Hello and welcome to the finale of my series ranking the greatest Project M 3.6 players of all time. Over the last six articles, we’ve discussed the narratives and storylines that defined Project M for the past few years through the eyes of some of the game’s best, but today it’s time to delve into the rivalries created at the game’s peak by looking at the top five. If you’d like to catch up on the rest of my ranking, you can find my previous articles at the links below:
Introduction and #50-41
#40-31
#30-21
#20-16
#15-11
#10-6
Without further ado, allow me to introduce the five greatest Project M 3.6 players of all time.
#5 - Switch
From a fast-rising up and comer to a staple of the Project M meta, Kyle “Switch” Carlon has done it all over the course of 3.6. The New Jersey Wolf put up decent, but not amazing, results at the beginning of our dataset, with a 17th place finish at We Tech Those and 25th at Shots Fired 2, but he would really come alive at Supernova. There, he took out a more established NY/NJ player in StereoKiDD, before being knocked into losers by Flipp and going on an incredible run through MorKs, Phresh, Sosa, and dvd to place 5th at the stacked major. Although he couldn’t quite repeat that success just yet, he would place top 8 at Blacklisted 2 and SuperSmashCon 2016 by the year’s end, and defeat Frozen, Jason Waterfalls, and Silver on his way to a 17th place finish at Olympus. Heading into 2017, Switch’s stock seemed to be rising fast, with his stylish combo game and seemingly-natural grasp of Wolf’s neutral, but nobody was prepared for just how quick his ascension would be.
He started off 2017 by placing 5th at Flex Zone 2, with wins over Twisty, dvd, and Phresh, before claiming the biggest victory of his career so far at No Fun Allowed, where he double-eliminated Texas titans LUCK and Lunchables to take 1st place. From there, he repeated the feat with a winners side victory at Shuffle: Battle of the Midwest, where he defeated Twisty, Anther, and Aidan. After an early loss to Aidan at Philadelphia Championships, Switch would go on an incredible losers run through StereoKiDD, Hyperflame, Gallo, Aidan, and Malachi to face off against Sosa, with whom he would trade sets to place 2nd. By this point, Switch was performing at such a consistently high level that it was considered an upset when he was eliminated at 5th at the Bigger Balc, following a losses to Fuzz and ThundeRzReiGN.
He took first place at Smash ‘n’ Splash 3 with ease, sweeping a field that included Sothe, Phresh, and Bobby Frizz, and bounced back from a pools loss against SoL at Blacklisted 3, which resulted in an early loss to Malachi in final bracket, with yet another impressive losers run. This time, he would take victories over Yung Quaff, Gallo, Phresh, dvd, Kumatora, and Twisty before again being eliminated by ThundeRz at 5th place. Although he received some good-humored mockery for placing 25th at Supernova 2, Switch would return to his usual strong performances at a series of East Coast events to round out his 2017. He would place 1st at SuperSmashCon 2017, CGC Redux, and Downfall 7, with wins over Flipp, Hyperflame, Emukiller, dvd, Kycse, Envy, and more, and end 2017 as the 4th best player in the world.
Coming into 2018, Switch turned up the jets still further, with his biggest victory ever at We Tech Those 3. There, he would defeat Tealz and Aidan before emphatically 3-0ing techboy, who had held a 2-0 record over him in 2017, and knocking out Kycse, dvd, and Malachi on his way to a dominant 1st place finish. He quickly remedied another previously-losing record at No Fun Allowed 2, where he picked up his first win over Fuzz en route to a 2nd place finish at the hands of Lunchables. Switch put up great showings back on the East Coast throughout the spring, with top 8 showings at Resting Stitch Face, Flex Zone 3, Project M Showdown 7, and Revival of Smashing Grounds, with a list of wins that included techboy, Flipp, Darc, Envy, Kycse, Dirtboy, Twisty, Yung Quaff, and more, but his best performances would come out of region.
Following an upset at the hands of Dirtboy, Switch would put up an impressive losers run at Push More Buttons 2018, tearing through Ripple, Sothe, Dirtboy, and Fuzz before placing 2nd to Sosa at the stacked event. At Smash ‘n’ Splash 4, he again proved stoppable only by a fellow titan, picking up wins over techboy, Rongunshu, Sothe, and Hyperflame before falling just short of 1st place after 9 games against Lunchables in a pair of fast-paced Grand Finals sets. He soon found another first place, however, after defeating BaconPancakes, Flipp, and Kycse to take home Smashadelphia 2018 from winners side. After picking up wins over Blank and Twisty at Retro Rumble, Switch displayed dominance at Blacklisted 4, ending his year with victories over Cala, Pikmon, dvd, techboy, and Filthy Casual to solidify his place as #2 on PMRank 2018. Switch rounded out his 3.6 career with a quiet first half of 2019, putting up a repeat 2nd place showing at No Fun Allowed 3 which featured wins over Fuzz and Dirtboy. At Smash ‘n’ Splash 5, he defeated Noghrilla and The Doctor to secure his place in top 8, but was eliminated at 5th by Pikmon and Malachi, a solid but overall underwhelming showing given his PMRank placement.
From a fan favorite with a crazy combo game in 2016 to a dominant force across the United States in 2018, being a Switch fan has been a wild ride. He’s proved capable of taking out nearly any player in the world, (only ThundeRz has eluded a loss to the New Jersey native over the past four years), and found his way to victory at numerous stacked majors in the process. Furthermore, Switch has for years served as a gatekeeper for any player seeking to enter major top 8s and beyond, with dominant records against anyone ranked below him despite being one of the most active top players in the world. He consistently pushed the 4 players ranked above him to their limits, including taking sets and even tournaments over them, and there can be no doubt that Switch is not only the greatest Wolf of all time, but one of the greatest Project M players of all time.
#4 - Lunchables
One of the most iconic names in Project M, Zachary “Lunchables” Sain proved time and again throughout 3.6 that he was one of the best players in the world. Although the Roy and Toon Link prodigy had a rough start to 3.6, DQing out of losers at Paragon Los Angeles after being defeated by Mr Lz in winners, he would set the stage for a new era of Project M legends with his first place victory at Super Bit Wars 4. There, after defeating LUCK, Lunchables would defeat Mew2King’s assorted roster of characters in dominant fashion, ending Grand Finals with a brutal 3-0 victory. At Big Balc, Lunchables defeated Hero of Time and StereoKiDD in winners, and after 3-0ing ThundeRz in losers, he would bring out his Marth to take Junebug to a close game 5 before being eliminated at 4th.
He would employ all three of his characters at Smash ‘n’ Splash 2, where he made his way through a turbulent winners bracket with wins over Aki, Sothe, Dirtboy, and Marshall to earn a spot in the winners side of Grand Finals, and eventually place 2nd after a game 10 set against Mr Lz. He performed even better at Low Tier City 4, with wins over first Machiavelli and then Mr Lz to earn a place in Winners Finals. After being sent to losers by ThundeRz, he would eliminate Junebug from the tournament and reset the bracket against ThundeRz with Toon Link before eventually being eliminated himself at 2nd. After a frustrating couple of majors where he had victory snatched away, Lunchables found his biggest success since Super Bit Wars at ARLO 3, another Midwest regional. There, he would eliminate Twisty, Junebug, and take two sets from rising star Malachi to win the bracket without dropping a set.
At Olympus, Lunchables displayed dominance against the field, defeating Fuzz, BaconPancakes, and Jose V before facing off against Sosa. His patient Toon Link methodically dismantled the SoCal Wario player, but once again proved not enough to overcome ThundeRz in Winners Finals. A last-minute switch to Marth seemed promising, allowing him to take a game, but ultimately couldn’t halt the NorCal titan’s momentum. After swiftly 3-0ing Gallo, Lunchables was back, and ready to show what his Marth could do. He dominated ThundeRz in the first set, nearly four stocking him game one, and even forcing a switch to Captain Falcon in game three, but ThundeRz quickly adapted back. His brutal punish game and methodical platform play allowed him to regain his momentum from Winners Finals, and once again Lunchables found himself eliminated at 2nd.
After Olympus, Lunchables made the decision to step way from Project M, and was rarely seen at events in 2017. He defeated Fuzz and traded sets with Switch to place 2nd at No Fun Allowed, and reached 7th place at Smash ‘n’ Splash 3 while playing secondaries, but was clearly not focused on the game in the same way. 2018, however, would be a return to form for the Dallas legend, starting with a win on his home turf. At No Fun Allowed 2, he displayed dominance over players that had challenged him the year before, taking the tournament from winners over now-established top 10 threats Fuzz and Switch. At Don’t Sleep! 2, Lunchables put up another incredible showing, defeating Sosa in a tense game 5 set and taking Malachi to game 5 as well before eventually placing 3rd. At Smash ‘n’ Splash 4, Lunchables employed both Marth and Roy to great effect, claiming 3-0 victories over both Rongunshu and Switch, reverse 3-0ing Sothe, and defeating Hyperflame to earn his place in Grand Finals. After 9 grueling games against Switch, Lunchables finally walked away the victor of a Project M major. Although he mostly returned to inactivity after SnS 4, Lunchables placed 9th at Low Tier City 6 after playing his secondary Sonic against Flipp in winners, and DQing out of losers, and was ranked 3rd on PMRank 2018 thanks to his phenomenal first half of the year. In 2019, he continued to prove that he could hang with the best players in the world by winning No Fun Allowed 3 over Switch and Fuzz in a repeat of his 2018 performance, his sole 3.6 appearance for the final year of our dataset.
Despite long periods of inactivity, and relatively few 1st place finishes at major events, Lunchables proved from 2015 through 2019 that he was one of the absolute best players in the world when he was taking the game seriously. His impeccable dash-dancing and stylish combo game with a variety of characters made him a staple of top 8s, and the dominant force at Texas events even when he wasn’t routinely entering majors. Although much of his early legacy was defined by frustrating 2nd place finishes, Lunchables proved capable of challenging every single player in the world, and returned with a newly lit spark in 2018 to earn the major title that he had sought for so long. Despite his sparse data and lack of major wins relative to the players ranked above him, Lunchables consistently stood out as a threat to even the best players in the world no matter what year it was, and defined the meta for each of his three mains for years to come.
#3 - Malachi
An enigmatic online persona once touted as the disciple of New York’s legendary Jaden, Malachi “Malachi” Covington quickly stepped into the role of the East Coast’s #1 player, and never looked back. The Sheik and Peach main placed 13th at We Tech Those, at a time when he was still 4th on the stacked NY/NJ PR, and quickly overtook dvd, Frozen, and Jaden to claim the region’s top spot for himself. Six months later, at the region’s next major, Malachi stepped up to defend that title at Supernova. There, he would defeat not only Ripple, but Junebug in winners, a shocking upset to those not familiar with the Northeast scene, before ending impressive losers runs by both Switch and Hyperflame to end his own bracket run at 3rd place. Malachi dropped to losers extremely early at Blacklisted 2, as a result of a loss to a then relatively unestablished Kycse, before going on one of the most dominant losers runs in Project M history. He tore through a litany of top 30 players, including Phresh, Frozen, BaconPancakes, Envy, Darc, and Gallo, before dismantling dvd in a brutal 6-0 victory to claim the first major victory of his career.
His precise movement and oppressive tech chases proved effective out of region as well, as he picked up wins over Oracle, Hyperflame, and Junebug to place 2nd at ARLO 3. Heading into Olympus, Malachi was making his case for the title of new best player on the East Coast, even beyond Junebug’s legendary talent. At the year’s finale event, he would place 5th, tying with Junebug, after taking wins over Professor Pro, Jaden, Aero, and Jason Waterfalls, but falling short against SoCal titans Sosa and Jose V. Heading into 2017, Malachi was determined to prove he could do even better, and it showed. He traded sets with Flipp and dominated LUCK, Phresh, Switch, Hyperflame, and Sosa to take first place at Flex Zone 2, before winning the stacked regional Downfall 6 from winners shortly after. He placed 3rd at Philadelphia Championships to Sosa and Switch, but quickly bounced back by defeating the up-and-coming techboy twice at Bounty Hunters for another regional first place.
After having established himself as one of the best players in the world, it was a shock for all when Malachi lost a set in pools to Chevy at the Bigger Balc, setting up a historic showdown against ThundeRzReiGN in just winners round 2 of top 64. In one of the greatest sets of all time, Malachi’s Sheik overcame ThundeRz in a roller coaster of a game 5 set, marking his first victory against the West Coast titan. He would be upset by Anther shortly after, and placed 7th after a loss to Sosa in losers, but the point had been made. Malachi could hang with the best player in the world, no question. He would defeat ThundeRz twice more at Blacklisted 3, once with Sheik and once with Peach, along with Switch, Twisty, and Fearless, to place 2nd at the New England major. He displayed dominance at Low Tier City 5, making his way to the winners side of Grand Finals over Fearless, dvd, Phresh, and Twisty, and after dropping his first ever set to ThundeRz, secured the second set of Grand Finals in a convincing 3-0. With another regional win under his belt at Immunity 2, where he swept Switch and dvd, Malachi had an extremely strong case as the best player in the world in late 2017.
The final showdown of the year would come at Fair and Balanced, a NorCal regional where the top 3 contenders for best in the world: Malachi, Sosa, and ThundeRz, would effectively duke it out for that year’s title. As the 1st seed, Malachi swept to Winners Finals with ease, taking out Pikmon and Boringman along the way. After going up 2-0 against ThundeRz with Peach, he found himself facing off against the hometown hero’s Captain Falcon, which applied a flurry of quick combos and deadly knees to claim a reverse 3-0 victory. After dropping his first game with Peach against Sosa in Losers Finals, Malachi switched to Sheik and applied his incredible game awareness and movement to swat his rival’s mobile Wario out of sky time and again. Three games later, it was time for the rematch against ThundeRz. There was no Peach in sight, as Malachi tech-chased and edgeguarded ThundeRz to death off of the tiniest of openings, achieving a brutal 3-0 victory as he reminded the NorCal crowd why he held such a dominant record over their hero. In the second set, however, ThundeRz came alive. Although Malachi held his own, the momentum of the set began to slip from his grasp, and ThundeRz clawed out first one game, then another, and ended the set with a clean 3-0. Losing this tournament would ultimately play a big role in Malachi being ranked 2nd on PMRank 2017, by the closest margin that any PMRank has ever had between #1 and #2.
With ThundeRz planning to take a step back from competing in 2018, the door seemed wide open for Malachi to take the crown for himself. He defeated a litany of top players including techboy, dvd, Sothe, Phresh, Twisty, and Aidan at We Tech Those 3 to place 2nd at We Tech Those 3, behind Switch. He performed well at Don’t Sleep! 2 as well, with wins over Fuzz and the newly-returned Lunchables to earn his spot in the winners side of Grand Finals, before falling victim to a dominant losers run from Sosa. He would stifle a similar losers run, however, on his home turf. At Resting Stitch Face, Malachi defeated Envy, Switch, and dvd to secure a place on the winners side of Grands yet again, before completely shutting down Sosa’s Wario in a dominant set.
Just a week later, Malachi would place 5th at Flex Zone 3, after a loss to Fuzz in winners and being eliminated by Kycse, a longstanding demon for the New Yorker. At the next major, Malachi would be sent to losers early by Bobby Frizz, a longtime threat in both Project M and Melee, and, after taking out Jason Waterfalls and Cala in losers, be eliminated by techboy at 9th, his first time ever dropping a set to the Icies prodigy. He would once again fall victim to a Melee matchup against lloD, placing 4th at Smashadelphia 2018 after another loss to Kycse and then facing off against the multi-game Peach legend in losers. Even worse, Malachi would find himself the victim of two huge upsets at Even Bigger Balc, placing 33rd at the biggest event of all time after losses to ilovebagelz and Reslived. To say that for one of the top players in the world to fail to make top 8 at the year’s two biggest events was shocking would be an understatement, and his dropping results led some in the scene to question whether we might be witnessing the end of Malachi’s reign.
However, once again the New York titan would find his footing. At Low Tier City 6, he seemed fully back in form as he picked up wins over Flipp, The Doctor, and BaconPancakes on his way to Grand Finals, even taking Sosa to game 5 in both of their sets. Although he walked away with 2nd place, Low Tier City 6 served as a reminder of Malachi’s resilience as a top player. He didn’t enter another Project M major for nearly a year after Low Tier City, which, combined with his relatively inconsistent summer results, led to a placing of 5th on PMRank 2018, but he returned to put on an absolute clinic at his final event in our dataset. At Smash ‘n’ Splash 5, he swept through Captain Birdman, Cala, and Sothe to face off against Switch in top 8. There, the time-tested Peach-Wolf matchup once again fell in Malachi’s favor after 5 close games, allowing Malachi the chance to face off against techboy in Winners Finals. Unlike their last set at Smash ‘n’ Splash 4, this one not only went Malachi’s way, it wasn’t even close. Malachi 3-0d techboy in dominant fashion, securing his place in Grand Finals at the biggest event of 2019. Their rematch in Grands was closer. techboy brought a whirlwind of momentum into their first set after 3-0ing ThundeRzReiGN in Losers Finals, and would reset the in a climactic game 5, pushing Malachi to his limits. Their third set would be even more explosive, momentum and stocks trading quickly throughout and between games until, with one last textbook edgeguard on techboy, Malachi found himself the Smash ‘n’ Splash 5 champion.
Malachi is the first of the three players that truly define Project M for me. His ability to take two characters with over a decade of meta development from their Melee counterparts and push them both still further, applying Project M tech and incredible precision to new matchups and challenges is a beautiful sight to see. With major victories at Blacklisted 2, Flex Zone 2, Low Tier City 5, and Smash ‘n’ Splash 5, Malachi proved himself the best in the world not once or twice, but with consistency. Although he ultimately comes in 3rd on this list, Malachi’s contributions to the metagame and story of Project M 3.6 are as impressive as the two players ranked above him. From his incredible peaks to valleys that served to highlight his resilience time and again, the East Coast’s best player was and is one of the greatest Project M players of all time. With his well-deserved #1 placement on PMRank 2019, which included Project M 3.6 and Project Plus, Malachi is continuing to make his case for the ultimate title of the greatest player of all time.
#2 - Sosa
Coming in at #2, SoCal’s very own Jonathan “Sosa” Sosa was a national threat from the start of 3.6, and his skill only grew as time went on. He placed 17th at Paragon Los Angeles, with a win over fellow Wario player Strong Badam, and respectable losses to Bladewise and Lucky, at the time still the #1 player in SoCal. By January 2016, Sosa had taken that title for himself, and it showed at FinalBOSS. He defended California against Chevy, Hero of Time, and StereoKiDD for the first major top 8 of his career, ending at 4th after a close set against iPunchKidsz in losers. At Supernova, he would again perform respectably, sending Emukiller and Hyperflame to losers before being sent to losers by yet another SoCal rival in Venom, and being eliminated at 9th. The trend would continue at Big Balc, where Sosa defeated LUCK, Machiavelli, and StereoKiDD before being eliminated at 7th by his own training partner in Jose V, despite his dominant record on the aggressive Ness main at locals.
While Sosa’s results were slowly improving from Paragon onwards, Big Balc would mark a dramatic shift in Sosa’s results. Not only would that be one of the last times that he ever lost to a SoCal player at a major, he would place above 7th all but once at every other major in his career. He won Push More Buttons from winners over Sothe, iPunchKidsz, and Hyperflame, before picking up the biggest major win of his career thus far at EVO 2016. There, he barely squeaked out a game 5 victory against Hungrybox, before defeating Jose V in a dominant 3-0 and walling out lloD in Winners Finals to secure his place in the winners side of Grand Finals. When Junebug came up from losers to face him in Grands, Sosa had to take his time to overcome the momentum carried by the MD/VA titan. Their first set was a 3-0 sweep, but Sosa found his footing as the set went on, executing brutal combos and edgeguards to build and maintain leads in each game, and completed a 3-0 of his own in their second set to win the tournament. He carried that momentum into a dominant performance at BroCal’s Gym: Leg Day the very next weekend, where he defeated not only Jose V but ThundeRzReiGN as well, in two sets, to claim 1st place from winners side. Two weeks later, he would come out victorious against ThundeRz at Clutch City Clash as well, claiming his fourth major tournament win a row.
Three months later, he would defeat ThundeRz again at Salty Juan’s 3 to claim his spot in Grand Finals, but the NorCal titan picked up the pace in their rematch, closing out their first set 3-2 to reset the bracket, and ending the tournament with a 3-1 victory over Sosa. Heading into Olympus, Sosa was the #1 seed, with a strong case for the best player in the world if he could win the 2016 circuit finale. There, however, he found himself eliminated at 4th after taking out a variety of East Coast heavy hitters that included Malachi, Gallo (who would win their runback in losers), dvd, and Zhime. To end 2016, Sosa, ThundeRz, and Mr Lz all attended Rewired in Arizona, where Sosa would have one last chance to face off against his competition. After an early loss to Aion in winners, Sosa would tear through Strong Badam, Silly Kyle, Boringman, Jose V, and Mr Lz before being totally shut down by ThundeRz in grands, ending his run at 2nd; not quite enough to secure the #1 spot in the world, but certainly a solid showing to round out his breakout year.
Sosa started off his 2017 strong, winning BroCal’s Gym: Bulking Season over Aero, Jose V, and LoyaL, and placing 2nd at Flex Zone 2 after wins over Strong Badam, Anther, Hyperflame, and Flipp, before being double-eliminated by a red-hot Malachi in Grand Finals. He took revenge on Malachi at Philadelphia Championships, defeating the New York titan in Winners Finals before trading sets with Switch in grands to win the tournament. He placed 4th at Bigger Balc, taking out BaconPancakes, Jfyst, Emukiller, Malachi, and Anther along the way, with losses to the newly-ascendant Fuzz and ThundeRz. His worst showing of the year would come at Low Tier City 5, where he dropped sets to Phresh and dvd for a 7th place finish, but Sosa’s luck would soon turn once again. He placed 2nd at Salty Juan’s 4, defeating Sothe, Flipp, and ThundeRz, and taking his first set from Fuzz in a 3-0 bracket reset before being eliminated at 2nd. He took revenge on the Texas Mewtwo on his home turf at Clutch City Clash 2, where he double-eliminated Fuzz and knocked ThundeRz into losers before claiming first place. Heading into Fair and Balanced, Sosa once again had a case for the #1 player in the world, with even at worst records against his top-tier competitors. There, however, he once again found himself disappointed in his quest for #1. Sosa placed 3rd to Malachi and ThundeRz, reflecting his eventual placement of 3rd on PMRank 2017.
In 2018, however, Sosa showed no sign of the bad losses and inconsistent records that held him back in the past two years. He dominated Last Balc over SoCal’s elite, and immediately picked up great wins over the world’s best at Don’t Sleep! 2. After being sent to losers by the recently-returned Lunchables, Sosa proceeded to go on an absolute rampage. He defeated LUCK and Fuzz, 3-0d Lunchables in their runback, and reset Grand Finals against Malachi with another dominant 3-0 before eking out a tense game 5 set to win the tournament. At his worst event of the year, Sosa placed 2nd at Resting Stitch Face after trading sets with dvd and defeating Envy and Switch, dropping his only set of the year to Malachi in Grand Finals. That’s right, this was his worst event of 2018. He destroyed his competition at Flex Zone 3, defeating dvd once again before double-eliminating Fuzz to take 1st place. He repeated the feat a month later at Push More Buttons 2018, cruising to another first place finish over Drugfreechu, Sothe, Fuzz, and Switch.
At Even Bigger Balc, Sosa seemed the clear favorite to take the event. He defeated The Doctor, lloD, and BaconPancakes to face off against ThundeRz in Winners Finals, and came out on top after a game 5 set. In their rematch, however, ThundeRz brought the same losers’ run momentum that had fueled him so many times before, and a 3-2 victory in Winners Finals became a 2-3 loss in Grand Finals, and then a 0-3 sweep in the bracket reset, and Sosa found himself out at 2nd at the biggest Project M event of all time. Fortunately, this is not where his story stops. Sosa attended one more event in 2018 before retiring from competition, which would be Low Tier City 6. There, he swept to Winners Finals without dropping a game, defeating Pikmon, Yung Quaff, and Captain Birdman, before facing off against his East Coast rival Malachi. One last time, the two played out ten games of Wario vs Sheik, with Sosa coming out on top in both of their sets to claim his first and only Low Tier City title, and, at long last, the crown of #1 in the world.
In looking back at Sosa’s career, what stands out to me the most is the fact that there were points in 2016, 2017, and 2018 where he was arguably the #1 player in the world, not just for one day but for a significant period of time. He performed well at every major tournament after Paragon Los Angeles, despite being incredibly active. Furthermore, in addition to his truly dominant 2018, if he had taken first place at Olympus or Fair and Balanced I truly believe that he would have been #1 on PMRank 2016 or 2017 as well. Sosa’s legacy is that of a player who defined the Project M metagame scene through sheer skill and force of will, overcoming every player in his path even when they previously seemed to have his number. From two years of pushing the world’s best players to their limits to claiming that title for himself in the most uncontested year of dominance that Project M 3.6 has ever seen, Sosa stands out from a crowd of incredible players as one of the greatest to ever play the game.
#1 - ThundeRzReiGN
49 players later, it all leads up to this. Xayya “ThundeRzReiGN” Thammavongsa is the greatest Project M 3.6 player of all time. From humble beginnings, the NorCal titan once seen as representing a “free” region placed 17th at Paragon Los Angeles with wins over Ripple and Red Ranger, a solid showing, but certainly not an indicator of what was to come in 2016. ThundeRz opened the new year with a bang at FinalBOSS, not only defeating Strong Badam, iPunchKidsz, and Sosa, but taking Junebug to game 5 in two explosive sets. His patient neutral and brutal combo game, culiminating in a near 4 stock on Junebug’s Ganon, put the NorCal crowd on their feet and quickly garnered attention for this new challenger to the best player in the world.
While ThundeRz would put up mediocre performances at his first few out-of-state events, 7th at Shuffle VIII and 25th at Supernova (albeit while dealing with a heart condition the same weekend), it didn’t take long for him to match his FinalBOSS run on an even bigger stage. At Big Balc, ThundeRz placed 5th, defeating Hero of Time and iPunchKidsz, and notoriously 4 stocking Oracle, before being eliminated by Lunchables in a methodically slow-paced set where ThundeRz’ red Donkey Kong seemed unable to break through the wall of projectiles put out by Lunchables at all times. At Smash ‘n’ Splash 2, ThundeRz was DQ’d into losers at the start of top 96, before winning 9 straight sets, including wins over Aki, Sothe, Ripple, and Midwest hidden bosses Ellis and eyeheartlovetap to place 4th. At his next major, Low Tier CIty 4, no losers run would be needed. ThundeRz defeated Blue in winners, before facing off against Junebug for the first time since FinalBOSS, and claimed victory in a 3-1 set where he displayed not only the brutal punish game that has become his trademark, but a more measured neutral game that helped him to navigate between Junebug’s fast-paced item tosses. That same approach proved useful in Winners Finals as well, as he claimed victory over Lunchables in the same matchup that had seemed so hopeless just a few weeks before. In Grand Finals, Lunchables fought back with a vengeance, resetting the bracket but ultimately falling short in game 5 of the second set, and ThundeRz earned his first major championship at Low Tier City 4.
It wasn’t all smooth sailing from then on, though. ThundeRz would lose his next set against Junebug at EVO 2016, before being eliminated by Hyperflame at 7th, and he would be eliminated at 2nd by Sosa at both BroCal’s Gym: Bulking Season and Clutch City Clash. It was beginning to seem as if people were catching up. At Salty Juan’s 3, Sosa defeated ThundeRz in their third Winners Finals in a row, but in grands the narrative would begin to change. In a last stock scramble on game 5, ThundeRz reset the bracket against Sosa, and claimed victory over his SoCal rival in a clean 3-0 to close out the tournament and regain his footing heading into the 2016 circuit finale at Olympus. At the most important event of the year, ThundeRz faced off against a gauntlet of new blood and old-school titans, defeating Filthy Casual, Switch, Darc, and Professor Pro, before facing off against Junebug in top 8, and starting their set with a 4 stock, which quickly turned into a 3-0. In Winners Finals, he easily closed out game one against Lunchables’ Toon Link, before finding himself facing off against his Texas rival’s Marth. Although he would drop one game, this counterpick seemed not to pose a huge issue, and ThundeRz advanced to Grand Finals after a 3-1 victory. Grands would be a different story. Lunchables came out of the gate with a vengeance, nearly 4 stocking ThundeRz in the first game of the set, dominating him for another game, and destroying his Captain Falcon to reset the bracket 3-0. Lunchables seemed unstoppable, with his impeccable movement and juggles that racked up huge amounts of damage, but ThundeRz adapted. He began to play more to the platforms, and picked up on Lunchables’ defensive habits to maximize his already-brutal punishes, and just as at Low Tier City 4, his momentum grew as the second set went on. By the end of game 4, it was ThundeRz who felt unstoppable, three-stocking Lunchables with a now-infamous death combo to claim the Olympus title. A few weeks later, ThundeRz picked up his third national championship in a row, defeating Jose V, Mr Lz, and Sosa to win Rewired 2016 without dropping a set. Once an obscure Donkey Kong main who shocked the world by challenging Junebug at the beginning of the year, ThundeRzReiGN was unanimously ranked #1 on PMRank 2016.
At the start of 2017, ThundeRz seemed similarly dominant. He won regionals all over North America without dropping a set to the likes of Flipp, Jose V, and Kycse, including winning Frozen Phoenix 2017 over Dirtboy and Morsecode762 without even losing a single game. However, at Bigger Balc, he found himself pushed to his limits. Following Malachi’s early loss in pools to Chevy, the New York titan was reseeded in top 64 to face ThundeRz in just winners round 2. In an earth-shattering set filled with explosive combos, immediate adaptations and counter-adaptations, and some of the highest level Project M to ever take place, Malachi claimed a game 5 victory, putting ThundeRz into losers at one of the most stacked tournaments of all time. With a monstrous task ahead of him, ThundeRz set to work, beginning what would become the greatest losers run in Project M history. He tore through Twisty, Jfyst, Boringman, Hyperflame, Yung Quaff, Switch, Sosa, and Fuzz to earn his place in Grand Finals, before absolutely dismantling Flipp in two sets to claim first place. The craziest part? In those ten sets against some of the best players in the world, he lost a total of six games.
The summer of 2017 would mostly follow the same patterns set at Bigger Balc, he swept events without Malachi in attendance, dominating players like Flipp, dvd, Junebug, and Sothe, even pulling out characters like Fox, Ganondorf, and Sopo in Grand Finals of various events. However, he found himself eliminated at third by the New York titan at Blacklisted 3, and, despite taking his first set in their previously-lopsided rivalry at Low Tier City 5, was eliminated at second there too by Malachi. In addition, a new set of challengers was beginning to catch up. ThundeRz was double-eliminated by rising star techboy at Showdown: Battle Royale, and would not only drop his first ever set to Fuzz at Salty Juan’s 4, but be eliminated at third by Sosa, his first loss to the SoCal Wario since Salty Juan’s 3 the year before. Fuzz and Sosa would both defeat him again two weeks later, eliminating him again at third at Clutch City Clash 2. Heading into Fair and Balanced, the last big event of the year, it seemed far from clear who was the best player in the world, only that ThundeRz no longer stood above the field as the clear #1. With his chance to snatch the highest placing on PMRank for the second year in a row on the line, ThundeRz stepped it up on his home turf. He defeated Sosa in a back-and-forth game 5 set, evading some of the tricky edgeguards and juggles that had ended his stocks in their previous sets, and faced off against Malachi in Winners Finals. After losing game 1 with Donkey Kong, and game 2 with an attempted Ganondorf counterpick, ThundeRz brought out his Captain Falcon, which had nearly proven successful at making a reverse 3-0 comeback against Malachi’s Peach at Blacklisted 3. Facing the same deficit, this time ThundeRz completed the task with gusto. He closed out early stocks with brutally effective reads time after time, and with his hometown crowd on their feet he earned his place in the winners side of Grand Finals. Just as at Olympus however, ThundeRz found himself on the ropes after his challenger, this time Malachi, defeated him in a dominant 3-0 to reset the bracket. And just as at Olympus, ThundeRz adapted back. He returned to his classic Donkey Kong to apply a more consistent punish game against Malachi’s Sheik, playing around needle edgeguards and lightning-fast shield drops with tricky movement of his own, and sealed his victory, and #1 place on PMRank 2017, with a 3-0 victory to end his year with a first place finish at Fair and Balanced.
However, competing was taking a toll on ThundeRz. Two years as the greatest Project M player in the world had put pressure on him to always perform well, even when he wanted to play secondaries and have fun. He decided to retire from competing seriously after Fair and Balanced, and his only major appearances in early 2018 featured his secondaries, including Captain Falcon, Marth, and Ganondorf, at various regionals. However, with the biggest Project M tournament of all time coming up, ThundeRz decided to enter Even Bigger Balc. He made it out of pools with Captain Falcon, and continued to play his Falcon against Chevy in top 64, until Chevy brought their set to a game 5. Up against the ropes, ThundeRz decided that he did, in fact, want to win, and played Donkey Kong to close out their set. He did the same against Envy, and then Sothe, only playing Donkey Kong after his opponents had won two games and placed him at the verge of defeat. In Winners Semis, ThundeRz defeated Blank 3-1 with Captain Falcon, before facing off against Sosa, who had become the clear #1 in the world in his absence. Despite taking game one with his Falcon, ThundeRz switched to Donkey Kong after only one game loss this time, but even his main was unable to adapt quickly enough to Sosa’s textbook edgeguards and creative platform pressure. In Losers Finals, there would be no Captain Falcon in sight as ThundeRz swept Blank in a 3-0, eager for his rematch with Sosa. After four hard-fought games traded between the two greatest players of all time, it seemed as if suddenly Sosa had begun to run out of steam, or that ThundeRz had simply picked up the momentum in yet another great, if short, losers run. Game five would be a three stock for ThundeRz, and he would only lose four stocks across three games in the bracket reset, before becoming the champion of the biggest Project M tournament in history.
ThundeRz mostly returned to inactivity after Even Bigger Balc, but dominated Fair and Balanced 2 with his secondaries, defeating Aki, Boringman, and The Doctor to claim 1st place, and decided shortly after that 2019 would mark his return to serious competition. At Smash ‘n’ Splash 5, ThundeRz placed a respectable 3rd, with wins over Junebug, Aki, Pikmon, and Ivayne, but two losses to techboy, one of the only players in 3.6 history with an undefeated record over ThundeRz. He has continued to compete, and put up amazing results, in the era of Project +, but for the purposes of this ranking his results in 3.6 speak for themselves.
Although he was often challenged at various points in his career, first by Junebug, then Lunchables, then Sosa and Malachi, ThundeRz always proved capable of digging deep and pulling out the win when it mattered most. He was able to secure critical 1st place finishes at exactly the moment when it seemed as if the field was catching up to him time and again, from Olympus and Salty Juan’s 3 in 2016 to Fair and Balanced in 2017 and Even Bigger Balc in 2018, securing his place at the top of PMRank for two years in a row, and an unspoken acceptance that he was arguably still the best player in the world in 2018, despite not being ranked as such. At his best, ThundeRz didn’t just win tournaments, he dominated them. He had the unique ability to make the best players in the world look helpless when he found his rhythm, dancing around them with pristine movement until he found an opening that would inevitably become a stock loss no matter how strong his opponents’ defensive game. It’s been an honor to watch ThundeRzReign compete and grow as a player over the last few years, and to declare him the greatest Project M 3.6 player of all time.
Well, that’s all for my series on the greatest Project M 3.6 players of all time. I hope that this series was an entertaining way to learn more about the storylines that have defined our scene since 2015, and the players who created them. For those who don’t closely follow our scene, Project M has still been doing great in the year since Smash ‘n’ Splash 5, with many of the players described on this list continuing to put up great results and generate interesting narratives. The new release of Project Plus has led to renewed interest in the game from Melee and Ultimate players alike, and I sincerely hope that this series has helped some of those players to understand the history that has led to where we are today. 2020 will be amazing year for Project M, and we would love to have you be a part of that success as our community continues to thrive.
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