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.

Syrox breaks into the Top 30 © Ayub Arain (@avianmessiah of @MeleeEveryday)

Rating: 57.10 | SSBMRank2016: 67

At this time last year, Justin “Syrox” Burroughs was a virtual unknown. He had taken a game off PewPewU at Genesis 3, but otherwise had not traveled much out of the relatively small Colorado scene. Over the past year, this Netplay warrior has grown from Colorado’s hidden boss to one of the most heavily hyped up-and-comers in Melee. The 2016 rankings, which put him at 67th, did not include his breakout performance at Eden, where he defeated DJ Nintendo, Colbol and S2J to take fifth. He has since traveled extensively, securing respectable placings at nationals and securing wins over Westballz, n0ne, Gahtzu, Crush, HugS, Bladewise, Professor Pro, Lucky, Shroomed and SFAT along the way.

Perhaps most interestingly, Syrox has made a habit of traveling for locals and regionals in highly competitive regions, including NorCal, SoCal, Arizona and Florida. In the process, he has suffered losses to lower profile players like Andymosity and ARMY, but he has also gained valuable experience against many of the best players in the world. This drive to continue improving coupled with his already impressive achievements show that the lofty expectations surrounding Syrox and his dazzlingly technical Fox are well-deserved.

Written By: Michael Forde | Edited By: Christian Fong

Professor Pro will be looking to climb higher © Thomas Tischio / @tischphotos

Rating: 58.70 | SSBMRank2016 : 24

One of Europe’s top Fox players, Aaron "Professor Pro" Thomas , started this season looking to finally break out of the shadow of his regional rivals. With wins over MacD, Shroomed, MikeHaze, and Swedish Delight on the way to a top 6 finish at UGC Smash Open, and fresh from a rare victory over Ice at Dreamhack Winter 2016, the stage was set for Professor Pro to stake his claim as a top 20 player.

Sadly, 2017 has not afforded many opportunities for him to return to the States and showcase his skill. After a solid but lackluster 25th at Genesis 4, Professor Pro’s next U.S. major was Royal Flush, where a game 5 loss to Nintendude for a Top 16 finish cut his opportunity short for a deep run. Even back home in Europe, Professor Pro's ranking has been challenged by recently resurgent players Amsah and Overtriforce.

It hasn't all been doom and gloom though as recent wins over KirbyKaze, KJH, Prince Abu, Crush and Chillin show that Professor Pro is a consistent threat and something of a gatekeeper for the top tier of European competition. Known as a hard worker keen to implement new technology and ideas, Professor Pro has recently been boot-camping with Armada ahead of his next major appearance. The world is still watching closely to see what new tricks the Professor has up his sleeve.

Written by: Caspar van der Sman | Edited by: Shirish Nene

Colbol has shown a lot of potential this year © Thomas Tischio / @tischphotos

Rating: 59.40 | SSBMRank2016: 25

When people think of top players from Central Florida, names like Mew2King, Wizzrobe, Hungrybox and Plup generally come to mind. However, one would be remiss to forget one of the flashiest Foxes in the game. Colin “Colbol” Green is one of the more active Central Florida players in the region, putting his rank and reputation on the line regularly at events of all sizes. While this level of activity has resulted in a few bad losses, it has also created a growth in style and skill unrivaled by the majority of players near his ranking.

In a world where many top players seem to be focusing on honing optimal playstyles and punishes, Colbol is unique in his hyper-aggressive and unpredictable style of play. In fact, in addition to the impressive wins over players like Wizzrobe, Rishi and the Moon, Colbol’s style has also earned him a reputation as one of the craziest players in the Smash Bros. scene.

2017 marked an impressive year for Colbol with second-place finishes at MomoCon and HFLAN and high placings at Smash n’ Splash 3, CEO 2017 and CEO Dreamland. Though it can be easy to focus solely on the top echelon of Melee players, we suggest that you keep an eye on Colbol, as he’s proven time and time again that he can not only compete with the best of the best but can overcome them as well.

Written by: Michael Ashby | Edited by: Eamon Collins

Meet the best Fox in Michigan © Ayub Arain (@avianmessiah of @MeleeEveryday)

Rating: 60.40 | SSBMRank2016 : 34

Michigan’s top Fox main, Kalindi “KJH” Henderson , has been working hard to climb the ranks of Melee over the past few years. Not only is he able to overwhelm his opponents with his technical, fast playstyle, but he can outsmart them with his intricate game knowledge. This is evident from his “Fox Privilege” video series, in which he shares some very specific Fox techniques he uses to gain an edge. KJH is especially strong in floaty matchups thanks to his experience with local top Samus player Duck, over whom he has the advantage in sets this year.

In 2017, KJH has been very active and has improved his tournament placings, consistently landing in the top 24 at majors. Character matchups have played a significant factor for KJH, with most of his impressive wins against Sheik (Swedish Delight and KirbyKaze) or other favorable matchups (Duck’s Samus, Prince Abu’s Jigglypuff, Gahtzu’s Captain Falcon). His losses against players at a similar skill level are mostly in the Fox ditto. He is keeping these sets close though, and even beat MikeHaze at Genesis 4, but he has failed to close out his sets against other Fox mains such as Professor Pro, Crush, Ryan Ford, and DJ Nintendo. If KJH can gain an edge in these Fox dittos, this may be the year he breaks into Top 8 at a major for the first time.

Written by: Aaron Frederick | Edited by: Eamon Collins

His Smash career dates back to the 64 © Thomas Tischio / @tischphotos

Rating: 60.60 | SSBMRank2016 : 17

When it comes to high-level Ice Climbers players, a small group of talented smashers comes to mind. Included in that group is Michael “Nintendude” Brancato who, originally known as a Smash 64 player, garnered a lot of attention for his innovative Mario and Fox play in the game. In stark contrast, the notoriety he has earned in Melee is largely due to his precise neutral game and setups, as well as his strong, unapologetic punish game.

While discussion regarding Ice Climbers has largely been dominated by other players this year, Nintendude has still managed to grow. After an uncharacteristic 33rd-place finish at Genesis 4, Nintendude came back with a vengeance, showing a more refined game plan and cleaner execution in the tournaments that followed. This improved style has given him wins over top players like Ice, Professor Pro, and MikeHaze, as well as earned him impressive top 8 placings at tournaments like Battle of BC 2 and Royal Flush, and top 16 at CEO Dreamland. If Nintendude’s performances during the first half of the year have been any indication of what is to come, we can expect another strong year for his dynamic climbing duo.

Written by : Michael Ashby | Edited by : Shirish Nene

Dizzkidboogie has a bright future ahead of him © Ayub Arain / @avianmessiah

Rating : 61.60 | SSBMRank2016: 27

One of the most improved players of 2016, Kyle “dizzkidboogie” Athayde, has so far established that he is capable of maintaining his newfound status as a top-level player. By stepping up his fundamentals and expanding upon his repertoire of wobble setups, dizzkidboogie has managed impressive Top 8 finishes at Don’t Park on the Grass and CEO Dreamland, as well as multiple wins against Top 20 players.

Even with these wins under his belt, he has unfortunately had some hiccups in trying to stay consistent with his triumphs. Given the number of bad matchups the Ice Climbers must overcome, dizzkidboogie has seen himself upset by unranked players proficient at maneuvering around his grabs and exploiting the Ice Climber’s numerous weaknesses in the neutral game. His low placings at BEAST 7 and Royal Flush exemplify dizzkidboogie's persistent struggle to succeed against players patient enough not to give in to his defensive play.

In spite of such losses, the Ice Climbers main's momentous 2016 was proof of his ability to quickly make up ground in the skill gap between him and the highest levels of the game. His efforts may often be written off due to the perception of his viewer-unfriendly gameplay, but dizzkidboogie is a considerable force to be reckoned with in 2017.

Written by: Jake Peskin | Edited by: Jake Payne

Can The Moon overcome his roller coaster ride? © Thomas Tischio / @tischphotos

Rating: 62.30 | SSBMRank2016: 21

It seems that for every unexpected high of Ryan “The Moon” Coker-Welch ’s 2017 season, there is an equally surprising low. Wins over players like SFAT, Swedish Delight and S2J as well as Top 8 finishes at majors such as Full Bloom and Royal Flush have been offset by some bad losses and uncharacteristically low placings at tourneys such as Genesis 4 and CEO 2017. Throughout the year, The Moon has appeared to become a player whose upset potential is sometimes rivaled by his potential to be upset. However, he had a similarly rough start in 2016 and managed to come back stronger.

Balancing The Moon’s inconsistent performances are strengths yielded by his charismatic nature and unwavering optimism. His contagious friendliness and sense of humor has garnered him a fairly significant fan base, especially after receiving universal praise for his commentary and personality at Smash Summit 3 last year. Taking his losses in stride, he employs setbacks as motivation to work even harder toward improvement rather than an excuse to passively wallow. The Moon clearly has the baseline skill to finally break into Melee’s Top 20. What leaves fans wondering is whether his swing-heavy Marth can rein in his use of unsafe options to ensure more consistency.

Written by: Jake Peskin | Edited by: Henry Fellner

Crush is enjoying an upward swing © @EirikN07

Rating: 63.40 | SSBMRank2016: 49

Between curating a cynical Twitter account and creating the FSBR, Jack "Crush" Hoyt somehow found the time to become a Top 50 player in the world. His surgical style of Fox play has netted him a number of impressive wins, including such names as Swedish Delight, Nintendude, S2J, ChuDat and dizzkidboogie. His match-ups against players like ChuDat in particular is proof of the "ICs slayer" moniker he's gained from these victories.

This, however, belies the insane stats Crush has against Peaches. With a 2-0 record versus lloD, 2-0 against MacD and an eye-popping 28-1 vs. Mafia, one has to hope he gets the chance to face the likes of Armada soon. Keeping all of this in mind, one can see how his tournament placings have consistently been rising in between dominating New England locals. With 17th at Genesis 4, ninth at BEAST 7, 13th at Dreamhack Austin and ninth at Royal Flush, Crush is one of the most prominent examples of the come-up of New England players such as Mafia, Slox and Infinite Numbers, and his vast improvement should see him atop many of tournament standings in the coming summer.

Written By: Eli Schoop | Edited By: Jake Payne

This old dog still has plenty of tricks left © Thomas Tischio / @tischphotos

Rating: 65.40 | SSBMRank2016: 28

Michael "MikeHaze" Pulido could be considered the Steve Nash of competitive Melee. Once starting as a decent Melee player who was more known for his Brawl Marth, MikeHaze eventually became one of the best late-bloomers in Melee history. He's on pace to enter Melee's top 25 for the first time in his decade-long career. Although he started our ranking period off with shaky performances at Don't Park On The Grass and Genesis 4, MikeHaze's consistency across the board at majors has more than made up for his slow start. MikeHaze's resume also looks especially impressive, with wins over SFAT, Westballz, Crush, Swedish Delight and Syrox in 2017. Although he placed fifth at Battle of BC 2, MikeHaze's fans are still waiting for a Top 8 set from him at a national, a feat that has eluded him throughout his Melee career. By the end of the year, spectators will see if the streamer/smasher/rapper hybrid has what it takes to elevate his already high level of play.

Written by: Anokh Palakurthi | Edited by: Kyle Garcia

HugS has improved in leaps and bounds. © © Robert Paul/@tempusrob/rmpaul.com

Rating: 65.60 | SSBMRank2016: 38

At this point, you can guess it's pretty clear — Hugo "HugS" Gonzalez has improved from last year. Having multiple wins against every comparably ranked Fox player in his own region, HugS now hits edgeguards consistently, implements new tricks and tools confidently and extends combos further than he's ever done before. With a resurgent work ethic, HugS' training has paid off, as he was voted into the prestigious Smash Summit Spring 2017.

In Orlando, Florida, HugS had his best out-of-region performance in years at CEO Dreamland, beating n0ne, Syrox, Druggedfox and PewPewU to get fifth place. Shortly after, HugS defeated The Moon, Ryan Ford and aMSa en route to another fifth-place showing at Battle of BC 2.

Though HugS has continued to face his fair share of struggles against S2J and floaties, spectators can almost certainly expect that the crafty and intelligent Samus veteran will find another trick up his sleeve to help him in these matchups. Nearly ten years ago, HugS found himself in Evo World 2007 Grand Finals, then just a stock away from winning the biggest Melee tournament at the time. One question remains for HugS today: Can his upward momentum and wide wisdom help him get back to the big stage?

Written by: Anokh Palakurthi | Edited by : Shirish Nene

Credits

Head Editor and Statistician: Andrew “PracticalTAS” Nestico

Graphics: Nick “DarkDragoon” Konstantino