1) MVG FOX | MkLeo []()

This offhand comment from one of MkLeo's Twitch streams does a pretty good job, I think, of summing up his approach to the game. Said approach is probably heavily influenced by his mentor, Mew2King — who is not only arguably the all-time greatest overall player of the Super Smash Bros. franchise, but also, in my opinion, the greatest coach the series has ever seen, too. MkLeo's play is emblematic of Mew2King's mentality: just know everything you need to know about the game, and every matchup, and every opponent you face, and execute everything correctly, and you will win. And good god, does MkLeo ever win. And win and win and win.

Which isn't to say he never loses. Far from it: in the first half of the year, MkLeo's reign was less dominant than the GOATs of most of the other Smash games were at the heights of their careers. In the year's back half, however, he's started to build a case for one of the most dominant, not placing below 2nd in any tournament from MomoCon 2019 to the end of this ranking period. Needless to say, I definitely don't see MkLeo falling from the ranks of the top players any time soon, and wouldn't be at all surprised to see him still in this spot this time next year. If he puts as much work into maintaining his position in 2020 as he did into earning it in 2019, then hell, the kid deserves it.

Click here to watch MkLeo's greatest set victory.

2) TSM | Tweek ()

Tweek sets are beautiful to watch. The intricate maneuvers he pulls off while piloting his characters, weaving in and out of his opponents' threat ranges, setting up ledge traps, creatively executing combos and edgeguards — it's all nothing short of balletic. When playing at his best, Tweek's style feels boundlessly tricky, layering feint atop bait atop mindgame. At times like these, as Coney puts it, it feels like Tweek's brain is expanding out of his skull. I'm not ashamed to admit that I have at least once been moved to tears by how Tweek plays this children's party game for babies.

Tweek's narrative this year has been fraught with indecision over character selection, but a very interesting turn of events right at the end of this ranking period has added quite a bit of intrigue to Tweek's upcoming second year of competing. In early November, he entered Return to Yoshi's Island, used Joker thoughout the entire tournament, didn't drop a single set, and then announced that he would be using the character exclusively for the foreseeable future, a promise he kept at the following tournament save for a single game, and the tournament after that save for two games. There's a lot that one could read into this development, but I will leave that as an exercise for the reader.

Click here to watch Tweek's greatest set victory.

3) PG | Marss []

Half an idiot, but 100% genius. Okami was referring to doubles, but this would not be an entirely off-the-mark way to describe how Marss plays singles, too. He is better known than perhaps any other player for his high-risk, ballsy, off-the-wall plays, perfectly epitomized by his signature move: down-airing offstage with ZSS and taking his opponent out with him. Marss is never one to shy away from moves with high end-lag either, especially smash attacks. With Zero Suit, he tosses out upsmashes like they're lagless aerials, and he never shies away from throwing out a randy forward smash with Ike. Fatality says of Marss' Captain Falcon that he plays the character like a WiFi Warrior, throwing out all kinds of noobish options, but, crucially, he says, they're "the right noobish options." The line between idiot and genius is a fine one indeed.

Click here to watch Marss' greatest set victory.

4) NRG | Nairo []

In case you haven't noticed, Nairo is a pretty popular guy. So popular, in fact, that even maining one of spectators' least favorite characters, Palutena, isn't nearly enough to discourage the overwhelming support he receives from fans every single time he plays on stream. While part of this is due to the following he's built up through high-quality regular Twitch streaming, another major factor is surely his style of gameplay. Nairo is one of very few top players who have been able to succeed in tournament with a highly aggressive approach, running down his opponents like freight train. In fact, the seeming disparity between this style and his choice of character led many people to speculate for many months that Palutena would not be his true, final main; rather, like so many other players at the beginning of the game's lifespan, Nairo was simply suffering from a character crisis, and using Palutena as a stopgap crutch, and would ditch her just as soon as he figured out which character really suited him best. Instead of that, Nairo worked diligently at developing the character further and further, continually improving, culminating in his triumphant win over the world's best player at Mainstage, permanently silencing the critics.

Over the course of the game's first year, Nairo has been performing better and better, inching closer and closer to the #1 spot that always eluded him during Smash 4. Will Nairo be able to achieve in Ultimate what he never could in its prequel?

Click here to watch Nairo's greatest set victory.

5) Samsora []

6) Liquid | Dabuz []

For the first few months of the game, Dabuz's solo main of Olimar was a consistent force to be reckoned with in bracket, earning him dependably high placements in major tournaments. After the character's nerfs, however, Dabuz struggled somewhat, and as a result he started to turn to his old Smash 4 main of Rosalina more and more, until finally she essentially became his new co-main alongside that diminutive space captain. I can only hope this dual-main strategy serves him well into the future of his quest for theoretically optimized gameplay.

Click here to watch Dabuz's greatest set victory.

7) SST | Shuton []()

Shuton, as a fairly dedicated solo main of Olimar, was a huge beneficiary of the buffs that Olimar received in the transition of Smash 4 to Ultimate. When Olimar was nerfed a few months into the game, his results with the character did suffer somewhat, but he was eventually able to bounce back and went back to making Grand Finals at Umeburas and Sumabatos like his old self, for the most part. One thing that didn't change from Smash 4 to Ultimate, however, was Shuton's ability to beat MkLeo. In the three tournament sets that the two have played across the two games, MkLeo has yet to even take a single game off of Shuton. This extended even to the Frostbite crew battle, where Shuton eliminated MkLeo with a clean two-stock. Funnily enough, Shuton has the opposite problem with Tweek, not winning a single one of the four sets the two played in Smash 4 and Ultimate. I believe that if Shuton were able to figure out the Tweek matchup, and shored up his consistency against players ranked below him, he'd have a real shot at #1 player in the world.

Click here to watch Shuton's greatest set victory.

8) GW | zackray []

Given his rise at the end of Smash 4, a lot of people in the know considered zackray a contender for one of the best in Japan going into Smash Ultimate's release, and he proved that by winning 5 of the 7 tournaments he attended leading up to Genesis, aided by his trusty main, Wolf, to whom he was totally dedicated. At Genesis, he stunned the entire world with an overwhelming 3-0 victory over Light, one of America's best, demonstrating a patient, stationary playstyle that was unlike what we were accustomed to from top players. People thought he could be among the world's very best, but he never got a chance to really prove that until EVO, where he faced and fell to MkLeo with his Wolf. Leading up to this, he had been experimenting with many other characters, and when they faced again, he tried his R.O.B. after going down 1-2 with Wolf, but still fell to Leo's might in one of the most heartbreaking game 5 defeats of the year. He declared Wolf dead to him and shifted focus to Joker and R.O.B., but continued to experiment with other characters, gradually letting even Wolf back into his heart after realizing his utility in the Olimar matchup. He won The Big House 9 via one of the most awe-inspiring loser's bracket runs I've ever seen and propelled himself back into the conversation for one of the best players worldwide. He hasn't yet gotten the chance to rematch MkLeo with his newly solidified character roster, but I wait with bated breath for that day...

Click here to watch zackray's greatest set victory.

9) Solary | Glutonny []

Glutonny's dedication to his character is, I think, reflective of an extremely strong work ethic. This is pure speculation on my part, but I get a strong sense from his gameplay, and the way it's evolved over time, and even the way he carries himself, that he is constantly studying, practicing, and driving himself to improve. I also get the sense that he's more than willing to incorporate elements of gameplay styles from other Wario players. The way Glutonny moves around the stage these days, for example, reminds me heavily of Tweek. With this level of motivation, there's no doubt in my mind that Glutonny has what it takes to keep himself at the elite level at which he currently stands. Unless, of course, Wario is severely nerfed.

Click here to watch Glutonny's greatest set victory.

10) R2G | Kameme []

For the first few months of Smash Ultimate, it seemed this stagnation would continue, as he put out results roughly comparable to what he was doing at the end of Smash 4. But then something clicked again, and he crash-bombed his way into the national spotlight once more with a clean 1st place finish at Japan's largest-ever Smash tournament. But unlike in Smash 4, he hasn't seemed to really slow down since then. A few months later, he shocked the world again by sending MkLeo to the loser's bracket in the largest-ever global Smash tournament, EVO 2019, and since then he has made top 8 at almost every qualifying tournament he's attended. I have no idea why Kameme's results have fluctuated over the years, but I personally hope their wavering has finally ceased, because Kameme always puts on a good show whenever he runs deep through a bracket.

Click here to watch Kameme's greatest set victory.

11) Anáhuac NVR | Maister

For the first few months after the game's release, Maister struggled with consistency, perhaps due to his risky, aggressive playstyle. This especially hurt his performance at major tournaments. But as the year progressed, he refined his approach, and now he's a staple of the top 24 of any major he attends, if not top 8. Once thought to be one of the worst characters in the game, I eagerly anticipate what new heights Maister will push Game and Watch to in the years to come.

Click here to watch Maister's greatest set victory.

12) KEN

Going into Ultimate, quite a few people doubted Sonic's viability. Quite a few people still do, in fact. And it is very clear that the character is not what he once was. But with his bevy of wins on players of all skill levels, up to and including the best player in the world, KEN is here to assure us that the Blue Blur is still a force to be reckoned with in bracket.

Click here to watch KEN's greatest set victory.

13) Tea []()

Tea had a bit of a slow start in Smash Ultimate. Not in terms of placements, though, just in terms of attendance. The American scene had little idea what a "Tea" was until he came to Frostbite and got 13th, beating Dabuz and Marss in the process. He followed that up with a hell of a statement at 2GG: Prime Saga, where he took a set off of one of the two best players in the world. He continued to make waves in both America and Japan, until he was finally able to nab a qualifier for Ultimate Summit 2, where he performed admirably, taking no losses outside the top 5 of this ranking. Throughout all this, Tea has made one thing resoundingly clear: Pac-Man is not just a gimmick, and his abilities in this game must be respected.

Click here to watch Tea's greatest set victory.

14) Ally []

15) Rogue | Light

But as the year progressed, he began to see a slight decline in his performance. People were starting to find ways of countering his infinite rushdown approach, and he started dropping sets to lower-ranked players a bit more often. Many started to speculate that Fox was being "figured out" and would soon fall off in the meta. He had some soul-searching to do if he wanted to get back to his zenith, and that's exactly what he did. His playstyle significantly matured, and he became more patient and strategic when necessary, without sacrificing all the fire and fury that made him a star in the first place. While he may not have completely reclaimed his former consistent placements, there's no denying that he's getting there, bit by studious bit.

Click here to watch Light's greatest set victory.

16) YB

YB plays Samus and Dark Samus like just about no one else on the planet. The most distinctive elements of his playstyle are his use of Charge Shot and Bomb, both of which he relies on almost as much for movement as he does for dealing damage, if not more. Unlike most other Samus players, he almost never fully charges his Charge Shot, preferring to use it to wavebounce around the stage in tricky ways. And he employs Bomb for similar feints and maneuvers. Any aspiring Samus or Dark Samus main would be emphatically remiss not to study all of YB's available recorded tournament sets. Especially since there's a decent chance we won't ever see him at an offline tournament again.

Click here to watch YB's greatest set victory against a non-retired player.

17) Cosmos

But funnily enough, despite Inkling's alleged potential, things shook out in such a way that left Cosmos the only Inkling main in the game's top 30 players. And so, all eyes fell on him to prove his character's potential to the world. A daunting challenge, but one he more than rose to, as he made top 16 at every tournament he attended in the first half of the ranking year save for Let's Make Moves. In the year's second half, he had a bit of a drop-off, and it's unclear whether this is due to mentality issues or the continual development of the meta. Whatever it was, it seems he worked hard to overcome it, because he rose decisively out of this nadir at the tail end of the year, even managing to take a set off of the world's best about a month ago. It may be hard at times for her to close out stocks, but Inkling's not going to go down without a fight. Not if Cosmos has anything to say about it.

Click here to watch Cosmos' greatest set victory.

18) PG | ESAM []

Click here to watch ESAM's greatest set victory.

19) WaDi []

So don't sleep on WaDi next time you see him competing at a major. In a chaotic enough bracket, his consistency could take him much farther than you might expect.

Click here to watch WaDi's greatest set victory.

20) ProtoBanham []

Click here to watch ProtoBanham's greatest set victory.

21) Salem []

22) CLG | VoiD []()

Somewhat luckily for him, Sheik also got buffs around that time, so he gave that character a serious shot, but came away feeling like those buffs weren't quite enough. There's still a strong sense that VoiD is still trying to find his footing in the latest meta of Smash Ultimate, but I have no doubt that such a studied, technical player with such an impressive legacy will find his way back into the cream of the competitive crop before too long.

Click here to watch VoiD's greatest set victory.

23) Choco

This consistency is also reflected in his Low volatility classification, which is rare for a Japanese player. It's hard to over-emphasize just how difficult and impressive maintaining this level of consistency is in Japan. You may have noticed that the Japanese players on this list tend, on average, to have higher volatility ratings than players from other countries. This is widely believed to be because Japan has an unusually deep pool of competitive talent, making it very difficult, as a top player, not to get upset once in awhile. Therefore, the fact that Choco has developed a winning gameplan for shutting down all but the cream of Japan's crop is commendable, and is why he's earned a top 25 spot on this ranking.

Click here to watch Choco's greatest recorded set victory (fifth-greatest overall).

24) MVG | Dark Wizzy

Dark Wizzy started this year off strong and has only been getting better and better. So everyone else better watch out for falling up-airs.

Click here to watch Dark Wizzy's greatest set victory.

25) Rivers

Click here to watch Rivers' greatest set victory.

26) TG | MVD []

Such measures were not taken (at least not for Snake), but nevertheless Snake began to fall off in the meta. It seemed that those who weren't Brawl veterans were finally starting to figure out how the hell Snake worked, and MVD's placements started to suffer as a result. But MVD has a passion for his character that few can match, so I can't help but think that he'll be able to recover if he puts in enough work.

Click here to watch MVD's greatest set victory.

27) FS | Kola []

Roy, in my opinion, fits Kola a bit better than Cloud does. Kola's playstyle is ruthlessly aggressive — he's the kind of player who will straight-up eviscerate you if you let him into your zone — and this kind of gameplay fits Roy and his hilt-sweetspots extremely well. He's mostly just been getting better and better with the character as the year has progressed, too. His best tournament performance was towards the tail end of the year at The Big House 9, where he beat Dath, Advo, Blacktwins13, kept, and Zinoto on a crazy loser's run all the way to 9th place. He may not usually travel too far from his region, but make no bones about it: whenever there's a big tournament near Georgia, Kola's a name you're gonna wanna look out for.

Click here to watch Kola's greatest set victory.

28) Armada | Myran

Results-wise, Myran has had a bit of a struggle ever since Olimar got nerfed, a nerf that he is always eager to remind us of whenever he's on a tournament stream, sporting his protestive in-game tag, "Fix Shield." However, while he probably isn't going to get another top 3 placing at a supermajor any time soon, he hasn't fallen as far as many would have you believe, and, if he keeps up his current level of results, he could be an indefinite mainstay of the top 50.

Click here to watch Myran's greatest set victory.

29) Stroder

Results-wise, Stroder first rose to global prominence in SSBU at Ultimate Nimbus, where he pulled off a shocking upset on Tweek with his Greninja. Since then, he hasn't really slowed down, getting good-to-great placements at just about every major tournament he's attended save for his most recent one, an unfortunate 129th place finish at The Big House 9. Only time will tell whether that's merely a fluke or the start of a worrying trend.

Click here to watch Stroder's greatest set victory.

30) dB | yeti []

Over the rest of the year, yeti would continue to prove his consistency, never failing to make top 8 at any tournament smaller than a big major. Wielding Mega Man and Snake, yeti is a master of zoning out the opponent, then striking from up close at just the right moment. He's also developed a few running rivalries with other top 50 players, such as Maister and MVD, as a result of his high tournament attendance. With such a wide purview of matchup experience, who knows what kind of adaptations and improvements he'll be able to make in the coming year?

Click here to watch yeti's greatest set victory.

31) SSG | LeoN []

Bowser's theme won't stop playing in my head even as I write this. I don't think I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight.

Click here to watch LeoN's greatest set victory.

32) Venia

33) Wish7s []

In the first half of the year, he relatively quickly established himself as the best Pokémon Trainer out there — at least until Tweek picked up the character. But eventually he felt that Trainer was holding him back, and shifted his focus to Joker. Like Leo, he struggled with the character at first, but eventually found a firm footing, and now he's doing about as well with Joker as he ever did with Trainer. This has caused him a bit of grief though, because he really wants to be able to play a more "crowd-pleasing" character. So he picked up some promising secondaries like Icies and Toon Link to augment the Joker, and even goes back to Trainer on occasion. But to him, these are all stopgap measures, because: as long as I've known about him, he's wanted, above all else, for Geno to make his appearance in Smash. And frankly, it's hard to think of a character who'd be more crowd-pleasing than that...

Click here to watch Wishes' greatest set victory (set #1).

34) T ()

Performance-wise, T's wild play has resulted in some equally wild volatility, with T both earning multiple top 10 wins and taking multiple unranked losses in this ranking year. As the year progressed, however, T really collected himself and shored up his weak points, resulting in him not taking any losses outside of the top 100 at qualifying tournaments since September. His current level already seems a tier above what he was able to accomplish in Smash 4. Just how far will our adventuring hero be able to go?

Click here to watch T's greatest set victory.

35) TG | MuteAce []

MuteAce made waves again with a major upset at Frostbite 2019, when he sent zackray to the loser's bracket with a resounding 3-1 victory. But MuteAce wasn't satisfied with just upsetting top players from time to time — he wanted to be one. So he persevered, fighting through more difficulty than I will discuss plainly in this write-up — check out his SmashWiki page for more info — racking up more upsets along the way, until he finally earned a spot in Ultimate Summit 2 by getting Top 8 at Mainstage in the best loser's bracket run of his career. MuteAce has finally achieved something great, and while his performance at Summit probably fell a bit short of his expectations, I think his future is still looking bright.

Click here to watch MuteAce's greatest set victory.

36) Wrath ()

Unlike KEN's frenetic maneuvering, Wrath pilots Sonic with a more measured, patient approach. Like KEN, however, he becomes a total monster in advantage state, finding miracle bairs and fairs when the opponent is flying through the air to close out stocks. I look forward to seeing Wrath show us new facets to Sonic as the meta progresses.

Click here to watch one of Wrath's very few recorded set victories against a top 100 player (far from his greatest overall).

37) DNG | Nietono ()

Click here to watch Nietono's greatest set victory (with apologies for the poor recording quality).

38) CACAW | Big D ()

Somewhat unusually for high-level competitive smashers, Big D actually has a full-time career outside of playing. This has prevented him from venturing very far outside of his hometown of Vancouver for most tournaments. But after he won SKL Smashfest 5, he announced that he was going to make an effort to travel more, which he followed up on when he flew all the way down to Ontario, California to play at Mainstage, a decision that led to his best set win yet in the form of zackray. We can only hope that Big D continues to bring the magic of his impressive hammer siblings to competitions far and wide.

Click here to watch Big D's greatest recorded set victory (4th-greatest overall).

39) Demise | Nicko []

Shulk is on the rise and it's Nicko at the vanguard, so you'd better start labbing your character's combos on all his different Monado Arts if you want to have a shot at taking any tourneys in SoCal.

Click here to watch Nicko's greatest set victory.

40) IluZ | Raffi-X

Click here to watch Raffi-X's greatest recorded set victory (third-greatest overall).

41) Mazer | NAKAT

Click here to watch NAKAT's greatest recorded set victory (second-greatest overall).

42) ImHip []

So keep on keepin' on, ImHip. You'll get noticed someday, I'm sure of it.

Click here to watch ImHip's greatest set victory.

43) TG | Raito []

Click here to watch Raito's greatest set victory.

44) OES | RFang []

But you don't get to top 50 on 1000rank just by getting your friend to eat a cockroach. No sir, RFang is actually a beast at this video game. In an unfortunate turn of events, though, he wasn't able to take any games from his opponents at Summit 2 itself — but look at it realistically: he was a top 50 player who exclusively played top-15-borderline-top-10 opponents at that event. Can you really blame him for struggling in those circumstances? In an almost hilarious turn of events, though, he actually had by far the two best tournament performances of his career at one event right before that Summit and one right after, racking up wins on Pandarian, Trela, Light, WaDi, LeoN, Jakal, and Wishes between them, and even taking Nairo to game 5 at the latter event (which he wasn't able to do at Summit). The Summit level up is real, it seems, and I fear for the tournament lives of anyone who stands in RFang's way in 2020.

Click here to watch RFang's greatest recorded set victory (second-greatest overall).

45) CaptainZack []

46) T1 | Larry Lurr ()

However, he gradually started to shift more and more of his efforts into developing a third character: Wolf. And as he did, he slowly started to see his results improve more and more. And lo and behold: while he's still not at the level he was in the previous game, he's clawed his way back to being a top 50 player in the world. I get the feeling that a lot of people haven't gotten the memo that Larry is a good player again. I can only hope that my rankings help to spread the word.

Click here to watch Larry Lurr's greatest set victory.

47) FOW

Click here to watch FOW's greatest set victory.

48) HyperKirby

Click here to watch HyperKirby's greatest set victory.

49) DA | Sinji []

To elaborate: Sinji plays Pac-Man with a specific, zoning-based gameplan. Wall the opponent out with hydrant, charge fruit, relieve pressure with counterattacking aerials, lather rinse repeat. I'm simplifying immensely, of course. It's impossible to become a top 50 player without a great deal of adaptability. But there's no denying how patiently Sinji can play at times. One top player once emphasized that a single best-of-five set against Sinji took 45 minutes to complete. But there is a beauty in how carefully and smartly you have to play in order to so thoroughly shut down your opponent's options. And few players embody that beauty like Sinji does.

Click here to watch Sinji's greatest set victory.

50) Grip | Space

I'm itching to see what Space can do at an American major. Here's hoping he gets the chance to visit someday.

Click here to watch Space's greatest set victory.

51) ロン []

Can't wait to see this guy make a splash the next time he decides to come to an Umebura. Who knows, maybe we'll even see him in America someday.

Click here to watch ロン's greatest set victory.

52) bc | Mr.R []

Results-wise, Mr.R has been somewhat plagued by inconsistency, taking some weird losses throughout the year. On the flip-side, he also has some jaw-droppingly good wins, including one on MkLeo at Prime Saga. He's still the second-best player in Europe, but a few players like Space, quiK, Leffen and Meru are nipping at his heels as of late (in Space's case, even surpassing him). He'll need to patch up these holes in his play if he wants to reach his former heights again. But I know he has it in him to do it.

Click here to watch Mr.R's greatest set victory.

53) Demise | Mr. E ()

Click here to watch Mr E's greatest set victory (set #1).

54) CE | Meme []

Click here to watch Meme's greatest recorded set victory (second-greatest overall).

55) 3D | Gen []

Gen's Palutena, as you might expect, is somewhat Nairo-esque, though perhaps a touch more defensive. However, it would seem that Gen's style with Palu has at least one advantage over Nairo's: for whatever reason, it has been more effective against Light, as Gen has never dropped a set to that Connecticut Fox, unlike Nairo. Perhaps if the source of this advantage could be identified, Gen could more fully flesh out his own Palutena style, and rise through the ranks.

Click here to watch Gen's greatest set victory.

56) MVG | ScAtt []

Click here to watch ScAtt's greatest recorded set victory (second-greatest overall).

57) Tsu []

Click here to watch Tsu's greatest set victory.

58) The Great Gonzales []

Most people probably know Gonz from that time he knocked Tweek out of Smash 'N' Splash 5 at 33rd, but this guy has also built up a long and storied tradition of clowning on other Tri-state elites at locals, often busting out his secondary Game and Watch to get the job done. Perhaps most shocking is his 11-5 set history over LeoN, most of which was done with Palutena, despite the fact that LeoN is a known Palutena slayer who has never lost to Gen and famously caused Nairo to instead opt for Robin the last time they played. Lord knows how Gonz did that, but one thing's for sure: whenever you see him in bracket, there's bound to be some chaos, one way or another.

Click here to watch The Great Gonzales' greatest set victory.

59) SNB | Abadango []

Click here to watch Abadango's greatest recorded set victory (set #1).

60) Kuro

Click here to watch Kuro's greatest set victory.

61) Lea

I think Greninja still seems, to many, to be somewhat mysterious in terms of where exactly he fits into the metagame. But if Lea keeps showing up like he has been, every down tilt a lesson, every back air a teachable moment, I'm sure we'll slowly continue to piece things together.

Click here to watch Lea's greatest set victory.

62) NickC

Funnily enough, this high-octane, balls-to-the-wall playstyle has somehow translated to a very high level of consistency for NickC, as he neither tends to make nor take many big upsets in tournament. He had a bit of trouble performing to his usual standard at majors during the first half of the year, but I suppose he must have worked on his tourney nerves and the consistency of his play, because he managed to make top 24 of every tournament but one that he attended in the year's second half, including at two supermajors. And I, for one, couldn't be happier about this — the more NickC sets I get to watch in tourney streams, the better.

Click here to watch NickC's greatest set victory.

63) NVR | Elegant

64) myR | quiK []

Click here to watch quiK's greatest set victory (set #1).

65) Strike

Click here to watch Strike's greatest set victory (set #1).

66) Pandarian ()

Pandarian started out his competitive Ultimate career as a Meta Knight main, but dropped the character pretty quickly, presumably due to finding him underwhelming compared to Smash 4. From there, she became one of the earliest and most visible champions of Pokémon Trainer, and I would argue she was instrumental in developing and promoting the early meta of that character, with her top 8 finishes at Ultimate Nimbus and Battle of BC 3. She would continue to prove the viability of Trainer at just about everything else she attended this year — despite her aforementioned high tournament attendance, she hasn't placed outside of top 48 at anything this year save for Genesis 6. She's still so young, I foresee truly great things from Pandarian in the future if she keeps grinding it out like this.

Click here to watch Pandarian's greatest recorded set victory (his third-greatest overall).

67) Awestin

Awestin's playstyle is a sight to behold, featuring wild aggression, frenetic aerial movement, and his signature move: somehow seeming to Jedi mind-trick his opponents into falling right into his PK Thunder 2's. I would love to see him travel more to show it off, but barring that, I hope more top players follow ESAM and MVD's example and take the pilgrimage to Texas to test their mettle against him.

Click here to watch Awestin's greatest set victory.

68) Zinoto []

Click here to watch Zinoto's greatest set victory.

69) Armada | BestNess []

I really love BestNess' playstyle with this character. While it may not be as flashy and explosive as, say, Awestin, his fluidity of movement is super impressive and satisfying. I'm particularly fond of his use of PSI Magnet aerial stalling to mix up his neutral game. In the first half of the year, BestNess didn't have too many opportunities to show off this playstyle to a wide audience, as most of his best performances were confined to smaller tournaments. But in the year's back half, not only did he start going to more stuff, but he also started performing way better and more consistently at everything. In fact, he doesn't have a single tournament placing outside of the top 32 within that time. If he keeps this up, he really will be the best Ness soon, mark my words.

Click here to watch BestNess' greatest recorded set victory (second-greatest overall).

70) Riddles ()

Click here to watch Riddles' greatest set victory.

71) Armada | Prodigy []

Prodigy hails from NorCal, and I think it's fair to say he's gotten to where he is today in part due to the mentorship of his friend and frequent doubles partner Lui$, who has been ranked just above Prodigy in the #1 spot of their region's Power Rankings for most of Ultimate's first year, although here on 1000rank it's Prodigy who ends up slightly on top between the two. Prodigy's playstyle is, like many younger players, brash and aggressive, always hunting tenaciously for the perfect "in" to get his up-air strings started, and also having a really impressive hit rate on forward-air spikes when hunting down opponents trying to recover from offstage disadvantage. But this exuberance does land him in hot water occasionally, as he himself has testified: in an interview at 2GG: Prime Saga, he said that he lost to fellow eSports-teammate Banana Boy in bracket primarily because he wasn't playing patiently enough. But over the course of the year, it seems that he's been working hard on this, because a month before the end of the ranking period, he actually got the runback against that same player at GameTyrant Expo 2019, a tournament he won without dropping a set, defeating both Cosmos and Lui$ along the way. He may be a Prodigy, but he's not content to let natural skill alone carry him: he's putting in the work that could elevate him from an amazing player to one who could make history.

Click here to watch Prodigy's greatest set victory.

72) EMG | Blacktwins13 []

Blacktwins is also another player on this top 100 list who has been pretty dominant over his region this year (in this case Southern Ontario, where he has only been very recently surpassed by Riddles on their Power Rankings), but also performs reasonably consistently at majors, having only missed top 64 once this year. He hasn't yet had a breakout performance at a supermajor, but don't be surprised if you see him shuttle-looping his way into a stacked top 8 someday soon.

Click here to watch Blacktwins13's greatest recorded set victory against a non-retired player.

73) T1 | ANTi ()

74) Kome

Results-wise, Kome has had a pretty odd year, defined by general consistency of placement (he only placed outside of the top 48 once this year), but at the same time a high volatility in who he beats and loses to to get those placements. Kome has both taken sets from multiple top 20 players and dropped sets to multiple unranked players. The highlight of his year came at 2GG: Switchfest 2019, where he defeated Marss, WaDi and Shuton to take 3rd place. Kome's mission next year, in my opinion, ought to be shoring up the consistency of his gameplay against lower-ranked opponents; if he does that, he could really elevate himself to a truly elite status as a player.

Click here to watch Kome's greatest set victory.

75) XTR | Sparg0

Sparg0 plays Smash Ultimate with all the exuberance and passion of youth, opting for an aggressive, Nairo-esque style where he sticks close to opponent and pressures them without letting up. This isn't to say he's reckless, though: he tends to opt for ledgetraps over edgeguards (a wise decision when your character's recovery is as poor as Cloud's), and can show some pretty crafty ways of getting out of disadvantage. This shows a surprising maturity for his age, and if he keeps improving, it's hard to even imagine how scary a player he might become by the time he reaches adulthood.

Click here to watch Sparg0's greatest recorded set victory (second-greatest overall).

76) R2G | Gackt

Click here to watch Gackt's greatest set victory.

77) CE | Joker

At the level Joker's been showing up lately, those "number 1's" had better watch their backs, or they just might see their thrones usurped.

Click here to watch Joker's greatest recorded set victory (second-greatest overall).

78) RNG | Ryuga ()

As time went on, however, Ike seemed to fall off somewhat in the meta, which may have been what led to Ryuga going all in on Hero when that character was released. But Hero was somewhat of a bust, as it turned out, and Ryuga's results suffered. He eventually decided to go back to his tried-and-true, but we haven't seen him at any major tournaments since then. Where exactly Ryuga's Ike will fit into the latest landscape of high-level Ultimate competition remains to be seen...

Click here to watch Ryuga's greatest recorded set victory (third-greatest overall).

79) Deci

I sincerely hope Deci manages to find a sponsor at some point. Being able to see him develop the meta of this underused character against more top players would be wonderful.

Click here to watch Deci's greatest recorded set victory (set #1, his second-greatest overall).

80) Lui$ []

Lui$ plays Fox with a much more careful, almost surgical style than Light's berserker rushdown approach. As he continues to refine said style, it'll be exciting to see how his results improve throughout 2020, unfettered by his previous choice of main.

Click here to watch Lui$'s greatest set victory.

81) GotE | Vinny G

Click here to watch Vinny G's greatest recorded set victory (third-greatest overall).

82) Secret ()

A brave soul, Secret started out his Ultimate career maining pre-buff Mewtwo. Even more surprisingly, some of his best set wins were achieved with this character, such as NAKAT. However, since his "retirement," he's switched to some more meta character picks in the form of Joker and Pokémon Trainer. It's unclear whether this has affected his volatility, but I hope we get the chance to see what he can do with these characters at more big events in the future.

Click here to watch Secret's greatest recorded set victory (second-greatest overall).

83) TSM | Leffen []()

Maybe he just hates Ultimate so much that he's left with no choice but to conquer it. I'm happy either way, as long as I get to watch his sick-ass gameplay.

Click here to watch Leffen's greatest set victory.

84) AMG | 8BitMan

And so 8BitMan continues to build his legacy as one of the all-time best players of a Famicom accessory in a fighting game. His past is storied and his future looks brighter than ever.

Click here to watch 8BitMan's greatest set victory.

85) NPT | BlazingPasta

BlazingPasta was a great player back in Smash 4, where he mained Ness and Peach, and he consistently made top 5 of Philadelphia's Power Rankings back in that game as well, though he never made quite as big of a splash globally back then as he has in Ultimate. When Ultimate was released, he must have seriously gelled with the new-and-improved Peach, because he decided to retire the Ness in favor of focusing on Peach exclusively, a decision which paid off for him in spades with the aforementioned set victories. He may have won the out-of-region game among Philadelphians, but how much farther can he push his newfound prowess in the coming year?

Click here to watch BlazingPasta's greatest set victory.

86) FS | Eon ()

SoCal as a whole has seen gradual improvement from the start of the year, and Eon is no exception. It may only be a matter of time before Eon becomes a powerhouse who is feared not just in California, but worldwide.

Click here to watch Eon's greatest set victory.

87) Meru []

Click here to watch Meru's greatest set victory (set #1).

88) UG | Trela []()

Back in Smash 4, Trela was revered and feared as one of the game's most frightening hidden bosses. But outside of a few upsets, he hasn't yet found the same success in Ultimate. He has pledged on Twitter that we will see him at the top again in due time, and from everything I've seen of his winning attitude and work ethic, I can't help but believe him.

Click here to watch Trela's greatest set victory.

89) Kie []

Click here to watch Kie's greatest set victory.

90) TL | LuiS []

Click here to watch LuiS' greatest recorded set victory (fourth-greatest overall).

91) Sonido

As Sonic's relevance in the Ultimate meta continues to increase, it's hard to see Sonido falling off of the top 100 anytime soon, so long as he puts in the work.

Click here to watch Sonido's greatest set victory.

92) Juice

Click here to watch Juice's greatest set victory.

93) Etsuji []

How Etsuji managed to keep his composure while playing so many close sets in a row is beyond my mortal mind's ability to comprehend. Perhaps it's simply a result of his many years of competitive experience, sharpening his mentality to such a fine point that it can even stay balanced on the razor's edge of defeat. Regardless of what it is, I keenly look forward to Etsuji bringing this edge to bear at all his future tournaments.

Click here to watch Etsuji's greatest set victory.

94) Puppeh ()

Puppeh has proven that he has what it takes to take down some of the very best players in the business — he just needs to work on his consistency so he can meet those players in bracket more often.

Click here to watch Puppeh's greatest set victory.

95) Demise | ZD []

But there's no way to avoid talking about it: Ultimate Summit 1 was a turning point for ZD's Ultimate career. It seemed that his flashy, combo-heavy Fox was starting to get figured out by top players, and after that tournament, his accumulation of great set wins slowed dramatically. But here's what I really admire about ZD: that didn't deter him. He still went to his locals, and kept grinding just as much as ever. Eventually, this started to pay off: at Glitch 7, the last major tournament he attended of the ranking season, he got two great wins in the form of Lui$ and Cosmos. At 19 years old, ZD still has a lot of growth potential. With experience, maturity, and persistence, don't be surprised if you eventually see him climb back up to his former heights.

Click here to watch ZD's greatest set victory.

96) Suarez

Click here to watch Suarez's greatest set victory.

97) Peabnut

Click here to watch Peabnut's greatest set victory.

98) Aaron []()

Click here to watch Aaron's greatest recorded set victory (second-greatest overall).

99) djb | Laid []()

Click here to watch Laid's greatest set victory.

100) Kirihara

Click here to watch Kirihara's greatest recorded set victory (third-greatest overall).