By: Callisto, SNC, and Gabe.
This is part of an article series highlighting the Australian Rivals of Aether community, focusing on the top 20 AU players. Get to know more about our newest RCS region as we release their write-ups over the next three days.
If you’re an AU player make sure you show the online scene your support by signing up for online monthlies on smash.gg. Get to know the community and play for points and prizes, including a travel voucher to our finals event in North America for the top ranked AU player.
Articles in the Series:
| Rank | Results | Rivals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | – | – |   |
| Summary | |||
Known internationally for his record breaking story mode speedruns and discovery of the “Fel-Smash”, Fel also has competitive leanings. A strong player in his own right, he’s pocketed some unpredictable wins over the Australian scene. His fluid movement and readiness to learn took him far and after many months of pushing his fingers to their limits the New Zealand keyboard warrior swapped from Zetterburn to Kragg.
Through strong fundamentals and consistent but deadly combos Fel has maintained strong placings throughout all of our online brackets. Some may question how he’d fare locally, but for now Fel remains the illusive online champ that he is.
| Rank | Results | Rivals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 09 |  5th |
 5th |
 |
| Summary | |||
One of the best Forsburns in the business, D-money the durry-munching king has consistently offered an unconventional style of Forsburn. Even though he’s missed a few local events this year, his practice and understanding of the game appears to have paid off well for him. His confidence in his character and his ability to compete with the best has taken him to a respectable 5th place finish at BAM 9, losing to Splice in a tense yet confusing ditto set.
| Rank | Results | Rivals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 08 | 2nd |
9th |
 |
| Summary | |||
Eigth place on this list and the most skilled Wrastor player in Australia, Jet has made clear improvements in 2017 that can only be attributed to many hours of practice. Jet thrives off his knowledge of players habits and ‘tricks’ and forces you to adapt or face his fast and punishing combos.
Placing second in his first two local brackets for the year, him and sparring partner SNC took their ambitions interstate to attend Expand Gong 2, where Jet placed a respectable 5th after losses to the NSW talent. His secondary Kragg has helped him circumvent some of the mental fatigue that he suffers in our more tough tournaments, but his Wrastor is still the character to fear.
| Rank | Results | Rivals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 07 | 1st |
7th |
 |
| Summary | |||
The ACT’s ruscur (with a lowercase ‘r’) is still fresh to Rivals, only picking up the game back in April this year. That being said, it didn’t take him long to make a huge splash with his Absa. Through daily practice and a willingness to learn, he quickly made his mark as a top player. So far he’s taken sets off most of the top 10 in the space of a few weeks, including knocking Gabe out at a local event. It is unquestionable that ruscur’s rank will only continue to rise with more practice.
| Rank | Results | Rivals | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 06 | 3rd |
4th |
|
| Summary | |||
In the beginning of Rivals of Aether’s early access journey, Splice was thought to be unbeatable. His natural ability and unparalleled understanding of Forsburn created a huge gap that took players many months to cross. Although largely inactive, Splice returns every now and then to prove his previous dominance in the scene was not unjustified, learning in the space of a few days what would take many players months of practice.
His impressive 4th place finish at BAM after 6 months of not competing is a true testament to his skill as a player and earns him the spot of 6th place on this list.