Introduction

On the third day, we ramp things up, with surprisingly low & high placements based on the legacy of Smash 4 ‘s metagame. Here, we’ll see some of Japan’s depth shine, and see familiar names that have stuck around for years in this area of the ranking.

Without further ado…

#50 – Chag

Change from 2017: +78

Out last Mexican player until tomorrow, Chag comes in at the halfway mark with two separate Top 20 wins coming from his performances at GENESIS 5 and Hyrule Saga.

Getting this deep into the ranking requires more, though, and strong regional runs helped him in this regard, with multiple top 100 wins between events like MexCombat and Combo Breaker 2018.

#49 – Atelier

Change from 2017: NEW

Kansai’s best Rosalina notably cracked numerous major-level top 8s in 2018 and won a Kanto super regional, Umebura 31. This netted him various wins, most notably Abadango and KEN as well as major legacy wins like Kameme. As Kansai’s #3rd best player, he has a rivaled record with the region’s 2nd best player HIKARU.

As one of Japan’s Rosalina trio, he additionally has wins on the other two members of that trio – Yuzu & Kirihara.

#48 – shky

Change from 2017: NEW

Shky’s breakout began with swift runs at Umebura Tokaigi Qualifier 1 and EVO Japan 2018. His meteoric rise started with wins on ANTi, Tsu, and Armando, followed by another solid run at Umebura Tokaigi Qualifier 1. There, he beat T, Abadango, Shogun, and Eim, additionally taking a game off of MKLeo.

The rest of his year was comparatively quiet, but still quite consistent, allowing him to rack up additional performances including a victory over Captain L at EVO 2018.

#47 – BestNess

Change from 2017: +74

Utah in 2018 looked fairly solid, with a number of players from the state quietly qualifying for the ranking. None quite reach BestNess’ level, who easily put the state on the map after years of relative silence.

Winning 3 unique top 20 sets, BestNess fulfills his name and slides into 47th due to important national wins and a large quantity of regional runs that saw him taking sets off of some notable players just outside of the Top 100.

#46 – Sigma

Change from 2017: NEW

Despite a steady decline since 2015 between fall-offs and people moving away, Chubu’s last effort as a region was to place the best Toon Link in the top 50 through consistent and strong major & regional runs in Japan. His end of game run at Umebura Smash 4 Final involved a win on Raito.

Even at his relatively weak run at Hyrule Saga, he managed a win on the prior ranked player BestNess. Additionally, despite only attending events in the U.S. once, he encountered ESAM twice at EVO Japan and managed to eliminate him at 13th during their second encounter.

#45 – Ned

Change from 2017: -8

Ned comes in as a solid example of a player largely supported by super regional performances, which included an solid win at Full Bloom 4 which included two wins on Samsora and a win on DarkShad.

Despite not winning Showdown: Battle Royale 3, Ned’s performance was even more impressive, taking Zinoto, Samsora, Captain Zack, and Larry Lurr down in one extended and emphatic run before being shut out 6-1 by Larry in grands.

#44 – DarkShad

Change from 2017: +10

Like in 2017, DarkShad’s runs in Smash 4’s final year were touch and go, some being solid, while others were lackluster. His best run came from The Big House 8 where he defeated Elegant and Gackt, though he racked up several wins at lesser major runs despite his lower placements.

#43 – MVD

Change from 2017: -12

With Diddy Kong’s meta at risk after the departure of ZeRo, MVD stepped up to bat and took an impressive runs at GENESIS 5 and EVO 2018. He has a fairly large record to look at vs. the Top 20, and much of that is owed to his consistency in reaching top ranked players, regardless of what may follow.

His wins, nonetheless, showed themselves to be quite impressive. He took sets off of Nairo, Cosmos, and Raito at EVO – by far his most impressive run – and his general consistency as a player meant he was rapidly gathering wins at events from the 21-100 range.

#42 – Sinji

Change from 2017: +54

Sinji’s long ride since his 128th on OrionRank 2016 – a near 100 placement jump since the start of the ranking – ends in the Top 50. While not peaking as high as Tea, Sinji’s presence at events and diversity of top level wins (one of the highest so far, at 5) gave him the ultimate edge in 2018’s ranking.

Marking the second (and best) Pac-Man on the Top 100 in a metagame that was seemingly unkind to the character in prior years, Sinji ranks in as one of the game’s most successful “low tier” heroes. This year, he notably defeated Dabuz, SDX, and Komorikiri, with a positive record on Light.

#41 – Glutonny

Change from 2017: +7

Europe’s second best retains his 40s position for the third year in a row, a reflection of his powerful grip on the content and ability to snipe wins off of out-of-country player he encounters.

In 2018, he further solidified a positive record on Fatality that began in 2017 with a lengthy run at Get on My Level 2018 that ended at 13th, and generally accumulated points through various runs at European events across the continent. He notably also defeated DarkShad in an incredibly close 5 game set at Midwest Mayhem 11.

#40 – Wrath

Change from 2017: +7

Wrath has been fairly consistent across years, rarely attending far out of state, but frequently performing well regardless. His patient Sonic was supplemented by Bayonetta, and he notably became the only Sonic player to ever defeat Salem (at DreamHack Atlanta) after Salem picked up Bayonetta in 2016.

#39 – Captain L

Change from 2017: +72

British Columbia’s new premier player and the definitive second best Pikachu, Captain L made his mark in 2018 with not only a large quantity of regional wins (most notably defeating MKLeo in a Mexican regional) but also critical national wins, like his upset vs. Tweek.

He also made himself known as the overall best Jigglypuff in the world, going as far as to beat Larry Lurr in a local set with the character – by far the best win on record for the oft-agreed bottom tier.

#38 – Kirihara

Change from 2017: -17

Kirihara ranks pretty high on this ranking due to his famously steadfast consistency, and one may argue that he’s only held back from being higher due to his lack of attendance in the U.S. Further evidence for this is an encounter he had with VoiD at NicoNico Tokaigi, where he defeated VoiD’s ZSS 2-1.

Kirihara comes in as the last of the Rosalina trio from Japan, still the definitive best, though he now ranks as the third best Rosalina overall.

#37 – Nietono

Change from 2017: +21

Nietono ranks in abnormally high, largely thanks to not only strong in-region performances that saw him defeat most relevant Japanese players, but also a well remembered run at EVO 2018.

After an unexpected early loss in bracket to Ki, Nietono would go on to make a lengthy rhat saw him taking out various members of Utah’s PR, Shuton, CDK, Falln, Choco, Mr E, and Mistake to place third at the event.

#36 – Mr E

Change from 2017: -1

Mr E manages to be something of a picture of consistency across the rankings, shifting between 25 and 36 on all three. While his major runs can often result in only one or two significant wins, he often has solid runs that come to define him as a player with excellent peaks.

After beaten Salem and Shuton, EVO 2018 became Mr E’s peak performance of the year, and it was well supplemented by an excellent 2nd place showing at Glitch 5 where he managed to take a set off of Lima.

#35 – Ally

Change from 2017: -25

Likely the biggest surprise on this list, Ally’s steep drop can be blamed on a few factors: Sometimes weaker-than-expected runs at national events, little attendance outside of national events in a year defined heavily by regionals, and simply Ally coming to struggle more as the game carried on as evidenced by his poorer placings than prior years.

He does notably do fairly well vs. Bayonetta in a year where that attribute was critical – he holds a positive record on fellow Canadian Mistake, and he certainly has strong wins, but one can assume the late hours of the game caused his interest to wane like it did for many other players.

#34 – Kameme

Change from 2017: -2

The storied Mega Man player (also noted for his Sheik) ranks similarly to 2017. Struggling at EVO and CEO, Kameme nonetheless did well at Hyrule Saga and performed well at multiple Japan major events, semi-consistently top 8ing them.

At Hyrule Saga, Kameme soundly defeated Lima and Raito, falling to ANTi and SDX. In Japan, Kameme defeated big names across the board, including wins on historical #1 of Japan KEN and other late #1 contenders Choco and Zackray.

#33 – HIKARU

Change from 2017: +19

The greatest solo-Donkey Kong to ever play the game and Kansai’s second best clocks in at his highest ranking yet, with a combination on solid performance both at Japanese major events and solid wins at Sumabato 24 and Karisuma 17.

While best known for his Donkey Kong, HIKARU has used a plethora of characters in bracket before (especially weeklies) presumably due to the inherent limitations of solo maining Donkey Kong.

Despite that, his best run at Sumabato Smash 4 Final was a largely Donkey Kong-only affair, defeating Eim, Mao, Shogun, Atelier, KEN, and Some before getting shut out by Zackray.

#32 – Zinoto

Change from 2017: -6

As with many players, Zinoto saw a decline in ranking largely due to his absence at major events. Despite this, he (like another Midwest player coming up) was helped heavily by strong and late presence at various regional events in the Midwest.

He notably defeated multiple top 10 players – one of the first to manage this so far – and placed accordingly well at 2/3 majors he played at during the year. Diddy Kong’s meta saw itself decline somewhat nationally at the peak level, but Zinoto, MVD, and Nietono certainly helped it stay relevant deep into 2018.

#31 – WaDi

Change from 2017: -14

MDVA’s greatest threat put up a good performance this year. He holds 2 wins over Dabuz and Lima, one win on Mistake, and an overall winning record vs. Fatality. His only dark mark is a shut-out record vs. Tweek (not uncommon and something we’ll see a lot going forward) but he also has a peak of 2nd at EGLX, a small Canadian major.

#30 – falln

Change from 2017: +13

While some may debate over who the 2nd best Rosalina is, Falln undeniably put up a good year. He holds a positive record over Elegant, and an early win vs. Lima at GENESIS 5 eventually turned out to mean a lot.

He additionally has a win over major winner Cosmos (like Lima, in an undeniably hard match-up) and has a wide array of depth wins vs. both SoCal and the international scene as a whole.

The metagame was especially hostile towards Rosalina in its last year with Bayonetta and Cloud becoming increasingly common, making the number of them and their height in the ranking (with 4 placing top 50) all the more indicative of how skilled their mains are.

#29 – Eim

Change from 2017: +51

The first major winner on this list, Eim places far higher than he did in 2017 with a sharp increase in in-region performance. His positive vs. top 20 record and win at the climatic 10-game grand final of Umebura Smash 4 Final place him into the Top 30, pushing the Sheik meta to its limits and (possibly) carving out his name as the 3rd best Sheik.

He notably holds positive records over both KEN and Raito and rather appropriately formed a 2-2 record with Choco across their sets, ending at the game’s final event.

#28 – tyroy

Change from 2017: +18

Tyroy is one of many cases of players managing to nab anywhere from 2-3 notable wins at major runs (besides GENESIS 5, in this case) while often nabbing the right wins at the right time during some of the more stacked regional events of the year. Of course, despite his scarce record vs. the top 20, he’s made a number of wins outside of this range – notable players like ESAM, Falln, and Michigan neighbor Zinoto.

Undoubtedly another surprisingly high ranking, Chicago’s Bayonetta ends the game with his best ranking yet.

#27 – Choco

Change from 2017: +1

Choco’s been around since the start, but his upped attendance in 2017 put him on the map. After that,. he blew up in 2018, taking a major win early in the year at Umebura 32. He holds a clean record over Abadango as a result of his Japanese performances, but his greatest run came at EVO.

After beating Zenyou, Choco lost to Falln. After this, Choco went on to bruise several top level players in close 2-1 sets, including manmaging to run back VoiD and defeat him, defeat Larry Lurr, defeat ESAM, and lastly defeat Dabuz top make top 8 where he was eliminated by Nietono.

#26 – Zackray

Change from 2017: NEW

One of the biggest new upstarts that may soon best be known for his accomplishments in Ultimate, Zackray clocks in as the second best Corrin player in the world on the heels of various strong performances in Japan. He’s one of few to have a rivaled record vs. KEN, and holds the title of major winner after taking Sumabato Smash 4 Final in swift fashion.

His start at the year didn’t seem like much, as many players would often top 3 an event an vanish, but Zackray’s story rapidly became one of great success over 2018, and it has quite visibly translated to in-region success with Ultimate.

Outro – Day 3

All that’s left is the Top 25 and a retrospective. The Top 25 promises to be chaotic as anything, featuring controversy, fall offs, some of the best new players to hit the metagame like SDX, and a fight for #1 between two titans of Smash 4.