We are excited to showcase this summer’s edition of the SSBMRank, presented by this upcoming fall’s Red Bull Smash Gods and Gatekeepers event .

As a quick reminder, the SSBMRank panelists comprise 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 CEO 2017), 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.

With roughly 40 panelists this year, we also decided to remove the lowest and highest ratings before taking the average in order to reduce the variance.

Ice comes in at rank 20 for Summer 2017 © Thomas Tischio / @tischphotos

Rating: 70.10 | SSBMRank2016: 13

Entering 2017, many had lofty expectations for Mustafa "Ice" Akcakaya . Tafokints predicted he would be the first non-god and non-Leffen player to defeat Armada in years. However, outside of a Top 8 performance at Don't Park On The Grass, winning SWEET XXV, and finishing third at BEAST 7, Ice had a slow first half of the 2017 season. He has particularly struggled against Falco, Captain Falcon and, ironically, the Ice Climbers, with losses to Westballz, S2J, ARMY, dizzkidboogie and Nintendude throughout the year.

Nonetheless, Ice still has his moments - especially in doubles where he and Leffen have made their mark as a consistent top tier team. They placed second at every tournament the two have competed at in doubles save for Full Bloom 3, where Leffen played Marth. Moreover, Ice holds even or positive records on every non-top 5 Fox he's faced, also having a 3-0 record over The Moon, a Marth with a history of beating nearly every non-top five Fox. As the year continues, it's up to Ice to show Melee spectators which Fox we'll see in the second half: The up-and-down one from its first half, or the technical force of nature that got third at The Big House 6.

Written by: Anokh Palakurthi | Edited by: Christian Fong

We're all looking for another PewPewU breakthrough © Thomas Tischio / @tischphotos

Rating: 70.20 | SSBMRank2016: 14

It has been a quiet year so far for CLG’s Kevin “PewPewU” Toy , at least in the singles brackets. For a player on a prestigious team in a highly competitive region, he has not played many sets against other top players this year. Even so, he has displayed tremendous consistency at the events he has attended. Although he did not place especially well at several majors, this was largely due to tough brackets, with his worst loss being to Captain Faceroll at a SoCal local. The number one solo Marth main in the world, PewPewU continues to take sets from various Top 20 players, and shares his Marth mastery in his helpful “PewPewUniversity” videos on YouTube.

In doubles, PewPewU and his teammate and best friend, SFAT, are still a Top 3 team with wins over Hungrybox and Mew2King and Europe’s Leffen and Ice. However, Team CLG has not quite performed as well as they did last year when they frequently took tournaments over team UGS. Even so, the team synergy of PewFat remains a remarkable thing to watch.

This time last year PewPewU was on the verge of breaking his famous ninth-place curse by making Top 8 at Evo 2016. Since then, he has regularly made Top 8 at majors. Given his quiet consistency over the first half of this year, perhaps he is on the precipice of another breakthrough.

Written by: Henry Fellner | Edited by: Christian Fong

He's well known for playing heavy hitters © Thomas Tischio / @tischphotos

Rating: 71.80 | SSBMRank2016: 18

There's no better example of northern prowess and Latin American skill than Edgard "n0ne" Sheleby . With Nicaragua's flag on one shoulder and Canada's on the other, n0ne mixes the best from both scenes' playstyles into one potent (and risky) Captain Falcon. Despite an impressive 2016, he has struggled to find his footing in the early months of this year. He finished 33rd at Genesis 4, although he offset this disappointing performance a few days later by beating Westballz, The Moon, S2J and Druggedfox to win SoCal Colosseum for the second time.

Shortly thereafter, n0ne took an extended trip to Nicaragua and neighboring countries that gave him the chance to pass down knowledge and skill to the Central American community. However, it also took him away from the highly competitive North American scene. This translated into some unexpected losses to Bladewise, Laudandus and dizzkidboogie upon returning to North America.

Despite these early difficulties and occasionally getting wobbled in his favorite game, n0ne continues to threaten Top 20 players. He remains one of the best Captain Falcon mains, has conquered tough matchups like Sheik and Falco, has a positive record against Mew2King and nearly beat Leffen at Smash 'n' Splash 3. The Nicaraguan-Canadian hero now seems poised to surpass his 2016 accomplishments.

Written by: Pablo Montero | Edited by : Christian Fong

It's more than just luck, it's skill © Thomas Tischio / @tischphotos

Rating: 72.5 | SSBMRank2016: 19

Following a two-month hiatus necessitated by debilitating arm and leg injuries, Joey “Lucky” Aldama entered 2017 as an underdog on the road to recovery. Despite feeling somewhat shaky upon his return to tournaments, Lucky was able to quickly reestablish himself as a top-level threat with an impressive ninth-place finish at Genesis 4. In addition to solid play, further propelling Lucky’s resurgence was his passionately devoted Twitch following, who, in a show of admiration, contributed a massive amount of money to secure his unlikely inclusion in Smash Summit Spring 2017, his first appearance since the inaugural Smash Summit.

Even after his time away from the game, Lucky has proven able to maintain the skill and results of a Top 20 player — a SoCal titan and never placing below 13th at a major. Though he has still yet to make a breakout Top 8 finish at the national level in 2017, Lucky exhibited the potential peaks of his play at The Bigger Balc by taking his first set off of Hungrybox in over two years.

As the year progresses, Lucky intends to optimize his characteristically flashy and aggressive Norwalk Fox playstyle by integrating new options into every aspect of his game. In doing so, fans can expect to see him elevate his consistency to a higher level.

Written by: Jake Peskin | Edited by: Eamon Collins

S2J has hit a consistent stride in Smash results © Jeff Mahieu / @Delta52_

Rating: 73.5 | SSBMRank2016: 16

Fan favorite Johnny “S2J” Kim began 2017 on the verge of greatness, finding himself just one edgeguard away from becoming the first non-God to take a set off Armada in six years, but ultimately falling to close the match. Moments like these have been characteristic of S2J’s year as a whole. Time and again he has been stopped short of major accomplishments by a number of game 5 heartbreakers, such as those against Swedish Delight, Axe, The Moon and, most famously, Armada. While undoubtedly considered Top 20, his 2017 has been relatively quiet results-wise.

Regardless of these deterrents, S2J’s year is notably absent of very many significant lows. Even as a prolific, full-time player, he boasts the third highest win-loss ratio against those outside of the Top 25 among non-Gods. Such consistency is indicative of S2J’s emerging status as a gatekeeper for this echelon of competition.

Though still preferring his flashier, read heavy Falcon play to the more reliable and optimized 20GX style, S2J has nonetheless massively stepped up his game by honing his bad matchups and cleaning up characteristic weaknesses, particularly his edgeguarding. Emboldened with the resolve to elevate his skill level to that of the Gods, S2J is poised for a stellar performance in the second half of the year.

Written by: Jake Peskin | Edited by: Eamon Collins

Duck and cover, because he's coming for 2017 © Thomas Tischio / @tischphotos

Rating: 75.70 | SSBMRank2016: 15

Over the last two years, James "Duck" Ma has become the greatest Midwest player since Darkrain. Taking games off Hungrybox and bringing Mango to Game 5 this year is already noteworthy, but Duck also boasts sets over SFAT, Axe, Shroomed and, most impressively, Leffen. He additionally holds undefeated records against KirbyKaze, Ryan Ford and The Moon: All in matchups that are considered extremely difficult for Samus. Heading into the second half of 2017, Duck has one final frontier to cross before he can reasonably be considered a dark horse threat to take supermajors: Captain Falcon. This is a character who Duck said was his greatest demon above any individual opponent. Whether with Samus, a secondary Marth that he briefly tried out last year, or any other character, can Duck finally overcome his longtime nemesis to break through to the next level?

Written by: Anokh Palakurthi | Edited by: Kyle Garcia

Shroomed is on an upward climb this summer © Thomas Tischio / @tischphotos

Rating: 78.80 | SSBMRank2016: 10

The former best Doctor Mario, DaJuan "Shroomed" McDaniel has since applied his strong fundamentals and aggressive read-heavy style to Sheik and Marth. For years he has been a consistent presence in the Top 8 of majors, but coming into 2017 his performances had stagnated as he fails to make impressive upsets.

Early 2017 was perhaps the most disappointing season of Shroomed’s career. By late March, Shroomed had lost to lower ranked players in The Moon, S2J, Duck and ChuDat without any impressive wins above his perceived skill. Shroomed’s place among Melee’s elite players was called into question, falling to rank 21 in the Yahoo Esports Q1 Rankings.

Determined to prove his doubters wrong, Shroomed has since had a resurgence. He redeemed himself by defeating every one of the aforementioned players, including an impressive 3-0 victory over the recently improved ChuDat. Shroomed looks to be on the cusp of greater success, taking Top 5 players Armada, Mango and Leffen each to the brink of defeat. Those close, heartbreaking losses still bode well for Shroomed’s future. He has proven his skill is on par with Melee’s greatest players, but he will need to close out those sets to solidify his place among them.

Written by: Aaron Frederick | Edited by: Eamon Collins

His name's a mouthful, but he's one of the best © Thomas Tischio / @tischphotos

Rating: 78.90 | SSBMRank2016: 11

With a relocation from New Jersey to New York City, James “Swedish Delight” Liu ’s year has been relatively quiet thus far outside of the NYC Metropolitan Area where he is first on the PR. He has shown some solid play with near victories against Hungrybox at Don’t Park on the Grass and Full Bloom 3, but has been edged out every time. At CEO Dreamland, Swedish displayed a much more impressive performance. Losing an early and nail-bitingly close set to Druggedfox, the heavy-hitting Sheik main persevered, eliminating a laundry list of top-level competitors including Nintendude, Axe, dizzkidboogie and Plup’s clearly capable Luigi to end at fourth place. Most recently, he showed some serious fight by winning Flatiron 2.

Despite some lackluster showings against highly technical Foxes, Swedish has shown time and time again that he is a top-level threat in just about any floaty matchup that can be thrown at him. If he can manage to maintain his fierce and consistent punishes on floaties and overcome his demons, Swedish may be able to carry Tristate and make a run in bracket deep into Top 8. Though he may have looked a little sluggish at his few appearances early in the year, if he can play his best, a resurgence for Swedish Delight in Summer 2017 is not out of the question.

Written by: Jonah Fritz | Edited by: Henry Fellner

G2's Westballz will be honing his Falco for summer © Jeff Mahieu / @Delta52_

Rating : 79.80 | SSBMRank2016: 8

Keeping the Falco flame alive amidst turbulent winds for the bird, Weston "Westballz" Dennis endures as one of the few remaining Falco players at the top level. He has taken more than his share of wins at SoCal’s hyper-competitive locals. On the national level, Westballz scored a third-place finish at Don't Park on the Grass. Weeks later, he avenged his lackluster 17th at Genesis 3 by making Top 8 at Genesis 4.

However, he then suffered a series of 13th-place finishes at Smash Summit Spring 2017, Smash Rivalries and Dreamhack Austin. He followed these with an impressive second at Runback, but closed out the spring by taking ninth at Smash N’ Splash 3. These lapses fueled speculation that Westballz was going through a period of stagnation, and some even attributed the dearth of top level Falcos to his usage of the character.

Nonetheless, Westballz is up in sets against most of the Top 50 and is down to only four players outside of the Top 6. His even records against Lucky and Syrox together with his losing records against MikeHaze and Druggedfox call his traditional dominance over fast-fallers into question, but he has accrued winning records against SFAT, Wizzrobe, Duck and PewPewU. His strong head-to-head records suggest that he could pick up the pace in the summer and show that his Falco can still shine in the current meta.

Written by: Pablo Montero | Edited by: Christian Fong

Druggedfox has rocketed up the rankings © Recursion / @RecursionGG

Rating: 81 | SSBMRank2016: 23

Sami "Druggedfox" Muhanna cemented his top player status this year with excellent placements and head-to-head results. Although he gained acclaim in prior years by playing a range of characters, including Marth and Sheik, Druggedfox stuck to Fox for most of the tournaments he entered this ranking season. He attended a large number of tournaments, and placed well on both North American and European soil.

Since the release of SSBMRank 2016, Druggedfox achieved wins over Leffen, SFAT, Westballz, Swedish Delight, Axe and a plethora of other Top 50 players. He was very consistent in brackets, making Top 8 at every major tournament after Genesis 4 except for CEO Dreamland, where he placed ninth. In addition to landing Top 4 finishes at Smash Rivalries and Royal Flush, Druggedfox also took first at many non-major tournaments this year including Super Smash Sundays #55, SmashBox 2, Function(2) and Downfall.

Given his impressive tournament record and positive set counts against many top players, including SFAT and Westballz, it's no wonder that Druggedfox has shot up the rankings this year. Expect more results from the Georgian Fox main this summer as he looks to earn his way into the Top 10.

Written by: Eli Schoop | Edited by: Jonathan Miller

Credits

Head Editor and Statistician: Andrew “PracticalTAS” Nestico

Graphics: Nick “DarkDragoon” Konstantino