Photo Credits to Thomas Tischio (@Tischphotos)
Rank
|
Rating
|
SSBMRank 2014
|
||
7
|
9.043
|
16
|
||
Tournament Results
|
||||
49
|
7
|
4
|
13
|
3
|
Other Results
|
||||
5th at Paragon 2015
9th at Paragon LA
25th at HTC Throwdown
4th at Smash Summit
4th at Eclipse
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Summary
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Justin “Plup” McGrath, the fan favorite Samus who had an amazing breakout year in 2014, started off the new year on a low note with a 49th place finish at Apex 2015. However, he only went up from there and has been on a meteoric climb ever since he picked up his now rock-solid Sheik. All within twelve months, he’s defeated four of the six players ranked above him in Mango, PPMD, Hungrybox, and Leffen. Besides the blemishes of HTC Throwdown and Big House 5, where he placed 25th and 13th respectively, his placings in 2015 were fantastic: 2nd at Smash ‘N’ Splash, only losing to Mew2King, 7th at CEO 2015, an amazing 4th at EVO 2015, 4th at the hyper-competitive Smash Summit, and 3rd at Dreamhack Winter. The kind of Sheik he’s showcased in most of his matches is methodical, patient, and precise. Plup always looks for brutal tech chases, which he is a master at stringing out as long as possible. Along with Druggedfox, Plup is responsible for a huge leap in Sheik’s development in 2015 — but it’s his Samus secondary that sets him apart from other Sheik mains. Almost the polar opposite playstyle of his other main, he plays a highly aggressive and very technical Samus. His approaches are still calculated, but he chooses not to abuse Samus’ strong ranged game and instead opts to bully the opponent with precisely spaced tilts and tricky grab setups. Plup is also well known for his efficient and devastating use of Charge Shots to end his opponent’s stocks very quickly. If he can refine his play versus Armada’s Peach, the goofy kid from Apopka, Florida might just be a threat to be one of the best players of 2016. He now stands as one of the few players capable of turning the Top 6 into the Top 7.
– Eli Schoop
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Top 10 H2H Stats
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Player
|
2015 Sets
|
Set Wins
|
Set Losses
|
%
|
vs. Mango
|
5
|
2
|
3
|
40
|
vs. Leffen
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
50
|
vs. Mew2King
|
5
|
1*
|
4
|
20
|
vs. PPMD
|
2
|
1
|
1
|
50
|
vs. Armada
|
2
|
0
|
2
|
0
|
vs. Hungrybox
|
21
|
6
|
15
|
29
|
vs. Top 1-6
|
39
|
12
|
27
|
31
|
vs. Axe
|
3
|
2
|
1
|
67
|
vs. Plup
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
0
|
vs. Shroomed
|
4
|
2
|
2
|
50
|
vs. Westballz
|
7
|
5
|
2
|
71
|
vs. Top 7-10
|
14
|
9
|
5
|
64
|
Total
|
53
|
21
|
32
|
40
|
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
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
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
When did Plup beat M2K? Is that counting CFL Smackdown with the randy dittos?
Plup beated Mew2king? When?
Idk, the only time Plup has beaten M2K was CFL Smackdown and they were sandbagging not using mains and M2K had controller johns. I can’t believe they counted that as a legit win, wtf lol
he beat him in a pichu ditto, which is why there is an asterisk next to the 1
The asterisk wasn’t initially there
Pichu Dittos
Notice the star? It was in pichu dittos
It was at CFL Smackdown. Basically a joke set. They played falcon dittos, samus dittos, and pichu dittos
It was in random dittos, didn’t mean much. Probably why it has an asterisk next to it.
Here’s the video if you want to see it: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7FCw83lvx10
It was a Pichu ditto at one of the CFL events…
it says he lost to mew2king at smash n’ splash, he hasn’t yet beaten him
wait i didnt see the chart what does that asterisk mean
it was a weekly and they were both sandbagging
It was actually a monthly but yes, the set was pretty jank.
It’s because Plup won a joke set when they played some random dittos also there was something about M2k’s controller I don’t remember that well
Forget the M2K stipulation this guy has a lot of promise. Who saw him at dreamhack? If he improves slightly he will be cracking the top 6. I feel mentally Plup might need some work but I only base this off of PPs statement at Smash Summit that he struggled with nervousness. After watching him play throughout the year its been great to see someone besides Lffen thrown into the fray of the best players.
I thought Pluto won three times dream hack Evo and smash summit
Does anyone else think plup looks like the new villain of star wars
4Head
[…] – 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 […]
[…] – 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 […]
Looking at results Westballz should be above Plup
Outplaced him more often (outplaced him 5 times, whereas Plup outplaced him 3 times)
Has a higher average
Has a higher top 8 %age
Has just as high, if not a higher, peak