Smash Champ MKLeo Cuts Ties With EchoFox, Is Now A Free Agent

MKLeo is only 19 years old, but may have already cemented his place in the pantheon of all-time competitive Super Smash Bros. greats.

Not only is he the number-one ranked Smash Ultimate player, a position he’s held onto uncontested for a significant amount of time, but he’s maintained that ranking through dominant tournament play that has seen him place first in the majority of major-level tournaments in which he’s competed. That said, on February 21st, MKLeo announced that he’ll be a free agent for the first time since 2017 (well before his Smash Ultimate reign began) after parting ways with the Echo Fox organization.

What’s surprising, however, is not his decision to leave Echo Fox but that the announcement came in February 2020. Through the later half of 2019, Echo Fox imploded. On one side were its investors, and on the other its founder, retired NBA player and namesake Rick Fox. The two sides of that disagreement have yet to reach a consensus as to how the organization’s downfall went down, with litigation over the company’s troubles continuing into this year.

Echo Fox’s League of Legends LCS team was the first victim of the company’s downfall, leading to Riot Games selling its team slot to the Evil Geniuses organization. Among its roster of fighting game players, Dragon Ball FighterZ (among other games) player dekillsage, similarly to MKLeo, announced his departure from the organization relatively late, in January of this year. Fellow Smash player Mew2King made his departure announcement on January 31st. Meanwhile SonicFox, arguably the most high-profile (and on-brand, name wise) player on its roster has yet to officially announce his free agency, but no longer references Echo Fox in his social media profiles.

According to statements made at the time, Echo Fox ceased to exist back in November of 2019, so their involvement with players still competing under the Echo Fox banner following that time is unclear.

Sponsorship or not, MKLeo continues to dominate Smash Ultimate tournaments. Most recently, he placed first in Frostbite 2020 in a typically dominant fashion. While he was eliminated from the winner’s bracket relatively early on, he fought through 10 elite-level players to reach the finals, which he then won. With performances like this being the norm rather than the exception, it’s hard to imagine Leo will stay a free agent for long.

Source: Read Full Article