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 #76–#51 here. View #50–#25 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!

#25. MVG | ScAtt @ScAtt227 (±0)

ScAtt, like most of his top Georgia peers, gained much of his points from regionals in his state: he claims three wins on HyperKirby, seven on Kola and Sonido, and a lopsided 8-1 record versus Fatality. This isn’t to say, however, that his performances at the bigger tournaments aren’t strong; he’s made three low-key runs to top 16 at some of the largest tournaments of the year, defeating Myran, Salem, NickC, Sinji, Jw, and 8BitMan on his ways there. In addition, his losses to non-Georgia players are very impressive, only losing to people in or on the fringe of the top 100. ScAtt’s record may seem unassuming on the surface, but he’s a strong player and top 25 on this ranking for a reason.

#24. CLG | VoiD @gsmVoiD (-13)

Although VoiD started the year off strong, nerfs to his main as well as the development of the anti-Pichu meta caused him to stumble during the summer of Smash, rotating a laundry list of potential mains such as Joker, Wolf, Pikachu, and Peach. Those prospects not working out, he returned to his Smash 4 main, Sheik, who’d gone overlooked in the transition due to nerfs, and immediately rebounded, claiming 9th at Glitch 7 with wins on yeti and LeoN and 5th at Mainstage with victories over MVD, Salem, MuteAce, and Prodigy. Although his performances at the rest of the year’s majors weren’t as impressive, VoiD proved that his Sheik had what it took to reclaim his spot at the top, and it’s only a matter of time before we see another Genesis 6-esque run ⁠— or maybe one that’s even stronger.

New England’s premier R.O.B., Raffi-X held decent results throughout Smash 4 but was overshadowed by the rises of Marss and Light; now, he’s looking to make the same journey as they did. Although his run at Frostbite was cut short by running into Marss in losers, his other major results showed promise, and they culminated during the summer of Smash where he scored consecutive single digit placings at Super Smash Con and Shine, defeating Dabuz, Stroder, Riddles, Dark Wizzy, Mr. E, Blacktwins13, and Gen in the process. Those, along with his solid in-region results and respectable 2-2 record with Light, launch Raffi-X into a top 25 ranking for the first year of EchoRank.

WaDi has maintained strong performances all year. Kicking Ultimate off with a top 8 finish at Glitch 6, he placed respectably at the following majors before a hot streak in which he only placed in double digits twice and never dropped below 17th. Along the way he’s racked up a slew of strong wins, boasting a 2-2 record against Samsora and a 2-1 record over Tea. 2020 will see if WaDi can maintain the momentum that he’s built up over the last six months, and maybe even crack that 7th place ceiling to reach even higher levels.

Although Rivers doesn’t attend as much as his Tristate peers and thus gets fewer opportunities to get wins on the region’s lengthy amount of talent, he makes up for it with stellar performances at what he does go to. In addition to 7th at Get On My Level and a stellar 2nd place at Suplex City Smash, he boasts five other top 16 placings across the United States, with wins on Nicko, Dark Wizzy, VoiD, Cosmos, Myran, Kameme, and Wrath. That isn’t to say he performs badly in-region, as he has impressive records against almost all of Tristate: 3-3 against Juice, 1-1 against LeoN and Gen, 3-2 against Jakal, 2-1 against Sinji and Dabuz, 6-2 against Wishes, and 3-0 against The Great Gonzales. Although he’s had his slip-ups, his otherwise strong performances in and out of region land Rivers at a spot right outside the top 20.

ProtoBanham was a name that not many people knew coming out of Smash 4, but he’s left his mark on the scene as possibly one of the greatest adapters in the world. Notable for dropping the first game and then completely downloading his opponent to sweep them for the rest of the set, ProtoBanham has used his considerable talents to much success, most notably at Umebura Japan Major, where he defeated Umeki, Choco, Ri-ma, Tsu, Tea, Cosmos, and Raito to finish second, and Evo, where he took out Lui$, Plup, HIKARU, Mr.R, Kameme, and Light to claim fifth place. Unfortunately, occasional slip-ups, such as a wildly unexpected 257th at Umebura SP 7, prevent him from being any higher, but he ends the year at 20th in the world.

Cosmos, Wi-Fi warrior turned top player in Smash 4, has continued his legacy into Ultimate as the top player of a theoretically broken but vastly underrepresented character, this time with Inkling. Impressively, he’s only placed below 17th once this year, otherwise fighting his way into top 24 even despite the rare upset. He notably managed to avoid Japan’s foreigner curse by placing top 8 at both Japanese tournaments he attended, including taking 4th at Japan’s largest tournament ever. Back in the States, he’s a top 16 staple and is no stranger to top 8’s, making runs at tournaments across North America and taking out players from all over the world.

Kola, formerly Salt One, has placed first at more events than he hasn’t this year. In region, he’s incredibly dominant, only holding a losing record to HyperKirby (5-6) while claiming lopsided winning records over Wrath (8-0), ScAtt (16-7), Sonido (13-3), and Fatality (11-6). On the few occasions he travels out of region, he’s made a couple of strong runs, taking 13th at Super Smash Con and 9th at The Big House 9. Although he’s yet to claim a major top 8 placement or a top 10 win, Kola is a player you want to watch during the years to come.

#17. SSG | LeoN @DLeon420 (±0)

LeoN easily proved himself as the best Bowser in the world after defeating Nairo at Suplex City Smash and making a run to 9th place at Smash’N’Splash 5, but the world wasn’t entirely sure where he stood on the worldwide rankings until Defend The North. There, he defeated Gen, Light, Marss, and Dabuz to take second at the entire tournament. His following performances on the world stage have been equally emphatic, taking 9th at Shine, 13th at Glitch 7 and DreamHack Atlanta, and 4th at Nightmare on Smashville. Although he doesn’t do as well as you might expect in region, he still holds respectable records on many of Tristate’s top echelon, being 3-1 with The Great Gonzales, 2-0 on Sinji and Gen, and holding wins on both Dabuz and Rivers. As he continues to pioneer Bowser’s meta, expect LeoN to continue making waves throughout the rest of Ultimate.

When he was active, HyperKirby was the king of Georgia Ultimate. Up until his retirement in June, he was 6-5 on Kola, 8-2 on ScAtt, and 4-2 on Sonido, as well as taking first more often than not at the several regionals he attended. Unfortunately, lack of enjoyment caused HyperKirby to drop the game almost entirely, and as such he rides his momentum from the beginning of the year and his one lackluster major appearance to 16th place in the world. As is the case with all retirements, HyperKirby made the occasional appearance afterwards, where although he wasn’t at the same level as he once was, he still managed to take sets off of Fatality and Aikota. Time will tell if HyperKirby ever comes back, but for now, his legacy lasts as one of Georgia’s finest and the weirdest placement on EchoRank.

Click here for an in-depth explanation as to why HyperKirby is top 16.

#15. PG | ESAM @PG_ESAM (+1)

Throughout ESAM’s entire Smash career, he had never won a true major — but that changed at Glitch 7. Making his way through a gauntlet of Suarez, LeoN, Tweek, Nairo, and Light, ESAM took the MD/VA major without dropping a single set, claiming the largest tournament victory of his life by far. His performances outside of Glitch have been extremely strong as well; not only has he placed in single digits at numerous majors this year, but he also holds winning 2-1 records against MkLeo, Tweek, and Nairo. As he continues to master his busted character, expect ESAM to climb higher and higher, and don’t be surprised if Glitch is just the beginning of a new era in his career.

#14. R2G | Kameme @kameme8808 (+8)

Kameme started off the year strong by beating Ally at Frostbite, taking second at Umebura SP 3, and then winning Umebura Japan Major. He continued his momentum through to take several other smaller tournaments and then got 9th at Evo, notably sending MkLeo to losers and kicking off one of the greater losers runs in Ultimate’s short history. In fact, since Umebura SP 3, Kameme hasn’t placed outside of top 16, even while making trips outside of his home country to the United States, France, and China. Along the way, he’s picked up strong wins across the world; other than the aforementioned MkLeo, he’s 3-0 against Tea and has wins on most of the rest of Japan’s strongest.

Tea immediately turned heads by making it to grand finals two Sumabatos in a row in the game’s infancy, a strong feat even without taking into account the volatile nature of Japan. The Pac-Man veteran didn’t stop there, taking out Marss, Tweek, and Dabuz twice on his first two forays into the United States and taking fifth at Umebura Japan Major not too long after. In fact, apart from two Umeburas and an absurdly strong run to 13th at Frostbite, Tea hasn’t placed outside of single digits, despite attending several USA majors and being a regular Sumabato and Umebura attendee. With his laundry list of accomplishments, Tea rightfully earns a spot at 13th on this year’s EchoRank.

#12. GW | Zackray @Ssb4_Zackray (+6)

Zackray made a name for himself at the end of Smash 4 with his Corrin and Bayonetta play, and carried his upwards momentum into Ultimate by winning Sumabato SP 1 and Umebura SP 2 back to back. Since then, he’s continued to prove himself as one of the strongest Smash prodigies yet, taking names left and right both in the States and at home. Notably, halfway through the year he began to wean off of his Wolf into experimenting with other characters, eventually curating a tournament roster that seemed to match Squad Strike more than traditional singles play. With his team of characters, he was able to take The Big House 9 in spectacular fashion, defeating Cosmos, RFang, Nairo, and Maister and double eliminating Tweek and Dabuz to claim his first supermajor crown. Time will tell how Zackray will continue or who he’ll add to his roster next, but more likely than not he’ll be a mainstay top player for many years to come.

#11. SST | Shuton @syu_tolimar (-4)

One quirk of the EchoRank algorithm is that it ended up placing the top 4 of Japan one right after another, just outside of the top 10. In this instance, Shuton leads the pack. Already renowned for his Olimar play in Smash 4, Shuton utilized the astronaut’s buffs to great extents, notably winning Prime Saga early in the year with victories over Tea, Nairo, Light, and Zackray. He’s continued to have strong placings since then, including winning the occasional Sumabato and Umebura, and against any top player Shuton has a very real chance of coming out on top: he’s undefeated versus MkLeo, Nairo, and Light and is 3-1 against Glutonny, as well as having solid records against all of his top Japanese peers. Make sure to keep an eye on Shuton as we enter the new year, as he’s sure to make waves wherever he enters.

Although Maister underperformed at majors in the first half of the year, he took the energy he channeled at Midwest regionals to the big stage for the second half of the year, taking top 8 at four separate open majors and claiming wins over many of the game’s best. Notably, after June he went up 3-0 on Samsora and 2-0 on both Light and Shuton, as well as taking multiple wins off of players such as Zackray, ESAM, Cosmos, and VoiD. His consecutive third place finishes at The Big House and Kongo Saga especially highlighted the lengths he’d taken his gameplay to, defeating Samsora, WaDi, Shuton, Zackray, Kameme, Light, T, Pandarian, Shogun, Ismon, and Sonix between the two. Maister has etched his name in stone as the second best Mexican player, and if his trajectory is any indication, he’s coming for the top.

#9. Solary | Glutonny @GlutonnySSB (±0)

Although Glutonny was considered a threat in Smash 4, the advent of Ultimate and Wario’s substantial buffs catapulted France’s best player to the titles of Europe’s undisputed strongest and a veritable top 10 contender. In his home continent, he’s only lost three tournaments — two to MkLeo and one to Shuton, which means that he’s never been outplaced by another European in his entire career. In fact, his dominance is so absolute that he often opts to use a variety of his secondaries in tournament, which is where most of the losses to his fellow countrymen come from. As the new year arrives, the storyline for European Ultimate is centered almost completely on Glutonny: can he continue his dominance, and how much higher can he go?

Score: 4.492

#7. Rogue | Light @Light_S21 (+3)

Light’s meteoric rise at the end of Smash 4 positioned him perfectly to continue his reign into Ultimate, and if his extensive tournament record is any indication, he hasn’t shirked from any opportunities to prove it. The best Fox in Ultimate by far, Light has consistently found himself near the top of almost every results thread, racking up placement after placement at tournaments all over the United States. Notably, he has incredibly close records with most of the players above him, being 2-3 against MkLeo, 2-2 versus Samsora, 5-6 against Marss, and 4-5 on Dabuz. Light’s hyper-aggressive playstyle stands out among the increasingly defensive meta of Ultimate, and only time will tell how much further the Connecticut native can push his character.

Dabuz’s consistency is frankly absurd. He’s one of only two players (the other being Nairo) to not have dropped a set to anyone outside the top 100 and the only player to not have any losses outside of top 60. Returning to his tried-and-true Olimar after the substantial buffs in Ultimate, Dabuz has once again established himself as one of Smash’s strongest gatekeepers and the paragon of consistency that he’s made himself known for, only dropping below 9th place twice out of the 38 tournaments he attended this year. Along with his numerous wins on the rest of the top 10 and his near-impeccable record in Tristate, Dabuz has earned himself countless top 8 appearances. The only thing that’s missing from his resume is a major win, but if his history is any indication, Dabuz is primed to gain his first Ultimate title very soon.

#5. NRG | Nairo @NairoMK (±0)

In Ultimate, Nairo opted to attend only the largest events, preferring to cultivate his stream instead of attending the numerous regions in the Tristate area, and as such his resume is almost all majors. Even so, his record is stunning, having dropped no sets to any players outside the top 100 and never falling below 17th, even at the largest events of the year. This all culminated in his first Ultimate major win at Mainstage, where he defeated Pandarian, VoiD, Light, Marss, and MkLeo to take first at Summit’s first open major and one of the most stacked tournaments of the year. Nairo’s consistency has landed him at top 5 for the year, and he’s only poised to keep going up.

#4. PG | Marss @Marss_NE (-1)

New England’s breakout Smash 4 star continued his rise with the release of Ultimate. Although he started off the year shakily with subpar placings at Genesis and Frostbite and a confusing loss to Jonny Westside, he quickly established himself as one of the game’s finest players with his win at Collision 2019. From there his prowess only grew, finding himself in top 4 more often than not and being one of the few people to double eliminate MkLeo. Marss’s performances have solidified him as one of the flat-out strongest players in Ultimate, and you would be remiss to predict that Marss won’t maintain his position, if not fight to land even higher.

#3. eU | Samsora @Samsora_ (+1)

Even with Samsora’s considerably long list of attendances, he’s yet to drop below top 16 this year. He put up extremely impressive showings throughout the entire year, becoming a top 8 staple and a solid choice for grand finals, but one of the shining moments of his career was his performance at Shine 2019. Sitting in winners side of grands with MkLeo coming up hot from losers, a lesser competitor might have succumbed to flashbacks of Super Smash Con or Evo, where MkLeo took the tournament in dominant fashion from losers, once over Samsora himself. However, the Peach main persevered to finally take out MkLeo, earning himself a much-coveted supermajor win and a moral victory over Ultimate’s #1 player.

#2. TSM | Tweek @TweekSsb (±0)

Although Tweek has famously struggled in the past with mentality and consistency, he’s managed to put most of that on the back burner to claim the title of #2 for the first year of Ultimate. Wielding a wide tournament-ready roster of Wario, Pokémon Trainer, Wolf, Young Link, Roy, Joker, and more, Tweek has established himself as one of the game’s strongest players, only falling outside of top 16 once and holding undefeated records against Marss, Light, Maister, and Shuton. In particular, his record in his now-home region of Tristate is unparalleled, a hard-fought dominance in one of the game’s two strongest regions in the world. Just one question remains for Tweek: can he push just that extra bit to claim the spot as the best in the world?

#1. FOX MVG | MkLeo @Mkleosb (±0)

What is there to say about MkLeo? He’s placed 1st nine out of seventeen times at majors and seventeen times out of twenty-eight in the EchoRank database, has a winning record on almost every player, and has solidified himself as the single best player in Ultimate, without question. He single-handedly pioneered the metas of at least two characters and stands as one of Smash history’s greatest players despite being only 18. He’s 9-2 on Tweek, 13-5 on Samsora, 8-5 on Marss, 7-3 on Nairo, and a staggering 62-20 against the top 10. There’s no justification needed for this — MkLeo is the strongest Ultimate player in the world.

Thanks for tuning in to EchoRank this year! EchoRank Ultimate will continue for the new year at bit.ly/EchoUlt2020.