We’ve finally made it to the end of the year. 56 weeks, 654 tournaments, and 777 qualified players later, the EchoRank algorithm has finally settled on the top players of Ultimate’s first year. Below you can find comprehensive graphics and a short blurb about their year, as well as an indication of how much they’ve shifted from the half-year report.

View #102–#77 here.

View the entire 2019 EchoRank Ultimate here.

You can read all about how this ranking works in the FAQ I made for the half year report by clicking here.

Other than that, let’s jump right in!

Although ImHip had a relatively quiet second half of the year, his first few months are extremely notable for achieving upsets over Glutonny and Salem in consecutive majors. He’s also put up very respectable results in the few regionals he’s attended, only losing to the best that SoCal has to offer.

#75. SNB | Abadango @Abadango (-7)

As in Smash 4, Abadango has been incredibly active, attending a myriad of tournaments both at home and overseas. Despite his results slipping a little compared to his Smash 4 days, he’s still a force to be reckoned with and is still completely capable of making deep runs, such as his 9th at Evo or his victory at Umebura SP 4.

One of the many Georgia players adorning this list, Fatality continues to be a fan favorite and one of the most electrifying players in Smash with his trademark Captain Falcon, persevering despite the various nerfs to his character. Although he’s prone to falling to upsets, his consistent and frequent attendance has granted him wins over much of Georgia’s elite, as well as players such as Puppeh, Lui$, and Kameme.

#73. Iluz | Jakal @Jakal_SS (+10)

Jakal is one of the myriad of Tristate players that have broken out onto the national scene in Ultimate. Alongside consistent, solid performances in-region and wins over most of his Tristate peers, Jakal’s resume includes a stunning 9th place finish at Suplex City Smash as well as strong performances at other majors up and down the East Coast. Even despite drowning in round 1 pools at Super Smash Con, Jakal’s extensive resume lands him a spot at 73rd.

Megafox has had a quiet but impressive year. Alongside solid performances in his home state of Texas, his forays to the coasts landed him pair top 32 finishes at majors and a solid number of upsets over the likes of Salem, Leffen, and Gen. Although he isn’t the most active player, he’s still a force to be reckoned with, and when Megafox shows up, expect strong results.

Although he’d had strong performances before, Puppeh broke out at CEO 2019, where he defeated Abadango, ESAM, Nairo, and Samsora in one long monster run of upsets to get 5th place. Although he hasn’t exactly matched this performance since, he’s still managed to solidify himself as one of the best Pokémon Trainers in the world, and has claimed wins over Kome, Elegant, Abadango, and VoiD at the many majors he’s been to since then.

#70. EMG | Blacktwins13 @blacktwins13 (-12)

Blacktwins13 is one of Canada’s most solid players. He puts up consistently strong performances in region, as well as performing well on his forays into the United States, including a great Shine 2019 run where he defeated Puppeh, Goblin, and Wishes en route to 9th. A 5-2 record against Riddles and wins over most of the top Pokémon Trainers are further evidence that Blacktwins13 is not a player to be underestimated.

Lui$ broke out at the end of Smash 4, and he continued to ride that momentum into Ultimate. In particular, he seems to thrive in the MD/VA region; his strongest performances include a first place at the Glitch 7 pre-weekly, where he defeated ESAM, Puppeh, Goblin, and 8BitMan, and a stunning top 8 performance at Super Smash Con, where he took out WaDi, Kola, and Shuton to finish 7th.

#68. TLOC | Awestin @AwestinAirDodge (NEW)

Awestin made ripples at the beginning of the year as he put up strong results in-region, defending his home turf from Secret and putting up solid fights against CaptainZack and MVD. Although his one foray out-of-state wasn’t amazing, his wins on invaders and overall consistency grant him a spot in the top 70.

#67. APE | Goblin @GoblinFL (+18)

Florida’s premier Roy, Goblin, had an inconsistent first half of 2019, but his second half left no questions as to his skill level. Throughout his travels, he accrued wins on yeti, Sonido, MVD, MuteAce, Suarez, Kuro, and Big D, as well as making upsets on his home turf against the likes of Samsora and Mr. E. However, his greatest claim to fame is probably his 2-0 record on the second best player in the world, Tweek.

#66. myR | quiK @myR_quiK (NEW)

Germany’s best player, while always having been consistent in Europe, stepped up his game at the end of the year. After a strong second place finish at Syndicate with a win over Glutonny, he placed 3rd at VCA 2019 by beating Mr.R and then made the most of his visit to the states for Kongo Saga by taking sets off of Samsora and KEN. quiK currently has a strong claim for the second best player in Europe, with his only hurdle being a 1-5 record against Glutonny.

Despite a brief hiatus at the start of Ultimate, Mr.R continues to be a threat with his trusty triad of Chrom, Young Link, and Snake. Although his results haven’t been as strong as in Smash 4, he’s still completely capable of defeating any player, as evidenced by his upsets over MkLeo, Nairo, and ESAM at the many tournaments he’s attended this year.

#64. Iluz | Juice @ZamirMorales (-1)

The second half of 2019 saw Juice shift to favoring Falco over his old main, Zero Suit Samus, although his results haven’t faltered because of it. Along with consistent results in the frenetic region of Tristate, he’s put up solid performances at majors, including a great run to 13th at Shine, beating BestNess, Myran, and Light on the way there.

#63. Demise | Mr. E @MreSSB (-9)

Mr. E is the most active player on OrionRank this year, attending a whopping 49 tournaments in 56 weekends. He’s also incredibly consistent, making solid but not outstanding runs at majors in almost all instances, and as such has slowly built up a strong resume away from the public eye, with wins over players such as Elegant, Myran, Lui$, MVD, and Puppeh, as well as most of Tristate’s elite.

#62. CACAW | Big D @BigD_SSB (+12)

The best Ice Climbers in the world and one of the Pacific Northwest’s finest, Big D had a lowkey but solid start to the year with a fourth place finish at Don’t Park on the Grass and top 48 placings at Genesis 6 and Get On My Level. However, he began to pick up pace in the second half of the year as he made a few journeys down the West Coast, picking up wins over Goblin, MuteAce, Zackray, and ProtoBanham, as well as taking out Dark Wizzy on his home turf.

Even though Choco has only attended Umeburas this year, he’s continued to prove why he’s one of the strongest players in his country. Apart from an unfortunate run-in with T in losers to get 17th at Umebura SP 6, he’s managed single-digit placings at every tournament he’s attended, a difficult feat in the chaos that is Japanese Smash. His runs aren’t just luck, either; he’s acquired wins over some of Japan’s best, including Raito, Lea, Tsu, HIKARU, Kuro, Kirihara, Tea, Shuton, Abadango, Gackt, and Kameme along the way.

As is true of most top Tristate players, Suarez’s attendance is extensive and varied, spanning most of the East Coast. Along with solid results and head-to-heads within his home region, he’s put up consistent performances at the many majors he’s attended, tending to land around the top 32 to top 48 area, and his worst placing being 33rd is a feat that not many players with his attendance size can claim.

#59. DA | Venia @King_Venia (NEW)

Unique among Tristate players, Venia doesn’t attend much, at least compared to his peers. In addition, his rare major appearances tend to be solid, but not amazing, with his best run being at The Big House 9, where he took out Goblin and Mystearica to get 33rd. Rather, Venia’s accomplishments come from in-region events, taking first at three separate Xenosagas and sustaining strong records over Tristate’s elite, being 1-1 against Dabuz, 2-0 against Rivers, and a lopsided 5-2 against Gen.

#58. CE | Meme @Meme8aMx (-12)

Like his brother, Joker, Meme broke out onto the national scene with Ultimate, initially turning heads by taking Trela close at TGC Returns. His results since have put up a strong argument for best Yoshi in the world, in particular an emphatic 9th place finish at Low Tier City 7, where he took out Lima, Light, and Stroder. His results in region have also been solid, usually finding himself in grand finals at the various Mexican and Texan regionals he attends.

#57. Mazer | NAKAT @darknakat (-28)

NAKAT is one of the few players that stuck with Pichu after its nerfs, and his persistence has paid off. Although he wasn’t as active in the second half of the year, he continued to put up solid results and managed to avoid getting upset too heavily throughout the course of the year. Of particular note is his incredible losers run at Smash’N’Splash 5, where he took out DarkShad, Gen, yeti, Nairo, Mr. E, and Rivers to make top 8.

Secret, or SDX, as he was known then, started off the year strong with wins over Salem, Gen, NAKAT, Mr. E, The Great Gonzales, and Abadango, but he retired after Frostbite.

Retired taken very loosely, of course, as is common of Smash retirements. Dropping Mewtwo for Pokémon Trainer, he began to attend tournaments again in August, and although he’s nowhere near as active as he once was, he’s still managed to build up a solid resume with his new main, attaining wins over Mr.R, Blacktwins13, and Goblin.

Pandarian struggled to find his groove at the beginning of the year, but something clicked for him after Smash’N’Splash 5, as he’s only placed below 25th once since then. Among his impressive runs are his top 8 finish at Low Tier City, where he defeated Stroder, MuteAce, Meme, and demon bracket BestNess; his 17th place at Evo, where he took out ESAM and Sinji; and his 3rd place finish at Play With Heart, defeating Mr. E and Dark Wizzy en route to winners finals. He’s also picked up wins on Lea, Suarez, and Maister at the many other events he’s attended.

#54. Typo | Sonido @_Sonido_(-14)

Sonido is one of the most active players in his region, which is saying something. Having attended a whopping 37 qualifying events, he has wins over all of Georgia’s best, as well as having claimed several other high-profile names in the area. His strongest performances is easily his 5th at Come To Papa 3, where he defeated Samsora, ScAtt, EKING, Aikota, Wizzrobe, and Epic_Gabriel, although many of his other appearances have not disappointed either, and he’s picked up wins over Salem, Mr. E, CaptainZack, Suarez, and Mr.R.

#53. FS | Peabnut @Peabnut (-22)

Peabnut barely qualified for ranking last split, but the summer of Smash saw him make it out to slightly more. Overall, his results have been nothing but solid; apart from a flounder at Mega Smash Mondays 200, he’s been very consistent, and his 3rd place at Just Roll With It! 11, where he beat Kameme, Fatality, Toast, and Benny&TheJets, helped propel him to the 53rd place ranking he occupies now.

Score: 20.995

#51. Armada | Ned @SSB_Ned (+41)

Ned had an impressive if inconsistent first half of the year, defeating Marss and Kameme but also falling to players such as Lil K, Diablo, and Demitus. Despite a small character crisis, he continued his momentum through the summer of Smash and picked it up in the fall. After taking out Wishes and Salem to get 13th at The Big House 9, he followed it up by taking out ESAM and Kola at DreamHack Atlanta, and then not a month later defeated quiK and Nairo at Kongo Saga. If Ned can keep up this streak, expect an even bigger statement from him in the coming year.

Tune in on the second for #50-26!