The Melee Stats Winter 2017-Spring 2018 Power Rankings

Welcome to the Melee Stats website. Our first collaborative editorial project was our Winter 2017 to Spring 2018 power rankings, which we created as a seasonal addition to the yearly SSBMRank series.

In the first edition of the MS PR, we decided to rank the top 25 Super Smash Bros. Melee players. Here’s a quick FAQ.

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What’s Melee Stats?

Melee Stats is a thinktank of data compilers, writers, seeders and smash community leaders who contribute to the professional Super Smash Bros. Melee scene. Outlets like ESPN have recognized our work, along with many tournament organizers.

How did you make this PR?

Volunteers from the Melee Stats team were given a list of the SSBMRank Top 50 of 2017, in which each volunteer rated players on a scale of 1-10. This was based on predicting an average player’s expected performance at a major. The scores were then normalized by PracticalTAS to ensure consistency across the board in measuring each player. We then cumulatively averaged the scores for each player.

Think of this as a results-based report card and how we perceive each player moving forward. For players with relatively low standing, we had to factor in considerations and performances from before the ranking period (before 12/1/2017 to 4/9/2017).

What Notable Tournaments Were Counted?

Pat’s House 3
Holiday Bash Invitational
DreamHack Winter 2017
Genesis 5
Noods Noods Noods: Melee Edition
The Gang Hosts A Melee Tournament
Smash Valley VII
EGLX 2018
Full Bloom 4
Noods Noods Noods: Oakland Edition

Many locals, smaller regionals and unique events like The Mango were also tracked for data purposes, but heavily put into context. For example, if a player was clearly sandbagging, like Mango at The Mango, we did not value it as notably as we would for a “serious” set. We also valued nationals far higher than locals.

Which Notable Tournaments Were Not Counted?

GEMINI
The Scarlett Classic
Flatiron 3

The above is not fully comprehensive, but gives an idea for what tournaments didn’t make the cut. However, we made strong considerations for players with a relative lack of attendance. Therefore, each player’s “legacy” – how they performed heading into our time frame – played a small, but noticeable role in evaluation.

Who Voted on the PR?:

EdwinBudding: Melee historian, writer, Melee Stats Podcast co-host.
SaveAsUntitled: YouTube video maker, Melee Stats Podcast streamer.
Wheat: Top 50 SSBMRank data compiler and backbone of Tafostats.
Ambisinister: Green Fox, data nerd, author of “Making Sense of Melee.”
KayB: Japanese and Korean Melee enthusiast.
Fairfax: Brazilian T.O, viewership data keeper.
Ovenn: Tafostats contributor.
Pikachu942: Weekly GameFAQS player rankings maker, Melee historian.

These are not all of the members of Melee Stats, but the ones who contributed to these power rankings.

*insert player* is too high/low! This list sucks!

That could be true. Consider that the following list is compromised of people with varying beliefs. It does not necessarily reflect each individual’s thoughts on a player.

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The Start of the Top 25

25. Syrox (6.10)
24. KJH (6.11)
23. lloD (6.20)
22. PewPewU (6.30)

These are players who sometimes struggle with consistency, but have high enough peaks that we considered strong enough to be part of this list. Syrox and KJH are two similarly tiered players that boast strong wins in the Fox ditto and have two impressive third places, with Syrox finishing third at The Mango and KJH third at Smash Valley VII.

lloD had a bit of an up-and-down season, with many losses to players ranked beneath of him, but also tournament victories at Fight Pitt 8 and See Me On LAN. PewPewU may have been higher on this list if Flatiron 3 counted, but still had a good enough resume to keep him here, despite an uncharacteristic loss to Faust at EGLX.

The Gatekeepers

21. Swedish Delight (6.70)
20. Ryan Ford (6.76)
19. Shroomed (6.77)
18. Westballz (6.78)

Swedish Delight suffered a few lackluster losses, but he had a brief return to glory when he won The Mango and eliminated Axe at FB4. Ryan Ford’s in-region dominance and consistent performances made him a sleeper pick for being top 20, as he only lost to AbsentPage and players ranked in the top ten at larger events.

Shroomed won SSS: Blood For Blood 2 early on, but has relatively struggled in the Fox matchup, where an improvement would certainly help his performances. Westballz has consistently made Top 24 at nationals and recently added two wins on Wizzrobe to his 2018 resume, which boosts his standing.

Likely To Make Top 8

17. Duck (7.38)
16. HugS (7.39)
15. n0ne (7.46)
14. Lucky (7.54)

The two Samus players on this list were hard to differentiate from each other, but both have strong placements across majors in 2018. Duck remained immune to significant out-of-region upsets for the year, while HugS’ record on aMSa and exceptional seventh place run at G5 stood as notable accomplishments.

n0ne hasn’t seen too many tournaments, but excelled at FB4, had a solid G5 and a great third at Holiday Bash. Lucky is arguably the most inconsistent out of the four, but had easily the best individual major run at G5, where he defeated Zain, n0ne, SFAT, Mew2King and HugS en route to fifth.

Rising Stars

13. Zain (7.80)
12. S2J (8.00)
11. Crush (8.20)

Zain has quickly become a fan favorite, with several slayed Fox/Falco players on his resume and consecutive second places at The Gang Hosts A Melee Tournament and Smash Valley VII. S2J’s overall consistency and solid records heading into the year haven’t changed enough to drastically alter our opinion of him. Crush won Holiday Bash and has looked like one of Melee’s most promising stars.

The Demi-Gods

10. SFAT (8.50)
9. Axe (8.60)
8. aMSa (8.70)
7. Wizzrobe (8.80)

All of these players have beaten members of the top six in their careers and have stayed among the bottom half of the top ten. Outside of 13th at G5, SFAT finished in the top eight of every notable tournament he entered, including winning Battle GateWay 19 in Japan over aMSa and several SoCal events.

Meanwhile, Axe entered our time span with four consecutive wins on Mew2King, which carried him through his relatively lower placings. His Flatiron 3 performance was not counted when making this list, but reflects common perception of his skill, despite his brief slump at FB4 and EGLX.

https://twitter.com/edwin_budding/status/972943433605185536

aMSa holds a victory on Mew2King at EGLX and finished top eight at FB4, nearly defeating Mango. His lack of true “bad” losses outside of perhaps Bladewise at Poi Poundaz, helps his case, contrary to perception of Yoshi making him susceptible to upsets. Wizzrobe has only one win among the top six (Leffen at DreamHack Winter 2017), but boasts strong showings across the board, with results that look closer to the top six than those below him.

The Old Gods

6. Mew2King (9.00)
5. Mango (9.30)
4. Armada (9.38)

Mew2King’s legacy of being in this echelon of players kept him here, despite only have attended G5 and EGLX for notable majors. For reference, at both tournaments, he had losses to players ranked beneath him, leading to two of our panelists tying him with Wizzrobe. A good showing at Smash Summit 6 could increase his rank higher, especially if he succeeds against Hungrybox, whom he hasn’t played since TBH7.

Mango had a great second place showing at FB4 and ho-hum fifth at G5, but has no losses outside of the top six besides his sandbagged performance at The Mango. Even if his time remains split between streaming and serious Melee practice, he’s performed at a level that still cements him as a deadly opponent for anyone ranked below him.

Armada’s rank stands out as controversial, given his his historical track record, but it’s hard to look at his 2018 as anything but underwhelming. He remains impervious to players ranked beneath the top six and won DreamHack Winter, but he’s also lost each of his last sets against Leffen, Hungrybox, Plup and Mew2King. His current break from Melee is the longest one he’s taken since returning from retirement, making it impossible to rank him any higher.

The New Gods

3. Leffen (9.55)
2. Plup (9.72)

These two players are the closest challengers for No. 1, with top three performances at every tournament they entered. Rumors of Leffen prioritizing Dragon Ball Fighter Z over Melee haven’t stopped him from strong showings at each of his majors attended, including a victory at Valhalla over his longtime Swedish nemesis Armada. Plup won the biggest major of the year, G5, and hasn’t finished below second.

The One God

1. Hungrybox (10.00)

Hungrybox is 28-5 against the rest of the top six in his last 33 sets and has too many victories to count since last August, let alone over the last five months. He was the only smasher whom everyone gave the same score: a ten.

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Thanks for reading – and we hope you love our new website. Stay tuned for more Melee content.