Welcome back to the rest of my Project M Doubles 2017–18 rankings! This article will go over the top 10 doubles teams who have dominated the teams meta over the last two years. You can catch up on the rest of my rankings and the methodology behind them in this article.

Now that my full rankings have been posted, I will also be making a video on the common subjects of contention in rankings, many of which made themselves present as I worked on this project, so I will go into a bit more depth on issues such as eligibility requirements and how the same results could be weighed many different ways and how I approach them in that video. Without further ado, let’s get right into the top ten!

#10: Fearless & LUCK

Region: Texas

Despite an extremely slim resume of events together, LUCK and Fearless made their way to #10 on this ranking with some of the consistent results of any doubles team out there, all without ever leaving Texas. At Low Tier City 5, these two knocked ThundeRz and Twisty into the losers bracket before falling victim to the infamous “Dakables” and dvd/Envy, and they double-eliminated Arsenals/Lunchables to take home the Texas Circuit Finale. More recently, they defeated Bongo/Aidan and Boringman/ORLY at Low Tier City 6 for a strong 4th place finish. Without any data out of region it is hard to rank these two higher than 10th, but with losses exclusively to teams that I would consider top 10 level, I could see this team much higher should they travel more next year.

#9: Aki & Pikmon

Region: Washington

While joking about #9 may be low-hanging fruit when talking about Pikmon, Mr. GnW’s infamous side b is far eclipsed by the brutal bucket strategy that Aki and Pikmon bring to the table. Both strong singles players in their own right, they thrive on finding moments where they can fill GnW’s bucket and allow Pikmon to access a one-hit kill move against their opponents. After a shaky start to their team composition at Nemesis, where they were defeated by Bladewise and Zeddy in losers, their synergy began to come together and since then they’ve only lost to 3 teams in the world. They defended their home turf at Nemesis II against the likes of Sneez and Only Kevin, double eliminated Matasd and The Doctor en route to a top 2 finish at Fair and Balanced 2, and put together a breakout performance at The Even Bigger Balc. At EBB, they defeated Dingo/Dr, Flipp/Kycse, and Arsenals/Emukiller before being eliminated at 7th by Silver and Twisty. While Pikmon and Aki had relatively little data to back up their skill level compared to the rest of the top 10, their worst loss after Nemesis 1 was to Silver and Twisty, which is a highly impressive degree of consistency against the strong teams they went up against all across the West Coast.

#8: Flipp & Kycse

Region: Connecticut

In a ranking where consistency is the name of the game, Flipp and Kycse stand out with incredible peaks and highly questionable losses. Their losses may include less-established teams such as Sora/Yung Quaff and Drugfreechu/Nave, but at their best few can stand in their way. At Salty Juans 4, the Connecticut duo were knocked into losers by Junebug and LUCK, before fighting their way through Dumshiny/Yink and Blank/Jose V to get their runback with the double Diddy team and taking two straight sets from Sosa and ThundeRzReiGN to win the tournament. This was far from the only time they would face off against ThundeRz and an impromptu teammate, this team took also first place at CGC 2017 with a win over ThundeRz and Yung Quaff and two sets over Silver/Twisty, and knocked ThundeRz/Malachi into losers at Supernova 2. With top 8 placements at events including The Flex Zone 2, Supernova 2, CGC Redux, and Blacklisted 4, Flipp and Kycse have more than proven their worth as a static team across the entirety of 2017–18.

#7: Dirtboy & Techboy

Region: Michigan

One of the more unusual team compositions in PM, “The Boys” slip and slide all over the stage with their signature trio of Squirtle and the Ice Climbers. They dominated smaller Midwest events for the second half of 2017, including first place finishes at Neo Tussle City and Worlds Collide, but it was only in 2018 where they would be tested out of region. At We Tech Those 3 they suffered an early upset to BaconPancakes and Sneez before defeating Fearless/Hyperflame, Soulpech/XYK, and L_Pag/Dumshiny on their way to a top 8 finish. After We Tech Those, there was only one player in the world who seemed capable of stopping the Michigan boys. They placed 3rd at both Smash ’N’ Splash 4 and The Even Bigger Balc, defeating teams such as Blank/Envy, Matasd/The Doctor, Tealz/YadoR, and Jfalls/Sneez, but in both brackets were double eliminated by Boringman, in conjunction with Switch at SnS and ThundeRzReiGN at EBB. With strong showings at nearly every event they attended, Dirtboy and Techboy seem poised to push their unique team even further in 2019 if they are able to attend more events together.

#6: Silver & Twisty

Region: Massachusetts

When it comes to strong fundamentals and smart teamwork, Silver and Twisty are some of the best in the game. These two New England players placed in the top 8 of every major they attended for the last two years, demonstrating extreme consistency among a constantly-shifting field of competing teams. Of their many strong performances, it is The Flex Zone 2 and Plus Ultra that stand out the most. At Flex Zone, they defeated Strong Bad and Anther before upsetting first seeds dvd and Envy in pools, and moving on to Winners Finals over Gallo and GP before falling to Malachi/Sosa and losing the runback with dvd/Envy. At Plus Ultra, they lost their second set of the day in pools to JJK and Zukon, their only non-top 15 level loss of the last two years, before taking vengeance on that team to make it out of pools, and storming through Childhood/Rongunshu, ORLY/Wyld, Soulpech/XYK, Lordy/Morsecode762, and taking two sets from Dirtboy/Envy to win the tournament. Even when they suffered rare upsets, they bounced back and put on performances that any team would struggle to match. Combined with wins over teams such as Aki/Pikmon, dvd/Envy, Dirtboy/Hyperflame, and Cala/Juanpi, you have a team that’s without question one of the best in the world.

#5: Emukiller & Switch

Region: New Jersey

It’s only fitting that as we enter the top 5 of this ranking, it begins with a team that has never placed below 5th at a major in the last two years. Emukiller and Switch consistently performed well on the East Coast in 2017, with top 3 placements at Downfall 6, Supernova 2, and Super Smash Con 2017, and wins over teams including Flipp/Kycse, Gallo/Malachi, and Blitz/MorKs. Their sole performance out of region was slightly underwhelming, 5th place at The Bigger Balc after losing to Ivayne and Sugydye, but even at their worst tournament of the last two years they still defeated Tealz/YadoR and Aidan/Blank for a respectable top 8 finish. More importantly, unlike every team so far which had the majority of its data in 2017, they maintained their momentum in the only event they both attended in 2018. At We Tech Those 3 they suffered an early loss to Jfalls and Sneez, before tearing through six teams, including LUCK/Umbreon, Dirtboy/Techboy, BaconPancakes/Sneez, and Junebug/Lunchables before ending their run at 3rd place. With strong records over teams ranked below them, and highly consistent placements over the last two years, Emukiller and Switch have clearly earned their place as a top 5 team.

#4: Arsenals & Lunchables

Region: Texas

Two of the most ardent proponents of doubles you’ll find anywhere, Arsenals and Lunchables are both teams extraordinaires who have performed well at a variety of majors with many different partners, but the DFW pair do their best work together. While at first their explosive success at Texas regionals was impressive, taking second place at tournaments including the Texas Circuit Finale and Clutch City Clash 2, the silver medals were far from satisfying. At bigger majors, they remained stymied. At Smash ’n’ Splash 4, they defeated Fearless/JJK, Jfalls/Sneez, and Dirtboy/Techboy before falling victim to Boringman and Switch in the second set of grand finals. In their hometown at Low Tier City 6, the story was similar: they made their way to Winners Finals over Boringman/ORLY and Matasd/The Doctor before being 3–0d by Malachi/Sosa and losing the runback in Losers Finals to Matasd and The Doctor. It was only on the East Coast that these two would find the victory they had sought for so long. At Blacklisted 4, in a bracket full of wild upsets, they remained as consistent as ever, defeating Malachi/Switch and Silver/Twisty on their way to winners side of Grand Finals of a major for the first time, and 3–0ing Malachi/Switch to finally bring a 1st place victory back home for Texas. Their negative records against teams ranked above them and losses to non-static teams hold them back from being ranked even higher, but this DFW pair has the potential to take first in any bracket they enter.

#3: Boringman & ThundeRzReiGN

Region: Northern California

If you want consistency, it’s hard to call NorCal’s best team anything less than the most predictable team in the business. With two 1st place finishes at Fair and Balanced and FnB2 and two 2nd place finishes at The Bigger Balc and The Even Bigger Balc, you know what you’re getting when you bet on these two. In fact, they have only lost to two teams over the last two years. At The Bigger Balc, they placed second to Malachi and Sosa after knocking BaconPancakes/Goode and Emukiller/Switch into losers and eliminating Aidan/Blank, and at EBB they again placed second to Malachi/Sosa, this time taking down Arsenals/Emukiller and double eliminating Dirtboy/Techboy. At Fair and Balanced they were upset by Jfalls and Chevy in winners, their only loss to a team other than Malachi and Sosa at two years, but proceeded to win the tournament anyway, taking two sets straight from their rival team to win the tournament from losers after eliminating Matasd/The Doctor and Arsenals/Blank and winning the runback with Chevy/Jfalls in Losers Finals. They did not have to contend with Malachi and Sosa at Fair and Balanced 2, which they won from winners over Arsenals/BaconPancakes and Aki/Pikmon. While this team has never faced off against dvd and Envy or Arsenals and Lunchables, and holds a 2–4 record against Malachi and Sosa, their extreme consistency and tournament victory over a top two team makes them an easy pick for third on this ranking.

#2: dvd & Envy

Region: New Jersey

A staple of every national on the East Coast, dvd and Envy were one of the only teams to truly challenge the reign of Malachi and Sosa over the last two years, and in fact had a period during which they could genuinely claim to be the best team in the world. These two showed less consistency than ThundeRz and Boringman, with losses to teams that would not merit ranking on this list, but this is also expected when you attend more nationals together than any other notable team in the world. Not only did they attend more events than any other team, they won more events than any other team, with first place finishes at tournaments including Supernova 2, Blacklisted 3, We Tech Those 3, and The Flex Zone 3, defeating nearly every top team in the world along the way. While they boast positive records over Malachi/Sosa, Emukiller/Switch, Silver/Twisty, Flipp/Kycse, and a number of other notable teams, this team falls short of the first place spot on this ranking due to a notably higher amount of inconsistency against unranked or one-off teams. This means that they have a lower chance of winning any given national that they attend even when other top 3 teams are not in attendance, but with eight national victories under their belts and strong records against every static team in the world, the best team New Jersey has to offer is a threat to take home any bracket on any given day.

#1: Malachi & Sosa

Region: New York & Southern California

The only team on my rankings to span multiple regions, singles titans Malachi and Sosa claim the title of best team in the world over the last two years. This team started off with a bang in 2017, winning The Flex Zone 2, The Bigger Balc, and Low Tier City 5 without dropping a single set to competitors like dvd/Envy, Boringman/ThundeRzReiGN, and Silver/Twisty. It was only at the end of 2017 when a crack first showed in their dominance over the doubles meta, as Boringman and ThundeRz defended their region and won Fair and Balanced from losers, defeating Malachi/Sosa twice in grand finals. 2018 was a bit shakier for this super-team, they first place with relative ease at Don’t Sleep! 2 over Arsenals and Lunchables, but placed 2nd at The Flex Zone 3 to dvd/Envy, and were upset twice in shocking fashion at Resting Stitch Face by Narq/Zork and Kunai/Shiny Zubat, which left them out at 7th place. Despite these surprising losses, Malachi and Sosa bounced back to round out the season with victories at The Even Bigger Balc, living up to their preemptive self declaration as “ Even Bigger Balc Doubles Champions”, and Low Tier City 6. Overall, outside of their anomalous performance at Resting Stitch Face this team only dropped sets to top 3 teams in the past two years, and held an overall positive win percentage even against the rest of the top 3. For their consistently strong performances over the last two years, Malachi and Sosa are my clear choice for the #1 Project M team in the world.

Thank you all for following along with my Project M Doubles ranking, I hope you enjoyed the write-ups and were able to learn more about a very under-appreciated aspect of the PM meta. A video will be uploaded on my youtube channel which goes in-depth on a few concepts that frequently come up in discussions of smash rankings, so please feel free to check that out if you’re interested in learning more about how rankings like these get formulated.