Turkish VCL watchers come

Did hiro getting removed cause SMB to miss out on ascension, or were the other teams just that much more dominant?

It definitely hurt them. He was a top 5 player in the league. His replacement was solid but not the same caliber.

They should have still performed a bit better though

they were never a contender, FF were favoured

They were probably 3rd/4th in contention, and Hiro's removal dropped them
So I would say other teams were already a big challenge and Hiro's departure was the nail in the coffin

they were 3rd/4th place with hiro
Hiro's removal dropped them to 4th/5th
In short, they were not expected to appear in Ascension unless there was a surprise.