Welcome to the second of ten articles for OrionRank 2017! I’ll be detailing the Top 100 player-by-player.

More Information: https://intheloop837.wordpress.com/2018/01/01/orionrank-2017-top-100-announcement-information-methodology-101/

Written by Barnard’s Loop

Illustrations by Freeziebeatz

Ranking work by Freeziebeatz & Barnard’s Loop

#90 – Purple~H

2016 Rank: N/A (NEW)

Europe’s top Cloud player, Purple~H rose to prominence in 2017 as one of EU’s best players, taking a number of high placements at AGON series tournaments after a disappointing run at Smash Valley. As the year drew to a close, Purple would be placing in top 8s at European national events consistently.

Despite not traveling to the U.S., he has taken a significant number of sets off the Top European brass, including a clean record on one of the Netherland’s best players – S1, as well as a win on France’s best, Glutonny.

#89 – false

2016 Rank: 39th (-50)

Notably an extremely inconsistent player, False could be described as Smash 4’s ultimate wildcard. His varying placements put him high on the 2016 ranking, but he took a less prominent role in competing during 2017.

Despite that, False made an incredible run at EVO 2017, defeating a slew of players ranked higher than him – Xzax, MKLeo, WaDi, and Mistake all fell in his winner’s bracket run, securing him a spot in the Top 100.

#88 – MuteAce

2016 Rank: N/A (NEW)

Florida’s most notable Peach player became a well-known name at EVO 2017 when he defeated MKLeo in bracket 2-0, eliminating Leo from EVO is one of the event’s most stunning upsets.

#87 – Kome

2016 Rank: Hidden Boss (NEW)

A Shulk that seemed to appear from the aether in late 2016, Kome capitalized on the potential seen in his victories at Kyushu events late that year.

In early 2017, he and SoCal Shulk Nicko seemed to race along, but Kome’s solid performances throughout 2017 in Japan – moving up to Kansai from Kyushu – secured Kome’s position as the best Shulk in the world.

He’s notably a solid anti-Cloud player, adding to the notion that the match-up may not be particularly poor for the character. He has wins on both Tweek and komorikiri, as well as a number of regional Clouds in Japan.

#86 – Pugwest

2016 Rank: 67th (-19)

Pugwest has taken a bit of a dive from 2016 to 2017, and is no longer New England’s second best player. However, despite his tumble, he has retained the ability to compete with all of New England, taking sets off the region’s top talent, including his brother Marss.

Notably, he’s struggled against Light, but has nonetheless taken 3 sets off of the new-era Fox.

#85 – Peabnut

2016 Rank: N/A (NEW)

The Carolinas hadn’t been particularly relevant in Smash 4’s history until 2017, with a number of players from both North and South Carolina slowly climbing. Benefiting from their proximity to Georgia, itself a very strong state, the Carolinas slowly rose to prominence.

Peabnut is perhaps the best player from this sub-region, topping fellow players such as Mekos, Donquavious, and RFang in part due to an unexpectedly good run at Smash 4 Boot Camp that saw him defeating both MVD and Elegant.

#84 – Blacktwins

2016 Rank: 112th (+28)

2017 has been a good year for Ontario, seeing the rise of Mistake. As Mistake rose, his region seemed to benefit, with Blacktwins as the second best player from the region managing to crack the top 100 that he barely missed out on the year prior.

Noted for beating two of the best active Bayonetta players as well as an ironclad record on SuperGirlKels, Blacktwins does well with his Mario & Cloud combo at Midwestern & Canadian events that he frequently attends.

#83 – Rideae

2016 Rank: N/A (NEW)

Rideae slips into the Top 100 by taking two important sets mid-year – Tweek (CEO) and Nairo (SSC), adding to the mythos of the Florida upset machine.

He also has a bulk of solid major placements and wins on numerous East Coast players, including Fatality despite having a negative record versus fellow Floridian Cashmere.

#82 – ikep

2016 Rank: 60th (-22)

Once arguably Japan’s best Bayonetta for a period of time, ikep experienced a decline as 2017 rolled along after a lackluster showing a EVO. In spite of this, he remains one of the country’s best, and holds on to a top 100 position with a large number of quality wins from the many events he attended during 2017.

While no pre-EVO tournaments were counted due to dubious seeding (costing him a recognized win on Ally), ikep managed to defeat Japanese titans komorikiri and Shuton, Bayonetta rival 9B, and a slew of other top Japan players, many of whom are ranked or scored as Hidden Bosses.

#81 – Xzax

2016 Rank: 75th (-6)

Round out day 2, NorCal’s best Fox retains a fourth-quarter position, barely moving from his 2016 spot. His biggest win in 2017 was easily his upset-of-the-year candidate victory on ZeRo at Civil War, but he has a number of respectable wins on players from around the world.

His placements show that he’s always on the cusp of a Top 32 placement at a major, allowing him to garner some bigger wins at the largest events in battles for 33rd – a source of his diverse win record – but he has yet to truly break through. Hopefully, with Boot Camp as a training resource late in the year, 2018 will see Xzax break into the upper echelon.