The Top 50 continues with the 40-31. From young competitors achieving breakout performances to veterans reaching new heights after years of competing, these 10 players’ results are nearly all on the upswing. Brought to you by Stuart98 with graphics by Cloudhead, welcome back to the ΩRank Spring 2022 Top 50.
Retaining his title of best Greninja in the world, Lea sneaks in at #40. Lea’s results weren’t as consistent as those of many this season, but instead he ranks this high on account of his ability to upset just about anyone, as demonstrated by strong runs at both of his appearances at Kanto’s supermajor series, Kagaribi. At Kagaribi 6, Lea beat ProtoBanham in a shocking reverse 3-0, then lost 0-3 to Gackt and 2-3 to Kameme to fall at 17th place. He followed this up with an even stronger run at Kagaribi 7, the most stacked tournament in Japan this year. There, he defeated Manzoku 3-2, Etsuji 3-2, and Shuton 3-0 to make top 12. In top 12, he lost 1-3 to acola, then beat Yamanaction 3-0 before losing to DIO 1-3 to place 7th.
In spite of such peaks, Lea also demonstrated some unfortunate volatility this season, taking 6 losses to players outside the top 50 at his other four events with a best win between them of Toura. His Double Down, where he finished 49th with losses to NaetorU and jaredisking1, was particularly damaging. Nonetheless, the peaks outweigh the valleys, giving Lea his top 40 ranking. Lea’s Greninja remains one of the fiercest opponents to face in Japanese brackets.
A competitor on the cusp of a breakout into the top 50 since the end of Smash 4, Jude “WG | Jakal” Harris has finally made it. Although Jakal had a rocky start to the season with a 65th at Glitch – Infinite to SlushieV2 and DM, his results only got stronger as the season went on, peaking with a top 8 finish at one of the largest events of the season to close it out. At Collision 2022, Jakal finished 13th, winning a game 5 runback against DM, then suffering a narrow 2-3 loss to Light. In losers, he defeated Grayson, Jake, and SHADIC before falling to Tilde in another game 5. After uncharacteristic losses to Ling and IcyMist at [bae100] A Celebration, Jakal bounced back with a 9th place finish at Pound 2022, beating kept, Chag, and Zomba before falling once more to Light and being eliminated by Sonix. He closed out the season with a jaw-dropping performance at Double Down. After winning game 5 against Ling, he suffered a 2-3 loss to T3 DOM, but answered back with the best losers run of his life. Jakal won 5 straight sets in losers to make top 8, beating Niko, Riddles, Aaron, Bloom4Eva, and ApolloKage, before falling 2-3 to a Dabuz that was on a losers run of his own.
In addition to strong results at majors, Jakal also has spectacular in-region results. A 3-2 win on Tweek’s Snake and Banjo at PSS S13 wasn’t counted towards his ranking, but with such strong results at other events, he frankly didn’t need it. Additionally, he took 1st place at PSS S14:E1, outplacing Tweek substantially after Tweek lost to boosk and Steffen to place 4th. Jakal’s season had the potential to be even better than it ended up, as five out of his twelve losses this season went to last game. Should Jakal get better at closing out those game 5 sets, there may be very little stopping New Jersey’s #1 PR player.
One of the most volatile competitors in the game, Seisuke “Revo | Kome” Komeda still powers in at #38. The most well-traveled competitor in Japan, Kome showcased his signature Shulk play at 17 different events throughout the season, though often to mixed results. Kome’s results throughout Ultimate’s lifespan have consisted of a mix of absurdities, strong overperformances and bizarre underperformance juxtaposed without a discernible pattern, and this season was no different. His peak result was a run to 7th place at Japan’s most valuable tournament of the season, Kagaribi 7. There, he defeated HIKARU in winners, then fell 2-3 to DIO. In losers, he defeated Yoshidora, ProtoBanham, and Choco to make top 8, before falling 1-3 to Shuton’s Olimar. He also made two appearances abroad: at Battle of BC 4, he defeated Dark Wizzy, Cosmos, and ESAM while losing to Glutonny and Ouch!? to place 7th. At Double Down, he defeated VaLoR, loaf, and 0mart before falling 3-2 to Jake and 1-3 to Bloom4Eva to place 17th. At other events across the season, he defeated Shirayuki and Toura three times each, and also scored wins on players like komorikiri, Luminous, Repo, and showers.
As previously stated, Kome’s season was highly uneven, with 8 of his 17 events being net negatives and 16 of his losses being to players outside the top 100. A 1-4 record to R.OB. player sssr and 0-2 record to ZAKI stand out as particularly bad. Though many of these losses were at smaller events, they nonetheless prevent an apperance deeper in the top 50. Kome is as he’s always been: one of the scariest players to run into in bracket, if and only if the right Kome shows up to play.
Arda “BMS | Raflow” Imrek has had a meteoric rise in post-lockdown France. Rising from an obscure depth player pre-quarantine, Raflow exited it as a top 5 player in the country, and this past season rose further still to arguably have the best domestic results in France. With an astounding 18 events attended, he is tied for the highest attendance player in the top 50. With a dominant 32-17 record on the top 100, Raflow has wins on nearly every European in the top 100, but his best records might be against those at the very top. Raflow has a 3-2 record against Glutonny this season, double eliminating him in grand finals of DOSE2SEL x Revival of Lyon and scoring another win at 95 Kings of Fields 2. Raflow also has a 4-3 record against Sisqui, beating him at LOSC ESPORT FIGHTERS #1, WANTED S4 C4 – Free Agent Edition, and 95 Kings of Fields 2. 95 Kings of Fields 2 stands out against Raflow’s other performances this year; after losing 1-3 to Maister in winners, he proceeded to win 5 sets in losers over eMass, sisqui, Leon, Glutonny, and a rematch against Maister before falling 0-3 to MkLeo in Grand Finals.
While his results described thus far are those of a top 20 player, one can’t talk about Raflow’s season without talking about the elephant in the room: his S tier performances. Raflow attended four S tiers across the season, and dramatically underperformed at each, losing to 8 different players outside of the top 50, 6 of whom being outside the top 100, with placements ranging from 25th to 65th. It’s tempting to think of this as a travel problem, but even in his home country, Raflow had his worst domestic event of the season at COLOSSEL, losing to Gogesta 1-3 and Sirknight 2-3 to finish 49th. Raflow’s results thus present an absurd contradiction: how can a player have even or winning records against some of the best players in the world across multiple sets, yet repeatedly and dramatically underperform at every single one of the largest events he attended? Surely the contradiction will eventually resolve itself, but it remains to be seen in which direction. Whatever the issues, Raflow is a young competitor, and has many years ahead of him to resolve them and rise to the level his peaks would portend.
JayJay “Ouch!?” Basilan began making waves in British Columbia before lockdown started, but achieved new levels of dominance coming out of it. A surprise appearance in top 50 of OrionRank Ultimate: Eclipse last year despite no major performances turned heads, and Ouch!? silenced any doubters this season with an out of nowhere run to 3rd at Battle of BC 4. Falling 1-3 to Larry Lurr in the first round of top 64, he went on an 8 set losers run, taking down the likes of Big D, MVD, Kome, Shuton, and Riddles before being eliminated by Tea. He also scored an additional two wins on Big D at C tiers Vancouver Battle Royale: Resurrection and Domino Effect 21.
His in-region dominance hasn’t been quite what it was last year, as he took 4 losses to players outside the top 100 between Domino Effect 21 and GrandSlam #4. These together with an underperformance at GOML 2022, where he lost to Syrup and Aaron with a best win of Sinji, ruled out a top 30 appearance, but British Columbia’s best is doubtless hungry for more as we head into the Fall 2022 season.
Chubu is an underdiscussed part of Japan in the smash scene. Sandwiched between the stronger regions of Kanto and Kansai and with relatively easy access to both, a number of successful competitors have made their home their over the years, including Toura and Toon Link players Sigma and Lv.1, as well as DIO. DIO has been one of the best Snake players in Japan for years, but this year truncated “one of” from the title and attained his first top 50 ranking courtesy of numerous strong runs at Japan’s largest tournaments. Peaking at 4th place at Japan’s largest tournament of the season, DIO beat Kome game 5 before losing 1-3 to Gackt, then defeated Eim, Lea, and Huto before falling to Gackt again. At Sumabato SP 25, he defeated takera, Luminous, and Shuton 3-2 to make Winners Finals before losing 0-3 to KEN and 2-3 in a rematch against Shuton. At other events across the season, he defeated players like Abadango, alice, Eim, Jogibu, Sigma, and Toura.
Although this is DIO’s most consistent season in Ultimate so far, DIO’s consistency was always the biggest thing holding him back, and even this season he still took 9 losses to players outside the top 50, including 5 losses to players outside the top 100. While some, like two losses to Masha at Toyota Grand Slam 3, were at small tournaments, others, like losses to Sylph, Parme, and Kojika Yoshio were not. Still, DIO’s results are clearly on the upswing, and he’s surely looking to silence any who doubt his claim to the title of best Snake player in the world this coming season.
The best Peach player in the world, Antony “MuteAce” Hoo floats in at #34 after yet another successful season. MuteAce attended 8 events across the season, and made top 8 at 6 of them, including at 3 out of 5 majors he attended. He opened the season strong with a run to 3rd place at Let’s Make Big Moves 2022, where he defeated Beast, Stroder Ame, BONK!, Fatality, and Dabuz to make Winners Finals before falling 1-3 to Quidd and Kola. He faltered at Genesis 8, losing 1-2 to Peckham in winners and 0-2 to Atelier in losers to place 65th with no notable wins, but bounced back two weeks later with a 5th place finish at Low Tide City 2022. There, he defeated Zie and ATATA, then achieved a game 5 win on Sparg0, the lowest ranked player this season to do so. At MomoCon 2022, he defeated omega, skittles, ScAtt, yonni, and Scend, losing only to Sonix and Tweek.
MuteAce’s 2-10 record against the top 50 is somewhat deceiving; not only does he have wins on players just outside the top 50 like Fatality and yonni, all 10 of his losses were to players ranked above him. In addition to his uncharacteristic Genesis performance, MuteAce’s only other non-top 50 loss was to Lima at Royal Brawl, a player he has a 3-1 record against this season. MuteAce is and continues to be one of the premiere threats to upset North America’s best.
Georgia’s rise as one of the strongest states in the US in the post-quarantine era has involved many different faces, such as Kola, Vendetta, Mugen, Fatality, and Teaser. One would be remiss, however, not to mention DDee in that conversation. First attaining prominence in the WiFi era as a WiFi TO and Pokemon Trainer prodigy, DDee switched to Steve upon his release and started terrorizing the local Georgia smash scene as soon as lockdown ended. Unable to travel to majors due to his young age, DDee instead waited for the majors to come to him for a breakout performance, and break out he did. At MomoCon 2022, he suffered an early 0-3 loss to Light, but then won 6 straight sets in losers over Sonido, Jake, Dark Wizzy, Lui$, Goblin, and Riddles before being stopped 2-3 by Maister. He supplemented this with solid results at a pair of Georgia regionals, beating Kola, Mugen, Peabnut, and Vendetta while taking losses to Kola and Fatality.
As one of the youngest and most skilled prodigies in the Smash scene, the question for DDee isn’t so much where his ceiling is but if he’ll be able to travel so that he can realize it. Though he’s certain to continue mining through the competition at Georgia regionals as well as Georgia’s two major series, it will take more than that to rise higher in the ranks. Should DDee gain the ability to travel out of region, he’s sure to find a place alongside other titans of the North American smash scene.
The best player in Michigan, Angel “IE | Onin” Mireles has been taking names there since the end of quarantine, and this year he started taking his prodigious Steve play outside the state as well. Though his season started slow, with a 25th place finish at Let’s Make Big Moves to WaDi and IcyMist, it only picked up from there. At Glitch – Infinite, he achieved a numerically worse 33rd placing, but scored a win on Ogey and took somewhat better losses to Kola and WaDi. After Glitch, Onin went on a win streak, winning Combo Breaker 2022 over Ned, MVD, WaDi, and loaf, and then COST 2022 over Dark Wizzy, IcyMist, Zinoto, and Elegant. His win streak ended at Warp Zone, where he took a set off of Ned but failed to close it out, but a Grand Finals streak was kept alive going into his final event of the season, Get on My Level 2022. Entering GOML as one of the top 8 seeds, Onin still managed to far outperform expectations, defeating 5 top 50 players in a row to achieve his first major win.
Onin possesses both the second highest top 50 win rate on the ranking as well as the highest non-top 50 loss rate, though both are somewhat deceiving. If one looks instead at his top 100 win and loss rate, the win rate falls to “only” 67% at 10-5, and the percent of non top 100 losses stands at 17%. Though his early season underperformances prevent a top 30 appearance, even those are better than many players on this list, with a worst loss of IcyMist still being a very strong player. Onin is on the upswing, and further major attendance will show just how far he can rise.
It may seem like Quidd came out of nowhere to win Let’s Make Big Moves 2022 in January of this year, but that wasn’t quite the case. Claiming the title of New York’s #3 in their first post-lockdown PR, Quidd’s first claim to fame was double eliminating light at Encore Smash Monthly 14 a year ago, and he also placed 25th at Mainstage 2021. Still, nothing could have prepared us for his run at LMBM; going from 129th at the event’s final pre-lockdown iteration to 1st place at its first post-lockdown showing. Going into the event as the 32nd seed, Quidd defeated ChocoTaco, moxi, Tilde, and Scend to make Winner’s Finals without dropping a game, then defeated MuteAce 3-1 to make Grand Finals. After losing the first set of Grands 1-3 to Kola, Quidd answered back with a 3-0. He followed this up with a strong run to 5th at his sole S-tier appearance, defeating MVD 3-2, SHADIC 3-0, and Zomba 3-2 to make top 8 before falling 1-3 to MkLeo and 0-3 to Riddles.
Quidd is the first of only five players in the top 50 to have no losses to players outside the top 50. Furthermore, all of Quidd’s losses were to players in the top 20. Having established himself as the best Pokemon Trainer in the world, the only limit to how far Quidd will rise in the future is his ability to travel out to events so he can win them.
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