Rising stars and familiar faces of the Australian Project+ scene make their PMRank debuts today.
Welcome everyone to another year of PMRank! This year, we are highlighting players from not only North America, but from across the world! We have coordinated with representatives of Australia, Europe, and Japan to make rankings for each of their regions. The rankings themselves are done by the representatives of each region, while the PMRank team handles the graphic design and publishing portions of each ranking.
Australia's Project+ scene is a tight-knit group of players spread across the country, and we're happy to give them a platform for this year's PMRank. If you are an Australian player looking to connect with the AUS Project+ scene, you can join their Discord at https://discord.gg/smash.
Photo Credit: Jet
Jet (aka Jetfantastic) has been the bastion of Queensland PM for as long as many can remember, as an individual that championed the game through her time, after starting competitively playing in 2015. She has been a Ganondorf force in that time, and in 2023 she finds herself being ranked nationally for the first time, while also being the first player from QLD to ever be ranked nationally for PM.
Jet first travelled in 2023 to Mega Metal Cavern 4, and with an early win on Lapis she had to face Star's Sonic, where although she managed to take a game she was not able to close out the Bo3, ultimately losing 1-2 and dropping to losers in pools. She then had to beat Luma's Knuckles to qualify for Top 16, pitting her up in the Ganondorf ditto against Baker where it was an absolute barn burner game 5 where Jet would end up dropping to the Top 16 losers bracket. She then beat Wolf 3-0 and finally she would fall to Amph and his Ivysaur 3-1, placing 9th at MMC4.
Then in December Jet had the luxury of Father Pissmas visiting her own backyard with some more challengers being presented to her. In her pool, she beat Jimmy in a game 5, then lost to Tyler's ZSS 0-3 and then beat Jimmy again 3-1 to be able to qualify for Top 8. In losers side of Top 8, she was fated to face Baker again. Although last time it went all the way, this time Jet would fall short with a 1-3 loss, giving her a 7th place at Pissmas 4.
Although Jet has yet to make an impact of a big win amongst those ranked higher, her losses at majors have only been to those who have previously been nationally ranked no lower than 8th, and with her wins being over previously 10th ranked Wolf, as well as current up and coming talent in Luma and Lapis, her consistency at majors show that she is thoroughly deserving of this spot on the Aus PMRank.
Written By: Dan
Photo Credit: N/A
A fresh face to Australian Rankings, RNG Really Not Good has been tearing up the competition in the crazy first two years of his tournament career. Debuting in 2022 in online Melee and Project+ tournaments, RNG would begin entering P+ locally in Feb 2023, placing second, only losing to Star.
RNG competed in his first P+ major in July of 2023 in Sydney with Mega Metal Cavern 4. RNG fell to losers in his pool after being defeated by Amph but made it to Top 16. After a respectable 3-1 loss to Nido in Winners Side, RNG went on to defeat 2022 ranked Lewdelli before losing to Amph again, but not without taking a game this time, earning himself a very honourable 7th place at one of the most stacked P+ tournaments in Australian history.
Only a month following, Floating Point was hosted in Sydney and RNG entered P+ once again. RNG blitzed his way through Winners until meeting Lewdelli again in Winners Semis, defeating her again in a close 3-2 victory before meeting Ryzuul in Winners, whom he lost TO 3-0. In Losers Finals, however, he would confidently defeat SA juggernaut Muscat. After this he played back into Ryzuul in Grand Finals, losing again but taking a very respectable second place.
RNG’s major career in P+ is still fledgling but the points are raking up for him. Currently ranked 1st in NSW for Melee, RNG adapts and labs rapidly to match his skill in the P+ environment and his ability to take sets off others on this list at locals such as Star and luxingo only further proves this point. We expect RNG to make waves in 2024 given his exceptional performance thus far and with all of his hard work, he definitely deserves that praise.
Written By: Star
Photo Credit: N/A
The hero of Vic Project+, Amph is here to prove he has what it takes to save the scene and take some names while doing it. Amph started playing P+ in 2016, having some not-so-humble beginnings getting halfway through brackets at his first few tourneys. He started to take some mid-level names in 2019, but really started to shine in the tournaments returning from the pandemic, where he started to take important sets from top level Melee players that had been giving him trouble prior, culminating in his win against RNG at Mega Metal Cavern 4, securing him 5th place at the highly competitive event.
It was also around this time Amph started to take on the role of head TO in Victorian tournaments, making all the sacrifices your average head TO does and then some. He does this while maintaining local and national wins against those who gave him trouble in the past, including a 3-0 victory over Dekar at The Action to secure 7th place, and regular local wins again Mask1n and Naga, all securing his place as one of the most vital parts of the P+ ecosystem as a whole in the country.
Amph has proven time and again that he is here to stay, and only on the updraft. This is much to the appreciation of everyone watching and playing, as the scene is far better for having him.
Written By: Tyler
Photo Credit: N/A
Baker had another stellar year in 2023. After ranking 8th in 2022 primarily playing Donkey Kong, he switched his focus to Ganondorf for this ranking period - which turned out to be a great decision, having his best performances yet since actively attending tournaments again from his hiatus that began in 2015.
Our beloved journeyman started this year with a bang at The Action. After losing a close best of 3 to Joshman 2-1 in pools, he went off in top 16, taking out many of the freshly minted nationally ranked players from the year before and placing a respectable 5th after getting wins on Wolf, lewdelli and Amph.
Baker kept this momentum up for his next tournament appearance at our premier event of the year Mega Metal Cavern 4, placing 7th collecting wins on Wolf, Jetfantastic and Luma in the process. To complete an impressive resume for the year, Baker would bring back the Donkey Kong to run in tandem with his Ganondorf at Pissmas 4, boasting a well-earned 5th place finish with another win on Jetfantastic to cap off the year.
We are lucky to have someone like Baker in our community for not only being a great player but being one of the more unsung members regarding giving back to the scene, providing us with online Smash ladders, lossless adapters and keeping our community active with fun statistics and data. We wish him all the best in 2024!
Written By: Ryzuul
Photo Credit: Lux
Competing in Smash since the Brawl days, luxingo has been a staple among the best players in Australia. Primarily playing Zelda since discovering her in the 3.02 patch of Project M, he climbed up the NSW ranks throughout the years with his unique playstyle and battle-hardened mentality from his experience competing in Brawl, culminating in dominating the NSW scene. He was ranked #1 within the state during the first half of 2016 and achieving #2 nationally that same year after winning Expand Gong 1 and Project Melbourne 2, sporting Zelda all the way.
Whilst being relatively inactive in the years following the pandemic, Lux remains consistent, being ranked #3 in 2022 and having top 8 at every major he’s entered, most notably this year at Mega Metal Cavern 4, our largest tournament of 2023, placing a very strong 4th place with wins over Nido and Amph.
Going into 2024, we are looking forward to seeing Lux compete against the new players on the rise and match up into old rivals at upcoming major tournaments. Despite being busier with life, we appreciate that he’s able to support the scene when he can and we hope that Lux keeps adding to his already historic legacy within the Australian Smash scene!
Written By: Ryzuul
Other PMRank 2023 Articles
1/29/2024 - PMRank 2023: The Edge of Glory
1/29/2024 - PMRank 2023: In The Margins
1/30/2024 - PMRank 2023: 50-41
1/31/2024 - PMRank 2023: 40-31
2/1/2024 - PMRank 2023: 30-21
2/2/2024 - PMRank 2023: 20-11
2/5/2024 - PMRank 2023: 10-7
2/6/2024 - PMRank 2023: 6-4
2/7/2024 - PMRank 2023: 3-1
2/8/2024 - PMRank 2023: Recap
1/29/2024 - PMRank 2023: In The Margins
1/30/2024 - PMRank 2023: 50-41
1/31/2024 - PMRank 2023: 40-31
2/1/2024 - PMRank 2023: 30-21
2/2/2024 - PMRank 2023: 20-11
2/5/2024 - PMRank 2023: 10-7
2/6/2024 - PMRank 2023: 6-4
2/7/2024 - PMRank 2023: 3-1
2/8/2024 - PMRank 2023: Recap
Credits
PMRank Staff:
- Che “Che” Woodson
- Brennan “FlashingFire” Connolly
- Paul “Motobug” Canavan
- Peter “Pikmon” Woodworth
Graphic Design and Character Renders:
- Paul "Motobug" Canavan
- Cosmetic Standardization Project (CSProject) & the Project+ Development Team
In-Region Coordinator:
- Rohan "Star" Baird
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