Welcome everyone to another year of PMRank! PMRank is a panel-based Power Ranking of the Top 50 Project+ players in North America. We're excited to put together another list of the best performers throughout the 30+ eligible events this year, covering Game 5 in the D #1 through Condo of Blood 2. Initially, 78 players were qualified to be ranked based on their placings and attendance at major Project+ events throughout 2023. Panelists were tasked with reviewing this data and ranking each player in order, from #1 to #78. For each player, the highest and lowest rankings 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 to determine the placement of our PMRank Top 50.
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.
Before the list begins proper, we'd like to highlight two of the players who just barely missed the cut for this year's list in one of the tightest battles for #50 we've ever had.
Like Michael before him, JSalt is another primarily Melee player who makes his PMRank debut in the Edge of Glory. Hailing from Louisiana, attending large events this year was mostly a question of which Melee tournaments had P+ events alongside them. This doesn’t mean that he’s not passionate about the game, though - unlike Michael, who uses Puff in both games, JSalt primarily plays Diddy Kong, only using his Melee main, Sheik, sparingly. Across Warehouse War 4, Undertow, and Infrared, JSalt defeated Imogen Heat (aka Thalia), essy, Jisp, Yuko and more while splitting his focus between games. He’s even made splashes in his local scene; while not applicable for PMRank, JSalt won two regionals over longtime Louisiana legend DrinkingFood at the tail end of 2024, not placing below first at tournaments in the region since March. If his grind keeps up, and he’s able to snag spots in shadow P+ events throughout 2025, it’d be no surprise to see him make his way onto the list proper next season.
Written By: Motobug
Armed with a Water Stone in one hand and her trusty grabbag of fundies characters in the other, Gaylee staple and veteran of the scene Vaporeon has made her long overdue debut on the PMRank! With a solid resumé of sets including wins over Prince Fluff at Undertow 2024, Studebacher Hoch at Smash Camp: New Lands 2024, and even legendary Lucas Shadowhawke at Aftershock, Lily showed us why she’s been ruling over various Netplay brackets for years now. Despite a commendable season with some truly outstanding peaks, a lack of data points has gatekept this swaggy Sheik/masterful Marth/mesmerizing Meta Knight/breathtaking Bowser etc. from a spot on 2024’s Top 50. Don’t get it twisted, Vaporeon won’t be accepting this Edge of Glory placement with open arms – we’re sure to see her running it straight back to PS2 in 2025.
Written By: evil lesbian
Other PMRank 2024 Articles
1/27/2025 - PMRank 2024: The Edge of Glory
1/28/2025 - PMRank 2024: 50-41
1/29/2025 - PMRank 2024: 40-31
1/30/2025 - PMRank 2024: 30-21
1/31/2025 - PMRank 2024: 20-11
2/3/2025 - PMRank 2024: 10-7
2/4/2025 - PMRank 2024: 6-4
2/5/2025 - PMRank 2024: 3-1
2/6/2025 - PMRank 2024: Recap
1/28/2025 - PMRank 2024: 50-41
1/29/2025 - PMRank 2024: 40-31
1/30/2025 - PMRank 2024: 30-21
1/31/2025 - PMRank 2024: 20-11
2/3/2025 - PMRank 2024: 10-7
2/4/2025 - PMRank 2024: 6-4
2/5/2025 - PMRank 2024: 3-1
2/6/2025 - PMRank 2024: Recap
Last Year's Rankings
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
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”
- Paul "Motobug" Canavan
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