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Summer #MPGR2018: 10-1
On the eve of Evo, two challengers break into Melee’s Top 10 for the first time.
PGStats and MIOM are proud to present the latest Melee ranking, Summer #MPGR2018, which spans the first half of the year. MPGR is the spiritual successor to SSBMRank, and an FAQ can be found here.
PGStats has asked 35 top players, community leaders, tournament organizers, and analysts to rate the quality of play for each qualifying player during the first half of 2018. They were prompted with the following statement:
Based on quality and quantity of results in 2018, rate each player on a scale of 1 to 10. "A tournament is held every weekend during the ranking period, and all players on the list are able to attend every event. Over the course of the season, who performs the best?"
Each panelist gives each player a score from 1 to 10, and the ratings are compiled into one overall average after suppressing the effect of outliers. Finally, scores were rescaled to a 1-100 rating, which is displayed under each player’s graphic.
Summer #MPGR2018 No. 10: Axe
© Todd Gutierrez, Beyond the Summit
Rating: 88.8 | SSBMRank2017: 7
Jeffrey "Axe" Williamson just might be the true protagonist of Melee. He's arguably the fastest player on planet Earth, the only elite Pikachu, and a hero to many in the Smash community. Few, if any, in the scene question his greatness, and he has proven that greatness with another Top 10 rank.
Historically, he's had his fair share of surges and slumps; 2018 has brought much of the same. It’s hard to tell which Axe is going to show up on any given day. He’s taken a set from Leffen at Flatiron 3 and defeated Mew2King at GOML 2018, but he’s also lost to ARMY in his home state. His hard-earned reputation as a Melee demigod will never fade, but is perhaps beginning to show some wear. AMSa, Wizzrobe, Zain, SFAT and Crush are knocking on the door, and some of them might already have passed him.
Two unshakable obstacles are blocking Axe’s path to the monster tournament win his career still lacks. If Axe makes it far enough in bracket, he'll practically be guaranteed to play one or both of Armada and Hungrybox, two players with whom he has a massively lopsided track record of losing against. Then again, if there's anyone who defies the numbers, it's Axe. He’s already Melee's greatest player to never win a supermajor — but can he shake that title off?
Written by: Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi | Edited by: Alex "Quality Steve" Lee
Summer #MPGR2018 No. 9: Zain
© Charles Watson (@m1lkcast)
Rating: 89.4 | SSBMRank2017: 22
Since his breakout performance at Smash Summit 6, it's been clear that Zain "Zain" Naghmi is the real deal. Let's get the obvious out of the way: Zain destroys Fox and Falco. He’s taken two sets from Mang0, has dominated Westballz, and boasts five consecutive victories over SFAT. However, it'd also be foolish to discount the MD/VA Marth as a mere "spacie slayer." His wins over Plup, Swedish Delight, Duck and HugS showcase his expertise against other characters.
The scariest part is, there's still room for improvement. One particular rough spot for Zain is in the Captain Falcon matchup, in which he lost to Captain Smuckers early in the year. Though Zain certainly improved since, garnering a convincing 3-0 over n0ne, his three heartbreaking losses to Wizzrobe prove that he still has work to do. It's also unclear how Zain will succeed in the long run against Axe and aMSa, two demigods with a trail of slain Marth mains behind them.
Nonetheless, with a ceiling as high as anyone, Zain has clearly been Melee's biggest rising star of 2018. Will he hold onto his spot in the Top 10, or perhaps even rise by the end of the year?
Written by: Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi | Edited by: Alex "Quality Steve" Lee
Summer #MPGR2018 No. 8: aMSa
© Todd Gutierrez, Beyond the Summit
Rating: 89.8 | SSBMRank2017: 24
Melee is a polarizing game; everyone has their detractors, even the Mang0s and the Armadas of the world. Except, it seems, for one Red Yoshi from Japan. Long seen as an embodiment of Melee’s heart and soul due to his exuberant personality and effortlessly technical play, Masaya "aMSa" Chikamoto double jumped to a new level in 2018, scoring more major Top 8 appearances in the past six months than the entirety of his preceding career.
When aMSa first started entering American tournaments in 2013, many brushed off his high placements as a fluke. Since then, he has silenced all of his doubters. With the help of his team, aMSa has increased his U.S. tournament attendance dramatically — and despite the fact that he’s given other top players ample opportunity to learn the Yoshi matchup, the Japanese champion has only looked better as the years have gone on. In 2018, he’s earned wins over elite players, including Hungrybox and Mew2King, that few can boast. He’s even been able to overcome his personal demons, defeating Wizzrobe at Genesis 5 despite his oft-repeated lamentations that Captain Falcon is his worst matchup. As the second half of the year dawns, 2018 is already looking like the best year of aMSa’s career.
Written by: Alex "Quality Steve" Lee | Edited by: Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
Summer #MPGR2018 No. 7: Wizzrobe
© Thomas Tischio (@tischphotos)
Rating: 91.4 | SSBMRank2017: 8
Three things are guaranteed in life: death, taxes and Justin "Wizzrobe" Hallett’s reaction tech chase regrabs. Wizzrobe has been on a dizzying climb to the top ever since 2014, when the then-16-year-old leapt from unranked to top 30 worldwide in the span of a year. Now a Top 10 shoo-in, Wizzrobe has been dominant over his closest competition for No. 7, holding set leads on all of aMSa, Zain, Axe and SFAT. In fact, the only player he has a losing record to outside of the Top 6 is Westballz, who double eliminated him at Noods Noods Noods: Oakland Edition.
Against the Top 6, the story might not be what you’d expect. Unlike most of Wizzrobe’s contemporaries, his bracket demon is Mang0, not Hungrybox. On the one hand, the wild Falco main has a 4-0 set lead over Wizzrobe’s Captain Falcon, which may speak to the character's limitations. On the other hand, Wizzrobe is one of the few players outside the Top 6 to even take a single set off the stalwart Puff in 2018, and he’s the only one who’s repeated the feat: Wizzrobe won OpTic Arena, entering Grand Finals from losers bracket before defeating Hungrybox in two straight sets. As 2018 marches on, keep your eye on this hot rod of a Falcon, as he might just be the answer to everyone’s Jigglypuff problem.
Written by: Darren "Krakhead" Lynch | Edited by: Arjun "ExcitedMage" Deepak
Summer #MPGR2018 No. 6: Mang0
© Rudolph Gonzalez
Rating: 94.1 | SSBMRank2017: 3
At first glance, it might appear that the first half of 2018 has been unkind to Melee’s favorite buster. So far this year, Joseph "Mang0" Marquez is the only member of the Top 6 without a national tournament win. A pair of seventh place finishes at Smash Summit 6 and Smash'N'Splash 4, while impressive for most, are definitely below Mang0’s expectations for himself.
And yet, at one of these very tournaments, the SoCal legend showed that he still has what it takes to be the best. Though day four of Summit saw Mang0 eliminated at the start of Top 8, day 2 was a showcase of some of the best Melee he's ever played. Using only Falco, he defeated both Hungrybox and Armada in pools, becoming the first person to take sets off of both players with the character since PPMD.
Even Mang0’s head-to-head records might not be as bad as they seem. Besides Armada, who he was 1-0 against during the ranking period thanks to Summit, Mang0 is only down one set to each of the other members of the Top 6; that means he’s only one good bracket run away from an even slate and a return to form. And you know what they say: do not sleep on The Kid.
Written by: Benji "Hufff" Spetter-Goldstein | Edited by: Arjun "ExcitedMage" Deepak
Summer #MPGR2018 No. 5: Mew2King
© Todd Gutierrez, Beyond the Summit
Rating: 94.5 | SSBMRank2017: 4
In recent years, the rallying cry of "the king is back!" has been subject to a sort of semantic saturation, repeated so often that it’s become devoid of meaning. But for a singular moment on the eve of May 6, 2018, caught in the same slack-jawed wonderment that had struck Jason "Mew2King" Zimmerman speechless, you’d be forgiven for believing in his sovereignty.
It’s hard to overstate just how much Mew2King’s triumph at Smash Summit 6 means. It is his greatest victory in over a decade; Melee has seen entire eras pass without him winning an event of Summit’s caliber. That it featured his signature black Marth twice vanquishing Armada, previously his personal demon, is a testament to his resolve after 10 years of heartbreak.
One must face reality, though. Mew2King’s sole loss at Summit to Plup is part of an 0-4 record for the year, and portends larger doubts about his Sheik, as do his losses to Wizzrobe, Axe and aMSa since January. Similarly, the spark he found against Hungrybox last year seems to have been snuffed out. But in a career spanning 13 years and counting, Mew2King’s occasional losses are footnotes in his history; it is the incredible reverie of his Summit victory that will linger.
Written by: Zane "Epengu" Bhansali | Edited by: Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi
Summer #MPGR2018 No. 4: Leffen
© Thomas Tischio (@tischphotos)
Rating: 96.1 | SSBMRank2017: 6
At the beginning of 2018, it seemed that the biggest threat to William "Leffen" Hjelte’s performance in Melee might actually be a different game altogether; Leffen has quickly become a top-level competitor in Dragon Ball FighterZ, which raised questions about whether balancing the two games would harm his performance in either or both. Thankfully, that doesn’t seem to be the case, as Leffen’s remarkable consistency in Melee has quietly grown into one of the most compelling narratives of 2018.
In addition to boasting a distinct advantage over Armada and defeating Plup in their only battle of the year, Leffen has dominated almost everyone ranked beneath him. His only serious loss below the Top 6 was a bracket reset at Axe’s hands at Flatiron 3, an event Leffen ended up winning anyway. In his much anticipated rematch with Zain at Full Bloom 4, he dismantled the Marth in a convincing 3-0 victory.
However, every hero’s journey must have its Supreme Ordeal. Leffen’s has six jumps, wears a goofy green headband, and is played by perhaps his most hated rival. Hungrybox is the only opponent who Leffen has a losing record to in 2018 — if the Swede can consistently overcome his personal Kryptonite, nobody will stand in his path to Smash glory.
Written by: Anokh "EdwinBudding" Palakurthi | Edited by: Alex "Quality Steve" Lee
Summer #MPGR2018 No. 3: Armada
© Thomas Tischio (@tischphotos)
Rating: 97.9 | SSBMRank2017: 2
Following the loss of his crown as Melee’s number one player last year, and a disappointing (by his standards) fourth place at Genesis 5, Adam "Armada" Lindgren has put his nose back to the grindstone to try and reclaim his throne. He's well on his way.
After opting to spend nearly four months away from American competition to hone his skills in Sweden, Europe’s top competitor seems to have drastically improved. Armada reemerged at Smash Summit 6 and tore through losers bracket after being upset by Mew2King, defeating SFAT, aMSa, Plup, Hungrybox and Zain to secure second place. He followed that performance with an electrifying first place finish at Smash'N'Splash 4, where he double-eliminated Hungrybox in grand finals and and got revenge on Mew2King from Summit and Leffen from earlier in the tournament. With a 3-1 record over Hungrybox on the year, it seems clear that Armada has something to say: the Swedish Sniper is back, and he intends to stay.
If Armada can leverage his current momentum and maintain his form for the remainder of the year, it wouldn't surprise anyone if he soon found his way back to the top of the Top 100.
Written by: Jonah "Childish" Fritz | Edited by: Darren "Krakhead" Lynch
Summer #MPGR2018 No. 2: Plup
© Todd Gutierrez, Beyond the Summit
Rating: 98.3 | SSBMRank2017: 5
"Plup wins Genesis 5!" With those four words, Vish and HomeMadeWaffles ushered in a new chapter of Melee’s history, one where Justin "Plup" McGrath just might be the best player in the world. Plup’s rapid improvement has shown no signs of stopping; he’s been one of the few players to consistently push Hungrybox to his limits, not only with his blistering Fox, but also with his deadly Sheik; his consistency is nearly unrivaled, as he has claimed first or second at almost every single event he’s attended; and his head-to-head records are similarly impressive, as he holds losing records against only two players.
Unfortunately, one of those two is Hungrybox, who Plup is 5-11 against for the year. But all those losses go to show just how often Plup tears his way through other players to even get a chance to challenge the world No. 1. Aside from an 0-1 record against Leffen and set count ties with Armada and Zain, Plup has completely dominated the rest of the field. Between that consistency and his victory at the largest event of the year thus far, the panelists have rewarded Plup with a well-deserved No. 2 in the rankings. There’s only one spot left to go.
Written by: Darren "Krakhead" Lynch | Edited by: Dylan "Dilly-Jo" Tate
Summer #MPGR2018 No. 1: Hungrybox
© Thomas Tischio (@tischphotos
Rating: 100 | SSBMRank2017: 1
It's no surprise to see a player as dominant as Juan "Hungrybox" Debiedma back at the top. Hungrybox has been the most prolific out of all of the gods this year, appearing at just about every significant tournament and daring the world to try and usurp his title as No. 1. Though many have had the opportunity, few have actually managed to succeed; while none of his challengers have won more than one major tournament this year, Hungrybox has finished first at a veritable alphabet soup of events, including EGLX 2018, Full Bloom 4, GOML 2018, CEO 2018 and Low Tier City 6.
Aside from his fourth place finish at Smash Summit 6, Hungrybox has made it to Grand Finals at every notable tournament he’s entered. He’s also maintained fantastic records against most of the Top 6, being 7-1 against Leffen, 3-0 against Mew2King and 2-1 against Mang0. His 11-5 record against Plup, though not flawless, is certainly skewed in his favor. The biggest crack in his armor seemed to be Armada, whom Hungrybox was 0-3 against during the ranking period, but even that winless streak was rectified last weekend.
Of course, Hungrybox will have to work hard to maintain his rank at the end of the year. But right now, there’s no doubt that he can do it; it’s a matter of whether or not anyone can stop him.
Written by: Dylan "Dilly-Jo" Tate | Edited by: Darren "Krakhead" Lynch
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