Fifty down and 50 to go. We are now through the first half of this year’s list.

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

Given the quality and quantity of work in 2016 (From Genesis 3 to Eden), 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." With over 50 panelists this year, we also decided to remove the two lowest and two highest ratings before taking the average in order to reduce the variance.

Rank 60: Cactuar © SleepyK

Rating: 5.924

Last year's rank: 37

Other placements:

9th: NorCal Loves Teams, 17th: SSS: Blood For Blood

Charles "Cactuar" Meighen has always been a thinker. Using his years of experience and game knowledge to outwit his opponents, his Fox and Marth carried him to 25th and 33rd at Evo 2016 and Genesis 3, respectively. His signature tempo-upsetting pause is just one of many tactics that keep this veteran dangerous more than a decade after he started entering tournaments.

Written by: Luke Romeo

Edited by: Noam Radcliffe

Rank 59: Redd © Thomas Tischio

Rating: 5.984

Last year's rank: 70

Other placements:

1st: Dismantle 2, 9th: Olympus

Longtime MD/VA resident Austin "Redd" Self returned to the Top 100 for the fourth straight year in 2016. He continued to be a dominant force in his home region, and he broke his infamous "33rd" curse with a 25th-place finish at Super Smash Con 2016. Showing continued improvement with wins over Captain Faceroll, Amsah and Gahtzu, we can expect another great year of Melee from Redd in 2017.

Written by: John Craytor

Edited by: Henry Fellner

Rank 58: Amsah © [unknown]

Rating: 6.003

Last year's rank: 53

Other placements:

9th: Heir 3, 1st: Hyperfocus, 1st: Mission Complete #3, 1st: Avalon M-VI

The Netherlands's legendary Amsah "Amsah" Augustuszoon has had a quiet but solid year, performing well at the few out-of-country tournaments he attended. Notably, we saw more of the Sheik main's secondaries this year, especially his Fox in the Ice Climbers matchup. Some of his best wins include Westballz, Zgetto, Android and a 3-2 comeback in an exhibition against aMSa at Pound 2016.

Written by: Julius Vissing

Edited by: Aidan Lilienfeld

Rank 57: Azusa © Azusa

Rating: 6.051

Last year's rank: 89

Other placements:

7th: NorCal Loves Teams, 2nd: Wine Country Comic Con

Austin "Azusa" Demmon is often left out of discussions about top Peach players, but he continues to put together solid performances at every national he attends. Most recently, he defeated Chillindude and Slox to finish 17th at Shine 2016. While he doesn't travel often, he still takes sets off of top players at NorCal locals regularly.

Written by: Daniel Lee

Edited by: Aidan Lilienfeld

Rank 56: Eddy Mexico © SleepyK

Rating: 6.066

Last year's rank: 36

Other placements:

4th: UCSD Super Triweekly 4, 5th: Smash Factor 5, 1st: The Hazard

Eduardo "Eddy Mexico" Rincon had a productive year, traveling to the United States for several major tournaments. Although he lives in Tijuana, Mexico, his frequent presence at SoCal locals has landed him 14th on the hotly contested SoCal Power Rankings. The Luigi main beat MacD and Kira at locals, and in Mexico he took first over Javi at The Hazard. Eddy Mexico is undoubtably a fan favorite due to his patented "luichete" combos.

Written by: Henry Fellner

Edited by: Aidan Lilienfeld

Rank 55: Kels © Thomas Tischio

Rating: 6.147

Last year's rank: 50

Other placements:

2nd: Show Me Your Moves 17, 17th: Smash N' Splash 2

2016 was relatively quiet for Kelly "Kels" Smith , as he cut back on traveling in comparison to past years. However, he still picked up some quality performances, most notably a pair of 33rd-place finishes at Evo 2016 and The Big House 6. He also ended the year by finishing 17th at UGC Smash Open. Pairing those placings with wins over players like Duck, HugS and KJH shows that "the Man, the Myth, Kelly Smith" isn't quite done yet.

Written by: Josh Fendrick

Edited by: Anokh Palakurthi & Andrew Nestico

Rank 54: lloD © lloD

Rating: 6.199

Last year's rank: 78

Other placements:

7th: Shots Fired 2

With wins over HugS, dizzkidboogie and MacD, Arjun “lloD” Malhotra returns to the top 100 for the second consecutive year. In addition to placing 33rd at Evo 2016 and 25th at Super Smash Con 2016, lloD has many Top 12 finishes in doubles with his brother, SmashG0D. We can only hope to continue to see more great work from Southern Virginia’s dominating Peach in 2017.

Written by: John Craytor

Edited by: Anokh Palakurthi

Rank 53: Overtriforce © SleepyK

Rating: 6.321

Last year's rank: 47

Other placements:

7th: Syndicate 2016, 4th: Heir 3, 9th: DreamHack Winter 2016, 3rd: Kickstart 4

Despite minimal tournament attendance in North America, Sheik main Robert "Overtriforce" Iglesias has a reputation for top-level placings in Europe. Spain's second-ranked player pulled off two Top 8 finishes this year at Syndicate 2016 and Heir 3, and placed 9th at Dreamhack Winter 2016 with a big win over MacD. A consistent player with a short list of bad losses, Overtriforce will look to continue his success in 2017.

Written by: Luke Romeo

Edited by: Henry Fellner

Rank 52: Rudolph © Thomas Tischio

Rating: 6.367

Last year's rank: 88

Other placements:

1st: Master Hand 10, 12, 13, 17, 20, 1st: Crazy Hand 2016, 1st: Battle Gateway 11, 2nd: KSB 2016

Daiki "Rudolph" Ideoka ’s peculiar sitting habits align well with his atypical style of Marth. He stands alongside aMSa as one of the great Japanese players that compete in North America, and though his appearances here are limited, he has been an exciting dark horse to watch in 2016. His most notable placing this year was an impressive 33rd at The Big House 6, where he bested Druggedfox. "The Sphinx" dominates Japanese tournaments and is ranked No. 1 in his home country.

Written by: Noam Radcliffe

Edited by: Henry Fellner

Rank 51: Slox © SleepyK

Rating: 6.385

Last year's rank: 69

Other placements:

3rd: GUTS 4, 7th: Olympus, 25th: CEO 2016

Anthony "Slox" Detres held steady in 2016 for singles, but he certainly proved himself as a force in doubles with Swedish Delight, placing third at Genesis 3 and finishing Top 8 at Pound 2016 and CEO 2016. Ranked within the Top 5 in both New England and New York City (and finishing the year as Connecticut's No. 1 player), Slox and his medley of character counterpicks could be poised for a great 2017.

Written by: Anokh Palakurthi

Edited by: Nick Buckman, Noam Radcliffe, Matt Knutson

Credits

Head Editor: Andrew "PracticalTAS" Nestico