ssbmrank2015_720

 

Welcome to another yearly edition of SSBMRank! This year we are “powered by HTC”. They have provided us several resources to make this year’s production values better than ever. We also couldn’t have done this without the countless volunteers that helped with voting, blurb-writing, fact-finding, taking pictures, and editing.

To recap a few things, this is not a solo project. We have asked panelists from all across the world to rate players. Voters rated players based on the following criterion:

Given the quality and quantity of work in 2015, if everyone entered 100 tournaments, who on average would place the best?

The players were sorted based on average rating with the lowest and highest ratings taken out to reduce variance.

Without further ado, let’s get to the rankings!


Photo Credits to Old Abbot (@OldAbbot)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
100
4.754
79
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
65
N/A
N/A
49
N/A
Summary
Noted doubles specialist Landon ‘DoH’ Cox was more active on Twitter than he was in singles this year. Yet, the D.C. resident showed that his rushdown Peach style is far from obsolete with a top 64 placing at The Big House 5.
– Eli Schoop

 


Photo Credits to Big Blue eSports (@BigBlueES)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
99
4.770
N/A
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
209
N/A
N/A
65
N/A
Summary
Former Pikachu main turned Captain Falcon, famous for making MattDotZeb ragequit at Revival of Melee 7, Alex “Captain Smuckers” Cottrell has been on the rise in the NYC scene for a while now, currently ranked #6 on their PR. He’s defeated many of the region’s greats, such as DJ Nintendo, G$, Slox, Ryobeat, and NY Joey, as well as other threats such as DoH, Crush, and Mafia. He capped off his year with an impressive 65th place at TBH5.
– Jack “Kezzup” McDonald (@KezzupReviews)

 


Photo Credits to itsjustatank (@itsjustatank)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
98
4.777
94
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
49
33
97
N/A
N/A
Summary
Jason “Bizzarro Flame” Yoon is widely considered to be one of the best Ganondorf players in the world, second only to Kage the Warrior. He has a dedicated fanbase that’s always waiting for his next stylish Gfycat. 2015 was a big year for him: he eviscerated Eikelmann in a Salty Suite match at Apex 2015, placed 25th and took a game off Armada at I’m Not Yelling!, and turned his notoriety into a sponsorship with Team YP.
– Solomon McMurphy (@HFMSmash)

 


Photo Credits to Robert Paul (@tempusrob)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
97
4.793
91
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
65
17
65
49
N/A
Summary
Mostly known as a match commentator and co-host of the Toph and Scar Show, Toph is also a proficent Fox main currently ranked 8th in NorCal. At CEO, he defeated Blea Gelo and Eikelmann en route to an impressive 17th place finish. He also defeated Kira in pools at The Big House 5, where he placed 49th.
– Solomon McMurphy (@HFMSmash)

 


Photo Credits to Big Blue eSports (@BigBlueES)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
96
4.796
N/A
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
113
N/A
49
N/A
N/A
Summary
Jack ‘Crush’ Hoyt, a New Englander still in high school, is on the MIOMRank Top 100 for the first time after making vast improvements to his smash game in 2015. He’s climbed the local PR, bringing his flashy fox to Boston locals and raking in wins against NE’s best. He also had impressive bracket placements at Super Smash Con and EVO 2015. Even though he’s one of the youngest top players in the scene, don’t let his age fool you — this kid is good.
– Louis Torracinta

 


Photo Credits to OkamiBW

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
95
4.830
57
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
N/A
N/A
33
N/A
N/A
Summary
Rob “OkamiBW” Schueller is a Sheik main from San Diego, California. He didn’t have a very active 2015, but he placed well at the two majors he attended, finishing 17th at Press Start (beating Fiction) and 33rd at EVO 2015 (beating Matt). He has solid fundamentals and a knack for exploiting the best qualities of Sheik as a character. He’s also an important figure in the development of the metagame — for a long time, Tempo | Axe was OkamiBW’s practice partner, and together the two of them popularized shield dropping.
– Andrew Blessington (@AJawesome07)

 


Photo Credits to Old Abbot (@OldAbbot)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
94
4.840
54
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
N/A
N/A
N/A
49
N/A
Summary
Because he didn’t travel much in 2015, many seem to have forgotten about Marth main Imadh “IB” Bedri. He has always been one of Canada’s finest, and he had a solid 2015 to back that up. Though absent from most big events, he did well at large Canadian tournaments, such as McSmashter 4, where he placed 9th and won doubles with [A] | Armada. IB plays a dashdance-heavy game and opts to go for flashy, crowdpleasing combos.
– Andrew Blessington (@AJawesome07)

 


Photo Credits to SleepyK (@sleepike)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
93
4.858
53
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
145
25
186
N/A
N/A
Summary
VS | Porkchops is currently ranked #1 in South Florida. The Falco main put himself on the map last year when he upset aMSa in pools at CEO 2014. This year, after a solid 33rd place finish at Paragon Orlando and a disappointing Apex 2015, Porkchops caught the attention of people once again by placing 9th at the North Carolina regional, Bad Moon Rising. He turned in another solid performance at CEO 2015, placing 25th, and almost pulled another upset at EVO 2015, where he lost a very close set to Ice.
– Andrew Blessington (@AJawesome07)

 


Photo Credits to Old Abbot (@OldAbbot)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
92
4.862
N/A
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
N/A
N/A
186
49
N/A
Summary
Even though Phil “Phil” DeBerry is best known for his “non-eSports” commentary with fellow NorCal resident Homemadewaffles, he has proven himself to be a strong player. In 2015, he had multiple strong placings at national events including 33rd at HTC Throwdown and 49th at both I’m Not Yelling and The Big House 5. In addition to his competitive exploits this year, Phil was able to attend and commentate at Smash Summit through money raised in the event’s donation drive.
– David Tyler(@flossy_tas)

 


Photo Credits to Big Blue eSports (@BigBlueES)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
91
4.906
N/A
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
81
N/A
65
49
N/A
Summary
New England’s best Peach, James ‘Mafia’ Lauerman, has climbed the PR of the often underrated region with consistent wins at a large number of Massachussets locals and NE regionals. Long on the come-up, his precise turnip game, spacing, and tech skill have pushed him to the top of the highly active Boston scene.
– Louis Torracinta

 

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
– Fendrick Lamar
– 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