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What to Expect at Genesis X

This article was written by the Brawl Central community, check us out over on: https://brawlcentral.carrd.co/

Genesis X has arrived, and for the first time since 2011 is featuring Brawl! At 71 entrants, this is the largest non-Super Smash Con tournament since Apex 2015. Despite multiple top 8 seeds dqing, this remains a fairly stacked tournament, currently sitting at B tier on the 2024 SSBBRank TTS. With multiple top 10 players, old names, and one of Brawl’s newest rising stars, this is a tournament you sure don’t want to miss.

The Top 8 Seeds

8. SuperGirlKels

SuperGirlKels played Brawl back in 2014, most notably placing 25th at SKTAR 3, however, she returned to the game just last year, and competed at Super Smash Con 2023. At this tournament, she would end up placing 25th, taking wins over Cabbage72, Montblanc, and Wefflez. Playing Sonic and Kirby, she could end up making a run at this tournament, so keep an eye on her as she makes her way through bracket.

7. Kylo

Kylo has been playing Brawl since August of 2023. August of 2023. That means he’s only been playing for 6 months. Yet in these 6 months, this Meta Knight main has shown a massive improvement, going from just starting the game, to taking a game off of Cody’s Marth in an online tournament. He has online wins on RekRP and Strawberrow, and is looking to prove that his online skill is for real. With Genesis X, he is making his offline Brawl debut, and if all goes well, we may be seeing the beginning of a new top Brawl player.

6. FEAR

FEAR is a Zero Suit Samus main from Florida, who consistently enters Brawl brackets at tournaments he attends, and consistently shows his skill. His best result was definitely his 7th place finish at Super Smash Con Fall Fest, but he also has reached 9th at CEO Dreamland 2020, 17th at Super Smash Con 2022, and 25th at Super Smash Con 2023. He’s consistently been on that edge of the top, and maybe this tournament will be the one where he shows that he belongs at the top level of Brawl.

5. Fino

Fino had an electric run at The Return 12, an online tournament shortly before Super Smash Con 2023, where he defeated ninja1167 (me), Kyoz, Gunnermaniac, and Mikeray4 in Winners Finals before losing to Mikeray twice in grands. At Smash Con, he seemed to be on track to continue this, defeating Kiwi and taking Cody to game 3, until he lost to Iota for 17th. Despite this, don’t underestimate Fino’s skill level. His Olimar is the real deal, and I would not be surprised at all to see him in top 4 or even top 3 of this tournament.

4. Ish

Ish is a Wolf main. And there are multiple nowadays who will tell you that Wolf is broken. Despite this not really being the case, Ish’s run at Super Smash Con showed what his character could do. He brought Gunnermaniac to game 3 (in a really hard matchup for Wolf), and defeated Hb2, Tori, and rank #20 Max Power to reach top 16, where he forfeited vs Lux to end at 13th place. Ish is poised to make another impressive performance here at Genesis, and if he gains momentum here, what is stopping him from doing the same thing in just a couple weeks at Sweet Spot 8.

3. Lux

At Super Smash Con 2023, Lux reached 7th place, defeating both Pelca and Dabuz with Ice Climbers before falling to 686M’s monstrous loser’s run, and he ended up being ranked 9th on the 2023 SSBBRank. Despite only being the third seed, there’s no doubt he has what it takes to win this tournament. Ice Climbers can beat anyone, all it takes is 3 grabs. Or maybe we will see him matchup check with Mario, laser with Falco, or win with Meta Knight, who knows! Whatever character he may throw out, there’s no denying it will put up a fight, and if he can replicate his Smash Con (or Sweet Spot 7) success, grand finals could easily be in sight for Lux.

2. Chia

Chia mains R.O.B, and R.O.B is a mid tier. That much is obvious. However, despite playing a mid tier, Chia has found great success, with wins over Zenan and Gunnermaniac on the way to a 3rd place at The Big House 11, or a win on Kyoz on the way to 9th at Super Smash Con 2023. R.O.B’s greatest strength is that he does well vs Ice Climbers, but he struggles vs Meta Knight. Chia has both of these in her path, with Kylo in Winners Quarters and Lux in Winners Semis. If Chia can pull this out, make an upset, and win the event, this would be the best event win by a R.O.B, ever, in the entire 16 year history of Brawl.

1. Player-1

Player-1 has been ranked #3 in the world for two years in a row now. The world’s best Diddy Kong has been on that edge for so long, only ever losing to Cody and 686M. However, with neither in attendance here at Genesis, Player-1 has a bracket prime for the taking (and remarkably similar to Sweet Spot 7, a tournament he won last year). He is the clear favorite to win the event, and has shown no signs in the last 4 years that he will lose to anyone in attendance. If he starts the year out with a bang, maybe he can continue that momentum into Sweet Spot 8 and take out one of his demons, 686M.

If you’re interested in more Brawl, make sure to check out Brawl Central at https://discord.gg/brawlcentral

Written by ninja1167

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The 2023 SSBBRank Top 10

This is part 2 of 2 for the SSBBrank 2023. Read Part 1 here: The 2023 SSBBRank: 20–11

It is time. The top 10 is finally here. If you haven’t seen the reveal of ranks 20–11, check out our article for that here. 2023 has been a good year for Brawl. Super Smash Con this year was the largest event in almost a decade, since Apex 2014, and we’ve had 11 (!) events qualify for rankings this year. Brawl is looking to be in a good place for next year, with more events, an online player-base that will only grow, and more. And with this, we are bringing the SSBBRank from a multi-year ranking into a single year ranking. Every event considered here was from 2023. And as we move forward, each year will be able to have its own single year ranking. If you want to join in on the Brawl action, just join us in the Brawl Central Discord server! But for now, let’s take a look at who the best Brawl players in the world were this year.

Methodology:

This ranking considered 11 tournaments throughout the year, starting with Sweet Spot 7 in March and ending with Brotherly Love Fall Fest in November. Any tournament that was C tier or above on the SSBBRank TTS had its results considered for this ranking. Players qualified to be on the ballot by obtaining the necessary placing at one of the considered tournaments (see the TTS for specifics). The ranking was made by five panelists, ninja1167 (me), albs, Ashley, streety, and ElvisNeverDied. Each panelist was given the placements and head-to-heads of each player, and was asked to create a ranking of every player on the ballot. After this, the individual rankings were averaged together, and the panelists voted to make adjustments to the averaged list. If a proposal gained a majority support from the panelists, it would go through. The panelists also voted on the number of players who would make the ranking, and it was decided on 20, which brings us back in line with the 2017 and 2019 SSBBRanks.

10. Kyoz

Kyoz went from being one of the best Super Smash Flash 2 players to being one of the best Brawl players. After being ranked in the top 10 last season, he would start the season off well, taking wins over Mikeray4 and Hinkage at Xanadu Origins, en route to a 4th place finish. At Super Smash Con 2023, he would lose to his two bracket demons, Gunnermaniac and Chia, for 9th, but would still take wins over Iota, Reaux, and Azazel. After this, he would attend both Brotherly Love events, ending up with 2nd at both, but still getting wins on Vex Kasrani and Mikeray4. Kyoz knows what it’s like to be the best in the world, and he won’t stop until he knows that is where he stands.

9. Lux

Lux, entering an offline Brawl tournament for the first time since 2018, would start the year off at Sweet Spot 7, where he would finish in 2nd, beating RipplePuff twice and only losing to Player-1. He would continue this success at Super Smash Con 2023, where after taking a loss to Mikeray4, he would take out Pelca and Dabuz in losers before losing to 686M for 7th place. Wanting to gather more data for ranking purposes, Lux would then host SSC Ranbats after this, getting 3rd losing to Gardex and Bike, but defeating Max Power and Ness682. Lux was one of the best Ice Climbers players on the 2014 SSBBRank, and, despite using Meta Knight more, has reclaimed his position as again being one of the best Ice Climbers in the world.

8. Chia

After attending 3 tournaments that were qualified for this season, it would make sense why she would achieve a well deserved 8th place on this ranking. She first went to Sweet Spot 7, and achieved a solid 4th place, falling short to RipplePuff, while still maintaining wins off Fino and Zeton. However, she also attended Super Smash Con 2023 and The Big House 11, getting 9th and 3rd respectively. She also has an additional win on Gunnermaniac as well. Overall, she’s a force to be reckoned with, and you should watch out if you want to be ranked next year!

7. Mikeray4

After not having been able to compete offline since 2020, Mikeray4 made his return to offline competition this year. His first tournament ended up being a little underwhelming, as at Xanadu Origins he would lose to Kyoz and Gunnermaniac for 5th. However, he would more than make up for it at Super Smash Con 2023, where he would defeat Blacktwins13, Lux, and Bike before losing to Player-1 and to 686M in a close game 5 heartbreaker, going out at 5th place. Getting 5th in the largest tournament of almost the last decade is already good, but Mikeray wasn’t finished. He would end up winning Brotherly Love Fall Fest, defeating Kyoz twice in grand finals after losing in winners finals and in pools, as well as taking a win over Hoagieland. Mikeray is here to stay, and with his return to offline competition this year, he shows that he still has what it takes to compete with the best.

6. Bike

As an international player from Norway, Bike went into Super Smash Con 2023 seeded outside of top 16. He had not entered an offline tournament in three years. Though he had been ranked 1st in Norway and 16th in the world in 2019, he had been largely inactive since then, but this year traveled to the US for his first international tournament. First, he defeated Pelca in top 64. Then, he did the impossible. He defeated 686M to make it to top 16 winners side. Despite losing to Mikeray4 in the fabled Mike vs Bike Snake ditto (and Snake vs Meta Knight), he would still take down Big D in losers before losing to Gunnermaniac for 7th place, which was a very impressive run considering he beat the eventual winner of the tournament. After this, however, Bike simply decided to stop losing. He would defeat Max Power, Ness682, Lux, Player-1’s Bowser, and Gardex to win SSC Ranbats, then would dominate in Norway. He won Smashborg Sesh 5 and 6, without dropping a single set in any of these. This is a very impressive string of results from Bike, and with Norway’s Brawl scene looking to have its largest event ever in 2024, look out for what he can do in next year, and beyond.

5. Gunnermaniac

Starting our top 5 players, Gunnermaniac’s lightning-fast Pikachu has claimed many victories over the course of the season. Kicking it off with Xanadu Origins, he earned a solid third-place finish after beating Mikeray and Kyoz. His only losses were against Cody, the eventual winner of the tournament. At Super Smash Con, he continued taking names by beating Ish, Hinkage, Kyoz, and Bike, showing versatility against not only strong, heavy characters but against highly-mobile characters as well. He finished the year strong with a fifth place win at The Big House, earning a win against lain and ninja1167. With a consistently strong showing against all kinds of characters in Brawl’s roster, Gunnermaniac speedran his way into our hearts and the fifth place ranking.

4. Hoenn

Hoenn brought a strong performance as a dual-main of Meta Knight and Ice Climbers. Starting with Beak Bonk 2023, he beat several regional top-players like Jamntoast and Praxis, only losing against last-years top-ranked player, 686M in winners and grand finals. He had a similarly strong run at Super Smash Con with notable wins over Gardex, veteran Olimar-player Dabuz, and Cody. Hoenn brings consistently good play to the table and fights with the best of the best, earning him the fourth spot on the ranking.

3. Player-1

Despite maining Diddy Kong, Player-1 made it clear he was having no monkey business and maintained a strong performance over the course of the season. Starting strong with a first-place finish at Sweet Spot 7, he beat other ranked players, Chia and Lux, without dropping a set. He continued to place at the three largest tournaments of the year by getting second place at Xanadu Origins, Super Smash Con, and The Big House 11. In addition, he also placed third at Ranbats using only Bowser, showing off strong fundamentals. After such an impressive year, the results make it clear that Player-1 is a contender for the top spot and more than deserves his third place in the ranking. Only time will tell if he can trip up the people above him to take their place 🍌.

2. Cody

Cody went into this season looking like the best player in the world after his win at Apex 2022, and he started this season off with a bang. At Xanadu Origins, he would make it all the way to winners finals using his Marth and Olimar secondaries, defeating Gunnermaniac on the way. After taking a loss to Player-1 in winners finals while playing these secondaries, he switched to Meta Knight, and went 9–0 in games and 3–0 in sets, including a rematch with Gunnermaniac, and defeating Player–1 6–0 in grand finals. Despite a bit of an underperformance at Super Smash Con, where he would place 4th losing to Hoenn and 686M in two game-5 sets. Cody would bring things back at The Big House 11. At this tournament, he would take down Chia using his Lucario, and then Player-1 twice using Meta Knight and Marth, winning his second national of the year. This performance solidified his 2nd place finish on this ranking, and next year, maybe he’ll show that he has what it takes to make that jump and claim the number 1 spot.

1. 686M

Super Smash Con 2023 was a monumental tournament. For one thing, it was the largest event in almost a decade, sitting at 223 entrants. It also was an incredibly stacked event. It featured 12 out of the SSBBRank 2020–2022 top 15. It also featured Bike and Gardex, the two best players from Norway, as well as many other skilled players (for more info, check out this article I wrote). For an event like this, it would be a very impressive feat to win. And for a while, it may have seemed like we would have a new Smash Con winner for the first time since 2019, when 686M was knocked into losers outside of top 16, by Bike. However, he would go on to win nine consecutive sets in losers, defeating players such as Chia, Lux, Mikeray4, Cody, Hoenn, and Player-1 twice to take the event, in a dominating fashion (despite the dropped chaingrabs), and became the first player since 2016 to win a major without Meta Knight, using Ice Climbers instead. Couple this with a pair of wins over Hoenn at Beak Bonk 2023 and 686 has solidified his grasp on the Brawl scene as the number 1 player in the world.

-written by ninja1167

Well, there it is, the top 10 Brawl players in the world for 2023. A couple interesting facts: With this ranking, Player-1 and Mikeray4 are the only players to have appeared on every edition of the SSBBRank. Vex Kasrani and Cody have appeared on 4 out of 5, and everyone else has appeared on less than that.

Of all the players on the ballot, Player-1 attended the most ranked events, making it out to 5 of the 11 tournaments considered.

Chia is for two years in a row the only solo mid-tier main to be ranked in the top 10.

For the first time since 2014, the #1 ranked player has been someone who doesn’t play Meta Knight, with 686M playing exclusively Ice Climbers (and Peach) in singles.

2024 is looking to be a big year for Brawl, and if you want to be a part of it, join us at Brawl Central! We’d love to have you!

Introduction, conclusion, and methodology written by ninja1167 Player-cards created by Ashley, built off template from E2B Proofreading done by Tori and ninja1167

This is part 2 of 2 for the SSBBrank 2023. Read Part 1 here: The 2023 SSBBRank: 20–11

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The 2023 SSBBRank: 20–11

This is part 1 of 2 for the SSBBrank 2023. Read Part 2 here: The 2023 SSBBRank Top 10

2023 has been a good year for Brawl. Super Smash Con this year was the largest event in almost a decade, since Apex 2014, and we’ve had 11 (!) events qualify for rankings this year. Brawl is looking to be in a good place for next year, with more events, an online player-base that will only grow, and more. And with this, we are bringing the SSBBRank from a multi-year ranking into a single year ranking. Every event considered here was from 2023. And as we move forward, each year will be able to have its own single year ranking. If you want to join in on the Brawl action, just join us in the Brawl Central Discord server! But for now, let’s take a look at who the best Brawl players in the world were this year.

Methodology:

This ranking considered 11 tournaments throughout the year, starting with Sweet Spot 7 in March and ending with Brotherly Love Fall Fest in November. Any tournament that was C tier or above on the SSBBRank TTS had its results considered for this ranking. Players qualified to be on the ballot by obtaining the necessary placing at one of the considered tournaments (see the TTS for specifics). The ranking was made by five panelists, ninja1167 (me), albs, Ashley, streety, and ElvisNeverDied. Each panelist was given the placements and head-to-heads of each player, and was asked to create a ranking of every player on the ballot. After this, the individual rankings were averaged together, and the panelists voted to make adjustments to the averaged list. If a proposal gained a majority support from the panelists, it would go through. The panelists also voted on the number of players who would make the ranking, and it was decided on 20, which brings us back in line with the 2017 and 2019 SSBBRanks.

20. Max Power

Sheik is a character who has a lot of flaws, the largest being her inability to kill the opponent. Despite her flaws, Max Power has been able to pilot Sheik to success. At Super Smash Con 2023, he defeated Ness682, and reached 17th, losing to Player-1 and Ish. Later, at SSC Ranbats, he would place 5th, defeating Ness682 again, and nearly took a set from Bike, going to game 5. Despite not attending very much this year, Max continues to lab out new tech and strategies for Sheik. Watch out for what he could do next year, and maybe he’ll show us that his mid tier isn’t so bad after all.

19. Dabuz

Dabuz only had one tournament this season, Super Smash Con 2023. At this tournament, he took down Big D and Azazel, but had some unfortunate bracket luck beyond that. His character, Olimar, is one of the best characters in the game. However, the character does struggle against Ice Climbers, and Dabuz happened to run into not one, but two of them. He would end up losing to Hoenn and Lux for 9th place, not a bad placing but a bit of a fall from his top 4 finish last year. Despite this, we all have seen what Dabuz is capable of, and if he chooses to compete next year (which we all hope he does), look out for him to bounce back to his former heights once again.

18. Fabian

Fabian, with his Marth, is one of the best players in Norway, behind Gardex and Bike, and his results this year have shown it. At Smashborg Sesh 5, after beating Edeas, he would even take a win over Gardex, only losing to Bike for 2nd place. Despite dropping a set to Gardex at Smashborg Sesh 6, he still placed 3rd at that tournament, and gained wins over Edeas and Afrotwist. He’s already been making waves in Norway’s Brawl scene, and with a great year in sight, watch for Fabian to make even more upsets next year.

17. LOE1

LOE1 only attended one event this year: the Michigan regional Youmacon 2023. However, at this event, he would end up picking up some great wins, defeating Ori, Chia, and Lain in Grand Finals before losing in the reset to finish in an impressive 2nd place. Taking down one of the top 10 players in the world is no small feat, especially for having not played in such a long time. Maybe this will be a return to prominence for the Wario main who was once in the top 60 on the SSBBRank. With this ranking, he is the first Wario main to have made a global ranking since 2014, showing that he and the character still have what it takes to compete at the highest level.

16. Vex Kasrani

Vex last entered an offline Brawl tournament in 2020. He hasn’t entered Smash Con since 2019. However, this year he and a couple others from the Philadelphia region began putting on their own local tournaments, which attracted attention from other ranked players who lived nearby. At Brotherly Love in September, Vex would showcase that he doesn’t even have to play his main to compete at the top level. He won this tournament over Kyoz using Fox against Kyoz’s ZSS, and picked up a win on Hinkage as well. With the return of the Tri-state Brawl scene, Vex has shown that he has what it takes to not only compete, but dominate his local competitors, which includes some of the best players in the world.

15. RipplePuff

RipplePuff entered this year with a promising start, motivated to achieve higher than what she accomplished last ranking. RipplePuff first entered Sweet Spot 7, and managed to achieve 3rd place at the tournament, falling short to Lux while still managing to take wins over Fino and Chia, which the latter was ranked 9th on the 2020–2022 SSBBRank. However, due to circumstances that have occurred outside of Brawl, RipplePuff could not attend any more tournaments for this season, however, there can always be next year.

14. Lain

Lain is a legend of old school Brawl. He was one of the best players in the world in 2009, and has continued to enter Brawl events at majors even in recent times, and still does well at them, for example he made top 16 at Super Smash Con 2022 last year. This year, his first tournament was The Big House 11. Despite his 7th place finish seeming a little lackluster at first, he only lost to top 5 players Player-1 and Gunnermaniac, and picked up wins on Merrick and Grunyan Using Meta Knight and Ice Climbers. Then, just a couple weeks later, he would have his best performance of the year at Youmacon 2023. Lain would end up winning this event, defeating Chia and LOE1 twice. What’s even more impressive? This event had Meta Knight banned, and so lain decided to use King Dedede instead to take the victory, putting himself on a global Brawl ranking for the first time since 2009

13. Big D

Big D is a Brawl veteran from the early-to-mid 2010s. This year, he took the plunge and participated in his first supermajor Brawl tournament: Super Smash Con 2023. He made a splash by gaining wins over Xufactor, Arch, and Gardex to claim 9th place. He wound up tying with other veterans Dabuz and Chia, as well major newcomers like Kyoz. While his lack of tournaments this season keeps him in the 13th rank, if he continues playing Brawl, he might very well work his way into the top 10.

12. Gardex

Gardex dominated Norway for three straight years. With Bike taking a step back from competing during this time, Gardex was left as the best active player in Norway. This year, he decided to take a trip to the United States for the first time since Apex 2015 and compete at Super Smash Con 2023. He would end up losing to Hoenn and Big D, but beating Fishbait, at this tournament for 17th, however his real star showing would come later that weekend. At SSC Ranbats, he would defeat Tori, Lux, and Player-1’s Bowser to get 2nd at the event, only losing to Bike. After this tournament, Gardex would take a loss to Fabian at Smashborg Sesh 5, going out at 3rd, but would even up the record at Smashborg Sesh 6. At this event, he would get 2nd, only losing to Bike, and solidified his place as the #2 player in Norway. Should Gardex travel again, or if NAs top players make a trip to Norway, they will find his Mr. Game and Watch waiting to take them down.

11. Strawberrow

Strawberrow has been playing friendlies on and off again for some time, but had not attended an offline tournament since BTIKC in 2018. However, he decided to attend The Big House 11 this year. This tournament featured 5 of the SSBBRank 2020–2022 top 10, but that didn’t stop Strawberrow. He would take out both Gunnermaniac and Zenan at this event on his way to 4th place, only losing to Player-1 and Chia. This was a fitting end to the year of Ice Climbers. After 3 others got top 8 at Super Smash Con, Strawberrow showed that he has what it takes to join that echelon. Don’t be surprised if he cracks his way into the top 10 next year, solidifying that the year of Ice Climbers is here to stay.

–written by ninja1167

Well that’s it for 20–11, tune in tomorrow for ranks 10–1! We’ll have another article which will have the ranks and information about each of the players. Don’t miss out!

Introduction, conclusion, and methodology written by ninja1167 Player-cards created by Ashley, built off template from E2B Proofreading done by Tori and ninja1167

This is part 1 of 2 for the SSBBrank 2023. Read Part 2 here: The 2023 SSBBRank Top 10

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Character Viability in Brawl

This article was written by the Brawl Central community, check us out over on: https://brawlcentral.carrd.co/

Brawl is not exactly seen as a very balanced game. Its best character is commonly considered the best character in Smash history, and its worst character is commonly considered the worst in Smash history. However, Brawl actually has numerous viable characters (characters who are able to win a major solo). But who are these characters, and how many of its 37 characters are viable? If we go down the tier list, we can get a good idea of who these characters are. This was inspired by Asumsaus’ video on Melee’s viable characters, make sure to check that out as well. How Many Characters Are Viable in Melee?

Generally, as you go down the tier list, characters generally become less viable. Some characters have already won a major, and in this case they are proven as viable. Any other characters may be viable in theory, but they haven’t proven themselves just yet. We’ll start with the characters who have been proven as viable.

Note that this is going off of SSBWiki’s list of majors.

The characters who have won more than one major:

Meta Knight

Ice Climbers

No explanation needed for these two characters

Diddy Kong

Diddy Kong has won numerous majors. ADHD has won 4 different majors, dating all the way back to S.N.E.S. in 2009, and Gnes also won MLG Dallas 2010. These have all shown that Diddy has what it takes to win. Having decent matchups vs both Meta Knight and Ice Climbers, Diddy is easily the 3rd most viable character on our list. While this isn’t considered a major by SmashWiki, Player-1 did win CEO Dreamland 2020, which is only not considered a major by them due to its lower entrant count. Diddy Kong is a very strong character who has shown he can win and in my opinion is the most viable character after Meta Knight and Ice Climbers.

Snake

Like Diddy Kong, Snake has won numerous majors. Ally won 7 majors, 5 of them using only Snake, and the other two using Snake and other characters. DSF also won a major using Meta Knight and Snake. The most recent major Ally won was GOML 2016, using Snake. Snake has been a staple character of Brawl since the very beginning, and has certainly been proven as viable.

The characters who have won only one major

Olimar

Despite being a consensus top 4 character, Olimar has only ever won a single major solo, which is very surprising. This was Numabura 7; a 110 entrant Japanese major, which was won by Nietono with players such as Otori, Kakera, Brood, Shogun, Mikeneko, and El. There are other times that Olimar has been close, such as when Brood got 2nd at Apex 2010, or Nietono got 2nd at Apex 2012 and Sumabato X6. However, this tournament is the only time that an Olimar main has actually managed to finish in 1st.

Falco

Falco is a very proficient character in Brawl…except when he isn’t. The bird has two problem matchups, these being Ice Climbers and Pikachu. While these aren’t completely unwinnable, they make it very hard for Falco to win a major if you can’t avoid them (and in today’s day and age, you’re probably not avoiding Ice Climbers to win a major). However, Falco has won, once, Thanks to the one and only Does Everyone Hate Falco, also known as DEHF or Larry Lurr. Larry won Apex 2010, a huge tournament with players such as Brood, Mew2King, Ally, lain, and RAIN in attendance. Is it possible for Falco to win a major solo? Yes, and Larry proves it. However I feel that in modern majors it will be very hard due to the prevalence of Ice Climbers at the top level (assuming 686M and Hoenn return to the game), and not to mention Gunnermaniac’s Pikachu.

Zero Suit Samus

One of the most iconic moments in Brawl’s history was Salem’s run at Apex 2013. He was a wifi-warrior who emerged out of nowhere. He defeated Mr. R, Otori, Mikeneko, and Mew2King, using a character that not only had never won a major before, but was considered C tier at the time. However, this is the only time that ZSS has won a major solo. The next closest thing is Cody’s run at Return to Subspace 2, where he used ZSS in Winners Quarters and Winners Semis. However, he switched off ZSS for Winners Finals and Grand Finals, meaning he did not win with solo ZSS. V115 also got 2nd place at a long string of tournaments from 2016–2019, including Super Smash Con 2016 and CEO Dreamland 2017, but was unable to pull out a victory. However, with Salem’s run, ZSS has been proven as viable.

Edit: Choco also won KVO 2014, over Edge, 9B, and more. This tournament had over 100 entrants, and could arguably be considered a major as well. It was a single elimination bracket, not double elimination. If this is considered a major, then ZSS would have 2 majors wins, not just one. However being single elimination makes it harder to count as one.

Wario

Wario is the last character to have won a major solo. In 2010, Glutonny won Bushido Brawl Impact, the only European major so far, with players such as Ally, Mr. R, and Leon in attendance. Wario is on the low end of high tier, and can often struggle in certain matchups such as vs King Dedede, who can chaingrab Wario, and Marth and Meta Knight. However, Glutonny has proven that it is possible, but it may take a good bracket for a Wario to win again. Fiction also won Winter Game Fest IV, which was a very large tournament but does not have the top-level talent to be considered a major, which means Glutonny is left as the only Wario major winner.

The Weird Case: Marth

Marth is a top 6 character in Brawl. So why isn’t he on this list? Well, there are two events that are close, but in different ways, and both of them end up in a way that leaves Marth in a weird situation. At Return to Subspace 2, Cody defeated Pelca in Grand Finals with a 3–0 as Marth. He also used Marth against Mikeray4 in Winners Finals. However, during his run of the tournament, he also used Zero Suit Samus, and pulled out Meta Knight vs Mikeray4. This means we can’t really classify it as a solo major win for Marth. Mikeneko also won Piosuma, a 2012 Japanese tournament, with players like Otori, Kakera, Shu, Brood, Abadango, RAIN, and Nietono in attendance. However, the details about this tournament, including the entrant numbers and results beyond 13th, are not very well known. Based on calculations I did going off of VOD titles, there could have been 17–32 players present. However, if the round names in those titles did not include pools, things are a lot more complicated and the number of people that attended may be lost to time. The later tournaments in the series are considered regionals, however, so it could be fair to assume this one is as well.

However, despite all my blabbering, the real question here is “Can Marth win a major?”. And yes, I think he absolutely can. With Cody’s run at RTS 2, and Mikeneko at Piosuma, I think it has definitely been shown that it is possible for Marth to win a major solo. Marth is a hard character to pilot at the top level, with spacing being very important, but with the right player, Marth could certainly take a major without any help.

The Final Top 10 Character: Pikachu

No, Pikachu has never won a major, and depending on how you consider Marth might be the only one. ESAM has been close before, with 2nd place finishes at both SKTAR and Super Smash Con 2015, and a 3rd place at MLG Dallas 2010, Apex 2014, and SKTAR 3. He also won WHOBO 4, but this tournament was not stacked enough to be considered a major, and it had Meta Knight banned, although players like Ally and Gnes were in attendance. I think with results like this it is certainly possible for Pikachu to win a major, it just hasn’t been proven yet. Pikachu is one of, if not the most technical characters in Brawl, and very hard to play at the top level. However, I think with results like this it is definitely possible for Pikachu to win a major. It will take a very skilled player who can consistently utilize Pikachu’s advanced tech and movement, and may also necessitate avoiding Ice Climbers and Olimar, Pikachu’s two worst matchups. Pikachu clearly has the potential to win a major.

The Mid-Tiers

The B and B- tiers are in a similar boat. I think it is possible for the characters in these tiers to win. However, it would take a player who is far ahead of the rest of the field and maybe a good bracket path as well. Each of these characters have some troubling matchups, which are very hard to win especially at the top level. Notably, Pit’s matchup spread is not very bad, with his toughest matchup being Meta Knight. Earth, the best Pit main, beat Mew2King at Sumabato X15, showing that the matchup is winnable. Toon Link also struggles with Meta Knight, but notably has a good matchup vs Ice Climbers. At Apex 2022, Cody won the last game of Grand Finals with Toon Link against Hoenn’s Meta Knight. These two characters probably would have the best chance of actually winning a major, among the B and B- tier characters. Fox and Sheik both have terrible matchups vs Ice Climbers, and they along with Wolf struggle heavily against Pikachu as well. Wolf also struggles with Wario and King Dedede, and Fox also struggles against Sheik. Despite doing well against Ice Climbers, R.O.B., Peach, and (as mentioned) Toon Link have hard matchups vs Meta Knight. There are more matchups as well. These make it hard for characters from these tiers. However, if they could avoid their worst matchups, and outskill the other top players, it could be possible.

Finally, I think some of the characters in C tier are the last characters who reasonably have a greater than miniscule chance of winning a major. Sonic struggles vs Meta Knight, Lucario, Falco, and Olimar, but a very good Sonic player could feasibly win these matchups at the top level, as long as they are very optimized and utilize Sonic’s speed to play very defensively. Kirby also could have a chance. He has a strong punish game at low percents, but it would take out-skilling Meta Knight and out-maneuvering Ice Climbers, which is hard with Kirby’s low range and low speed. The only other character in this tier is Donkey Kong, and honestly, despite being the highest character in the tier, might have the hardest time winning a major. He has incredibly difficult matchups vs King Dedede and Olimar, and has a hard time vs Falco, Meta Knight, Ice Climbers, basically all of the top ten except Marth (and to a lesser extent Snake), and some mid tiers as well. I think it would be nigh impossible for DK to win a major at the current top level. He has so many matchups that are very hard to win, and so defeating players of these characters at the top level to place 1st at a major would be virtually impossible to do.

Overall, it seems like there are 10 characters who likely can or have won a major, these being the top 10 characters on the tier list. Beyond this, it becomes significantly harder. I think it is possible for 12 more characters to win a major, these being Lucario, King Dedede, Fox, Pit, Toon Link, Peach, R.O.B., Wolf, Mr. Game and Watch, Sheik, Kirby, and Sonic. I think for any character lower than Sonic, while it could happen, is extremely unlikely to win a major. This gives us 22 possibly viable characters, and 10 likely or proven viable characters, which seems to be a pretty fair number. Now is the best era for mid tiers in Brawl, with a solo R.O.B. in the top 10 and a Pit and King Dedede in the top 15, but only the top 2 players, 686M and Cody, have been able to win majors recently. It seems unlikely that a mid tier would win in the current meta unless piloted by one of these two players, but it’s definitely possible someone could rise up to that level with a mid tier. Will this happen? Only time will tell.

If you’re interested in more Brawl, make sure to check out Brawl Central at https://discord.gg/brawlcentral

Written by ninja1167 Proofread by Four Sword

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What to Expect at Super Smash Con 2023: Brawl

Note: This is a previously released article being published here for longevity. This article was written by the Brawl Central community, check us out over on: https://brawlcentral.carrd.co/

Super Smash Con 2023 is around the corner. At 223 entrants, this is the largest Brawl tournament since Apex 2014, almost a decade ago. It’s also the most stacked tournament in years, featuring 12 of the current top 15, all three honorable mentions, and many more. Here’s a look at some of the names you may see competing next weekend

Strong Placements

There are multiple people attending this tournament with good placements either at previous tournaments. These include Reaux, Wefflez, and FEAR, who all placed 17th at last year’s SSC, and Blacktwins13, who placed 13th. There’s also Bobakanoosh, who placed 7th at Super Smash Con Fall Fest, tying FEAR’s placement, and Azazel and DJ Delta, who both placed 7th at Return to Subspace 3. Azazel specifically is the best player in Boston, one area with an active local scene to this day. These people have all shown that they have what it takes to get to near the edge of the top, maybe this will be the tournament any one of them can push over that line.

Pros (from a different game)

There are also multiple players entering who became very very good at a later smash title. Some of these were Brawl veterans, and some may have never entered a Brawl tournament before. Apollokage, the best Snake in Ultimate, has entered Brawl at SSC, and his Snake could still be quite proficient in a different engine. Sonix, one of the top five best players in the world for Smash Ultimate, has also signed up for Brawl, and the Blue Blur hasn’t changed too much in gameplan or moveset, so Sonix’s skills could certainly transfer over. Next is SuperGirlKels, who played Brawl back in the day, even netting a win on False (ranked 54th on the 2014 SSBBRank) at SKTAR 3. Her best accomplishments were in Smash 4, where she was ranked 100th on the PGR 100, but her Brawl skills are still there and will be something to watch out for for sure. Finally there is Big D, best known for being the best Ice Climbers in Ultimate, but he was a Brawl Veteran back in the day, and has even entered since the release of Smash 4, placing 9th at GOML 2018 and 5th at GOML 2019. He could bring his old skills back and certainly make waves in the bracket.

The Old School players

There are multiple old school players who are returning to the game at this Smash Con. One of these is Ish, who had decent showings back in the day, including a 49th at Apex 2013, and has good showings in more modern times too, with a 13th place finish at SSC 2018. Another is Iota, who was formerly ranked on the MDVA PR, and more recently placed 9th at SSC 2019. There is also Aqua (also known as Snakeee), who was one of the earliest Zero Suit Samus players, and is returning to the game at this SSC. Finally, there is Fino. This Olimar main had also done well in the Brawl days, with placements such as 25th at MLG Columbus 2010. He recently came back to the game with a 5th place at Sweet Spot 7, and has been grinding netplay to warm up for this tournament. He even got 2nd at The Return #12 recently, a netplay tournament, defeating Kyoz, Gunnermaniac, and Mikeray4. Watch out for any of these players to make their way into the top 16 on Saturday and upset one of the modern top players.

The Wifi Warriors

The Brawl Central discord server has a bustling netplay chat, and some people that have used netplay to hone their skills are making appearances here at Super Smash Con. Ashley, a Snake main, has been playing in multiple Netplay tournaments and placed 5th at The Big House 10. Mario128, a skilled Wario main who also placed 17th last year and 9th at Fall Fest, will be competing again this year. There’s also Tori, who is probably the best solo Marth main in the world right now. He’s been consistently grinding netplay for years, and recently got 4th at Beak Bonk 2023. More recently, at The Return #12, he scored wins over Hinkage and Gunnermaniac, only losing to Mikeray4 and Kyoz. Lastly, there’s Ness682, the best Ness main in the world. He recently got ranked 7th on the Brawl Central Online PR, with a great 4th place showing at The Return #10, beating Hinkage and Player-1’s R.O.B. Watch out for any of these people to have a great run at this tournament.

The European Travelers

Two of Europe’s best are also traveling to the United States for this tournament. Bike, once ranked 16th on the 2018–2019 SSBBRank, and best in Norway in 2019, will be competing in his first offline tournament since 2019, on the biggest stage possible. This Snake main has shown that he had what it takes to hang with the best, but will he prove his 2019 rankings correct? The other traveler is Gardex. Gardex, playing his Mr. Game and Watch, has dominated the Norwegian Brawl Scene in Bike’s absence, and was awarded an honorable mention on the 2020–2022 SSBBRank. He hasn’t been to the US since Apex 2015, but now that he’s returning, he has a chance to prove that the best in Europe can keep up with and surpass the best in North America.

The Edge of the Top

With 12 of the top 15 present and all three honorable mentions, there are plenty of people that have shown they are very good and this could be their chance to break into the top 10. Kiwi had a strong showing at the last SSC, defeating ADHD with Kirby before falling into 9th place, which earned her an honorable mention on the 2020–2022 SSBBRank. This could be her chance to make her case for top 15 and show that the mid tier Kirby can win even at the highest level. Next is Pelca, currently ranked 13th. While he’s fallen a bit from his peak of 6th on the 2018–2019 SSBBRank, and only reached 9th at both SSC 2022 and Apex 2022, this tournament could be his chance to make a comeback. Back to the mid tier heroes, there’s Brawl’s most dedicated lab worker, Max Power, the best Sheik in the world. After upsetting Pelca at Apex 2022 and getting 7th, he was given an honorable mention, and has continued to grind, discover new things about the game, and lab out his Sheik combos, so watch out for him to continue to level up his gameplay and push his mid tier even higher. Then there’s another mid tier hero, and that’s Arch, the world’s best solo Pit main. He was recently ranked 15th on the SSBBRank, with 5th place finishes at SSC Fall Fest and Apex 2022. He’s getting closer to knocking on the door of the top 10, and this could be the event for him to do it. Finally there is Hinkage, recently ranked 11th on the SSBBRank, so it’s fitting that he’s the 11th seed here. This is his first major in years, but he did get 5th at Xanadu Origins. Playing Meta Knight and sometimes King Dedede, this will be his chance to live up to his ranking.

The Top 10

The Top 10 seeds at Super Smash Con this year all are incredible players. They all have shown their skill, and any of them could have a huge run this year.

10. Mikeray4

After getting ranked 6th on the SSBBRank, Mikeray had a somewhat lackluster performance at Xanadu Origins, getting 5th when he was seeded 3rd. However, this is a chance for him to turn things right around. He recently won The Return #12, defeating Tori, Chia, Kyoz, and Fino twice, and if he is playing on point, his Snake can be a very scary creature to have to face

9. Kyoz

Kyoz is the best solo ZSS main in the world, and he got 7th at both last year’s SSC and Apex 2022. He’s already picked up wins on Mikeray4 and Hinkage this season at Xanadu Origins, and is looking to continue and increase his success from last season. This tournament will be a test for him to see if he can push his top 10 ranking from last season even farther.

8. Chia

We now approach the final mid tier hero on this list, Chia. Chia mains R.O.B and last season was able to take down Kyoz at SSC to get 7th place. Keeping a mid tier in the top 10 is no small feat, especially considering ROB’s tough matchups with Meta Knight and King Dedede, but if Chia is playing well, maybe they won’t look so tough, and we’ll see a humble midtier up in top 8 with top tiers like Meta Knight and Diddy Kong.

7. Lux

Lux was a very strong Ice Climbers player back in the prime of Brawl, being ranked 61st on the 2014 SSBBRank. He has recently made a return to the game, grinding netplay, and, at Sweet Spot 7 was able to get 2nd over top 15 players such as RipplePuff and Chia. He has the talent to make waves in this bracket, his first major in almost a decade, so keep an eye out for who he might upset next weekend.

6. Gunnermaniac

Coming off of a 3rd place at Xanadu Origins with wins on Kyoz and Mikeray4, the world’s best Pikachu looks to make his mark once more. He placed 5th last year, being double eliminated in Pikachu’s worst matchup, the Olimar matchup. This year, if he can avoid that, he can push even farther than before, maybe even pull off Pikachu’s first ever Brawl major win.

5. Hoenn

At his last major, Hoenn surprised everyone, defeating 686M and making grand ginals. From this performance, he got ranked in the top 4 on the SSBBRank. This is his chance to solidify himself at the top, and maybe pull off his first ever major tournament victory, at the biggest tournament in almost a decade.

4. Dabuz

The King of New York has shown that he still has his Brawl skills, despite being a top player in Smash Ultimate. At the last two tournaments he’s entered, SSC 2022 and Fall Fest, he has never placed below 4th, only ever ending up below 686M, Cody, or Player-1. Now that he’s shown he can play Brawl and Ultimate at the top level at the same time, can he push even farther and claim that major victory?

3. Player-1

The world’s best Diddy is one of three people in the world with a C tier tournament win or higher this year, after he won Sweet Spot 7, only dropping a single game to Chia. A month and a half later, at Xanadu Origins, he would get second, defeating Cody’s Marth/Olimar in Winners Finals but losing to his Meta Knight in grands. He’s looking to get his first major win here, and considering only two people attending the tournament have actually won a major before, he’s probably the most likely of anyone to become a new major winner.

2. 686M

686M won SSC last year and Fall Fest the year before, and was ranked 1st on the SSBBRank. However, he has been stepping back from the game, dropping Meta Knight and mostly only playing offline. This tournament will be his chance to prove he still has what it takes to hang with the best, and defend his number 1 ranking. He’s won the biggest tournament 2 years in a row, if he can pull this off, he’ll have won the biggest tournament for Brawl 3 years in a row, a feat that has never been accomplished yet by anyone in any Smash title.

1. Cody

Cody has been looking like the best player in the world recently. He won the most recent major, Apex 2022, defeating 686M and Hoenn twice. He also won Xanadu Origins, defeating Gunnermaniac and Player-1 twice, and going 9–0 in games after switching to Meta Knight, including a 6–0 vs Player-1 in Grands (he lost in Winners Finals in a close set when he was playing secondaries). He also has not lost an online tournament in over a year, only dropping 4 sets total this year, always playing secondaries, and always winning the tournament afterwards. Needless to say, he’s good at the game, and has his chance to show it at the biggest tournament in a long long time.

There’s just a preview of the talent that will be competing at Super Smash Con 2023. Make sure to tune in on Saturday morning to watch finals, and check out Brawl Central at https://discord.gg/brawlcentral for the home of anything Brawl.

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What to Expect at Xanadu Origins

Note: This is a previously released article being published here for longevity. This article was written by the Brawl Central community, check us out over on: https://brawlcentral.carrd.co/

Xanadu Origins is today (May 6th), and is so far the most stacked Brawl tournament of the year! While lacking in entrants, this tournament makes up for that by featuring 6 of the top 15 ranked players, including 5 of the top 10. Here’s a quick look at the top 8 seeds, and what they have going in to this event.

8. Gildo

While Gildo might not be the most well known, he certainly is a strong player to look out for this weekend. His only recent tournaments have been online, but his Falco and Wario are definetly contenders to make upsets today. Be on the lookout for what he can do.

7. Hinkage

Currently ranked 11th on the 2022 SSBBRank, Hinkage has not competed offline since CEO Dreamland 2020, where he got 4th, losing to Gunnermaniac and his brother Mikeray4, but picking up wins over MVD and Zenan (ranked 8th in 2022). While he hasn’t competed offline since then, he has played in online tournaments, and kept his skill up. You may see his Meta Knight, Kirby, or even King Dedede today, and watch out for what any of them can do in bracket.

6. Bobakanoosh

Bobakanoosh has been a new face in Brawl major results for the last couple years. He got 7th at Super Smash Con Fall Fest, 25th at Super Smash Con 2022, and 13th at Apex 2022. This Falco main has been building up his resume, and, making his 2023 season debut, look out for him to go even higher and maybe crack into that top 20.

5. Kyoz

Kyoz, the world’s best Zero Suit Samus, had a bit of a disappointing 7th place finish at Apex 2022, but with a much more impressive 7th place at Super Smash Con 2022, including wins over ADHD and Pelca, he was ranked 10th on the 2020–2022 SSBBRank. At Apex he had a close game 5 set with Hoenn in winners, and then lost in losers to Zenan. He’ll be looking to bounce back at this event, and show the world why he’s the best ZSS and why he deserves to be top 10 or even higher.

4. Gunnermaniac

At his last two offline tournaments he attended, Gunnermaniac would not place outside of the top 6 at either, one of these being an impressive 5th place at Super Smash Con 2022, where he would pick up a win over Kyoz, only losing to Cody and Dabuz (double Olimar elimination). This Pikachu player helps keep the yellow rat alive and looks to add another impressive placement to his resume. Watch out for him to make upsets against any of the top 3 seeds.

3. Mikeray4

It’s been over 3 years since Mikeray4 has competed offline, some of that due to Covid, and some due to other reasons. But now, the world’s best Snake is back and ready to compete to take home the gold today. At his last offline tournament, CEO Dreamland 2020, he got 2nd place, beating Hinkage and Gunnermanaiac, only losing to Player-1. Today he has a chance to show what he and his character can do, and how far he’s come from being ranked 100th (technically 99th) in the world back in 2014.

2. Player-1

Hot off his win at Sweet Spot 7, Player-1 is looking to continue building up his resume as he looks towards getting even higher achivements this season. At the end of the 2020–2022 season, he was ranked 3rd, with a win at CEO Dreamland 2020, 2nd at SSC Fall Fest, and 3rd at SSC 2022. This season, he took out Lux and RipplePuff on his way to first at Sweet Spot 7, and looks to repeat that feat here. His Diddy Kong, known for it’s use skilled use of bananas, and skilled use of the infinite, can take down anyone in his way.

1. Cody

Cody may be the best player in the world right now. He got ranked 2nd on the 2020–2022 SSBBRank, but won it’s last event in Apex 2022, defeating 686M and Hoenn twice. With 686M stepping back a bit from Brawl, that number one spot looks prime for Cody to take, and he has not stopped grinding the game since his Apex victory. He’s the favorite for this event, and for good reason. He hasn’t lost an online tournament in the last year, and has only dropped two online sets in total, once to mrtenda, and once to RipplePuff, and this is all while hardly even playing Meta Knight. So yeah, he’s pretty good at the game, but this will be his test to see if he can still manage to hold off the competition coming up from the top 15.

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The 2020–2022 SSBBRank

Note: This is a previously released article being published here for longevity. This article was written by the Brawl Central community, check us out over on: https://brawlcentral.carrd.co/

The 2018–2019 SSBBrank is closing in on being three years old at this point, and, as such, it seems time for a new one. This ranking was put together by a panel made of members of the modern Brawl Community. This panel consisted of myself (ninja1167), Player-1, Albs, and Streety. The tournaments considered were Return to Subspace 3, CEO Dreamland 2020, Super Smash Con Fall Fest, Super Smash Con 2022, and Apex 2022. Each panelist made a ranking of the players who had gotten top 8 at Apex 2022, Super Smash Con Fall Feset, and CEO Dreamland 2020, top 4 at Return to Subspace 3, and top 16 at Super Smash Con 2022. Afterwards, the final versions were averaged together to form an overall ranking. The panel then voted to break any ties found in the averages (with Pidgezero_one being called in to break a single tie). Then the panel voted to make adjustments to the list as they saw fit, and each change made had a majority vote among panel members. The final rankings are presented here:

Honorable Mentions:

Gardex:

Gardex did not compete in North America at all this season. However, he has been incredibly dominant in Norway, winning Trondelan three years in a row. Since it is hard to accurately judge European vs North American placings, we are giving Gardex an honorable mention for his accomplishments, and hope to see him compete against NA’s best sometime soon.

Kiwi:

Kiwi had a single result this season, where she got 9th at Super Smash Con 2022. However, there’s a little more to this than meets the eye. To get to this 9th place, she had to defeat ADHD, a famous long-time top Brawl player, ranked 4th on the 2018–2019 SSBBrank. This certainly is an impressive win, even if ADHD was playing off that day. While she is an honorable mention here, she certainly has the opportunity to make the next SSBBrank.

Max Power:

After his first tournament this season, Max Power was not exactly someone you would expect to see here on the rankings, getting 17th at Super Smash Con 2022, losing to Pelca and Hoenn. However, at Apex 2022, Max Power would crack top 8, getting 7th and winning the runback vs Pelca. His sheik is certainly someone to watch out for going into the next season.

Top 15:

15. Arch

Arch has attended every Super Smash Con since 2017, and his placings were steadily rising. In 2017, he got 33rd. In 2018, he got 25th, and in 2019, he got 17th. These were not enough to get him onto SSBBrank, but his 2019 placing was a pretty good showing. Then, at his next Super Smash Con, Fall Fest, he would place 5th. His results afterwards would show that he was a contender for one of the best players in the world, getting 13th at Super Smash Con 2022, and, his best result, a 5th place finish at Apex 2022, with a win over Max Power. Through these tournaments Arch has cemented himself as the best Pit player in the world, and has earned a spot here, on the SSBBrank.

14. Vex Kasrani

Vex has been playing King Dedede for a while, and he has shown that the character definitely has potential. He also has an impressive Game and Watch. Vex made it on the SSBBRank for 2018–2019, and continued to do well immediately afterwards, getting 3rd at Return to Subspace 3 with a win over Chia. He has not entered a Brawl tournament since then, but don’t sleep on him! He could make a comeback any time and prove his skill and why he deserves to be on this ranking. His spot may seem a little lower than what it should, considering he has a better win than anyone else in the 11–15 range, but, he only made it to one tournament, which was considered the weakest and did not have much top player depth. His win on Chia helps to propel him to this spot on the ranking, and, with more good results, he can definitely move up, as he certainly can have the skill to.

13. Pelca

Pelca has been playing since 2011, and managed to get a spot on the SSBBRank in 2014, 2017, 2019, and now 2022. Despite some somewhat lackluster showings this year from someone who was ranked 6th in 2019, don’t sleep on him! He managed to get 9th at Super Smash Con 2022, and 5th at Fall Fest. Despite focusing more on Ultimate nowadays, he certainly could bounce back and get top 10 again, and still is a very good Brawl player. These next two years will be a golden opportunity for this Falco main to bounce back.

12. Poyo

Poyo has been playing Brawl since its prime, and has been steadily getting better over the years, from being 9th on the MD/VA pr in 2012, to getting ranked 14th on the SSBBRank for 2018–2019. After coming back from being one of the best Kirby Fighters 2 players in the world, he showed that he is definitely one of the best Meta Knights in the world, getting 5th at Apex this year, with a win over Pelca. He also may be the best Kirby player in the world, and used him to defeat Pelca at Apex. He is certainly a player to watch out for, and if he keeps going up he can make a great case for top 10 this upcoming season.

11. Hinkage

Hinkage is someone who has been playing Brawl for a long time. He made his SSBBrank debut in 2017 at 16th, and dropped down to 19th in 2019. However, despite only attending one of the considered tournaments, he has achieved his best placement yet. At CEO Dreamland 2020, Hinkage would take victories over Luigisama, MVD, and Zenan to achieve 4th place, losing only to Gunnermaniac and his brother Mikeray4. Hinkage has not attended an offline national since 2020, and this does hinder him somewhat, but he certainly has potential to crack into that top 10 someday.

10. Kyoz

Not only was Kyoz a very early attendee to Brawl tournaments, but he is also recognizable as a top player in Super Smash Flash 2, the best in the world for a time. It should come as no surprise that a skilled and experienced player like him has made Top 10 in his SSBBRank debut after going hard on the Brawl netplay grind. Kyoz’ electrifying Zero Suit play has earned him a winning record this season over Pelca, Arch, and ADHD, with top 8 placements at SSC Fall Fest, Super Smash Con 2022, and Apex 2022. Keep watching to see what he will bring to the table in the upcoming season.

9. Liquid|Chia

Chia’s enthusiasm for Brawl shines through as she continues to place consistently high at the events she enters. She boasts a positive winning record over Kyoz, placing 4th at Return to Subspace 3, 7th at CEO Dreamland 2020, and outplacing her Super Smash Con 2022 seed with an impressive 7th place. As a R.O.B. loyalist, she is the highest-placing member of this ranking to strictly main a character widely considered mid-tier, an accomplishment further decorated by a jump all the way up to 9th place after being an honorable mention in the 2018–2019 ranking. A longtime pillar of the Brawl community, Chia continues to be a formidable contender in tournaments to this day, proving that she and her character are not to be underestimated.

8. Zenan

A player to watch out for, Zenan has proved that his Falco and R.O.B. both deserve to be ranked on this year’s SSBBRank. He started out the season with a great run at CEO Dreamland 2020, getting 5th place and double eliminating Chia, losing only to Hinkage and Player-1. Zenan wouldn’t attend another offline tournament for a while, but he did play others on netplay during this time. His next tournament would be the last of the season, Apex, where he would have a very impressive run, picking up wins over Poyo and Kyoz, for an impressive 4th place. He had a quite impressive season, and, don’t be surprised to see him succeed even more next season.

7. Gunnermaniac

Gunnermaniac’s skillful mastery of Pikachu has skyrocketed him from 15th place to 7th place since the 2018–2019 SSBBRank. He earned an impressive 3rd place at CEO Dreamland 2020 and 5th place at Super Smash Con 2022, with a winning record over Kyoz and Hinkage. Gunnermaniac has consistently placed highly in tournaments during his tenure in the Brawl community, and he doesn’t seem to be slowing down anytime soon. Keep your eyes peeled to see what he’ll accomplish at future tournaments — and if you can’t wait that long, catch him at one of the many Brawl Central netplay tournaments!

6. Mikeray4

Coming right off the highest ranking of his career, 8th on the 2018–2019 SSBBrank, Mikeray4 came out swinging to prove that he is the best Snake in the America, getting 2nd place at CEO Dreamland 2020, with wins over Figy, TheReflexWonder, Hinkage, and Gunnermaniac, losing only to Player-1. Unfortunately, after this, offline tournaments would shut down in America, and Mikeray4 has not been able to attend an offline tournament since they came back, due to unfortunate circumstances. However, his impressive run at CEO Dreamland was enough to earn him a top 6 national ranking for the first time in his career, and, if he ever is able to make it to another offline tournament, we’ll see this Snake main in action and he can once again prove why he deserves his spot here.

5. Liquid|Dabuz

We all know of Dabuz as the famous Ultimate player, but, at the last three Super Smash Cons, he has entered Brawl as well. He was a top player back in the day, being ranked 20th on the 2014 SSBBrank, and now, the King of New York is back. He got 3rd at Super Smash Con Fall Fest, and 4th at Super Smash Con 2022, with wins on Kiwi, Arch, Pelca, and Gunnermaniac. The world’s best solo Olimar shows why the character is so high on the tier list, and shows that yes, he’s still got it. Dabuz is higher ranked in Brawl than Ultimate, and is only the second solo Olimar ever to be ranked top 5, the only other being Nietono, in 2011 and 2012. Dabuz has showed how good his character is, but more importantly, how good he is, even after all these years

4. Hoenn

Hoenn was a netplay grinder, and then he decided to go to Super Smash Con 2022 this year. He was given the 14th seed, a pretty good seed. He would then go on to get 5th at the tournament, beating multiple good players including SSBBrawler, Max Power, and upsets over Kiwi and Chia. This was a very impressive showing, but Hoenn didn’t stop there. A few months later, he went to Apex 2022. Here he had the most impressive run of his Brawl career, with wins over Kyoz, Arch, Zenan, and finally, an impressive game 5 victory over 686M in Losers Finals to get 2nd place, losing only to Cody. He is the only person in the world to have a winning record over 686M this season, and was the only person to eliminate 686M from a tournament. For these impressive accomplishments, Hoenn has made his debut SSBBrank appearance in the top 4, and he isn’t stopping yet. Be on the lookout for what he can do in the next season.

3. Player-1

Player-1 has been a top 10 player for many years, being ranked 8th on the 2016–2017 SSBBrank, and 7th on the 2018–2019 SSBBrank. Almost immediately after being ranked 7th, Player-1 went to CEO Dreamland 2020. Here he would defeat Gunnermaniac, Zenan and Mikeray4 twice to win the event without dropping a set. Over a year later, he would go to Super Smash Con Fall Fest, and picked up wins on Pelca, Kyoz, and Dabuz, only losing to 686M, and would achieve 2nd place. At SSC the following year, he would again show why he deserves to be at this spot, defeating Pelca, Dabuz, and Hoenn twice to get 3rd place, losing only to Cody. As he’s only lost to people above him, and has beat the 5 people directly below him, he comes out of the season with an impressive top 3 ranking.

2. Cody

Cody was ranked 3rd on the 2018–2019 SSBBrank. As such, it is no surprise to see him here, in the top 3 once again. His results speak for themselves. He has not lost to anyone other than 686M, with wins on Chia, Gunnermaniac, Hoenn, and Player-1. He also, despite having a losing record vs 686M, is the only person other than Hoenn to beat him at all. He got 2nd place at Return to Subspace 3, where he beat 686M in Winners Finals but lost in grands. He also got 2nd place at Super Smash Con 2022, again losing only to 686M. These two results alone would be enough to show that he is a top 2 player in the world, but he wasn’t finished yet. Later that year, Cody would go to Apex 2022, where he would beat 686M in winners finals for the first time since Return to Subspace 3, and go on to win the event, eliminating Hoenn in grand finals, even winning a game with Toon Link. Do I need to say much more? Cody deserves this spot on his ranking, and with 686M stepping back from Brawl a bit, Cody may be primed to take that number 1 spot.

1. 686M

What more is there to say about 686M? Of the four tournaments he attended, he won three of them, and never placed below top 3. He only ever lost three sets, twice to Cody, and once to Hoenn, and beat everyone else he played, every time, including Player-1 and Dabuz. He did not drop a single set between Winners Finals at Return to Subspace 3, and Winners Finals at Apex 2022, a span of over two and a half years. For all this, he has achieved being the best Brawl player in the world, and, even if he doesn’t attend as much in the future, he will always have this on his resume, he will always have had a span of three years where he was the best player in the world.

Writeups by myself, pidgezero_one, and streety

Many of these players are active in the Brawl Central Discord Server, which is the center of the modern Brawl Community. If you want to give Brawl a try, and play some games with these players, you can join here: https://discord.gg/brawlcentral

The ranking originally premiered through this video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JHPYniFRSXM