Welcome to the third of ten articles for OrionRank 2017! I’ll be detailing the Top 100 player-by-player.

More Information: https://intheloop837.wordpress.com/2018/01/01/orionrank-2017-top-100-announcement-information-methodology-101/

Written by Barnard’s Loop

Illustrations by Freeziebeatz

Ranking work by Freeziebeatz & Barnard’s Loop

#80 – Eim

2016 Rank: N/A (NEW)

Formerly Tohoku’s best player, Eim moved to Kanto in 2017 and quickly began to make waves. A contender for the country’s best Sheik, Eim placed second at Umebura 26 behind ikep, and has managed to take sets off of a number of Japan’s top talent – including KEN and Kirihara.

#79 – SuperGirlKels

2016 Rank: 78th (-1)

One of the only players at this stage of the ranking to remain relatively unchanged, SuperGirlKels still can easily claim to have had a superior year from 2016.

While 2016’s rendition of OrionRank was plagued by weeklies – something Kels and Quebec at large benefited from – her placement in the 2017 rankings is based on a solid foundation of wins at more national events, including a winning record against Fatality and a wealth of wins versus fellow Canadian players and a number of solid East Coast players, including MVD.

#78 – S1

2016 Rank: 69th (-9)

Consistently within the Netherland’s top 3, this Dutch Ness managed to place 49th at Civil War, top 8 at 2 of Europe’s biggest tournies, and carries a vast collection of wins on most of Europe’s upper echelon.

While he joins the struggle of Europe with his negative record on Mr. R, he’s tied in sets against iStudying- who currently outranks him on the most recent Dutch Power Ranking.

#77 – ZD

2016 Rank: N/A (NEW)

One of the bigger surprises to come out of this year, MD/VA manages to creep in one of the countless upcoming Fox players seen across 2017. This is largely thanks to a solid performance at CEO, where ZD defeated Ryo, Ryuga, and Mr. E, as well as a positive 2-1 record against MD/VA champion WaDi.

#76 – Luhtie

2016 Rank: N/A (NEW)

Acting as the Western U.S’s best Zero Suit Samus, Luhtie’s best known win came from an explosive upset-of-the-year type win against ZeRo at Civil War. While he never quite continued that pattern, he has a healthy number of victories due to steady attendance at major events across the year.

Most notably since Civil War, he eliminated Abadango at Super Smash Con, and has also managed to take a set off of Elegant.

#75 – Rich Brown

2016 Rank: 28th (-47)

Suffering from a decline after a stellar start to the year, Rich Brown retains his top 100 position and still takes the title of SoCal and the Western U.S.’s best Mewtwo.

His struggles haven’t prevented him from taking the odd important set or two, as he has wins on much of SoCal, as well as notable hits on James, Manny, NAKAT, and Ranai, demonstrating a strong portfolio and potential to upset players from pretty much anywhere.

#74 – Cashmere

2016 Rank: N/A (NEW)

Cashmere wasn’t particularly well known until he took an explosive 2-0 over Frostbite runner-up Tsu, who was seeded second at Frame Perfect Series 2. Controversy seeding and Tsu’s historical struggles versus Falcon aside, it was a landmark victory that put Cashmere onto the map as Florida’s best Falcon player.

This has carried to wins of similar weight across the year, such as wins on MVD and Samsora. As far as Falcons go, Cashmere has some of the greatest potential if he manages to travel to bigger events more often.

#73 – FOW

2016 Rank: 88th (+15)

While FOW is well understood to be an incredible player – once ranked 11th worldwide on the PGR, in fact – his waning attendance over the years has resulted in consistently low rankings in ranking periods taking place after GENESIS 3.

As a result, FOW – as with last year – ranks lower than the skill level he represents at events. Nairo Saga acted as his peak performance this year, where he placed 13th, though his most notable win came in pools at Civil War where he defeated Larry Lurr.

#72 – T

2016 Rank: 122nd (+50)

T’s story is one of the wildest in Smash 4 history. He appeared from nowhere in mid-late 2016 as what many believed to be the world’s best Link, and despite a poor first impression at Frostbite, quickly shattered all expectations by taking the bronze at Civil War.

This flash in the pan performance is on the highest end of the scale for the Kanto Link player, and while he’s had wildly varying performances, he managed to retain people’s belief in his skill with an impressive loser’s bracket run at West Side Saga that included a strong 3-1 victory over Elegant.

#71 – DSS

2016 Rank: N/A (NEW)

No slouch at NorCal events for the bulk of 2016, DSS made himself known as a major player in Cali smash when he unexpectedly defeated Dabuz at GENESIS Saga and went on to place within the Top 48 at GENESIS 4, marking a huge improvement from his performance a year prior.

The #1 NorCal ranked Meta Knight has also defeated some of Japan’s best at events, putting both Ranai and Shuton into losers at 2GG events.