With the New Year, we bring in 2015’s Top 20. Share your thoughts about today’s 5 with the hashtag #SSBMRank2015.


Photo Credits to Old Abbot (@oldAbbot)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
20
7.849
37
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
Other Results
25
13
9
33
13
2nd at SWEET Prologue
13th at Paragon 2015
13th at I’m Not Yelling!
9th at Sandstorm
9th at Press Start
5th at BAM 7
9th at Super Smash Con
5th at PAX Prime 2015
13th at Paragon LA
13th at HTC  Throwdown
Summary
Hugo “HugS” Gonzalez is one of Melee’s longest standing veterans. The SoCal Samus has revitalized his game and proven his mindgames and patient play can still compete in the modern era. His neutral heavy game can cause his opponents to fall apart once he gets into their heads and starts landing grabs. He finished 6th on the most recent Socal PR and 19th in the MIOM Summer 2015 Rankings after a strong and remarkably consistent run at majors: 9th at MVG Sandstorm, 9th at Press Start, 13th at CEO, and a heartbreaking 9th at Evo where twice, versus PPMD and ChuDat, he was one last hit away from reaching Top 8. During this period, he defeated Leffen (Press Start) and Axe (EVO), and placed 1st at a SoCal monthly, Mayhem, defeating Westballz and Lucky along the way. Other wins at major tournaments include DruggedFox (Paragon LA), Duck (EVO 2015) and Colbol (CEO 2015). In the second half of the year, he has continued to place 13th or better at every major tournament he attends, with the exception of a 33rd finish at The Big House 5. HugS helps lead the charge for top Samuses going into 2016.
– Louis Torracinta

 


Photo Credits to /u/BirdUp_SSBM

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
19
7.994
8
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
33 (D/Q)
N/A
17
N/A
N/A
Other Results
2nd at Super Nebulous 2
4th at Super Nebulous 3
2nd at Get On My Level 2015
Summary
Though he hasn’t been as active this year due to insomnia and hand pains, Aziz “Hax$” Al-Yami is still a dangerous threat to any player. His best result was a 2nd place finish at Get On My Level 2015, where he double eliminated KirbyKaze and had an extremely close set with Hungrybox in Grand Finals. He has also taken sets off players like Professor Pro, Fuzzyness, and Ice at Super Nebulous 2, Wizzrobe at Super Nebulous 3, and aMSa at EVO 2015 to land in 17th place. Hopefully he will have recovered enough to compete more in 2016.
– Solomon McMurphy (@HFMSmash)

 


Photo Credits to Old Abbot (@oldAbbot)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
18
8.185
83
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
N/A
17
9
17
N/A
Other Results
17th at Paragon 2015
17th at Paragon LA
4th at HTC Throwdown
5th at MLG World Finals 2015
1st at Tipped Off 11
Summary
While somewhat unknown for many years, Sami “Druggedfox” Muhana began 2015 quietly as he took 17th at Paragon Orlando and CEO 2015. However, he exploded to the forefront of everyone’s mind after a set with TSM | Leffen at EVO 2015, where his Sheik and Marth took one of the favorites to win the event to his last stock. With his Sheik he demonstrated a remarkably high level of skill in reaction tech-chasing, and with his Marth he performed fantastic chain-grabs on FD that led to people comparing him to Mew2King. Despite his loss in this set he went on to place 9th at the event after defeating S2J and Duck in losers. Some in the community thought that this was a fluke, especially after Paragon LA where he placed 17th after losing to MacD and Hugs. However, at his next tournament, HTC Throwdown, he played very well, placing 4th after defeating Mango, Colbol, and SFAT before losing a nail-biter to Silent Wolf. In October, Druggedfox performed somewhat poorly at The Big House 5 where he lost early to Ginger, a respectable Falco out of Michigan, before ending in 17th after a loss to Plup. Despite this setback, he finished the year strongly at Tipped Off 11 where he tore through losers after a round one loss to Drunk Sloth. In top 64, he defeated the likes of Ice, Gravy, Professor Pro, Javi, n0ne, and Wizzrobe on his way to winning the tournament.
– David Tyler(@flossy_tas)

 


Photo Credits to Thomas Tischio (@Tischphotos)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
17
8.246
19
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
13
N/A
9
9
9
Other Results
4th at BEAST 5
3rd at Super Nebulous 2
7th at Heir II the Throne
3rd at DreamHack London 2015
13th at Tipped Off 11
5th at Eclipse
Summary
The undisputed number three in Europe, Ice is a model of consistency and sits comfortably within the top 20 once again. With wins over Westballz, Colbol, MacD, Fly Amanita, and virtually all of Europe save Leffen and Armada, Ice placed just shy of top 8 at EVO, TBH5, and DreamHack Winter. Ice has focused on Sheik and Marth in the past, but has played almost exclusively Fox in tournament this year (notable exceptions include his “Sheilda” Sheik-Zelda combination vs Hungrybox at Apex, and Heir II the Throne, where an injury apparently prevented him from playing any character but Falcon). Ice has shown that even in 2015 he can definitely hang with the best of the best.
– Matt Deslatte (@pantsnameguy)

 


Photo Credits to Thomas Tischio (@Tischphotos)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
16
8.264
18
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
17
13
17
9
17
Other Results
7th at Sandstorm
2nd at Super Nebulous 3
4th at BAM 7
25th at Paragon LA
17th at HTC Throwdown
9th at Smash Summit
Summary
The man who has commandeered Scar’s title of “The Most Electrifying Man in Melee,” Johnny Kim is undoubtedly the best Captain Falcon main in the game and a player who completely embodies his character. With his aggressive, headstrong style, and approach to the neutral game that no other Falcon has been able to match, the sheer bravado Johnny displays is staggering. He accompanied this type of machismo with another substantial year, winning Mayhem July and Super Smash Sundays 32, not to mention 2nd at Super Nebulous 3 and Smash The Record 2015, and a top 8 finish at MVG Sandstorm. In addition to his high placings at many tournaments, his wins against PPMD, Lucky, SFAT, MacD, Wobbles, and Nintendude show how successful the SoCal resident was over the duration of 2015. Not without his flaws, Kim’s volatile outlook on Melee can lead to underwhelming majors performances, such as Apex 2015, Dreamhack Winter, EVO 2015, and a heartbreaking Big House 5, where his road to top 8 essentially ended with an Invisible Ceiling Glitch trigger against Abate. Regardless, his strong performances proved to legitimize the level of growth he sustained throughout the past year. Being the best at his character makes it difficult to see what he will improve on, but we can certainly expect that Melee It On Me’s newest member will come into 2016 as the strongest he’s ever been – especially since the first major of the year will be in his home state.
– Eli Schoop

 

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