MkLeo parts ways with T1 after three years

After three fruitful years with the T1, the undisputed GOAT of Super Smash Bros., Leonardo ‘MkLeo’ Lopez Perez has left the Korean organization and is now a free agent.

The world’s finest Super Smash Bros. Ultimate player, Leonardo “MkLeo” Lopez Perez, and T1 have abruptly parted ways today. Leo’s statement suggests that this was a T1 decision, indicating that the organization has now entirely left the competitive Super Smash Bros. scene.

Although the reason behind MkLeo’s departure was not clarified by T1, considering the condition of esports today it is a fair guess that T1 likely saw the move as a rather cost-cutting strategy. We might see more players suffer the same fate given that esports is currently going through a tough financial time and has already seen extensive layoffs.

MkLeo will return to action on March 10 in Collision 2023. Leo has also been directly invited to take part in one of the biggest tournaments in the scene, Smash Ultimate Summit 6, which will have a prize pool of over $46,000. Whether the Smash prodigy will have an organization by then or whether he will play without a team like other top free agents in Smash Ultimate, such as Marss and ESAM, is unclear at this moment.

MkLeo’s journey comes to an end with T1

The most successful active player in the game is MkLeo won his first American Super Smash Bros. for Wii U event in December 2016. After the release of Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in December 2018, MkLeo has maintained his dominance in competitions all across the world and has consistently ranked first. He won Smash Ultimate’s first and only EVO Championship while playing with Echo Fox.

After leaving Echo Fox, which was disbanded in November due to legal and financial issues, MkLeo joined T1 in February 2020. Together with Jason “ANTi” Bates, a fellow professional Ultimate player and well-known social media influencer, MkLeo was the second Super Smash Bros. player on the T1 roster.

Throughout his stint with T1, he achieved several other first-place finishes in notable Ultimate Bros. tournaments, including Ludwig Smash Invitational and Genesis 8. MkLeo became the inaugural World Champion after defeating Brian “Cosmos” Kalu in the Smash World Tour 2021 Championships final in December 2021.

However, for the first few months of 2022, MkLeo skipped all of the main competitions. He participated in the invitational Smash Ultimate Summit 4 tournament in March, where he lost to Naoto “ProtoBanham” Tsuji of Japan in the Losers’ semifinal round.

Since Get On My Level in 2019, this was the first time MkLeo has finished lower than second at an Ultimate major. Earlier this month, MkLeo won the first place prize at GENESIS 9, one of Ultimate’s most prestigious competitions.

Header: Beyond the Summit