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.

SSBMRank: Summer 2017 No. 40: Rishi © Ayub Arain / @avianmessiah

Rating: 47.60 | SSBMRank2016: 62

“Rishi” Malhotra has a knack for garnering national attention. In 2015, he ended Hungrybox’s 500 game win streak on Netplay. In 2016, he nearly beat Armada at Evo. This year, in a demonstration of his determination to pursue a serious esports career, he dropped the iconic “SmashG0D” tag and signed with VGBootCamp.

Last year, Rishi suffered from inconsistent performances. At Super Smash Con 2016, he suffered disappointing losses to Tafokints and Cyrain en route to a 49th-place finish. This made improving his consistency an important priority. So far, he has largely succeeded. He has taken sets off of lloD, Slox, Colbol, Professor Pro, Swedish Delight and ChuDat, and his worst placement, 25th at Smash and Splash 3, followed respectable losses to Wizzrobe and Kels.

Moving forward, Rishi looks to improve in the match-up against fast-fallers like Falcon, Fox and Falco. Three specific goals drive Rishi above all others; first, to be invited to Smash Summit later in the year; second, to become a Top 10 doubles team alongside lloD; and finally, to place within the Top 30 by the end of the year. His appearance on this summer list proves that Rishi’s goals are certainly attainable, and may be within short reach if he continues to improve as he has within the past year.

Written by: Dylan Tate | Edited by: Christian Fong

SSBMRank: Summer 2017 No. 39: Captain Smuckers © Phil Nolan / @nilpholan

Rating: 48.20 | SSBMRank2016: 64

After debuting on the 2015 SSBMRank at No. 99 and rising to No. 64 in the world in 2016, Alex “Captain Smuckers” Cottrell has climbed further in the highest tier of Melee competitors at rank 39. Long the undisputed best in Westchester County, Captain Smuckers has solidified his spot in New York City’s Top 5, regularly defeating competitors such as Slox, The Moon, DJ Nintendo and dizzkidboogie. At CT Gamercon in April, Captain Smuckers went on a legendary run, defeating Prince Abu, DJ Nintendo, Crush and KirbyKaze before giving Hungrybox a run for his money in Grand Finals. However, the Captain Falcon main’s successes have not been limited to the northeast. Recently, he sojourned to Southern California, Melee’s proverbial land of milk and honey, where he was victorious over top competitors such as Captain Faceroll, Squid and MacD, defeating the latter two four times each.

Unsatisfied with simply succeeding as a top-level player, Captain Smuckers has also taken on the mantle of community leader in his subregion, regularly hosting local tournaments in Westchester in order to foster community growth and improvement. Although Captain Smuckers's tournaments take place in the sleepy suburb of Scarsdale, his playstyle is far from boring, with his frenetic movement and innovative combos often eliciting chants of “get smucked up!” from the crowd. Although he hasn’t had the opportunity to enter many majors in 2017, Captain Smuckers's rapid improvement over the last year suggests that, if he keeps it up, it’s only a matter of time until he stands shoulder to shoulder with the best Captain Falcons in the game.

Written by: Alex Lee | Edited by: Anthony Bruno

SSBMRank: Summer 2017 No. 38: Sl0x © Prodigy

Rating: 48.60 | SSBMRank2016: 51

For the last four years, Anthony "Slox" Detres ranked just outside of the Top 50. He finished unranked in 2013, No. 62 in 2014, No. 69 in 2015 and No. 51 in 2016. A huge reason for why he flew under the radar was that he lacked the resources to regularly travel out of his region. That changed in 2017, as Slox became more active than ever. He not only defeated SFAT at BEAST 7, by far the biggest win in Slox's career, but also took sets over Swedish Delight, MacD, Colbol, Gahtzu, Android and The Moon in 2017.

Perhaps most impressively, Slox continued to cement his case for being one of the most underrated doubles players in the world. He defeated Axe and Plup to place fourth with Swedish Delight at CEO Dreamland. This achievement is doubly impressive because Slox and Swedish Delight had not teamed at a major in months. Currently ranked second in New England, fourth in New York City and first in Connecticut, there's no debate on whether Slox is Top 50. By the end of the year, we'll see how many more names the Tri-State Fox can add to his resume.

Written by: Anokh Palakurthi | Edited by: Christian Fong

SSBMRank: Summer 2017 No. 37: Ryan Ford © UBC eSports Association

Rating: 49.90 | SSBMRank2016: 48

Earthroot Gaming's Ryan Ford had a shaky start at the beginning of 2017. He placed 97th at Genesis 4 after dropping sets to ARMY in winners bracket and Druggedfox in losers. Then, he disappeared from the national stage before reappearing four months later at CEO Dreamland, placing a commendable 25th after being knocked out by up-and-comer Zain. With these fair but damaging losses on the record, Ford's previous rank of 48th seemed poised to drop.

Soon after CEO Dreamland at The Come Up 2017 in Canada, Ford had his first big break of the year. The Fox main was able to convincingly shut out DJ Nintendo, 3-0, and take on n0ne in Winners Finals. After narrowly beating n0ne in Winners, Ford's proudest moment of the year came when he won the tournament after facing n0ne again, in a 10-game Grand Finals. In addition to this astounding run, Ford has also kept a respectable back and forth set count with KirbyKaze, and has been one of KJH’s biggest hurdles of the year.

Ford's victory in Canada earned himself the momentum needed to finish off the rest of the ranking period in respectable fashion. He placed 17th at Royal Flush in May, losing to HugS in winners and The Moon in losers. Then, at the Battle of BC 2 in June, he pulled off a 3-0 victory against Nintendude, but was taken down by Mike Haze and HugS once more. Ryan Ford’s more recent performances have shown promise and he has stated that his goal is to eventually win a major.

Written by: Marco Salazar | Edited by: Jake Payne

SSBMRank: Summer 2017 No. 36: MacD © Thomas Tischio / @tischphotos

Rating: 50.10 | SSBMRank2016: 26

McCain “MacD” LaVelle ’s 2017 started off a little shaky. MacD suffered from a series of lackluster performances in the first half of 2017, failing to place higher than 17th at a major event all year. However, by working with a mental coach and trading his time from Peach to playing his secondary, Falco, MacD has begun to get back into the groove of top level Melee. He may have fallen behind a little bit, but MacD is definitely working his way back to a position of consistency and overall potential, thanks in part to the training of Splyce’s new Melee coach, Cactuar.

This year, MacD has still accrued a decent list of wins throughout 2017. Since last year’s SSBMRank, MacD has taken sets off of Squid, Kels, Captain Faceroll, Chillindude, HugS, Nintendude and Druggedfox. The fact that he made the Top 50 proves that, even at his worst, MacD can still compete with some of the best in the world. By improving his mindset, MacD hopes to travel more, and place higher throughout the remainder of 2017.

Written by: Dylan Tate | Edited by: Jake Payne

SSBMRank: Summer 2017 Rank No. 35: Gahtzu © SleepyK / @sleepike

Rating: 50.30 | SSBMRank2016: 35

2017 has been a great year for Captain Falcon players and fans alike. While mainstays like S2J and Wizzrobe have been getting closer to taking majors than ever before, players like Jason “Gahtzu” Diehl have also started rising through the ranks. Hailing from Central Florida, Gahtzu is not lacking in quality practice partners, as he competes locally with heavy hitters such as Colbol, Plup and Wizzrobe, as well as on a national stage more often than most players with similar rankings.

The play behind most Falcon mains can be extremely polarizing, usually focusing on either optimized tech-chasing situations or a heavily punishing glass cannon style of play. However, as Gahtzu has risen through the ranks, we find him sitting in a happy medium with a careful, yet explosive playstyle. This strategy has earned him a number of impressive wins over players like Colbol, Crush, Dizzkidboogie, HugS, Duck, Syrox, Slox and Bladewise, as well as an impressive ninth-place finish at Dreamhack Austin. To say that this year has been a good one for Gahtzu would be a major understatement, and there’s only room for improvement in this captivating player’s career.

Written by: Michael Ashby | Edited by: Anthony Bruno

SSBMRank: Summer 2017 No. 34: aMSa © aMSa / @aMSaRedyoshi

Rating: 50.80 | SSBMRank2016: 32

One of Japan’s top representatives and Yoshi specialist, Masaya "aMSa" Chikamoto has had little presence in North American competition this year, but has made the best of his few tournament entries. His most recent appearance at Battle of BC 2 saw him finish Top 8 after taking out notable top 50 players, Bladewise and Crush, while managing a skillful comeback against the latter to add to the tournament’s highlight reel.

His North American absence does not, however, mean aMSa has been slacking by any means, for he has been highly active in the Japanese scene. He remains one of the leading players in Japan's upper echelon of competition, with two first-place finishes at Battle Gateway 15 and 16, Tokyo's main tournament series, and a first-place finish at Master Hand 14 in Osaka.

While often challenged by fellow top Japanese players Rudolph and Yu, aMSa maintains a positive record against the two so far in the year, garnering him a solid case for best in Japan. The only major blemish on his national record is a fourth-place standing at KSB 2017, having been upset by Sanne twice. Keeping this up as the year advances would fully cement his position in the country, making his next appearance on an international stage something to keenly look forward to.

Written by: Pablo Montero | Edited by: Shirish Nene

SSBMRank: Summer 2017 No. 33: Laudandus © Rose Wang / @LadyMartel

Rating: 52.00 | SSBMRank2016: 33

After losing to Zorc and fellow NorCal rival Frootloop at Genesis 4, Sam "Laudandus" Rohrer did not attend many major tournaments within the first quarter of the year. However, the Sheik main maintained strong performances in his region, finishing an impressive No. 4 on NorCal's extremely stacked power rankings. At DreamHack Austin 2017, a little over a year after his national breakout at Pound 2016, Laudandus finished seventh with wins over Android, HugS and n0ne.

The last win was especially impressive as this was the same tourney where the Nicaraguan Captain Falcon sent Mew2King to losers bracket. With additional wins over Nintendude and ARMY, Laudandus is also the only top level Sheik main who has not opted to use a secondary character against Ice Climbers, having proved himself quite proficient in the matchup. If Laudandus can attend more nationals in the second half of 2017, he could very well find himself once again in the Top 30 by the end of the year.

Written by: Anokh Palakurthi | Edited by: Eamon Collins

SSBMRank: Summer 2017 No. 32: Bladewise © Rustin Winger

Rating: 53.40 | SSBMRank2016: 39

Hailing from the Pacific Northwest, Theodore “Bladewise” Seybold and his trusty Peach are models of consistency. In all the years that SSBMRank has been active, Bladewise has never been ranked outside of the Top 40. Thanks to strong placements so far in 2017, his ranking this summer is no exception.

Although he didn’t compete much away from the West Coast, Bladewise did a solid job defending his region. He won local tournaments over the likes of HugS, S2J and Dizzkidboogie, and garnered many respectable placements, including 49th at Genesis 4, 17th at Don’t Park on the Grass, and 13th at Battle of BC 2. Bladewise also had an impressive tournament performance at The Bigger Balc, making it to Winner’s Finals and only losing to Hungrybox and Lucky for a well-earned third place.

Although he has some notable losses to players like Syrox, Medz and FauxtheBro (an Ice Climbers player from Vancouver), Bladewise’s positive records over SSBMRank 2016 Top 20 players S2J and n0ne are more than adequate arguments for his summer placement. Expect more strong showings from Bladewise in the remaining half of this year.

Written by: Nick Messina | Edited by: Jonathan Miller

SSBMRank: Summer 2017 No. 31: KirbyKaze © Ayub Arain / @avianmessiah

Rating: 56.30 | SSBMRank2016: 29

Gracing the scene with his hallmark dynasty combos, Ontario native David “KirbyKaze” MacDonald is by no means a stranger to the Melee scene. While his distance from many major tournaments keeps his attendance sporadic, KirbyKaze is a consistent threat at every tournament he attends. Casting aside his uncharacteristic 33rd-place finish at Genesis 4, he managed to make Top 8 at every tournament he attended in 2017.

KirbyKaze brings a unique high-octane style to a character widely considered to be slower than most of the viable cast. Although conventional Sheik play emphasizes short, guaranteed combos and edge-guards, KirbyKaze plays Sheik as an aggressive, combo-heavy character. His unorthodox, off-the-cuff combos and strings have earned him a deserved reputation as a Fox-killer.

While KirbyKaze’s style of play can be intimidating, he is considered by many to be one of the most approachable top players. KirbyKaze originally made a name for himself by sharing the techniques and tricks he used to reach the consistent results he’s known for today. Though he has not reached the same heights he achieved in previous years, his recent performances send a strong message to the community: He’s back, and he’s only getting better.

Written by: Michael Ashby | Edited by: Christian Fong

Credits

Head Editor and Statistician: Andrew “PracticalTAS” Nestico

Graphics: Nick “DarkDragoon” Konstantino