As the wildest season of Smash Ultimate yet comes to a close, the competition has only gotten more intense—and more crowded. Across 75,218 sets at 199 tournaments featuring 21,755 players, the performances of these 50 competitors stand out from the pack. Brought to you by Stuart98 with graphics by Cloudhead, welcome to the ΩRank Spring 2022 top 50.
Rizeasu has been something of a mythical figure in the smash community since the Smash 4 years, a man who plays every character in the game and who doesn’t show up often but always brings an unpredictable roster of characters when he does. This past season saw both Rizeasu’s strongest performances so far as well as unusually high attendance, resulting in Rizeasu earning a spot in the top 50. His two strongest results were at S tier Kagaribi 6 and C+ tier Chūbu Smash Chronicle. The former saw Rizeasu defeat Jogibu, Tsu-, Kome, and KEN with an absurd cast of 5 different characters before falling to Kameme in a game 5 set. At the latter, he defeated Sidarezakura and Paseriman to make Winners Finals, then defeated Yoshidora twice to win the event. At Kamisuma 13, Rizeasu lost his round 1 to Kansai 1-2er Eleven using Cloud and Shulk, then won 12 sets in losers over the likes of Jogibu, Omuatsu, Rido, and Asimo to make Losers Finals. Other events throughout the season included wins on players like Levi, Shirayuki, sssr, and Tsuna.
With such a huge cast of characters comes some inconsistency, and 5 out of the 9 events Rizeasu attended were net negatives for him. Additionally, a sizable majority of his losses were to players outside the top 50, including 7 losses to players outside the top 100. Rizeasu has the peaks, but greater consistency will be needed in order to rise higher in the ranks. Nonetheless, this past season has been his best yet in his many years of competing, and he starts the Fall 2022 season in a strong position to rise even higher.
The best (Dark) Samus player in Japan, SPG | Yaura followed up an impressive breakout year in 2021 with continued success this year. Yaura’s best performance was at the first Maesuma Offline Invitational, where he defeated Kome 3-0 and acola 3-2 to make Winner’s Finals before losing 0-3 to Shuton and then losing the runback against acola in a heartbreaking reverse 3-0. As Yaura did not play acola again for the rest of the season, this makes him one of only three players, and the only player in the top 100, to have faced acola and not have a losing record against him. Across his other four events, Yaura scored wins on players like Abadango, Asimo, Atelier, HIKARU, Luminous, Taikei, and takera.
A notable weakness of Yaura’s season that prevents him from being any higher in the ranking is that all of his top 50 wins were at smaller events, and he underperformed somewhat at the S tiers he attended. This is especially the case at Kagaribi 7, where he lost to Choco and Repo for 49th with no wins on top 300 players. Should Yaura match his C tier results at larger events going forward, he will doubtless find a place much deeper within the top 50.
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Alexis “Moist | Goblin” Stennett has been an almost ubiquitous presence at majors this year, but didn’t quite have the same depth to their runs as they usually do. Boasting some of the highest attendance in the top 50, Goblin went to a total of 14 ΩRank evaluated events this season, including 10 events considered to be majors, and they made top 16 at all but three of them. In spite of such high attendance however, they only managed to score four wins on top 50 players, and took a number of bad losses with their high attendance, with 14 losses to players outside the top 50, including 5 to players outside the top 100. The makings of a better season failed to come to fruition, as Goblin lost four separate game 5 encounters with players in the top 20 alone.
Nevertheless, it would be a mistake to write off Goblin’s season as bad simply because it wasn’t up to the standards of their past performances; around half of their losses were to top 20 players, and they scored wins on players like AlanDiss, BigBoss, Fatality, Larry Lurr, Scend, Tea, and Zomba across their many events. Though some events were significant underperformances, 9 out of 14 events were positives to their season, and their worst placement was only 33rd, a significant improvement from their worst performances in years past. Goblin’s presence as a top level threat at majors is not going anywhere.
Luis “Cryme | Lui$” Oceguera Ramos was unable to replicate the stellar success of his 2021 this season, but he still delivered a series of deep bracket runs at the 9 tournaments he attended in the Spring 2022 season. His S-tier results include a 17th at Genesis 8 with wins on Dark Wizzy and Gackt; 13th at MomoCon 2022 with wins on Anathema and ApolloKage; and 25th at Double Down 2022 with wins on Zinoto and Zomba. At other events throughout the season he scored wins on players like BassMage, Chag, Elegant, and jaredisking1. One of his most impressive runs was at Low Tide City 2022, where he defeated SHADIC and Zomba to earn a spot in top 6 before falling to Kola and then Sparg0 in a nailbiting game 5 set that ended with a karmic taunt to get bodied.
7 out of 9 tournaments Lui$ attended were positive for him, but his season wasn’t without downs; most notably, he placed 17th at C+ tier LEVELUP Arena 4, losing to Colorondo8 and The6Master with a best win of Rocke, a player who would later defeat him at Double Down. Lui$ ended the season with 4 losses to players outside the top 100. One stat that precipitated his decline this year was a decline in his clutch factor; while in 2021 he won 17 out of his 21 game 5 sets, this season he won only 8 out of 15 of them. Still, it would be a mistake to underestimate NorCal’s best player, and his decline this season may prove to be an anomalous blip in his rise to the top.
After struggling in the first few months of the post-lockdown era, Yuta “DNG | Nietono” Uejima makes a triumphant return to the top 50 on the heels of an electrifying performance at S-tier Maesuma TOP 8. At Maesuma, Nietono delivered what is perhaps the best performance for the character since Genesis 6, making winners finals by taking down Motsunabe, Jogibu, ProtoBanham, and Kameme in successive game 5 sets (with a 3-0 win on Sidarezakura along the way), before ultimately falling 1-3 to Hero and 0-3 to Yoshidora to place 3rd. He also delivered respectable performances at his other major appearances, scoring wins on Sigma and Mottsuan at Kagaribi 7 and on Luminous and Yaura at Sumabato SP 25.
Substantial underperformance at B tier events Wave 1 and Shinosuma HEROES left Nietono with 5 losses to players outside the top 100 and thus prevented an appearance deeper within the top 50, but his peaks ensure his skill is little in doubt. As his recent victory at Phantom 2022 to open the Fall 2022 season demonstrates, Nietono will keep tangling with the best for as long as there are Smash Ultimate tournaments to go to.
The best Inkling player in the world, PNG | Shirayuki splats in at #45. Shirayuki has made consistent top 16 appearances in post-lockdown Kansai, and an uptick in both attendance and results this season boosted him into top 50. Shirayuki boasts winning records on players like DIO, HIKARU, Luminous, Shogun, Toura, and ZAKI. Shirayuki also possesses an elusive acola win, winning 3-1 at Maesuma Offline Invitational 2; this is an act which acola repaid in spades, as Shirayuki only managed to win 2 out of 13 games in the next 4 sets they played throughout the season.
Attending 10 tournaments across the season, only three of them were net negatives for him, including his sole out of region appearance at Kagaribi 6, where he defeated Notton, Jagaimo, and Mao, but lost to Repo and Kome to place 25th. Kome was a consistent bracket demon for him, with Shirayuki taking only 1 out of the 8 games they played across 3 sets. The only tournament to be a significant detriment to Shirayuki’s season was Sumabato SP 27, where he lost to komorikiri and Kie to finish 13th. A third of his losses were to players outside the top 100, preventing Shirayuki from placing any higher this season. However, the potential is clearly there for Shirayuki to rise much higher going forward, should he take his peak level of play to Japan’s largest tournaments.
In spite of low attendance, Yuki “R2G | Etsuji” Kajihara still barrels in at #44. Etsuji has had a pattern throughout Ultimate’s lifespan of mostly quiet seasons with a single absolutely bananas run to make top 50, and the pattern held up this season too. After a disappointing 25th place finish at Kagaribi 7, losing to Lea and Eim with a best win of shori, Etsuji went on an absolute tear at Maesuma TOP 8. Losing to ProtoBanham 1-3 in Round 2 pools, Etsuji proceeded to win 5 sets in losers over Motsunabe, ZAKI, Paseriman, HIKARU, and Asimo, and then won the runback with ProtoBanham 3-1 before falling 0-3 to Yoshidora to place 5th.
Low attendance means that Etsuji places significantly lower than he otherwise would have, but combined with his strong performances at the events he did attend, also means that he has the best set record we’ve seen so far, with a 57% win rate against the top 50 and only 1 loss to players outside the top 50. 44th is probably not especially close to Etsuji’s skill level; higher attendance will show just how high Japan’s best Diddy player can get.
After years of struggling to make waves in Ultimate, Larry “GG | Larry Lurr” Holland seems to have finally found his groove. By far his best run of the season was at the G4 Smash Invitational, where he defeated Chag and then became one of only four players this season to double eliminate MkLeo, placing 2nd while losing only to Sparg0. He also won C-tier Kawaii Kon 2022 over Marss, and scored wins on Lui$ and Ouch!? at other events throughout the season.
Although this season represents Larry’s best season since Ultimate began, it is not without some serious holes. All of his major results were underperformances, including a 9th place finish at GOML 2022 with a best win of Soar and a 17th place finish at Battle of BC 2 with a win on Ouch!? but a loss to Exodia, and he only attended one S tier event. His 129th finish at Genesis 8 is the sole triple digit finish at an ΩRank tournament for someone in the top 50, and although his loss record is generally good, losses to Plum and MoDzai at Genesis drag his season down substantially. Larry has shown shades of his former glory, but he will have to show them more consistently if he wants to once again rank much deeper within the top 50.
A staple force at tournaments across Japan, Eita “8LX | HIKARU” Hoshi is no stranger to global power rankings, and this season has been his best in Smash Ultimate yet. HIKARU’s peak is a 2nd place finish at Sumabato SP 24, where he defeated sssr 2-1, acola 2-1, Gurudan 2-0, Abadango 3-0, and Asimo 3-2 to make grand finals, before falling to acola 1-3 in both sets of grands. At other events throughout the season, he obtained wins on players like DIO, Huto, KEN, Lea, Toura, and Tsubotsubo. Though he primarily used Roy throughout this season, other characters also made an appearance, with his Donkey Kong notably winning 3-1 over Kome at Winners Finals of Sumabato SP 27.
Though a clear majority of his performances were strong, underperformance at Kagaribi 7 and Winner! -Next Gen- stand out as blemishes that prevented an appearance deeper within the top 50, as between the two HIKARU took losses to Ryuoh, Taikei, and KOROMO with a best win of Toura. These events were the exception rather than the rule though; HIKARU is on the upswing, and he will continue being a force to be reckoned with at everything he attends.
One of the most creative players in the game, Dawson “SHZ | Big D” Perron rounds out today’s competitors. Big D’s appearances at majors this season were rare, but he made the most of them, scoring wins on a bevy of top players from the world over. At Genesis 8, he achieved a shocking 2-0 upset on Maister before losing to Sisqui and Aaron to place 25th. At Battle of BC 4, he defeated Leon (FR) while taking respectable losses to Riddles and Ouch!? to place 13th. His best run of the season however, and the best run of any Ice Climbers player in Ultimate to date, is a spectacular run to 2nd place at Get On My Level 2022. After losing 3-2 to Onin in the second round of Top 32, he went on a 5 set losers run, defeating Zinoto, Aaron, Syrup, Cosmos, and Riddles before falling once more to Onin in Grand Finals.
Although Big D’s major performances were outstanding, he consistently underperformed at regionals, taking 4 losses to players outside the top 100 between Vancouver Battle Royale: Resurrection, Domino Effect 21, and Back In Blood 3. Additionally, Ouch!? was a consistent bracket demon for Big D this season, with Big D taking 4 games across the 3 sets they played but unable to close out any of them. Big D has delivered Ice Climbers’ best Ultimate performance thus far, and we’re excited to see if he can replicate it moving into the next season.
ΩRank: The Ultimate Algorithmic Ranking 