71-61 is here! The errors from the last list have also been corrected, thanks to those who pointed them out and to freeziebeatz for fixing the images.

Methodology is here:

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1p2mqzaOqlbnjou4_bGI8SMZFc0S9Szscn2qLJYDXJOQ/edit

70 – Angel Cortes

With strong regional performances across the country, what Angel Cortes lacks in strong major performances he makes up with high-caliber regional performances that span a diverse line of set wins. He’s taken high placements in the South, Midwest, MD/VA, Tristate, and staved off other regional players such as MVD and Nietono – proving him to be one of the strongest region-focused players at this current time.

69 – S1

Despite capping off the year with a stunning under-performance at Smashdown World, S1 (or S1-14) remains Europe’s best Ness with constant high finishes at the Dutch Avalon U series and otherwise displaying general dominance in the Netherlands with 17 wins at tournaments over the year. He has multiple wins on fellow countrymen like Badr and iStudying, but also has proven himself against UK’s best IxisNaugus and Germany’s best R.O.B. LoNg0uw.

68 – Tsu-

While Japan is notoriously inconsistent in-country leading to many Japanese contenders placing well outside of the Top 100, Tsu-‘s performances at Umebura S.A.T. and the DNG Kanto Round Robin are very significant. Even at Umebura 23, where he got 9th, he managed to defeat Abadango in bracket – meaning he’s defeated three of Japan’s five best across these tournaments, with hits on Ranai, KEN, and Abadango in total.

This isn’t the extent of his win pool, with wins on much of Japan’s higher PR, including T, hidden boss Kirihara, RAIN, Some, Choco, Raito, and plenty more – but he remains limited with disappointing finishes at Toryumon 1 and Umebura 25, the latter of which being a lost opportunity to defeat several high-ranking players.

67 – Pugwest

Sometimes a victim to the old-fashioned “Upset to Top Player in Losers Bracket” true combo known to eliminate many up-and-coming players, Pugwest himself is no stranger to causing major upsets, such as unexpectedly good runs at EVO, Showdown: Battle Royale, 2GGT: ZeRo Saga, and more regional wins like GUMS 09. He also tends to take players with him even at tournaments he places poorly in, such as DKWill, MJG, and C3PO, or at the very least put up a big fight. An example is his narrow 2-3 loss to Samsora at ZeRo Saga.

While sometimes written off as a declining player, Pugwest’s increasingly good performances as the year drew to a close demonstrate that a spark has lit and he’s determined to fight as Marth’s meta expands in the wake of recent victories for the character.

66 – IxisNaugus

While European players’ ranks major placements are somewhat wonky, a decent place to look for what compensates Ixis’ 25th placement at Smashdown World is his better super-regional performances at some of the bigger European events this year. Syndicate 2016, PPT Summer, and Eclipse 2 were some of most significant events to come from Europe, which he all did well in.

Despite playing a character that could potentially abuse timeouts in a 3-stock format that’s standard in Europe, Ixis is also known as one the types of Sonic players that is more willing to quickly move in to execute Sonic’s powerful bait and punish game rather than strictly stick to campy play.

65 – SS

While not a solo Villager like Aarvark, SS has a similar win record and the added benefit of upsetting Pink Fresh at EVO. Despite being ranked behind Saiki in-region, SS ranks higher on this list due to stronger national performances, including upsets over Rich Brown and JK leading to a 9th at KTAR.

With additions wins over VoiD and K9 at MSM, the young dual-main has demonstrated he can contend with neighboring California while still being one of the best in his own region. Despite a drought of wins at the Final Destination series and Rise, he overcame his fellow AZ players to win Rewired 2016.

64- Ri-ma

One of the more unexpected occurrences this year was Ri-ma’s breakout performance at The Big House 6. Despite often not even being labelled as Japan’s best Toon Link, he certainly has the highest peak performance of any Japanese Toon Link this year, upsetting Larry Lurr, SuperGirlKels, and fighting his way past Rayquaza07 to make 13th at the Supermajor.

Despite his dominant loss to Komorikiri at the same tournament, he’s also beaten Komo before at Sumabato 10 earlier in the year. However, like Tsu- and plenty of other players from the country, the inconsistency of brackets and tendency for bizarre upsets and vicious losers brackets puts him well behind what you might expect, with numerous sub-16 placements at super-regionals like Sumabato and Umebura.

63 – Venom

While his placements normally would’ve put him quite a bit lower on the list, perhaps in the 80-90 range, this Montreal Ryu has the honor of defying expectations and taking sets off of both Ally and MKLeo at the SmashLoft series and Orbit, respectively. Having not traveled out-of-country during the year expect for TBH6, he still spars to varying levels of success with other Montreal threats such as Holy, SuperGirlKels, DarkAura, and more.

62 – Tyroy

Tyroy is likely the second-most poignant example of a player taking a ton of advantage off of their early year performances. His kryptonite, Zinoto, managed to deny him wins at the Midwest Mayhem super-regional series, however. Despite later going on to do comparatively poorly at Supermajors, he has one of the more prestigious list of sets wins among players on the bottom half of the list.

He’s defeated Mr. R, Abadango, ESAM, Zinoto – but this isn’t where it ends. He notably defeated iStudying at Midwest Mayhem 2, double eliminated Hyuga at Midwest Mayhem 1, has multiple wins over JJROCKETS, MVD, and Fatality, and otherwise had made a name for himself as a potential contender for best Bayonetta in the world at the time.

He began to fall off after 1.1.6 hit, but his pre-Bayo nerf prominence is an example of just how well the character was able to place at the height of her controversy.

61 – Elexiao

Elexiao has one of the strongest records of any European player, only placing outside of the Top 6 twice in 16 tournaments, most of them regionals spread across Europe. While Smashdown World saw many of Europe’s greats under perform or fall victim to upsets and bizarre brackets due to international attendance, Elexiao’s record on the continent is still remarkable.

Unlike S1 and more like Ixis, Elexiao’s many high placements were at regionals across Europe.This is reflected by a set history that shows wins over many of Europe’s better players, including 2/3 of the Netherland’s best.