The premier Super Smash Bros. fan mod, Project M, celebrated its 14th anniversary a few months ago. In that time, it has seen many changes, overcame unthinkable obstacles, and boasted a thriving competitive scene going strong to this very day. Due to its complicated history, the many eras of Project M are concretely split and the many talented players throughout the game's lifespan are not often recognized or celebrated as much as they deserve. In an attempt to bring visibility back to the underground smash game’s history, the Plus Side team is proud to present the Top 100 Project M/+ Players of All Time! For more information on the methodology behind this list, please check out our introduction article.
Similarly to his placement neighbor, Kirk, Oro?! was a consistent Illinois high level threat in the first few years of Project M’s metagame. But what separates the two is Oro’s longevity at a high level, carrying over into solid placements in the 3.0 era. Oro’s performances in 2013 and in 2014 encapsulates this perfectly - defeating Scythe, Strong Badam, and Kirk in 2013, along with ZeRo and Oracle in 2014 - Oro!? was the premier Zero Suit Samus in the early years of PM, laying the foundation for the future top tier.
In researching info about Oro for this list, I also personally learned that we both are from the same town in Illinois - shoutouts to Geneva Smash!
Written by: Tuck
Venom has shown his moves to the world and shone brilliantly enough to create an everlasting impression. Though he is best remembered for his inhuman run at Supenova where he obliterated the legends Malachi, Jonny Sosa, and dvd, one of the few to ever be Top 2 in the SoCal Power Ranking would also go on to topple the ferocious Pikmon and Switch with his blistering Captain Falcon gambits. Given his tenacity shown as a competitor, it's only right we give Venom his flowers for electrifying the people.
Written by: Frequency
Luck has always been somewhat irrevocably tied to, and sometimes overshadowed by, fellow Diddy Kong Aero, but was absolutely able to stand on his own merits and forge his own unique path forward. Luck was the yin to Aero’s yang, with the latter being remembered for flashy item play and frame tight movement tech, Luck followed in Junebug’s steps, focusing on a safer neutral, efficient punishes and consistent execution of his gameplan. This consistency was reflected in his results as well, as he would place in the top 8 of almost every event, majors included, hosted in the greater south/southwest region. This consistency would waver a bit when he traveled, as slightly lower results at The Big Balc (17th), Olympus (33rd), and Rewired (17th) would prevent him from reaching the upper echelons of the rankings. Luck would remain active enough to remain inside the top 40 on all 3 PMRanks he appeared on from 2016-2018, and more exposure to brackets outside of Texas may have unleashed an even more lethal version of Luck to the masses.
The biggest obstacle to Luck’s ceiling in Project M, may have come from outside the game entirely. Luck enjoys many platform fighters, and while many players have left to pursue Melee, Smash 4 or Ultimate over the years, Luck is the likely the only player to go on to be ranked in the top 50 of Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2, Warner Bros.’ Multiversus, and is now considered one of the elite Rannos in the early meta of Rivals of Aether 2. Luck’s years spent in the trenches playing “honest Diddy Kong” prepared him for a life of Platform Fighter talent, and we can’t wait to see what he does next.
Written by: Serb
Suvir leads the charge for the new era of SoCal top players - ruthlessly focused on the task at hand, the possibility of the West Coast Walker of Shadows reverse 3-0ing top shelf talent is an all-too real predicament for fellow fighters when it's happened more than once on the national stage.
A manifestation of focus and dedication indicative of the most flourishing warriors, the stylish shinobi stayed consistent ascending from national Top 32s to Top 8s, and in modern times will assuredly be a roadblock to anyone looking to ascend past him into the Top 15 Worldwide.
Written by: Frequency
Luigi players and unexpected upsets against top players playing high tiers go together like bagels and cream cheese. Arizona’s ilovebagelz and his run at Even Bigger Balc is just one example, but maybe one of the most infamous. In Winners Round 1, ilovebagelz would take out Malachi’s Sheik in a stunning upset that would ripple through the rest of the bracket. While this is likely the most memorable moment when it comes to ilovebagelz’s legacy, it is hardly the only one. ilovebagelz was ranked from 2016-2019 before dabbling in other games and attending fewer tournaments, and his consistency in the latter years became a hallmark of his career. In 2018 and 2019, he only placed outside the top 8 at a single event (Even Bigger Balc, where he beat Malachi) and was rewarded with top 30 rankings (30th in 2018 and 29th in 2019) in both years.
Although his attendance is down in recent years, failing to fully meet ranking criteria in any year post-quarantine, ilovebagelz is still a fan favorite among the Arizona faithful gathering around any setup he is sitting at.
Written by: Serb
Paul “Yono” Yono, formerly known for his Roy, was a longtime threat in Michigan Project M in his early career, frequently placing right below the powerhouses of Morsecode, techboy, and Dirtboy in his Roy days. Wins over Rongunshu, Erg, Ripple, and Poilu already established Yono as a very strong player nationally, but his big breakout wouldn’t happen until the new addition to the Project+ roster dropped: Knuckles.
Yono piloted Knuckles in one of the greatest Cinderella runs of the modern Project+ era at Undertow 2021. Here, he took out Che, Yung Quaff, Dirtboy, and Blue en route to a fifth place finish, only being defeated in tight game five sets versus The Doctor and Lunchables, the eventual top two placers of the tournament. His 2022 saw many other great performances throughout the midwest, earning wins on Imogen Heat, metroid, Mr.Watch&Learn, and Av for a top 25 placing on PMRank 2022. Yono returned once more in 2023 at Honeypot 6, where wins over Not Chris, grealy, and Dirtboy showed that he still had it. The best solo Knuckles player of P+ decided he was satisfied with his career, and for good reason - he’s one of the best players of all time.
Written by: Motobug
Kumatora has proven that she can hang with the best players who have ever played the game, and her main barrier to climbing higher has always been her eclectic and wide ranging interests outside the game, but when she locks in, she can go toe to toe with almost anyone.
Written by: Serb
Silver was a staple of the Massachusetts’ 3.6 scene, particularly active from 2017-2019, where he ranked within the top 40 for 3 consecutive years. Following in the footsteps of New England’s golden boy, Darc, Silver demonstrated a mastery of multiple characters.- A careful and methodical Fox or Falco were the most commonly seen character from Silver,but he also secured ranked wins with Marth, Sheik, and Metaknight at various points in his career.
Silver’s accomplishments in singles were made even more impressive given the fact that he considered himself a doubles player first, and a singles player second. Alongside Darc, The other half of “Blue Eyes White Privilege”, Silver would see immense success in doubles with a variety of teammates including Twisty, Darc, Kycse and more.
Written by: Serb
Aida’s time at the top was limited to only a few years from 2016-2018, with varying amounts of activity therein, but she did not waste a moment. She skyrocketed into the top 20 in 2017 following an impressive 4th place at Flex Zone 3 where she beat Kycse, StereoKidd, Junebug and Emukiller and had one of the most viral moments of the era involving a bottle of Jack Daniels and some very serious mid-set coaching. 2018 would see a decline in tournament attendance before she mostly stopped attending events all together by the end of that year.
While ZSS has become a staple of the modern game, especially in Aida’s home state of New York, she was playing the character when representation was low, and most of it was on the west coast still. Aida was instrumental in developing the meta for the character, and some of her influence can still be felt in modern east coast Zero Suit Samus gameplay. Her time spent in the spotlight was brief, but it burned brightly nonetheless, and shades of her legacy are still felt today.
Written by: Serb
DrinkingFood is a very curious case in the Project M scene. He is simultaneously a hidden boss, as he rarely leaves his home region, never making PMRank due to activity each year - but at the same time, has competed for 10 years, still making a consistent high level appearance every so often, certainly becoming a well known name over time.
He was at his strongest in 2015, with wins on players like Ally and iPunchKidsz in his Cinderella run to 2nd at Low Tier City 3. But even just this past year at Warehouse War 4, he was seen having a thrilling game 5 set against Switch, where although he didn’t come out on top, still showed he is still absolutely a strong player.
Written by: Tuck
A staple of Arizona Smash since the early days of PM, Cloudburst stepped up from local legend to national threat in the P+ era. He was ranked on every PMRank from 2019 to 2023 making him the embodiment of both the modern Squirtle metagame as well as a pillar of modern Arizona Project M. His 2023 PMRank campaign, potentially due to a sudden explosion of events popping up closer to Arizona, earned him 13th on PMRank 2023 after a pair of 5th place finishes at Mile High Club and Warp Zone 2 beating Stude, ORLY, Kycse and Pikmon. Following an additional successful PMRank campaign in 2024, Cloudburst decided to step away from the game and has been pursuing other personal endeavors.
Cloudburst stood atop the mesa of Arizona’s Project M scene for years and helped to foster the warm and welcoming community that has become standard there. If he ever gets the itch to return to competition, he will likely still have a scene to return to, as his contributions locally have helped to establish a long and resilient modern scene for new and old players alike.
Written by: Serb
While the GOAT of Melee needs no introduction for his accomplishments in SSBM, his Project M tenure is a mix of sparse entries, but incredibly high peaks. Mango’s entered Project M tournaments since 2012, where he made it to 2nd at Big House 2 defeating Hungrybox in Loser’s Finals. His final venture in competing in PM majors was actually his best performance, coming out on top at BEAST 5, the first major of Project M 3.5, over the likes of Professor Pro and Armada.
Mango’s contributions to Project M outside of competition rival that of his career as a player as well - hosting the God of the Mod series with Sabre helped bring PM to thousands of viewers during the challenging COVID era.
Written by: Tuck
In the initial days of the Project M demo, Melee pros dominated the scene. Players like Kage and Hungrybox were winning the first large tournaments of the games history in 2011 and 2012 - but it wasn’t until TheReflexWonder, Brawl’s best Pokemon Trainer player, began to take over the game’s tournaments in 2013 that PM became the Brawl x Melee clash we know it for. He only dropped one tournament that year to PPMD, winning 3 stacked brackets in a row. Most importantly, at Apex 2013, he was crowned victorious at their 16 person invitational side event, taking out the likes of Kage, Hungrybox, and Wizzrobe all in succession.
Written by: Tuck
In a scene rife with players with swingy resumes built upon wildly disparate upsets, Bongo was a bastion of consistency during his later active years. Joining PMRank in 2017 and 2018, Bongo’s most impressive arc came in the combined 2021/2022 and 2023 seasons, where he placed between 5th and 13th at every event he attended except Blacklisted 6th (where he still took home 17th place). For many, Bongo was seen as a gatekeeper, capitalizing on his methodical consistency to dissect and dismantle players ranked below him at nearly every turn. Perpetually playing right to his seed landed Bongo inside many top 8’s including Blacklisted 8, Lake George Snowdown, and The Back Hit.
Bongo’s Captain Falcon played a gear or two slower than what viewers may be accustomed to when watching their favorite race car driver, but this deliberate pace may be the secret to his consistency and longevity. It may behoove prospective up and coming Captain Falcon players to consider Bongo’s approach to the game, as it is impossible to argue its efficacy as a strategy.
Written by: Serb
Boiko is one of those players whose accomplishments cannot be described by simply his results; between TOing New York tournaments in the peak of their activity, being one of the main developers on Project+ in its early days, and becoming an overall leader of the community, Boiko has quite the argument to be on a theoretical Mount Rushmore of Project M.
That’s not to say his ingame accomplishments aren’t mighty impressive, though. Throughout his nine year career, he accumulated wins over Kycse, Tealz, Kumatora, Comb, Oracle, Twisty, Aida, Flarp, BaconPancakes, and many more. While he’s now bringing these talents over to Rivals 2, Boiko’s Meta Knight (and Ness!) were some of the most refined and tactical killers in Project M’s history.
Written by: Motobug
Before Kumatora and Ryzuul, before Akimi and Hakeem, debatably before even Boiko and Jose V, there was a stylish New York Ness by the name of StereoKiDD. Relying on an old-school approach to the character, StereoKiDD blended positional pressure, tech chasing, and hard read Baseball Bat finishers to establish himself as the undisputed best Ness in 2015, and honing his talents until he was ranked top 20 on PMRank 2017, before retiring from competition. 7th place finishes at Paragon LA and We Tech Those 3, almost 3 years apart, exemplify the longevity and consistency at which StereoKiDD competeted. With wins over Jason Waterfalls, Goode, Flipp, DVD, Violet, and more, there is no debate that StereoKiDD earned his spot on this list, and did so emphatically.
Part of NYC’s “Free Saltines” crew seeking to push the metas of their character, SteroKiDD brought a swagger to the game unlike any other Ness to ever do it. His play paved the way for the future nesses that would flood the game, and proved that Ness wasn’t some low tier gimmick of a character.
Written by: Serb
One of the few players from the Pacific Northwest to reach the top level of competition, Akimi is one of the many 3.6-era Ness players to push the character to meta relevancy. Perhaps the queen of waterpark tournaments, Akimi defeated Dirtboy at the very first Smash ‘n’ Splash, made top 8 over G&W duo Forrest and Dakpo at the second, and earned another top 8 placing at the fifth over Morsecode, Sothe, Emukiller, and The Doctor.
She’d even continue this trend post-lockdown, where she made a surprise appearance at Undertow 2021 with wins over Mr.Watch&Learn and Potatoes. Akimi is now focused on Under Night, Melty Blood, and whichever other fighting game strikes her fancy, but don’t sleep - she’ll still show up to a PNW local every so often to get to Grand Finals with Pikmon again.
(psst, Akimi! If you’re reading this, I also made a version of your card with your Vtuber instead - grab it here!)
Written by: Motobug
Yung Quaff was a mainstay of top 8’s throughout 3.6’s lifespan, before fading out of the scene during P+, making just enough appearances to make PMRank 2022 before leaving the scene shortly after. A losers run that began after losing to Narq in pools at the Bigger Balc will likely stand as Yung Quaff’s most impressive single tournament performance. There he took out Hero of Time, Dirtboy, Loyal, Ilovebagelz, and Blank with Metaknight on his way to an impressive 5th place. Yung Quaff was far from a one-hit wonder, however, and turned in top 8 finishes at the Encore, Shipwrecked, The Flex Zone 3, and numerous regionals and smaller majors.
Beginning his journey in New York, attending school in Massachusetts, and then moving to California after graduation, Yung Quaff has carried small pieces of each of his homes with him on his PM Journey. Having three different regions vying for the right to claim Yung Quaff should speak volumes about his character and what he brings to the table as a PM player.
Written by: Serb
Unless you’ve been living under a rock for the last 5+ years, you have likely heard of Motobug. Between being involved in half of the scene’s TO groups for major events, working tirelessly on Project Plus development, running their local scene on a weekly basis, working on graphics or videos for most events related to the greater scene, and most recently becoming a core member of the Plus Side team, Motobug’s fingerprints can be found all over most aspects involving the modern P+ scene. Despite all of these responsibilities and commitments, Motobug still finds time to compete, and does so at a high level. Maintaining a hold on MAPM as its #1 player in 2022 and 2023 while also ranking just within the top 30 on PMRank 2022, 2023 and 2024, Motobug’s consistency in modern P+ as a competitor nearly matches their community contributions.
While Motobug themself could probably wax poetic about their own accomplishments for an entire article (and who knows, maybe they will!), the rest of us will simply sit back and wait to see what comes next for Motobug following their 2025 farewell tour.
Written by: Serb
In the early years of Chaloopy’s career, he was an elusive nomad, being a member of many different local and regional scenes. But don’t let his well traveled history fool you, despite showcasing many things, including how to botch an edgeguard, he managed to remain under the radar of many for most of his career, mainly because he would DQ from events that would subject him to national scrutiny, like at the Big House 2 or Undertow 2021. Even after settling back into Illinois, where he remains to this day, Chaloopy was like a phantom to those outside of his home state, particularly during the COVID era, where he became akin to an old bedtime story mothers told their kids to make sure they eat their vegetables. “Make sure to eat your brussel sprouts, or Chaloopy’s Ganon will Uptilt our house!” All of this would change in 2022, when his breakout performance of 2nd at Joey’s Birthday Bash would officially put him on the map as a hallmark of a new era of P+ exemplified by his playstyle focusing on his footstool techchasing aided by his inhuman reactions which made him a terror for any in his path, including Motobug, Yono, and Kendrick, except for Michigan’s Ellipsis, who he would fall to twice. From there, the secret of Chaloopy was out, and he never looked back. Since then, he’s amassed a plethora of strong placements and wins, including Morsecode762 at Invincible V in a bout of immovable object vs immovable object, Lunchables, ORLY, Cloudburst, Pikmon, Dirtboy, and more.
Despite taking a slight step back from national events in 2025, Chaloopy still maintains his place on the throne of the incredibly difficult region of Illinois, and continues to inspire both players old and new with his “combo videos” that showcase some of those netplay bedtime stories that made him infamous. Chaloopy has definitely earned his place on the pantheon of best players of all time, and we’re all interested to see what will come next from the man, the myth, and the legend himself.
Written by: shad
Other Top 100 Articles:
4/18/2025 - Project M/+ All Time Top 100: Intro and HMs
4/21/2025 - Project M/+ All Time Top 100: #100-81
4/22/2025 - Project M/+ All Time Top 100: #80-61
4/23/2025 - Project M/+ All Time Top 100: #60-41
4/24/2025 - Project M/+ All Time Top 100: #40-21
4/25/2025 - Project M/+ All Time Top 100: #20-1
4/21/2025 - Project M/+ All Time Top 100: #100-81
4/22/2025 - Project M/+ All Time Top 100: #80-61
4/23/2025 - Project M/+ All Time Top 100: #60-41
4/24/2025 - Project M/+ All Time Top 100: #40-21
4/25/2025 - Project M/+ All Time Top 100: #20-1
Credits:
Project Lead: Tuck
Graphic Design: Motobug
Renders: RedipsTheCooler, tyleto, VirtualBeef, CSProject, and the Project+ Development Team
Writers: Frequency, ilikepizza107, Motobug, Serb, shad, Tuck
Special Thanks: Sabre
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