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Welcome to the SSBM 2020 Q1 Rank, hosted by Daily Esports! With the coronavirus pandemic bringing esports competition to a halt, this ranking recognizes those who performed well in early 2020. This series will detail the results of the current top 25 Super Smash Bros. Melee players in the world.

Methodology

As its name suggests, the SSBM 2020 Q1 Rank exclusively considers results from the first quarter of the year. This includes any offline tournaments from January 1 through CEO Dreamland in March. Players are not rated based on their perceived skill or their performances in 2019. As a result, some players who are clearly top 25 skill-wise (i.e. Wizzrobe) do not appear on this ranking due to their subpar results at the beginning of 2020.

This ranking rewards players for beating opponents who have performed well in 2019 and/or 2020. A win on a player can be more valuable than their 2019 MPGR rank may suggest, but it will never be less valuable than their 2019 rank would suggest. For example, Wizzrobe is still considered a top 5 win, even though he is not top 5 on this ranking. Conversely, Hax is higher than No. 19 on this ranking, so a win on him is more valuable than before.

In addition to majors, the SSBM 2020 Q1 Rank takes into account results from local and regional tournaments. This ranking does not reflect the aggregate of multiple panelists’ lists, but rather the opinions of its sole author. As a result, it should not be viewed as the objective Melee ranking, but rather the perspective of one person.

To close out this introduction article, here are six honorable mentions for the SSBM 2020 Q1 Rank. These are not necessarily the players ranked 26-31. Rather, these are all players who have simply exceeded expectations given their placements on the 2019 MPGR. Whenever offline tournaments return, Melee fans can likely expect these six players to climb further up the rankings.

SSBM 2020 Q1 Rank: Honorable Mentions

Luis “TheSWOOPER” Olivo

Notable Placements: 5th at Scorpius 2020, 5th at GIGA HoG: Era 2, 25th at Genesis 7, 9th at Hold That L #5, 7th at Gucci Gang: Leap Year Edition

Notable Wins: Hax, ChuDat, Rishi, Bimbo, Nicki

Abhishek “Prince Abu” Prabhu

Notable Placements: 33rd at Genesis 7, 13th at Saving Mr. Lombardi 2, 1st at BOMPE 19, 3rd at Hold That L #5

Notable Wins: Westballz, Ice, FatGoku, HugS, Zamu, Drephen, Nut, Free Palestine (x2), Franz, TheRealThing

“Solobattle”

Notable Placements: 3rd at Valhalla III, 1st at Lantrek 2020

Notable Wins: Trif (x2), Overtriforce

Gio “null” Rossi

Notable Placements: 5th at 2GG: SoCal Chronicles 2020, 17th at Smash at SteelCraft: Final Genesis Handwarmers, 3rd at Melee @ The Made: The Warm Up, 65th at Genesis 7, 13th at Saving Mr. Lombardi 2, 9th at DreamHack Anaheim 2020, 2nd at SoCal The Hype!

Notable Wins: Captain Faceroll, Westballz (x2), Lucky, Professor Pro, Ice, Albert, Nut (x3), Bimbo, HugS, Drephen, Squid, Zeo, Kurv, Fizz

Mustafa “Ice” Akçakaya

Notable Placements: 1st at Wednesday Night Fights x Oakland Episode 3, 9th at Melee @ The Made: The Warm Up, 17th at Genesis 7, 17th at Saving Mr. Lombardi 2, 1st at GMC Finals

Notable Wins: Westballz, Lucky, Professor Pro (x3), Rishi, Franz, Blassy

Nico “Ryobeat” Rodriguez

Notable Placements: 3rd at Scorpius 2020, 2nd at GIGA HoG: Era 2, 9th at Melee @ The Made: The Warm Up, 17th at Genesis 7, 17th at Smash Summit 9

Notable Wins: Wizzrobe, moky, 2saint, TheSWOOPER, Slox, Joyboy, Boyd, Umarth, Leighton

Make sure to check back on Monday, May 18, as the rankings begin with the SSBM 2020 Q1 Rank: 25-21.