We are at the last day of SSBMRank2015. To celebrate, we have given them their own page to celebrate 2015. Share your thoughts about today with the hashtag #SSBMRank2015.


Photo Credits to Robert Paul (@tempusrob)

Rank
Rating
SSBMRank 2014
3
9.731
6
Tournament Results
Apex2015 ceo2015 evo2015 bh5
3
1
5
N/A
9
Other Results
1st at BEAST 5
3rd at Paragon 2015
3rd at I’m Not Yelling
5th at Sandstorm
9th at Press Start
2nd at BAM 7
1st at FC Smash 15XR: Return
1st at WTFox
1st at Super Smash Con
2nd at PAX Prime 2015
5th at Paragon LA
1st at HTC Throwdown
2nd at Eclipse
Summary
For a moment, 2015 appeared to be William “Leffen” Hjelte’s year. At BEAST 5 he earned his first win over 2014’s number one- and two-ranked players in the world, Mango and Armada respectively. He’s since driven home the message that we should stop calling it an upset when he wins against a god. He defeated Armada again at Paragon Orlando 2015 and Mango again at Apex 2015, where he also beat Mew2King for the first time. With the latter victory, Leffen became the first person in Melee history to beat all five of the storied “Gods” of Melee. However, he also sustained a loss to Plup at Paragon, showing a weakness in the Samus matchup that would haunt him throughout the year.
Shortly after Apex, Leffen became the first Melee played to be sponsored by the respected eSports group Team SoloMid. He was unable to match his explosive start to the year immediately after the signing; he lost to Mango, Armada, Hungrybox, Axe, SFAT, and another Samus in HugS across I’m Not Yelling, MVG Sandstorm, and Press Start. Just as he seemed to be trending downward, Leffen reversed his course in June and suddenly looked untouchable, winning CEO 2015, FC Return, and WTFox over three consecutive weekends without dropping a set. Across these tournaments, he beat Armada four times (including a four-stock at FC Return!), Hungrybox twice, and Mango and Mew2King once each. He seemed to be the favorite going into EVO 2015, but there he ended up losing to Hungrybox and Plup to place fifth.
Since EVO, Leffen showed his strength through incredible performances at Super Smash Con and HTC Throwdown, both of which he won without dropping a set. However, he also had a relatively disappointing performance at Paragon Los Angeles, where he earned 5th place through losses to Mew2King and Hungrybox. Unfortunately, he also encountered a visa issue while traveling to The Big House 5, and has been unable to attend any US tournaments since. With his ability to compete crippled, we’ve only seen Leffen play twice since his win at HTC Throwdown — at Eclipse, he placed second behind Armada with set wins over Plup and Axe, but he finished a disappointing 9th place at Dreamhack Winter after losses to Westballz and Duck, another top Samus.
No one can deny the electricity in the air when Leffen attends a tournament; whether he wins or loses, his confrontational online persona and abrasive attitude have given the community a heel that many love to hate, and his performances always generate buzz from fans and players alike. With his visa issues hopefully resolved, Leffen’s re-entry into the American competitive circuit is sure to spark a fire for 2016, and we’ll be treated to a show as he continues to compete for the title of best in the world.
– Bryan Rapp (@Mithrintia), Josh Kassel (@roboticphish), & Andrew Nestico (@PracticalTAS)
Top 10 H2H Stats
Player
2015 Sets
Set Wins
Set Losses
%
vs. Mango
7
3
4
43
vs. Mew2King
9
5
4
56
vs. PPMD
1
0
1
0
vs. Armada
15
7
8
47
vs. Hungrybox
7
4
3
57
vs. Top 1-6
39
19
20
49
vs. Axe
4
3
1
75
vs. Plup
4
2
2
50
vs. Shroomed
1
1
0
100
vs. Westballz
4
3
1
75
vs. Top 7-10
13
9
4
69
Total
52
28
24
54

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