due to visa issues
The hype levels for Beyond the Summit’s upcoming Smash Summit 11 have dropped slightly as Leffen will no longer be able to compete in the event due to travel visa issues.
Leffen, who was one of two non-North American players to receive a direct invite to the event, alongside aMSa, has confirmed that “silly” problems with his travel visa will keep him from making the trip and competing from July 15 to 18.
I don't want to make this a whole thing, but I'll be asked about it constantly so I might as well clarify:
— TSM FTX Leffen (@TSM_Leffen) July 1, 2021
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
Summit 11 is set to be the first in-person Smash Major in more than a year, and for Leffen, it would have been his first time competing physically outside of Europe since Genesis 7 and Smash Summit 9 at the start of 2020.
According to Leffen, his travel visa was already approved, but other problems led to issues that ultimately derailed his plans. BTS, TSM, and others all spent time trying to make things work, but Leffen said it is “99.9 percent not happening.”
partially involved in this process, it is actually absolutely braindead of our government that Pipsqueak could find a path in but Leffen cannot.
the restrictions right now and the process to get in, even with one or two doses of the vax, is just absolute garbage.
— Aiden (@aidencalvin) July 1, 2021
For now, it appears that aMSa will still be able to attend the tournament barring any additional issues, and Linus “Pipsqueak” Nordin, the other European player who qualified for the event by winning SAME 2021 is expected to compete since he will be traveling from Mexico, not the EU.
I really hope it's not all for naught, I feel like i'll somehow be denied at the border despite staying in mexico for 2 weeks, for some reason. really hoping that's not the case but anxiety spiking about it…
— PS | Pipsqueak (@Pipsqueak_TV) July 2, 2021
With the current situation, Leffen says he is leading towards quitting Melee and focusing on Guilty Gear Strive, though he has not made any concrete announcement or decision yet. In his own words, he feels like he has been “robbed from yet another year of Melee competition,” and sees “no end in sight” due to ongoing travel restrictions cause by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Leffen has previously missed other notable events, like Evo 2019, due to travel and visa related issues.
Update July 3 3:00pm CT: Leffen has since confirmed that there is no chance he will be attending Smash Summit 11, reiterating that it might take a long time before he can travel to the US due to COVID restrictions.
Update: now 100% not happening instead of 99,9%. Also might take very long until I can travel to US at all because no end in sight for COVID restrictions. Likely months at least.
Trying to stay positive but man it's hard.
— TSM FTX Leffen (@TSM_Leffen) July 2, 2021
“Missing out on tournaments is one thing but being disregarded for the entirety of COVID and then having to accept sucking for a year or two once I’m finally able to compete again is so fucking stupid,” Leffen said. “I’m just sulking at this point but yeah, shit sucks.”
In his update, Leffen also said he would focus on GGST if the Slippi’s ranked mode wasn’t a thing, despite his location still limiting how much practice he can get for top-level Melee.
