We are excited to partner with Red Bull to present the 2017 end of year SSBMRank!

As a quick reminder, the SSBMRank panelists are comprised of a large group of players 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 Twitch Invitational: Holiday Bash), 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. To reduce the variance, the highest and lowest three scores were removed from the average.

SSBMRank No. 30: Colbol © @msealjr

Rating: 73.6 | SSBMRank2016: 25

Once considered a Top 10 player, Colin “Colbol” Green has struggled to remain at the elite level during a new and more diverse era of Melee arguably boasting more talent than ever before. However, the Floridian Fox main continues to be one of the best players in his region, capable of flashes of brilliance the likes of which most players could only dream of. With the support of his team, Smash Studios, Colbol traveled to quite a few tournaments this year and placed within Top 64 at all of them. His notoriously unpredictable and explosive playstyle has earned him victories over many other top players, including Zain, La Luna, Swedish Delight and Wizzrobe — but not without a few lows, including his uncharacteristic losses at the hands of Moky and even unranked player TheAsianOne.

Even then, Colbol’s strongest performances this year greatly overshadow his worst: at Tipped Off 12, he ran it close with Mew2King in Grand Finals, looking like the second-best player in the same venue as n0ne, Swedish Delight and dizzkidboogie. His crowd-pleasing Fox play is frenetic, flashy and unorthodox — some might even call it crazy. However, Colbol’s lasting popularity doesn’t mean that he isn’t being overtaken by the field: for the first time since 2013, he failed to make Top 8 at any major he attended this year. If he wants to return to the highest echelons of competition, he’ll have to SD less, edgeguard more, work on the Falco matchup and keep a fire in his belly, but that last one has yet to prove difficult for him to maintain, especially with a whole new year full of exciting opportunities awaiting him.

Written by: Alex Lee| Edited by: Jonah Fritz

SSBMRank No. 29: KirbyKaze © @tischphotos

Rating: 74 | SSBMRank2016: 29

David “KirbyKaze” MacDonald’s year put his trademarked flashy Sheik on display with excellent placings across the board. It’s fitting that he’s known for “dynasty” combos in a year when he has so clearly reigned supreme over the Canadian Melee scene, as he demonstrated particularly pointedly with his performance at GOML 2017, Canada’s premier tournament. Although he started off his journey outside of pools in losers’ bracket, KirbyKaze went on to eliminate Mafia, HugS, Crush and Shroomed before falling to SFAT for a fantastic fifth place finish.

While KirbyKaze has dominated Canada for the whole year, with winning records over his top Canadian competition in n0ne, Ryan Ford and Kage, his impressive record managed to extend past his home country and into the wider world of Melee. He certainly started the year on the right foot: at Eden, he defeated Rik and MacD, then took a massive 3-0 victory over Swedish Delight. A few weeks later at the first iteration of Tri-State regional Apollo, KirbyKaze had another great run, taking sets off of iBDW, Slox and Captain Smuckers and gaining another great Top 8 placing, even though he did end up losing the runback to Swedish Delight.

He remained in great form this summer: at Super Smash Con 2017, he scored victories over Mike Haze, DrunkSloth, and Rishi to place just outside of Top 8. Although he is perhaps not as internationally active as others at his skill level, performances like these go to show that KirbyKaze undoubtedly remains a strong competitor worth watching out for in the coming months. The glimpses of world-class gameplay we saw from him this year could easily transform into longer stretches of brilliance — after all, he was once ranked ninth in the world — pushing him to even greater heights in 2018.

Written by: Jonah Fritz | Edited by: Nicole "Ibuprofen" Bennett

SSBMRank No. 28: Ice © @Delta52_

Rating: 75.6 | SSBMRank2016: 13

Coming into 2017, Mustafa “Ice” Akcakaya looked to be at his best, ranking just outside of the Top 10 on the 2016 SSBMRank. This momentum showed in his first few performances of the season, including second place at Eden, where he defeated Swedish Delight, Colbol, Syrox, La Luna, SFAT and Druggedfox; seventh place on Don’t Park on the Grass, where he defeated Crush, La Luna and Swedish Delight; and first place at SWEET XXV, where he defeated Ginger and KJH. However, Ice’s flame began to die down a bit at Genesis 4, where losses to ARMY and dizzkidboogie resulted in an unfortunate 25th place finish. Though wins over Crush, Druggedfox and La Luna at B.E.A.S.T. 7 seemed to suggest that Ice had not been shaken by his performance at Genesis 4, the rest of his year lacked the same kind of dominance.

Ice came into the second half of the year struggling to secure the upsets and high placings which had been so characteristic of his earlier tournaments; he placed 17th at both Royal Flush and Smash ‘N’ Splash 3, and 33rd at Evo 2017, his worst placing since Evo 2014. Nevertheless, interspersed throughout these surprisingly low placings were flashes of excellence, including 4th at Genesis: Red, with wins over Colbol and Chillindude, and ninth at Shine 2017, with wins over Kels, Swedish Delight and Rocky. Ice closed out his season in October, placing second at Awakening III, taking sets off of Professor Pro and Trif (although failing to overcome Trif in Grand Finals).

Despite his struggles in singles competition, Ice has maintained a dominant position in the world of doubles, alongside his static partner, Leffen. Together they earned first place at both Genesis: Red and Get On My Level 2017, as well as getting third place at Shine 2017. Across these tournaments, they were able to take sets off of such noteworthy teams as La Luna & DJ Nintendo, Syrox & Westballz, MacD & Crush, Swedish Delight & Plup, S2J & Shroomed, and SFAT & PewPewU. In spite of a disappointing seventh place finish at FUSE, Ice & Leffen proved themselves to be one of the more consistent threats in doubles throughout the season, even being ranked as the third best doubles team in the world.

Even with the ups and downs he experienced, Ice’s performances throughout this season were generally solid. He maintained winning records against Swedish Delight, Lucky, Crush, La Luna, KJH and Colbol, as well as even records with SFAT and Druggedfox. Ice only took one set off of the Top 10 all year, suggesting a definite barrier still exists keeping him out of the highest tier of competitive Melee. Nevertheless, Ice has continually proven his ability to compete effectively with those around his skill level, even if he has suffered from a bit of inconsistency. Though his 2017 was decent, Ice will certainly hope to make some improvements throughout 2018.

Written by: Rui Yang Xu | Edited by: Dylan Tate

SSBMRank No. 27: dizzkidboogie © @msealjr

Rating: 75.8 | SSBMRank2016: 27

It’s hard to find a player with a record more topsy-turvy than Kyle “dizzkidboogie” Athayde, the bicoastal Ice Climbers main and self-proclaimed greatest lover of wobbling in the world. Perhaps taking a page from the book of fellow New Yorker La Luna, dizzkidboogie has made a name for himself as a fixture on weekly streams, no matter the location. Also like his East Coast compatriot, that near unmatched attendance record has led to a tumultuous year, as dizzkidboogie faced off against many more opponents than the average competitor. To rank a player with multiple losses to unranked players in the Top 30 may seem strange, but just like in his breakout 2016, dizzkidboogie has stacked the scales evenly with huge wins to balance out his occasional slip-ups.

In 2016, a year where just about every Top 8 featured an Ice Climbers player, it seemed as though it was only a matter of time before dizzkidboogie would make his own appearance in a medal ceremony. But it wasn’t until the end of last year, just on the cusp of this ranking period, that he would accomplish that goal – and what’s more, accomplish it twice over, placing seventh consecutively at both Eden and Don’t Park on the Grass. His Don’t Park on the Grass run in particular was especially memorable, with wins over Wizzrobe, Mike Haze and a beating so severe that it prompted n0ne to tweet out his hatred of wobbling mid-match before unplugging his controller. dizzkidboogie carried that momentum into this year, rhythmically tapping his way to a 13th place finish at Genesis 4.

As the foremost exemplar of one of the most distinct playstyles known to Melee, dizzkidboogie's brackets can easily be cut short by a player who knows how to exploit the Ice Climbers, explaining apparent anomalies like his losing records to Chillindude and Jerry. But by the same principle, dizzkidboogie runs over players who aren’t prepared for his particular brand of Ice Climbers, giving him impressive head to head matchups against premier Fox players like Lucky and Ice. While his playstyle might infuriate others, it must be said that dizzkidboogie wobbles like no one else, with a bag of tricks so expansive he can actively switch between grab setups on a whim. Truly these battling aspects of dizzkidboogie’s play can lead to monstrous losers bracket runs, such as his run at CEO Dreamland, where an early loss to Gahtzu resulted in a rampage through Top 48 that included wins over RockCrock, Blea Gelo, n0ne and Duck in its wake.

Of special note is dizzkidboogie’s increasing proficiency at doubles, a format he’s consistently professed a greater care for than singles, despite his character's history of adversity in the more hectic landscape of teams. With two consistent teammates in Colbol and Druggedfox, he’s proven himself as one of the best teams Ice Climbers in the world. Though dizzkidboogie says his focus is on doubles, his singles results have remained at the high level they rapidly rose to last year. dizzkidboogie is a player known for wearing his heart on his sleeve; most often, this is manifested in the jolly and kind disposition he’s renowned for. But occasionally, his losses have clearly taken their toll. One can only imagine that a reduced focus on the singles format may have lessened the pressure for dizzkidboogie. So far, that’s resulted in a consistency that, while still shaky at times, is a marked improvement from his rollercoaster 2016. Now that the bar is steady, one can only wait and see what peaks he might climb to.

Written by: Zane "Epengu" Bhansali | Edited by: Dylan Tate

SSBMRank No. 26: lloD © @Delta52_

Rating: 76.1 | SSBMRank2016: 54

This was a breakout year for MD/VA Peach main Arjun "lloD" Malhotra. While he has been on the rise for a while now, 2017 was the first time he made it past the Top 25 at a national. He landed at 17th three times, at Smash 'N' Splash 3, Evo 2017 and The Big House 7. Even his worst showing for the year, a respectable 49th at Shine 2017, is nothing to scoff at. His best placing for the year was, without a doubt, his ninth place finish at Super Smash Con 2017, a tournament that included a losers bracket run to remember. After losing to Leffen in the semifinals of his round 2 pool, lloD went on to defeat dizzkidboogie, Druggedfox and Swedish Delight, before finally being eliminated by his fellow MD/VA smasher Zain. These placements are made even more impressive by the fact that lloD only began to consistently travel to national tournaments in 2016. After peaking at 25th, lloD managed to have only a single national result lower than anything he had in the previous year.

In general, lloD's year was quite memorable. This was the first time that he hit first place on the MD/VA power ranking, a spot that he has been chasing for many years. He made 48th on the Summer 2017 SSBMRank, a dramatic improvement over his 2016 Top 100 ranking. Though he has dropped sets to Mew2King and Leffen, lloD has registered a win over ChuDat, two wins over Druggedfox and wins against n0ne, dizzkidboogie, KJH, Syrox, MacD, Captain Smuckers, Abate and more.

The impressive aspect of lloD's game is his adaptations. You can see this in the progression of sets, especially against top players where the first games of a set can go in his opponent's favor, but then he makes subtle changes to become much more difficult to hit. His ability to remain collected even in high pressure situations is a worthy asset that will serve valuable as he continues to add to his growing resume.

Written by: Tony Powers | Edited by: Jonah Fritz

SSBMRank No. 25: MikeHaze © @meowth

Rating: 76.9 | SSBMRank2016: 28

Very few Melee players can say that they have the same amount of dedication that Michael “Mike Haze” Pulido has shown this year. On the grind as a player, streamer and personality, Mike Haze saw his hard work pay off for him this year with an overwhelming amount of tournament victories. He remained incredibly consistent at majors, earning 25th at Don’t Park on the Grass, ninth at DreamHack Austin, ninth at Royal Flush, 25th at Evo 2017, 13th at GOML 2017, 25th at Super Smash Con 2017, 17th at Shine 2017, 25th at GameTyrant Expo, 65th at The Big House 7, ninth at DreamHack Denver and ninth at Smash Summit 5 with extremely few bad losses.

Even more impressive though were the SoCal Fox’s results at the numerous regional events he attended. Among the highlights were a first place finish at Road to Genesis, a second place finish at Smash Valley V, where he defeated Swedish Delight twice, a first place finish at No Fun Allowed, and a fifth place finish at Too Hot to Handle.

In addition to the players mentioned earlier, he beat Captain Smuckers, Ryan Ford, SFAT, Bladewise, Shroomed, S2J, Lucky, Crush and Prince Abu. These names are only the tip of the iceberg of Mike Haze victories though. In total, Mike Haze has beaten 39 different ranked players this year, and maintained winning records against top names like SFAT, Swedish Delight, Crush, and Colbol and only has one loss to an unranked player across all of the majors he attended.

It is safe to say that Mike Haze will continue to have a long stay at the top level of Melee. This year marks his third consecutive appearance on the annual top 100, a feat he achieved after shifting over from Brawl. Mike Haze already has a god win under his belt from last year’s UGC — do not be surprised when he comes for another one.

Written by: Benji Spetter-Goldstein | Edited by: Tanner "Tanwad" French

SSBMRank No. 24: aMSa © @msealjr

Rating: 78.3 | SSBMRank2016: 32

As one of Japan’s best players, Masaya “aMSa” Chikamoto has always been hindered by his lack of participation in North American tournaments to breach the level of other top players. This improved slightly this year with a Top 8 at Battle of BC 2 and a Top 16 finish at GameTyrant Expo 2017 being his most noticeable placements. Apart from those notable finishes, aMSa added a 17th at Evo 2017 and 13th at The Big House 7, respectively as other noticeable tournament placements this year.

Despite the lack of consistent international attendance, aMSa has solidified his spot as one of the best players in Japan. Despite only attending one tournament in Japan in the second half of the year, in which he finished third at Battle Gateway 17, aMSa has still had a dominant year overall with winning records over other top players in Japan like Rudolph.

With some solid wins over the likes of ChuDat, Crush, and Plup, aMSa’s future will only get better with the news that he’ll be working toward moving to North America. Not only will we see aMSa have better players to train against, we’ll see him add to his doubles accomplishments with Axe such as their third place finish at Smash Summit 5. As we go ahead into 2018, look forward to aMSa showing up more in North American tournaments and cementing his position as a top player internationally.

Written by: Rui Yang Xu | Edited by: Shirish Nene

SSBMRank No. 23: HugS © @TeamDignitas

Rating: 79.1 | SSBMRank2016: 38

Coming off of a sluggish 2016, Hugo “HugS” Gonzalez entered this year fired up to succeed. Well-known for his hilarious streams and a long-lasting competitive legacy, the methodical salmon Samus strived to seek out tournament results to match his reputation. HugS kicked off the year by taking home an impressive 17th place finish at Genesis 4, followed by an even more impressive fifth place finish at CEO Dreamland — where he proved he can still compete with the best, defeating n0ne in pools and, after an early loss to SFAT in the first round of Top 48, going on to beat 2saint, Syrox, Druggedfox and PewPewU before finally falling to Hungrybox.

Far from losing steam, HugS continued to up-B his way to success in the first half of the year, finishing 17th at Royal Flush, fifth at The Bigger Balc and fifth at Battle of BC 2. He racked up a ton of notable wins in the process on players like aMSa, Lucky, La Luna, Crush, Westballz, SFAT and even his personal demon S2J; in turn, he skyrocketed from his previous No. 38 slot on the 2016 SSBMRank to No. 21 on the Summer 2017 SSBMRank.

HugS closed out 2017 with more solid finishes, taking home 33rd at Evo 2017, ninth at GOML 2017, 17th at Super Smash Con 2017, 13th at Shine 2017, fifth at DreamHack Montreal, 13th at GT-X and 33rd at The Big House 7. Several matchups seem to still give the Samus main trouble — particularly Jigglypuff and, oddly enough, Ganondorf — but his occasional losses to these characters fail to offset the massive number of impressive wins HugS has added to his record, such as those on Swedish Delight, lloD and Ice that he managed to tack on by the end of the year.

Jokingly known as the old man of the Melee community, even at the (relatively) ripe old age of 31, HugS continues to show his power both as a player and personality in the competitive scene. Constantly adapting to the changing metagame, SoCal’s best Samus is determined not only to return to, but to exceed the former heights of his 13-year-long career. Even after all this time, the best from HugS may still be yet to come with his new esports team, Dignitas.

Written by: Benji Spetter-Goldstein | Edited by: Nicole "Ibuprofen" Bennett

SSBMRank No. 22: Zain © @msealjr

Rating: 80.3 | SSBMRank2016: 66

Zain Naghmi had been on the radar as a rising star since 2016 where he upset Plup in pools at The Big House 6. While many dismissed it as a fluke, the MDVA star showed it was no accident at Smash ‘n’ Splash 3, where he reverse 3-0’d Leffen in Winners Top 64 before landing at a respectable 13th and also landing at a 41st finish on the 2017 Summer Rankings. Since then, his near exponential growth almost shows no signs of stopping.

Despite a rather slow start with a 33rd place finish at Genesis 4 and 17th at CEO Dreamland, once the summer came Zain exploded with performance after good performance. After his aforementioned run at Smash ‘n’ Splash, he placed a solid ninth place at Bad Moon Rising 2 and at GOML 2017, taking sets over Slox, Mike Haze, Ginger and Prince Abu. However his breakout tournament was at Super Smash Con 2017, where he only suffered losses to Mew2King and Hungrybox, taking out Chudat, Llod, Rishi and a clean 3-0 over SFAT to land at a clean fifth place and ending his summer with an elegant flourish. In the last quarter of 2017, he continued his destructive path through the game’s professionals by taking out household names such as Hax, Crush and SFAT yet again at Pat’s House 3 landing at an impressive second place.

Despite being a so called “Doc kid” era player, Zain has shown that no one is safe from his Marth’s devastating punish game, pivot tippers, and ledge canceled D-airs. The almost unheard of rise from 66th on the 2016 Rank to upsetting members of the Top 10 lands Zain at a highly respectable place just outside of MIOM’s Top 20.

Written by: Rui Yang Xu | Edited by: Darren Lynch

SSBMRank No. 21: PewPewU © @msealjr

Rating: 81.6 | SSBMRank2016: 14

Whether serious about taking a reflective break from the game, or experimenting to varying degrees of success with a surprisingly technical pocket Fox, Kevin “PewPewU” Toy’s 2017 may seem like a career low, especially when compared to his stellar 2016. But despite not attending many locals or regionals, his peaks still shone brightly.

As the blade-wielding half of North America’s highest ranking doubles duo, some of PewPewU’s best plays of the year came from being the defensive rock to SFAT’s killer point. With audible callouts and impeccable synergy, PewPewU could successfully commandeer space for his teammate and tank stocks when needed. CLG “PewFat” went on to earn multiple top placings at doubles events throughout the year, including a first place finish over Leffen and Ice at Don’t Park on the Grass, and an emphatic victory over 2017’s No. 1 doubles team, Armada and Android, at the Fuse Doubles Circuit’s Season 1 Finale.

On the singles side, when he did attend a major or super major he proved he was more than capable of putting on a show. With decisive wins over Westballz at Evo 2017, n0ne at Shine 2017, S2J and Zain at The Big House 7, and Syrox at Super Smash Con 2017, PewPewU demonstrated why people were quick to crown him as “the world’s best solo Marth main” last year.

Looking back on his doubles results and his singles peaks, you can plainly see that PewPewU still has heart. The question is, where will that heart take him in 2018?

Written by: Marco "Oats" Salazar de Leon | Edited by: Tanner "Tanwad" French

Credits

Graphics: Nick “DarkDragoon” Konstantino

Statistician: Andrew “PracticalTAS” Nestico