At long last, the main course! PMRank 2018 begins its top 50 today with ten elite players ranked 50-41.
PMRank is a panel-based Power Ranking of the top 50 Project M players worldwide. Players, commentators, and tournament organizers within the community had the opportunity to apply to be panelists, and we ended up with a little less than 20 panelists by the time of the project's conclusion. Initially, 93 players were qualified to be ranked based on their placings and attendance at major Project M events throughout 2018. Only 50 highly skilled players made the final list.
PMRank staff collected and organized data from dozens of Project M events from the past year, seeking out tournaments with inter-regional competition. Panelists were tasked with reviewing this data and rating each player on the nominee list from 1-10, with the lowest ranking player given a 1 and the highest a 10, scaling it appropriately. For each player, the highest and lowest rating on all panelists’ lists were removed when averaging votes to reduce variance. After an initial ballot, panelists were given time to discuss the aggregated results and move closer to consensus in the case of players with high standard deviations. Then, panelists submitted a second and final ballot.
Please note that the listed set counts do not include sets from locals, with the exception of locals that included significant out-of-region competition.
This project would not have been possible without the dedicated volunteers who helped us engineer spreadsheets, track down tournament data, construct head-to-head charts, create and revise ranking ballots, write and edit player summaries, and gather photographs. A number of photographers have given us permission to use their high-quality photographs of Project M players for the purposes of this project as well.
Plenty of new faces don a PMRank crown today, so without further ado, let's get going!
Score: 3.15
Kicking off our 2018 rankings with a bang (and a virtual explosion of hair), Jake “Nezergy” Maldonaldo makes his PMRank debut after a breakout performance at The Even Bigger Balc this summer. Nezergy utilized some of his signature gatling combo pressure, along with some well-timed Judgement hammers, to defeat Dirtboy, Kumatora, and Dadpool en route to a 17th place finish at the largest event of all time. As one of SoCal’s most active players, Nezergy defended the region at F*** It, One More Balc as well, eliminating Arizona’s highest ranked invader, ilovebagelz, before being knocked out of bracket at the hands of local rival Sneez. In October, Nezergy also traveled to NorCal for Fair and Balanced 2 and over the course of the weekend he took down Punk Panda, Shokio, and Matasd before falling short against Ivayne and Sneez to place 13th.
Written By: Sabre
Score: 3.34
While Washington state has always known about the strength of its local Iron Man champ and Wolf main Punk Panda, it wasn't until this year's Even Bigger Balc that he made his grand entrance. With a monstrous run beginning in Loser's Top 64 after a loss to techboy, Punk Panda went on to a peak 17th place, beating Cloudburst and Loyal before finishing a tight game 5 set with a flashy four-stock against Fearless.
With other solid wins against Bubbles at Fair And Balanced 2 and Sneez at Washington's own regional Nemesis, Punk Panda finished the year proving his strength and bolstering his reputation well beyond that of Washington's greatest Netplayer.
Written By: Tismatic
Score: 3.36
One of SoCal’s most enigmatic players, Khyreen “$wift” Harris boasts both the cockiness to pick random characters while beating notable in-region threats and the will to play hardball when the stakes are high. At The Even Bigger Balc, his patient Lucario took him to 25th place after defeating Dr., Wyld, and Chevy, and in his only foray out of California he eliminated Jose V from losers’ at Super Cyber Zone 2. $wift also placed himself in contention for the title of best Lucario in the world after a brutal 3-0 victory over Rongunshu at Fair and Balanced 2, where he would also defeat Reslived and place 7th. Despite his relatively low tournament attendance, it became clear in 2018 that a serious and focused $wift is not a player you want to sleep on.
Written By: Sabre
Score: 4.01
The one and only smash-famous Devin “Reslived” Gajewski claims the coveted #47 spot on this year’s PMRank. His PK Fire-centric play and devastating combos allowed Reslived to net wins over players such as Hungrybox, Arsenals, and Connor. Reslived started the year out strong at Frozen Phoenix 2018 with wins over Ripple and XYK to net a solid 7th place, and turned up the jets against Rongunshu to beat him at We Tech Those 3. However, his big breakout was at the Even Bigger Balc, where he defeated Sugydye and toppled east coast titan Malachi in a surprise upset for 25th place. Another impressive run came at Low Tier City 6, where he braved the losers’ bracket to defeat Lucky, CP9, and Yung Quaff on his way to 13th place. Hopefully between his commentary and his Mario Tennis career, Reslived can find time to practice his Ness and rise even higher in the rankings in 2019.
Written By: Motobug
Score: 4.03
Coming in hot for the second year in a row, Jared “JJK” Johnston continued to represent Canada with his trademark boisterousness and lack of coaching. The Ontario native found himself with an impressive 3-1 record against Canada’s former #1 player MorKs, defeating him at both Frozen Phoenix 2018 and Oui Monsieur!, and was ranked #1 in his home province above Rongunshu and Blitz. At Frozen Phoenix, JJK made a surprising run to 4th place after being sent to losers’ early by Ellipsis. He rallied to defeat Sneez, Reslived, and MorKs before falling short in a runback with Ellipsis. At Smash N Splash 4, JJK fell just shy of top 8 after eliminating both BaconPancakes and Fearless in a pair of stunning upsets. JJK may have lived up to the expectations set by last year’s PMRank, but it remains to be seen whether he can break into the next echelon of top players.
Written By: Sabre
Score: 4.14
Representing New York, Brennan "Bongo" Avery is a Captain Falcon main that is much more patient and collected than most. Returning from his debut on last year's list, Bongo puts calculated pressure on his opponents with his cross-ups and well-spaced aerials on shield. Don’t let his relatively low attendance mislead you; Bongo is a dangerous opponent to meet at any point in time.
Bongo traveled to a sizable number of majors this year, and despite a loss to Nyx at Low Tier City 6, he took down plenty of formidable foes. To start 2018 off strong, he placed 25th at We Tech Those 3, beating Flarp along the way. At The Flex Zone 3, he put together a much more impressive run by beating 6:00am, Jason Waterfalls, and most notably The Doctor to place 9th. Make no mistake, Bongo is a threat in bracket no matter how high you rank.
Written By: Wombat
Score: 4.15
Luke “Yung Quaff” Ferris returns to PMRank, though lower than his 2017 placing. While he may not have matched his Bigger Balc run in 2017, Yung Quaff was still able to perform well both locally and nationally, gaining wins over Twisty, Boringman, and Morks. In region, he landed the #1 spot on the latest Massachusetts Power Rankings due to his local dominance at the end of 2018. His aggressive Meta Knight was able to land him placings such as 25th at the Even Bigger Balc where he lost a tense game 5 set versus Blank, 3rd at the GURDY, and 7th at the Flex Zone 3 where he defeated Boringman and Twisty. With his tried and true Meta Knight and rapidly developing Mewtwo, Quaff can be expected to be a threat both in and out of state for the foreseeable future.
Written By: Motobug
Score: 4.29
Mr. Game and Watch master Tommy "Ellipsis" Rowbal makes his PMRank debut this year. Ellipsis has been ranked #4 on the Michigan Power rankings and has proven his strength in Michigan with wins over techboy, Morsecode762, and Dirtboy. With an amazing 3rd place finish to start the year at Frozen Phoenix, cutting through JJK twice and placing just behind techboy and Rongunshu, Ellipsis showed himself as more than a local Michigan threat. Unfortunately, he didn't perform up to standards at Smash N Splash 4, losing to Vaporeon for 49th place, but he came back at Plus Ultra with another JJK win and a victory over Twisty for a top 8 finish. Keep an eye out for Ellipsis in 2019 in Midwest tournaments and any out-of-region events he can make it out to.
Written By: Dirtboy
Score: 4.43
Originally, Jason “Captain Birdman” Erdman was a player entirely faithful to his tag. He played the birds - King Dedede, Captain Falcon, and Falco - and enjoyed a decent amount of success in his region. But in 2018, Birdman left the nest and sharpened his claws, opting to play an unorthodox style of Wolf while still wielding a Falco that is clearly at home in the Project M engine. At Low Tier City 6 he defeated both Aidan and Dirtboy in winners’ side before being sent down to losers by Sosa and eliminated by The Doctor at 9th. In the Infinity & Beyond 200 Shark Tank, he came out on top of his pool by defeating LUCK and upsetting SoCal’s Blank, and although he would later lose both runbacks in the “Great White Sharks” bracket on his way to 5th place, Birdman has plenty of upward momentum going into 2019.
Written By: Pegthaniel
Score: 4.73
Sonic main and Floridian fighter Jose “JFyst” Rosario spins his way into another top 50 berth. His 2018 results were not as strong as his 2017 breakout, but he still secured solid wins over players like Junebug, Flarp, Bobby Frizz, and Twisty. The Florida native also saw success at large majors, with a 9th place finish at Smash N Splash 4 and a 13th place finish at The Even Bigger Balc. On top of his solo accomplishments in tournament, JFyst has also helped grow a new batch of talent in Florida, with players like Cala, Noghrilla, Juanpi, TomboCombo, Jagz, and many more following in JFyst’s footsteps at the national level. If JFyst continues his activity in Florida and abroad, it’s possible that PMRank in 2019 will be full of Florida natives.
Written By: Reslived
Other PMRank 2018 Articles
Last Year's Rankings
Credits
PMRank Staff:
- Brennan “FlashingFire” Connolly
- Devin “Reslived” Gajewski
- Peter “Pikmon” Woodworth
- Kyle “Pegthaniel” Guo
- Courtney “Zesty” Coffman
- Courtney “Zesty” Coffman
- Paul "Motobug" Canavan
- Jet "Jetfantastic" Breton
- "waffeln"
- Cosmetic Standardization Project (CSProject)
- Brennan “FlashingFire” Connolly
- Devin “Reslived” Gajewski
- Alex “Darth Shard” Elert
- Ryan "Sabre" Weinberg
- Jet "Jetfantastic" Breton
- Kyle “Pegthaniel” Guo
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