We are down to the final 10. To celebrate each of the players, we have given them their own page to celebrate 2015. Rest assured, we will release #7-8 today as well. Share your thoughts about today with the hashtag #SSBMRank2015.


Photo Credits to Robert Paul (@tempusrob)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
9
8.934
7
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
13
N/A
7
17
9
Other Results
7th at Paragon 2015
3rd at Sandstorm
3rd at Press Start
3rd at Super Smash Con
5th at Paragon LA
3rd at MLG World Finals 2015
7th at Smash Summit
3rd at Eclipse
Summary
2015 was a formative year for Axe, filled with highs and lows. Still, through all of those highs and lows, Axe continued to impress inside and outside the game. No matter how he places, Axe’s extremely high-level, metagame-pushing Pikachu play will always impress, and the manner in which he conducts himself outside the game as one of the kindest and caring members of the community will never be forgotten. You may be thinking that I’m trying to make it seem that Axe had a substandard 2015. Axe had an amazing 2015, it was just a bit rockier than past years. Axe had a solid start to 2015. At Paragon Orlando he took 7th place and then beat Mew2King in a small tournament hosted by MVG. Next up was Apex, which was a bit of a letdown compared to the results he garnered in January. When Axe placed 13th, being eliminated by SFAT in the winner’s bracket and by Shroomed in the loser’s bracket, it was unexpected to say the least. After Apex 2015 was Aftershock, a Texas regional which Axe took 1st place at. MVG Sandstorm in April was one of Axe’s best performances of the year, no doubt. At Sandstorm, Axe beat Leffen and Mango, both of which were firsts for Axe. He ended up placing 3rd, losing to Armada in Winner’s Finals and to Westballz in Loser’s Finals. Axe kept up his streak of excellence at Press Start, where he impressively placed 3rd over contenders such as Mew2King, Leffen and Hungrybox. Axe was hot going into the summer, and yet again, Axe asserts himself among the elite of the game. Axe repeated top 8 appearances at EVO 2015, placing 7th. At EVO, Axe lost to HugS round 1 of top 16, and then tore through Hax, Lucky and PewPewU to make it to top 8. But outside of the game, Axe had been struggling with sponsors. He was dropped from Mortality in April, then had a brief run with MVG which ended in June. But on July 2nd, 2015, only a few days before EVO, Axe and Westballz were picked up by Tempo Storm. After EVO, Axe did well at Super Smash Con, placing 3rd. Then when fall came round, Axe continued to do well when he placed 5th at Paragon Los Angeles. It seemed as if Axe was going to be great throughout the entirety of 2015, but Paragon LA had misled Axe. Fall was a little rough for Axe. He missed a top 8 appearance at HTC Throwdown, placing 9th, but The Big House 5 was really disappointing for Axe. In his worst performance of the year, Axe placed 17th in the Midwest, losing to Abate and Shroomed. Axe placed 9th at Dreamhack Winter, but managed a strong 7th place at Smash Summit and 3rd at Eclipse, which included a ridiculously close set with Armada (seriously, if you haven’t seen it, go watch it). Axe was extremely active in 2015, showing that he still has the drive to improve and become the best in the world. Axe’s Pikachu play is still as amazing and inspiring as ever, and Axe continues to show everyone that perseverance and dedication can conquer unbelievable odds. Axe is still one of Melee’s finest, and is on a trajectory to improve in 2016.
– Andrew Blessington (@AJawesome07)
Top 10 H2H Stats
Player
2015 Sets
Set Wins
Set Losses
%
vs. Mango
3
1
2
33
vs. Leffen
4
1
3
25
vs. Mew2King
16
4
12
25
vs. PPMD
0
0
0
0
vs. Armada
2
0
2
0
vs. Hungrybox
3
0
3
0
vs. Top 1-6
28
6
22
21
vs. Axe
0
0
0
0
vs. Plup
3
1
2
33
vs. Shroomed
5
2
3
40
vs. Westballz
14
7
7
50
vs. Top 7-10
22
10
12
45
Total
50
16
34
32

Panelists

42 Panelists

(More Panelists were asked from each region, but did not turn in a ballot in a timely manner)

Socal (6)
– HugS
– s2j
– MacD
– MikeHaze
– Kira
– Reno

Norcal (4)
– TarheelJKS
– Laudandus
– Toph
– Shroomed

Midwest (5)
– Juggleguy
– FendrickLamar
– Duck
– Webs
– DarkAtma

New England (3)
– Mafia
– MattDotZeb
– Gtown Tom

Maryland/Virginia (4)
– Nintendude
– Redd
– Chillindude
– Wife

Pacific Northwest (5)
– Silent Wolf
– Bladewise
– Vish
– eBay
– Fat Goku

Arizona (3)
– Axe
– Tai
– DarkDragoon

South (5)
– s0ft
– Flow
– Chi Wong
– Gahtzu
– Hungrybox

Tri-State (2)
– Zhu
– Swedish Delight

Canada (2)
– Idea
– n0ne

Europe (3)
– MikeHaggar (w/ Armada)
– Imperfect
– Mahie

Rest Of The List

12/21/2015 – SSBMRank #100-91
12/22/2015 – SSBMRank #90-81
12/23/2015 – SSBMRank #80-71
12/24/2015 – SSBMRank #70-61
12/25/2015 – SSBMRank #60-51

12/28/2015 – SSBMRank #50-41
12/29/2015 – SSBMRank #40-31
12/30/2015 – SSBMRank #30-26
12/31/2015 – SSBMRank #25-21
1/1/2016 – SSBMRank #20-16

1/4/2016 – SSBMRank #15-11
1/5/2016 – SSBMRank #10, #9, #8, #7
1/6/2016 – SSBMRank #6, #5, #4
1/7/2016 – SSBMRank #3, #2, #1
1/8/2016 – SSBMRank Recap

Other Information

Acknowledgements

SSBMRank is a big undertaking every year. We could have not done this without the help of HTC, who generously helped us out with this year’s production values. Nick, Darkdragoon, was a workhorse with the formatting and the graphics this year as well. We also had countless volunteers that helped out with numerous tasks.

Photographers
Robert Paul (@tempusrob)
Michael Hathaway (@tl_peanuts)
Thomas Tischio
Old Abbot (@oldAbbot)
Itsjustatank (@itsjustatank)
Ludwig Ahgren
/u/BirdUPSSBM
Big Blue eSports (@BigBlueES)
SleepyK (@sleepike)
Alex Baldwin
Meowth

Blurb Writers
Eli Schoop
Bradley Stafford (@bradcobra)
Louis Torracinta
Sawyer Frey (@ssbm_tm)
Derek Zhang (@DZhang4)
Matt Deslatte (@pantsnameguy)
Matthew Reed (@Matthew__Reed)
Jack McDonald (@KezzupReviews)
Luke Geldart (@Haksause)
Andrew Blessington (@AJawesome07)
Nick Gow (@ssbm_Song)
Anthony Bruno (@slime_machine)
Bryan Rapp (@Mithrintia)
David Tyler (@flossy_tas)
Josh Kassell (@roboticphish)
Solomon McMurphy (@HFMSmash)

Fact Finders
Eli Schoop
Bradley Stafford (@bradcobra)
Louis Torracinta
Derek Zhang (@DZhang4)
Matt Deslatte (@pantsnameguy)
Matthew Reed (@Matthew__Reed)
Jack McDonald (@KezzupReviews)
Luke Geldart (@Haksause)
Andrew Blessington (@AJawesome07)
Bryan Rapp (@Mithrintia)
David Tyler (@flossy_tas)
Solomon McMurphy  (@HFMSmash)

Editors
Sheridan Zalewski (@sheridactyls)
Louis Torracinta
Scott Zeng
Andrew Blessington (@AJawesome07)
Nick Gow (@ssbm_Song)
Andrew Nestico (@PracticalTAS)
Anthony Bruno (@slime_machine)
Bryan Rapp (@Mithrintia)
David Tyler (@flossy_tas)
Josh Kassel (@roboticphish)

Picture Finders
Bradley Stafford (@bradcobra)
Louis Torracinta
Scott Zeng
Sawyer Frey
Derek Zhang (@DZhang4)
Matthew Reed (@Matthew__Reed)
Luke Geldart (@Haksause)
Nick Buckman