Welcome to the ΩRank 2022 Top 100 players in the world! 2022 was Ultimate’s most chaotic year yet, full of upsets and out of nowhere bracket runs. In 166,308 sets featuring 37,987 players at 483 tournaments, these 100 competitors stood out from the pack to earn a place in the Top 100.
Toshimasa “Choco” Hayakawa had a rough 2021, failing to take sets off top 100 players at any of the five events he entered, but bounced back with a strong though uneven 2022. The best ZSS in Japan completed eight bracket runs throughout the year, but the highlight is easily a 9th place finish at supermajor Kagaribi 7, where he defeated Shogun, Taikei, Yaura, Kameme, and YOC before losing game 5 to Huto and 0-3 to Kome. He also achieved a top 16 finish at A tier WAVE #2, defeating Toura and Paseriman 2-1 in losers after falling to 0-2 to takera, before being finished off by Noi 1-2. At other events throughout the season, Choco scored wins on players like Futari no Kiwami Ah~!, Jogibu, Kamisuke, Umeki, and TKM.
Though last year was a partial return to form for Choco, it was not a complete one, as while he’s one of the few players in this part of the ranking to have a winning record on the top 100, he also sports the weakest loss record of anyone in the top 100, with a nice 69% of his losses being to unranked players. Strong top 16 finishes at events like Kagaribi 7 and WAVE #2 are contrasted against 17th at WAVE #3, 25th at WAVE #1, and 33rd at Kagaribi 8. Choco might be back, but he’s got a ways to go before he returns to his pre-quarantine heights. Still, his heights in the past year show the potential is still in him; it’s just a matter of achieving the consistency he was once known for.
Noi might not be the flashiest or most memorable player in Japan, but the Olimar/Pokemon Trainer dual main has quietly been achieving solid results post-lockdown, results that proved just enough for him to sneak a spot in the top 100. Rather than making deep bracket runs while achieving numerous upsets, instead consistency is the name of the game for Noi, as he made top 16 at eight of the ten events he entered throughout the season, including five out of seven majors. Starting the year off at A+ tier Kagaribi 6, Noi defeated Kome 3-2 before losing to Repo 0-3 and Jogibu 1-3. At supermajor Kagaribi 7, he lost 0-3 to MASA but defeated Taikei in losers, 3-1, but lost to ProtoBanham afterwards 1-3. At submajor Seibugeki 11, he defeated Lisuto 2-1 in winners and Shogun 2-0 in losers while losing 1-2 to ProtoBanham and YOC. At his best event of the year, Kagaribi 8, he lost 0-3 to Sigma but defeated Kameme 3-1 in losers before subsequently being eliminated by Umeki, 1-3. At WAVE #2, he took uncharacteristic losses to Machamaccha and chicken, but still scored wins on Lisuto and Choco. At other events throughout the season, Noi defeated players like Budoshu, chicken, Manzoku, Meido, Oi George, sssr, and TKM.
Even his sole sub-top 16 finishes of the season—placing 25th to MASA and ProtoBanham at Kagaribi 7 and 25th to Umeki and Abadango at WINNER! -Next#1-—Noi still only lost to top 100 players, truly impressive consistency. In fact, aside from a lack of deep runs that never gave him more than one top 150 win per event, the biggest weakness in Noi’s season came from subpar performances at small Kanto series DAWN, where between two showings he took six losses outside the top 100 but no top 100 wins. With his strong, consistent major record, it seems inevitable that Noi will get his breakout performance that truly puts him on the map; it’s a question not of if, but of when.
ZAKI might still be best known abroad for his famous upset over MkLeo at Smash 4’s 2GG: Hyrule Saga, but he’s been putting up top 100 level results in Japan ever since Ultimate released, and 2022 was no exception, as the world’s best Dedede main put up solid events at multiple events in Kansai. The linchpin of ZAKI’s season is a dominant 3-0 record on Kome across best of five encounters at three separate events; while Kome was able to take at least one game each time, ZAKI always was able to close it out. Though ZAKI competed at eight different events throughout the year, his greatest successes came from Sumabatos, where he placed in the top 6in three out of the four he attended. At major Sumabato SP 26, he defeated Alice 2-1 in top 96 before falling 0-2 to Asimo, then defeated Luminous 2-0 before losing 0-3 to acola. At Sumabato SP 27, he lost to Gurudan in pools, but won 7 sets in losers over players like tk3, Lunamado, Rarukun, Injelly, Komorikiri, and Kome to make it to Grands, where he 3-0’d HIKARU in the first set of Grands but lost 1-3 in the bracket reset. At Sumabato SP 30, he lost his 2nd round to YamaD but once again embarked on a long 8 set losers run, defeating Tarakotori, Kome, momon, sssr, and Kaninabe but ultimately being eliminated 1-3 by alice for a 5th place finish. His final event of the year, Sumabato SP 31, was an uncharacteristic underperformance, as he lost 0-2 to Doramigi in pools and while he defeated players like Kinaji, Tsumusuto, and LiiMac in losers, he nonetheless lost to Luminous to finish at 13th.
Although ZAKI had solid results at the smaller Sumabato series, he fell short at larger Maesuma tournaments, exiting at 25th at both events he attended, though not without wins on players like Tsuna, Mao, Levi, and Rarukun each time. His weakest performance came at his sole out of region event he attended, Seibugeki 11, where he finished 49th to Futari no Kiwami Ah~! and Latte. If he can take his level of play at Sumabatos to bigger events in and out of Kansai, ZAKI may well return to the top 50 contender status that he held in 2018 and early on in Smash Ultimate.
After a quiet first year post-lockdown that saw weaker than usual results, Shimizu “VGBC | Umeki” Masaki fired back in the latter half of 2022 with a string of results that indicated a return to form for Japan’s best daisy.
Umeki’s year began with a run to 7th at WINNER! -Next Gen-, where he lost 0-2 to KEN and akasa with a best win of Kisha. At Maesuma TOP 7, he lost early to Shirayuki but defeated Kirihara, Eim, and Rarukun in losers before being eliminated by Injelly for 17th. A few days later, Kagaribi 7 proved to be his worst event of the year, as he lost to kept 0-3 and Luminous 2-3 for 49th with a best win of Senra. Maesuma TOP 8 continued the trend, with Umeki losing game 5 to Rarukun and 1-3 to komorikiri for another 49th. Seibugeki 11 was yet another weak performance, with Umeki taking respectable losses to KEN 0-2 and Rido 1-2 but no notable wins for 33rd.
At Kagaribi 8, Umeki once more lost early, this time to Oi George, but unexpectedly won 7 sets in losers to make top 8, taking down Tarakotori, YamaD, YOC, Noi, and finally Paseriman before losing 1-3 to ProtoBanham for 7th. From here on out, Umeki maintained a steadily upward trajectory, as though the underperformances didn’t vanish completely, their severity was much decreased. At WINNER! -Next#1-, Umeki defeated Noi 2-0 and Gorioka 2-1 in winners before falling 0-2 to Shuton. In losers, he eliminated rapidly rising Corrin player Neo 2-1 to make top 8 before falling himself 1-2 to zackray. This all culminated in a run to silver at his final event of the season Seibugeki 12, where he defeated Kisha, nagu, Yuzu, and Yamanaction to make top 8. There, he defeated Taikei 3-2 in Winners Semifinals and then Repo—hot off a shocking upset on acola—3-1 in Winners Finals to make Grands, though he fell 1-3 to Miya in both sets. Umeki shows no signs of slowing down either, having already kicked off his 2023 season with a 5th place finish at JAPAN 24 and a 9th place one at Umebura SP 9. Clearly intent on reclaiming his pre-pandemic heights, time will tell if he can keep his momentum going throughout the rest of the 2023 season.
Though he’s long been at the forefront of the North American Mega man metagame as far back as Smash 4, Christian “PHNM | Peabnut” Londoño has tended to fly under the radar. That changed last year, as what was an otherwise quietly successful season suddenly exploded with a second place finish at submajor Riptide 2022. That was merely the peak of a season that was strong from start to finish, from 2nd place to Kola at the titular Peabnut Formal, 13th at CEO 2022 with a win on Jahzz0, 13th at the Ludwig Smash Invitational LCQ with wins on Chase and BassMage, all the way to a 7th place finish at Dreamhack Atlanta 2022 with a win on Sean.
Still, there’s no denying that the silver placement at Riptide was Peabnut’s most impressive result of the year. Going into the event as the 14th seed, Peabnut benefited from upsets like Suarez over Ned and Jin over Scend, but his path was still by no means easy, as to make top 8 he had to defeat players like Zinoto, Suarez, and Grape. In top 8, he upset Jake 3-1 to make Winners Finals, which he lost to Tilde 1-3. In losers he faced his biggest challenge of the event, and passed with with flying colors, defeating Zomba 3-1 to make Grands, though he ultimately lost to Tilde in a reverse 3-0. Across the rest of the season, he defeated players like Cosmos, Goblin, MVD, Sean, and Teaser. It wasn’t all sunshine and rainbows for his year, as non-top 100 losses would continue to dog him, and while most of these were at smaller regionals, a loss to iModerz at the largest event of the season, Super Smash Con, was particularly damaging as it put him in the path of jaredisking1 in losers, who eliminated him at 65th. Considering how it was that SSC that was the immediate antecedent to his Riptide run, another rough performance at Let’s Make Big Moves to open his 2023 season might merely be a set-up for history to repeat itself, as when Peabnut falters, he tends to bounce back stronger than ever.
2022 was a breakout year for the world’s best Lucas player, Scott “ES | Nitox” Gaman, as he continually put up solid results in France, though his international results left something to be desired. Among Nitox’s results: 17th at Ultimate Fighting Arena 2022 to Darkstalker and Jake with wins on TriM and Chag; 1st at BDE Last Stock with wins on Neeroz, VinS, Raflow, Leon, and Flow; 2nd at DAT Blastzone 32 with wins on CurryGovernor, DarkStalker, and Luugi. His strongest result, however, came in the form of a 9th placement at A+ tier COLOSSEL 2022, where after losing to Mr.R in winners 1-3, he eliminated RyuKai, Lancelot, Mezcaul, and Space in losers before falling to NaetorU 1-3.
Nitox possesses the highest top 100 win rate of any player outside the top 50, defeating other top 100 players in 59% of his encounters with them. A large number of losses to unranked players limit him from ranking any higher, however, as do damaging finishes of 33rd at Vienna Challengers Arena 2022, 49th at Double Down 2022, and a shockingly low 257th at Genesis 8. The Genesis isn’t nearly as bad as it looks like at first glance, however, as his 1-2 loss to Peckham in winners was to someone who went on to upset MuteAce at the same event to finish 33rd, while his 1-2 loss to takera in losers was to a player who, while ludicrously inconsistent, still accrued 11 better wins throughout the year over players like Shuton, ProtoBanham, and KEN. With Nitox ending the year on a strong note at UFA 2022, it seems likely these underperformances will prove a thing of the past moving into 2023.
A mainstay of the Dutch smash scene since early in Smash 4, Sem “Supahsemmie” J. has flown under the radar a bit compared to better traveled peers in Europe, but he’s secretly the most consistent player on the continent. Although he might lack the major attendance or results of players like Mr.R, Tarik, or Oryon, he’s tied with the player ranked immediately above him for the 2nd fewest losses to players below him in the top 100: a mere 3, out of 83 total sets. Additionally, with winning records on players like Space, Tarik, and Tilde, he falls a single set short of a tied record against top 100 players. A 9th place finish at his sole major, ULTIMATE WANTED 4, stands as the peak of his season, coming with it wins on Leon, Tropped, and Ramses as Semmie lost only to top 15 players Riddles and Tea.
What keeps Semmie from being ranked any higher is merely a lack of attendance at additional majors, and the opportunities to fight better players that come with it. Dominance over one’s home reason can only take one so far if they aren’t fighting top 50 players while doing it. That being said, Semmie’s strong record clearly shows the potential he has to be ranked much higher in the future, if only he’s able to travel to more big events and face more of the strongest players in the world.
Troy “Puppeh” Wells is still best recognized for his improbable run to 5th at CEO 2019, but he’s continued putting up top 100 level results long after that, with 2022 being no exception. Though he didn’t manage to achieve the peaks that made other players stand out, he was impressively consistent with 5/6 of his losses at majors being to players in the top 20, while putting up solid results at regional events.
His season started with a 1st place finish at Stick Drift 2, where he double eliminated WaDi 3-0 and 3-1. He followed this up with a quiet 17th place at Pound 2022, defeating BlackTwins13, Grape, and Luma but being double eliminated by Sonic players in the form of KEN and Sonix. This was followed by a 33rd at MomoCon 2022, where he scored a 2-0 win on Toast before losing 1-3 to Zomba and 2-3 to Mugen. COST 2022 was his worst performance of the season, with Puppeh losing game 5 sets to Zinoto and GoofyGoober, a result that’s anomalous against the consistency of the rest of his season. At Justy Roll With It! 2022, he defeated KirbyKid and Lima while losing to MuteAce and Anathema. His season peaked with a 17th place finish at the largest event of the year, Super Smash Con 2022, where Puppeh defeated Joshathan Gamer, Marss, and the player variously known as “Yoomoo”, “SamteaSilver”, “Kum Hia Nao”, and “The Beast from the East” to make top 24 before falling to Dabuz and Kola 1-3 each. Throughout the rest of the year, Puppeh maintained his in-region dominance, winning small notable events Stick Drift 3 and Buddwauer’s Birthday Bash without dropping a set over players like NoTag and Frostbyte.
With only three losses to players ranked beneath him, Puppeh is tied with SupahSemmie for the 2nd fewest losses to players beneath him of anyone in the top 100. In fact, with all 7 of his losses to players above him being to top 50 players, it’s clear Puppeh’s consistency makes him due for another strong run. Like other similarly consistent players, it’s more a matter of when than it is a matter of if.
A self-proclaimed King K. Rool main but in practice Japan’s best Wario and its 2nd best Captain Falcon, Huto can be a confusing player to make sense of. The 2nd lowest ranked player to top 8 a supermajor—after the unranked YOC, and leaving aside the attendance cut Desmona—Huto sports high highs but a degree of inconsistency that seems almost random, able to go from losing to Kirby to making top 6 at an S tier in the span of two days.
Huto opened the year with a 33rd placement at A+ tier Kagaribi 6, beating Abadango 3-1 before losing 0-3 to Shuton and being eliminated by Aegis/Ganondorf dual-main Riteshia. At Seibugeki 10, Huto lost to Kirby player Konokururu 1-2, but eliminated near top-100 Wolf player Masha 2-1 in losers before himself falling 1-2 to Ryuoh. Two days later at Kagaribi 7, Japan’s most stacked event of 2022, Huto made top 6 from winners by defeating taranito, shion, Paseriman, Jogibu, and Choco, falling in top 6 1-3 to Asimo and 0-3 to DIO. At Maesuma TOP 10, he took an early loss to Surasura but eliminated consecutive Min Min players Oi, George and Omuatsu before being finished off by HIKARU. At Jingi 1, he took a best win of Songn before falling 1-3 to Shogun and Takera. At Maesuma TOP 9, he lost once again to Surasura in winners, and defeated Injelly 2-1 in losers prior to being eliminated 1-2 by Masashi. At WAVE #2, Huto defeated akasa and yuzu but lost 1-2 to MASA and 0-2 to emerging Min Min player Rimu. At small Kanto event DAWN #8, Huto placed second by defeating Motsunabe and Gorioka after losing to both in round robin pools, but was double eliminated by rapidly rising Corrin player Neo, becoming one of his first victims. At Maesuma TOP 10, Huto had an uncharacteristically quiet event, beating Komugiko and Atelier in winners before losing to Kameme and Repo. He closed out the season with a wild Seibugeki 12: after losing his third round to Riteshia yet again, he won 7 sets in losers over players like Gachipi, Paseriman, Senra, Shirayuki, Akakikusu, and Gorioka to make top 8, with the Akakikusu win being with his supposed main King K. Rool, ultimately falling 1-3 to a Miya that was on an equally long losers run, and who would go on to complete it as the longest losers run of the year.
With an even record against the top 100 but the third highest percentage of non-top 100 losses on the ranking, Huto’s highs shine just as much as his unpredictability. How his 2023 will shape up is anyone’s guess, but one thing’s for sure: it won’t be boring.
The best Ridley player in the world, Paul “ME | Mezcaul” G. was active in France pre-quarantine but didn’t emerge as one of its best players until after it. His 2022 elevated him from being a nationally recognized threat to a world recognized one, as he scored a series of upsets at regional events, peaking with a win on the thought to be invincible in Europe Glutonny. One of the most well attended players in the top 100, Mezcaul competed in 21 separate brackets throughout the year. Although not a bastion of consistency, his sheer quantity of results provided plenty of opportunities for solid showings, including 3rd at WANTED S5 C2 with wins on Homika and Leon, 1st at STAR K.O. – BEYOND THE BLAST ZONE – ROUND #6 with wins on MoDzai and Ogey, and 9th at major 95 Kings of Fields 2 with wins on Ramses, Flow, and Tomberry. His best runs, however, came not at majors nor at small events, but rather at mid-sized regions and superregionals, such as KRBanger 03, where he defeated Mr. E; TAI KAI 2, where he defeated Homika and Oryon; and DOSE2SEL x REVIVAL OF LYON, where he defeated Mr.R, PeW, and Oryon. His best result though clearly was WANTED S4 C3 – Saint Valentin Edition💖. After taking an early loss to Lioko, Mezcaul turned it into an opportunity by winning 7 sets in losers over players like Eko, Bluesky, and a shocking 2-0 on Glutonny—only the second time in Ultimate history a European had eliminated Glutonny’s Wario outside of a local—before falling 0-3 to the player who had sent Glutonny to losers to begin with, Mr. E.
As is the case with many other players, inconsistency is Mezcaul’s greatest weakness, as he lost significantly more sets to players outside the top 100 than he did players within it. Still, Mezcaul’s clearly on the upswing, and he may continue to rise in the ranks both in France and in the world.
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In the context of his results last year, it might not be surprising to see Eric “Panda | ESAM” Lew all the way down here, but it’s undeniably shocking in the context of his history in Ultimate prior to last year. After being solidly top 20 from Ultimate’s release through the end of 2021 and coming off of the best win of his career at Gltich 8.5, most expected his momentum would continue into the new year. Instead, although ESAM put up solidly top 100 results, he struggled with inconsistency, and never achieved the big peaks that had defined his previous years. Even so, removed from the context of prior years, there’s a lot to like about ESAM’s 2022. His Genesis featured a win on 101st player T3 DOM, and after losing to Marss, ESAM 3-0’d Tweek—a tremendously difficult feat—and while he was eliminated by Ikan 1-3, he was far from the best player Ikan beat that day. His Battle of BC 4 was a solid run that included a win on jaredisking1 and solid top 50 losses in Kome and Sisqui, and his 9th place finish at Lost Tech City included a win on a longtime demon in MuteAce and fine game 5 losses to Marss and Scend. Though he only earned 3 wins on the top 100—fewer than everyone ranked above him—his loss record was solid, with even most of the non-top 100 losses being not far outside it.
ESAM’s major results have always been unpredictable, and he’s never been a player to stick with inertia for very long, regardless of direction. Although his 2022 was without a doubt his weakest in over a decade, it would come to the surprise of no one were he to return to the top 20 in 2023.
First becoming known in 2021 for unexpectedly qualifying for the Smash World Tour 2021 championships—and then defeating Sonix once there—alice has been a prolific—and rapidly rising—force in Kansai over the past year. Attending 19 events in 2022, alice’s year is chock-full of both impressive feats and low lows. After a set of decent but not great in region results to start the year off, alice traveled to Kanto for Kagaribi 7, where a horribly unlucky bracket gave him 129th to top 200 players Tsubotsubo and Oi, George, and even for a couple months afterwards things didn’t really pick up. In fact, by the start of July, alice had accrued a total of 0 top 100 wins despite going to 10 different events, ranging from decently stacked invitationals to superregionals to supermajors.
Then, at Maesuma Offline in Kagawa, something unexpected happened: after losing to Asimo in top 8, alice ran into an acola who had been shockingly sent to losers by Kashiya. Then alice beat him 3-1, giving acola the lowest placement of his career up to that point. Alice would ride the momentum from this through the rest of the season. At Maesuma HIT Champship Series #2, he defeated momon 3-1 in Winners, then, after a game 5 loss to Jogibu, he defeated Kome, Asimo, and Jogibu in losers, before losing 0-3 to acola in Grands. At Sumabato SP 28, he had a quiet run with wins on showers and Karaage while losing only to acola and Asimo. Maesuma TOP 9 was similarly quiet, with alice placing 17th to Shirayuki and Atelier with a Budoshu win. Sumabato SP 30 was another solid event for the rising Roy, taking down Kome, Kinaji, and ZAKI while once more losing only to top 100 players. At Maesuma TOP 10, alice got his 1st supermajor top 8, losing to Abadango in winners but eliminating Ryuoh, Toura, Senra, Repo, and Nietono in losers before falling to Miya.
alice’s 2023 season might not be off to a hot start after a run in with Gackt in losers sent him out of Umebura SP 9 at 129th, but this is nothing he hasn’t dealt with before, and when looking at his overall trajectory in the past year it’s clear he’s on track to be ranked much higher when the next season comes to its conclusion.
Out of every single player in the world, Larry “GG | Larry Lurr” Holland’s 2022 might be the most perplexing. On the one hand, he earned multiple wins over players like MkLeo and Kurama, won stacked events over players like Marss, Space, and Supahsemmie. On the other hand, he placed outside the top 64 on four separate occasions, outside the top 128 on two. He got 2nd at the G4 Smash Invitational by defeating Chag and then MkLeo twice while losing only to Sparg0, and going game 5 with Sparg0 in Grands. He lost to Plum and MoDzai for 129th at Genesis 8. He beat Ouch!? at Battle of BC 4 and took a respectable loss to Glutonny in winners. He also lost 2-3 to Exodia in losers. He went 2-1 with Marss at Kawaii Kon 2022. He lost to Evander and Grayson for 193rd at Super Smash Con 2022. He beat Kurama twice at the Guildhouse Smash Invitational. He lost to Peco at Apex 2022 and DQ’d in losers. He beat Fatality at Blink Respawn 2022 and took a respectable loss in winners to Sonix. He lost to Capitancito in losers. He won DreamHack Rotterdam by beating Space, Lancelot, and Supahsemmie. He lost to M.M.Leo and Cyro for 65th at Mainstage 2022.
The fact of the matter is that there is no making sense of this. Perhaps that’s just part of living like Larry. Regardless, we can all hope his 2023 is one that’s more in line with what his peaks and decades long competitive history indicate he has the potential to accomplish, or failing that, at least makes a modicum of sense.
2022 was a solid year for the world’s best American turned Frenchman turned American, as Eric “AITX | Mr. E” Weber accrued a set of solid peaks on both sides of the Atlantic, though the quality of the peaks was certainly greater than his consistency in getting them. One of Mr. E’s best results as also one of his first of the year, defeating MoDzai 2-0 then sending Glutonny to losers 2-0 at WANTED S4 C3 – Saint Valentin Edition 💖 before losing 0-2 to Flow, then 2-0’ing Ogey and 3-0’ing Mezcaul in losers before falling 2-3 to Homika. At Spanish superregional Glory 2.0, he defeated NaetorU and Homika, but lost to Mezcaul 2-3 and Leon 1-3 for 13th. At major 95 Kings of Fields 2, he defeated Oryon, Mezcaul, and MoDzai while losing only to MkLeo and Glutonny. At WANTED S5 C2, he defeated Leon and Mezcaul, but was double eliminated by Naskino. Returning to the US for the rest of the year, he achieved his greatest performance of the year at Super Smash Con 2022, placing 25th with wins on Grayson, ChocoTaco, and a surprise upset on Sonix, while losing to jaredisking1 and Ned. He’d struggle with inconsistency for the remainder of the year, placing 25th at the Ludwig Smash Invitational LCQ and Apex 2022 and 33rd at Port Priority 7.
With two wins on top 20 players, it seems Mr. E’s greatest challenge isn’t beating Ultimate’s upper echelon, but rather getting to them in the first place, as he went out early without facing any top 100 players multiple times throughout the year at events like Pound 2022 and the e-Caribana invitational. Time will tell if he’s able to overcome these issues and return to the place on the rankings he occupied in Ultimate’s first year.
2022 might have been the year of the Samus, with players like IcyMist, quiK, Sisqui, Teaser, and Yaura all doing well, but it would be a mistake not to mention Chubu player Toura as well. Though he lacks the peaks of many of the others, his 2022 was full of consistently solid results at majors across Japan. Beginning the year with a solid top 24 placing at Kagaribi 6 with a win on Kameme, he followed it up with a 2nd place at Chubu regional Karisuma SP 12, losing to Masha twice but taking a set off him as well as eliminating DIO. His golden week supermajors weren’t anything impressive as he beat no relevant players, but he also only took good losses at them, with his Kagaribi 7 in particular featuring the absurdly bad bracket luck of HIKARU into Hero for 65th. At Sumabato SP 26, he lost to Shirayuki 0-2, but eliminated Jogibu, Tsumusuto, and Rido in losers before having his losers run ended 0-2 by DIO. At Maesuma TOP 8, he earned his best result of the year, losing early to Kameme 1-3 but going on a 6 set losers run that ended the bracket runs of Shissho, tk3, Yamanaction, Shogun, DIO, and Tsubotsubo before losing 1-3 to ProtoBanham for 9th, though this would be his last event of the year where he earned top 100 wins. A solid run at Maesuma TOP 9 saw him defeat Tsuna and Surasura in winners, then after dropping to acola he took out Masashi 2-0 and Ryuoh 3-2 in losers prior to losing 2-3 to Masha. At WAVE #2 he became the first top 100 player to fall victim to up-and-coming Corrin Neo, he but beat akasa in losers before losing 1-2 to Choco. His final major of the year was Maesuma TOP 10, where he defeated Luminous in winners but lost to Miya 0-3, then took out shori in losers prior to falling 1-3 to alice.
Although he took 16 losses to players outside the top 100 throughout the year, most were at smaller events; only 4 of his 18 major losses were to players outside the top 100, impressive consistency for a player who went to 9 separate majors throughout the year. However, his win rate against top 100 players was the weakest of anyone in the top 100. Though consistency was the name of the game for Toura in 2022, 2023 may be a different story entirely, with a 5th place finish at supermajor Umebura SP 9 to kick off the new year setting him up for a rise from low top 100 to contender for best Samus player in the world, if he can keep it up as the season goes on.
ΩRank: The Ultimate Algorithmic Ranking 