As is tradition, we’d like to dedicate an article to recapping the past year’s data, observing some trends in both character and region representation.
Character Representation
As with other parts of PMRank this season, we’ve adjusted the way character representation is displayed. If a player wins a set versus a player who made the ballot with a character, it goes on their card, and is counted as one representative for that character - no more half points!
The Top Two
If you’ve been keeping eyes on PMRank since 2019, you may remember the surprise at the complete lack of Zero Suit Samus on the list that year. The 2020s have been a stark contrast to this, coming to a peak here in 2023 with six representatives - the most any character has seen since Meta Knight in 2017! With players at all levels of play continuing to main or picking up the character, it’s no surprise to see her at the top of the list. Lucas, on the other hand, doesn’t quite have the top player representation that ZSS does - instead, he’s got a tight-knit and dedicated playerbase, with two of those players making their PMRank debuts this year. The PK kid has been on a steady increase in popularity since 2018, and now he sits solidly in the top two.
Roy
For a character who averages only one representative each year, Roy has made quite the jump in 2023 with a whopping four players! Roy is also an interesting case due to how he’s represented; most of his pilots use him in conjunction with two or more other characters! Lunchables, Rongunshu, and Thalia all used Roy on occasion this year, with the only solo main of the character being newcomer Veka.
Mr. Game & Watch
The iconic 2D fighter finds himself outside of the top 5 characters for the first time since 2017! While the character still has very talented players in Pikmon, Ellipsis, and newcomer Rise playing him, the lack of mainstay Mr.Watch&Learn and higher representation by other members of the cast puts him outside of the very top of representation.
Below The Cut
This year’s list of unused characters tells a similar story to last season; in fact, both lists have the same number of unused characters, and only three spots have been swapped. Yoshi and Zelda made it back on the lists after a few years of inactivity through Shiny Zubat and evil lesbian respectively, with Phresh on rare occasion using his Snake to provide him a representative. Due to his inactivity, Tealz was not able to carry Pikachu onto the list this year, with the same situation happening with Jonny Sosa’s Pit. However, the last character falling to zero representatives is quite the surprise — Wario. Largely considered a top 10 character across multiple patches, this is a similar case to Zero Suit Samus in 2019. With both Jonny Sosa and Twisty not meeting activity requirements, Wario is dormant on this year’s list, though it’d be no surprise to see Wario back on the list soon, be it with a familiar face or a new one.
Regional Representation
Compared to past years, the overall landscape of regional representation has stayed fairly consistent. Some regions have received some large changes, though, so we’d like to take a moment to discuss some of those changes in depth.
New York/New Jersey
It’s looking like the prime 3.6 era again, because NY/NJ has taken the top spot in regional rep for the first time in years! With many of its players traveling to events both near and far, new players moving to the region, and stacked regionals assisting its talent on making activity requirements, NY/NJ is looking stronger than ever - and a NY/NJ player has taken the top spot on the list again, to boot!
Illinois
The state who got so big it had to split off from the rest of the Midwest in 2019, Illinois has continued its rapid growth this year with a whopping nine players in the state alone! With three members in the top 20, a wide range of talent spread across the list, and multiple players on the cusp of making the list next year, Illinois has become a powerhouse of the Project+ scene — and it looks like it intends to stay that way.
New England
A PMRank cornerstone, New England once again takes up a good chunk of this year’s list. With mainstays in Kycse, Flarp, and Motobug, as well as new faces in Shadowhawke and wren, Massachusetts and Connecticut continue to put up numbers even as some of the veterans of their scene become inactive.
New Kids On The Block
While the regions represented this year are not a drastic change from last season, a couple of states have had breakout stars put their states on the map. Nerfy got his region of Oregon (as well as another Luigi) onto the list, while Veka followed in the footsteps of fellow Roy main Connor to bring Minnesota back on. We hope to see even more unique states on PMRank next time around!
Finally, it wouldn’t be a PMRank release without a combo video, courtesy of Motobug:
We hope that you have enjoyed PMRank 2023’s North American releases! We’ll be covering other regions very soon - be sure to follow us on Twitter at @PMRank_ to find out when those articles release.
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
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
Last Year's Rankings
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
Editors:
- “CND”
- rye "evil lesbian"
- Artemis "[Fleabag]" Groobert
- Timothy “ilikepizza107” W.
- Paul "Motobug" Canavan
