We are excited to partner with Red Bull to present the 2017 end of year SSBMRank!

As a quick reminder, the SSBMRank panelists are comprised of a large group of players, figureheads and community volunteers that rate the players. Voters rated players based on the following criterion:

Given the quality and quantity of work in late 2016 to 2017 (From Eden to Twitch Invitational: Holiday Bash), if everyone entered 100 tournaments, who on average would place the best?

Panelists voted on a 1-10 scale with the best player receiving a “10” and the worst player on the list receiving a "1." Ballots that were not scaled properly were rescaled using an algorithm to place the best player at a “10” and the worst player at a “1.” This was then rescaled to a 1-100 scale. To reduce the variance, the highest and lowest three scores were removed from the average.

SSBMRank No. 100: 2Saint © @tischphotos

Rating: 31.4 | SSBMRank2016: n/a

The doors opened this year for Toussaint “2Saint” Turnier. His growing skill at the end of 2016 gave him a newfound confidence to pursue melee more seriously which resulted in more wins over fellow top players in New York, including La Luna, Captain Smuckers and DJ Nintendo. And his local accomplishments came to an all-time high at the Tri-State invitational where he placed third after defeating lint, Zealous5000 and Darktooth.

The larger community usually shrugs off upcoming “hidden boss” players because they rarely seem to prove themselves at majors. This is however not the case with 2Saint. At his first out of region event, he delivered with a 13th place at CEO Dreamland where he defeated Gahtzu 3-0. Since then, he has not matched this performance, but still he has some nice placements with a ninth place at CEO 2017 and 33rd at Shine 2017. 2Saint’s appearance on this year’s list also reflects the growing talent that is brewing in the Tri-state region. Expect 2Saint and many other players from this region to continue to move up the annual rankings.

Written by: Daniel Lee | Edited by: Weekend

SSBMRank No. 99: Ralph © @darkatma

Rating: 31.8 | SSBMRank2016: n/a

Ralph Arroyo just has a knack for competitive video games. A few years ago, his team won a Call of Duty event for $12,000 on behalf of UC Berkeley. Last year, he was rated as the third best player on the Rivals of Aether official rankings. In his relatively short Melee career, he has quickly climbed in skill to become a hidden threat at majors. Succinctly put, his game sense helps him learn the fundamentals of any game very quickly.

One of the most notable aspects of Ralph's Melee play is his positioning. He possesses a keen awareness of how to position himself for success at any given moment, and he rarely makes questionable decisions. This makes it simple for Ralph to scrap in close-range situations and skirmishes. Fortunately for Ralph, his smarts come packaged with a strong baseline of technical skill. He is not particularly flashy with his Fox or Falco, but he incorporates the core tech skill seamlessly within his movement, maximizing his use of platforms and shield drops. This confident and decisive playstyle has netted Ralph wins over several top players, including Laudandus, Captain Smuckers, Prince Abu and more. If Ralph can continue to improve at the rate he has been, fans should expect to see him ranked even higher in the years to come.

Written by: Daniel Lee | Edited by: Jonah Fritz

SSBMRank No. 98: Zealous5000 © @msealjr

Rating: 32.3 | SSBMRank2016: n/a

Devin “Zealous5000” Ou had a terrific and notably active year, notching his belt with impressive wins at almost every event he attended. Although he’s been long considered a tournament threat, Zealous5000 outdid expectations with stellar wins and placings, both in Tristate and abroad — he placed 25th at Royal Flush, 33rd at Shine 2017 and 49th at The Big House 7. Slicing his way through the competition, the New Jersey Marth main took sets over Stango, Captain Smuckers, iBDW, Kaeon, Ginger, KPAN and even MacD; he also managed to take Nightmare, Nintendude, KJH, Swedish Delight and Lucky to last game in a riveting assortment of nail-biter sets this year.

With very few bad losses and a diverse set of wins making up his record, Zealous5000 has established his reputation as a versatile player who can deal with a slew of different matchups and adapt quickly and shrewdly. Hard work, a strong mentality, and excellent game sense have enabled his fast ascension into the top 100, but this is far from the end of the road for the Tristate swordsman. As he further sharpens his A-game, expect even more sets to fall in Zealous5000’s favor as he continues his journey to the top.

Written by: Benji Spetter-Goldstein | Edited by: Nicole "Ibuprofen" Bennett

SSBMRank No. 97: Legend © @EvenMatchupGaming

Rating: 32.6 | SSBMRank2016: n/a

This year has been a breakout year for Colin "Legend" Doucet. Having started the game in early 2015, Legend has steadily climbed the Canadian ranks, capping off 2016 with wins on Ryan Ford and Kage. The first half of 2017 began with a strong regional win on Vwins, but Legend rarely got the opportunity to travel outside of Montreal. Decent showings at LanETS (seventh), The Come Up (ninth) and Get On My Level (25th), interspersed with a set win over Mafia at a Vermont monthly are the highlights for Legend's first half of the year.

The culmination of two and a half years was brought to fruition at Shine. Legend upset fellow Canadian Kirbykaze in a nail-biting set, and defeated Bizzaro Flame in a matchup he knew all too well from playing Kage back home. Legend's run was then cut short by Spark and Captain Faceroll, ending at a respectable 33rd at his first American major. Although he had a respectable placement at Dreamhack Montreal (9th), Legend was not able to recreate his Shine run at The Big House 7, finishing at 97th. With the season ending on the East Coast, he concluded his 2017 year with a set over Captain Smuckers at a Montreal weekly. With 2018 on the horizon, the sky is the limit for the Mango-esque Puff.

Written by: Elliot Tan | Edited by: Daniel Lee

SSBMRank No. 96: Moky © @msealjr

Rating: 32.9 | SSBMRank2016 : n/a

Kurtis “Moky” Pratt is a young talent out of the Durham region in Ontario, Canada, but he is starting to emerge in the Melee scene as one of the most technically impressive Fox players in his region. His rush down, high pressure, and inexorable playstyle are iconic in Ontario and define Moky as a player.

Moky only recently had the chance to start traveling to American tournaments. His first out-of-region tournament was The Big House 7, where he earned an impressive victory over Colbol in order to place within the top 64. In addition, Moky also has wins on the likes of Ryan Ford, Nightmare, Legend, Jerry and has had close sets with other top players such as Kage, n0ne, Shroomed, KJH and Prince Abu.

Moky is a formidable opponent in any bracket he’s in, so expect him to keep making upsets as he travels to more events throughout 2018.

Written by: Thomas Kelly | Edited by: Brandon "Brando" Geren

SSBMRank No. 95: NMW © @TramTramPhotos

Rating: 33.2 | SSBMRank2016: 93

Nicholas “NMW” Whittier has seen his hard work pay off in Norcal where he wins local weekly events on a regular basis. His Captain Falcon blends several of the optimal elements of the 20GX Falcon movement and the read-heavy maneuvers from fellow Norcal Falcon main, Lord. His work ethic led to a massive improvement in his movement, knowledge of hitboxes, and execution of his punishes. These developments make him frustrating to chase around the map and scary to interact with when he finds a tech chase opportunity.

Unfortunately, the local success has yet to transfer to a breakout at a major, but that could be his lack of familiarity with different styles exhibited from the hidden bosses of other regions. Though he has seen some early bracket exits, you can always find NMW at a Melee setup for the rest of the weekend, practicing against other players and money matching other prominent SSBMRank players. Even when he doesn’t make it into the money from the singles bracket, he leaves with a full wallet and the heads of other top players. 2018 will see whether he can translate this success into bracket.

Written by: Daniel Lee | Edited by: Vincent "Vince" Phan

SSBMRank No. 94: L © @msealjr

Rating: 35.3 | SSBMRank2016: n/a

Close followers of the Northern California Melee scene have likely been anticipating the rise of Alvin "L" Nguyen's star for quite a while. As a longtime sparring partner of NorCal phenoms PewPewU and SFAT, he has certainly had enough exposure to high level play for him to become a formidable force in his own right. Although his Fox may be frenetic and unpredictable, he has consistently held a place on the NorCal power ranking for four years straight -— and the glimmers of inspiration that he has often displayed made it seem that it was only a matter of time before he had a breakout performance.

That run finally came at The Big House 7, where L blazed a path all the way to winners side top 64. Although his bracket ended shortly thereafter with a respectable 33rd place, it was the wins he took home that weekend that mattered the most. While his win over Tai was big in its own right, it was preceeded by a game three nailbiter against Wizzrobe in what was perhaps the most unexpected upset of the entire tournament. The rest of L's year followed his usual pattern, with good records in-region and a lack of national results to test his skill. However, with such a huge victory so late in the year, perhaps 2018 will be the year that L finally reaches his full potential -- though hopefully the next time he pops off over a win, it's not so hard that he breaks his headphones!

Written by: Zane "Epengu" Bhansali | Edited by: Jonah Fritz

SSBMRank No. 93: Iceman © Iceman

Rating: 35.3 | SSBMRank2016: n/a

The Pacific Northwest is often touted to be the most underrated region in the world. Of course, for many years it has been difficult to prove this claim as few PNW players have had either the exposure or the success to show just how talented their region was. So when Shroomed was sent to the losers bracket at Redbull’s Gods and Gatekeepers in what was otherwise supposed to be an “easy” bracket for the Top 15 player, many were shocked to see just who put him there: Washington’s own, Evan “Iceman” Tice.

Shroomed is not the only victory the talented Marth player has accumulated in 2017; his resume includes a set over Mike Haze and a win against another up-and-comer, Cal. While Iceman is no rookie to the world of professional Smash, he is part of the new wave of Pacific Northwest players that are finally making their marks on the world stage.

Written by: Glenn "KayB" Kim | Edited by: Brandon "Brando" Geren

SSBMRank No. 92: Bobby Frizz © @msealjr

Rating: 35.9 | SSBMRank2016: n/a

With the days of Darkrain's prime well past us, the Melee scene hasn't been looking towards Kansas for its top talent in a long time. However, one particular player is looking to change that: Robert "Bobby Frizz" Fraser. His fast, adaptive Fox play has netted him the No. 1 spot on Kansas's ranking as far back as the beginning of 2016, even when Darkrain was more active. But most Melee fans didn't take notice of Bobby Frizz until the tail end of 2016, when he managed to take one game off of Mango at UGC Smash Open in Illinois. Although he didn't take the set, this would prove to be a sign of what was to come for Bobby Frizz in 2017.

As a notable threat and his constant presence from small regionals to large scale nationals, Bobby Frizz has finished ninth at Low Tier City 5, 33rd at The Big House 7 and Smash n' Splash 3, and 65th at Genesis 4. Among his wins for the year are well-known players such as Captain Faceroll, Santiago, Redd and most famously, Lucky. With such a roster of victories under his belt, Bobby Frizz is showing that the smaller regions are starting to develop their talent to a level not yet seen before in Melee history.

Written by: Jack "Kezzup" McDonald | Edited by: Vincent "Vince" Phan

SSBMRank No. 91: Kaeon © @nilpholan

Rating: 36.1 | SSBMRank2016: n/a

This year started off with a somewhat rude awakening for Bryan “Kaeon” Somaiah. After starting his first full-time job, Kaeon suffered some rough losses, ending his Genesis 4 run earlier than expected and falling to lower level players at locals. Knowing it would take a dedicated effort to improve, Kaeon buckled down for a full week of non-stop Melee, pushing himself to the point of sleep deprivation in order to keep competing. This week truly was a turning point for Kaeon as he achieved some of his best results at the local level to date. Most notably, he won Nebs After Dark 54, defeating Swedish Delight and double eliminating DJ Nintendo to claim first place, all without dropping a single game. Later in the year, Kaeon placed second at the Tri-State Invitational, edging out opponents such as iBDW, Darktooth and 2Saint, further cementing himself as one of the strongest competitors in the region.

Outside of his home region, Kaeon continued to make a name for himself at the various tournaments he attended throughout the year. One of his best runs came at Bad Moon Rising 2, where he conquered KPAN, Plup and Twitch on his road to seventh place. On a national level, Kaeon upheld a commendable record, making Top 96 at The Big House 7, Top 48 at Shine 2017 and Top 32 at Super Smash Con 2017. All the while, Kaeon dodged losses to lower level players and earned victories over the likes of A Rookie, R2DLiu, vortex, drunksloth, Hax and Slox. Though he has flirted with greatness, taking Axe to game five at CEO 2017, he still tends to fall short at the highest level of play. Nevertheless, Kaeon has undoubtedly grown more consistent, and is currently on the path for even greater success.

Written by: Dylan Tate | Edited by: Daniel Lee

Credits

Graphics: Nick “DarkDragoon” Konstantino

Statistician: Andrew “PracticalTAS” Nestico