Rivals Championship Series Season 6

By SBS — July 19, 2021

Get ready for RCS Season 6!

Following the record-shattering attendance of Riptide and the recent announcement of Genesis 8, we are ecstatic to announce the newest Rivals Championship Series installment! Season 6 of the RCS will bring back monthly Online Majors, but will also mark the return of live events with our first hybrid season. Join us as we celebrate Rivals in even more regions on our biggest stages yet!

We’re going workshop steam punk for Season 6!

Format and Schedule

Despite the tough year last season was a fantastic success thanks to our community, breaking attendance records on multiple occasions during an exclusively online season set on by the COVID-19 pandemic. Moving into Season 6, we have seen local events slowly emerge with the increasing accessibility of vaccines. Keeping this in mind, we are bringing the North American RCS back to in-person majors on three separate occasions in conjunction with four unique online majors.

With a live finals event planned this year, we are also bringing back flight vouchers for the Top 4 North American league point holders at the conclusion of our December online event. North American players who top the leader board during the regular season will be given a complimentary flight to our Finals at Genesis 8. For our friends in Europe and Australia, the top point holder from each region will be awarded 500 USD for their accomplishments.

Here is our official schedule:

Event	Date	Region
Riptide (Registration Cap Reached)	September 10-12,2021	Sandusky, OH (NA)
Hot Springs Major	September 18, 2021	Online (NA)
Hot Springs Major (EU/OCE)	September 2021	Online (EU/AU)
Melody Major (NA/EU/OCE)	October 2021	Online (NA/EU/AU)
Heat Wave 4 (Registration OPEN)	November 13-14 2021	Phoenix, AZ (NA)
Fireworks Major (NA/EU/OCE)	November 2021	Online (NA/EU/AU)
Crystal Major (Registration TBA)	December 2021	Online (NA/EU/AU)
EU/AU Regional Finals (Registration TBA)	January 2022	Online (EU/AU)
RCS Finals at Genesis 8 (Registration OPEN)	January 28-30, 2022	San Jose, CA (NA)

More information regarding events in Europe, Australia, South America, and Asia can be found below.

Regional Finals and Opt-In Events

We are aware that the COVID-19 pandemic is an ongoing battle, with some areas struggling to return to a sense of normalcy more than others. In order to accommodate regions affected by event uncertainty and travel restrictions, we are introducing regional online finals for Europe and Australia. Each finals event will feature uncapped shop goals to allow players to fund their own scenes directly. In addition to our new finals events, we have a brand new Opt-In system for local events in Europe and Australia, and online events for the emerging regions of South America and Asia.

For Europe and Australia:

As local events return in a safe and functional manner, tournament organizers will be able to apply for RCS prize support for their events.
Events added through our Opt-In system will receive prize support but will not give players league points in order to prevent unfair advantages on the leader boards.

For South America and Asia:

South America and Asia will both have opportunities to receive DLC support on par with the other regions.
Tournament organizers from each region will be allowed to apply for one event every month, starting in September, to receive new and older RCS exclusive skin rewards.
Sub-regions that are unable to compete in certain events, such as Brazil, can contact SBS or Etalus to ensure that they can have their own tournaments included.

Monthly Themes

Elemental themed months are returning from Season 5 with a fun twist! Starting in September, each month leading up to our January finals will have a special theme based on characters from the upcoming Workshop Character Pack that will affect how the community interacts with the series including special bundles from our upcoming shop, a chance to acquire brand new and previously retired RCS DLC skins, and even unique prize opportunities for competitors participating in each major.

When each month’s major event comes around, we highly encourage players to record every character used on their tournament runs. The highest placing competitor to exclusively use rivals matching the month’s elemental theme will receive an item from the Season 6 RCS shop. If a player happens to WIN the monthly major using only Rivals matching the month’s elemental theme, they will be awarded a voucher from us for a custom controller by our friends at Controller Chaos.

Season 6 Reward Structure

As mentioned above, there will be special rewards for the highest placing player(s) using only rivals matching each month’s elemental theme, but that’s not all. Each month’s online event will have a dedicated prize pool and each finals event will have an uncapped prize pool, all funded by our shop. On the DLC front, we are happy to introduce brand new skins (TBA) for participants of each online major. Offline events will also feature pot bonus compendium goals and new themed skins!

Season 6 Rankings

For those curious about how our yearly rankings will be weighed, players looking to qualify for the Season 6 Top 50 will need to enter a minimum of 3 RCS events. We understand that there may be some hesitancy for players to mix online and offline events together, so players will only be ranked according to their placements at their best three events of Season 6 (player matchups may still be considered for all events).

Links!

This post has a lot of information to digest, so please refer to all relevant links for event pages! Stay tuned in the weeks to come for more RCS news as we lead up to the start of the season this September!

Registration is now OPEN for our November online event, Heat Wave, and for Genesis 8!

Categories: Announcement, Esports, Events, News | Comments: 2

Community Competitor Spotlight: Penguin

By SBS — July 1, 2021

Penguin is without a doubt one of the best players in Rivals of Aether history. He’s been ranked on every Top 50 to date, has been a Top 10 player since Season 2, and Top 3 since Season 3. Penguin’s rise to the spotlight brought him to the Grand Finals of RCS Finals three years in a row, where he finally captured first place to cap off Season 5. We recently reached out to Penguin to learn more about him and his history in Rivals.

Penguin with his first place ring at Frostbite 2020.

How did you first hear about Rivals and get into the scene as a competitor?

Penguin: I don’t remember how I first found rivals, but remember being attracted to it as “oh, it’s like Melee… but I can play it online (this long predates Slippi and before i knew about netplay).” At this point I had gone to my melee weekly for about a month and a half, but had no one to play it with outside of those weeklies.

I then, like any good Rivals player, stopped playing the game after about 2 weeks. A few weeks after I stopped playing Rivals happened to be Smash Con 2016, which I was attending in order to play Melee. I saw the Rivals booth and thought to myself, “Oh, I know that game! That Zetterburn’s fireball is kinda like Falco laser.” …I then went on to play the game for 4 days straight, DQ out of Melee, and come back the following SSC as a Top 10 player.

How long have you been competing in events? How long did you play online before entering brackets, and then how long did it take to enter your first local tournament?

Penguin: I’ve been competing in Rivals events since August of 2016, at Smash Con ‘16. I’m weird in that I found it offline first and did play in that bracket, getting 33rd. After that I played in strictly online tourneys for a year grinding my [butt] off, and then came back the next year to play in SSC ‘17, Shine ‘17, and finish the season with Genesis 5.

To answer how long I played before entering brackets, after that SSC ‘16 bracket on August 13th of that year, the next tournament I played in was NAS #20 on November 17th. In that 3 month gap I entirely played ranked/exhibition since I didn’t know where to find tourneys. I then found one of the old Rivals steam groups (which was already dead when I found it) and posted in there asking to play. Someone in there was kind enough to point me to the main rivals discord where I then also found the NCS discord and played in NAS immediately – where I won the tourney :).

How often do you practice the game and how has that changed over the years?

Penguin: My first year of playing the game I was a small child with lots of free time, meaning I was able to play Rivals for a minimum of 4 hours every day without fail… while also playing CS:GO competitively at the same time. At one point I played 5 hours a day, 7 days a week, for 8 months. It would not be an exaggeration to say I played on average, 4 hours of Rivals and 5 hours of CS:GO every day without fail.

Since then I’ve stopped playing CS:GO competitively, and any other game I play semi-competitively, takes much more of a backseat than CS:GO ever did. I simply don’t have the time to grind as hard as I once did.

For RCS Seasons 2-4 I played an absolute minimum of 2 hours every single day. I remember doing the math on my steam hours and calculating how many hours on average I played since the day I bought it, which at the time was 3.5 hours over 3 years. I typically ramp up the week before any major, and I pretty religiously don’t play the game for at least 4 days whenever I get back from a major. Gives me a nice cooldown from nonstop Rivals action.
During COVID my grind definitely slowed down, playing right now on average an hour every day.

You have been a Top 2 player for the last 3 years, while never dropping in rank since your first Top 50 appearance in Season 1. How have you kept such a high level of consistency throughout the majority of the game’s lifespan?

Penguin: I think there are 2 major factors that result in my consistency:
1. I put a lot of effort into my composure early on in my career. I remember very vividly playing against Kaos at Genesis 5 and being so nervous my hands were shaking and I swapped off of Absa simply because I couldn’t do any technical inputs. Since then I’ve taken steps to keeping cool while playing, on top of being an already pretty stoic person. Including breathing exercises, taking advantage of all time granted to me in a set, and yes… the mints.

2. My game-plan when it comes to a set is very flow chart-y and can apply to anyone I play against. I have a hierarchy of goals at every point of a game, and have a clear idea in my head of how to best set myself up to achieve the highest one. This is best exemplified in my edgeguards, where I do everything I can to slowly strip my opponent of their resources and cut-off as many options as I can, until eventually their only option is death.

What has been your proudest moment throughout your career?

Penguin: I can’t pick between two, winning SnS5 or winning RCS Season 5 Finals. SnS5 was my 2nd big major win, but more importantly grands was a loooong set against Cake where I maintained myself and clutched it out in the end even after he got a bracket reset on me. Whether I was correct or not, at the time GTX felt like a fluke to me, so SnS5 was my first “real” major win. And then obviously winning an RCS Season is a crowning achievement for any Rivals player, but I’d be lying if I said an online tournament felt the same as the theater at Genesis.

After finally winning an RCS Finals event in Season 5, what are your goals in Season 6?

Penguin: One thing, and one thing alone, get ranked #1.

What’s the thing you’re looking forward to most this Summer (Rivals or otherwise)?

Penguin: Obviously I’m looking forward to Riptide a ton, and there’s a million reasons to be looking forward to Riptide. However, outside of that I’m not sure if there’s much more I’m looking forward to outside of a general return to normalcy (whatever that’ll look like) with vaccines and everything rolling out.

Do you have any personal goals or interests outside of Rivals that you’re aiming to focus on?

Penguin: In-terms of games I play both Rocket League and Valorant next to Rivals, where I’m ranked Champion 3 and Diamond 3 respectively for those curious.

Academically/career-wise I’m currently majoring in computer science with a focus on artificial intelligence and machine learning.

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Season 5 Online Rankings: #10 – 1

By SBS — March 5, 2021

“D-tilt –> short-hop –> missile –> down special–> u-strong. Call that the Halite Drop.”

10. Halite

Halite makes his debut on the Rivals Top 50 after multiple years of his legends being told. Halite entered RCS Air with impressive wins over Levin, Protagify, and Ceroas before DQing at 9th place to internet issues. A few months later, Halite received the gift of ethernet connection and all eyes were on him for a deep bracket run. Halite did just that, punching and shooting his way to winners finals after a thrilling game 5 victory over Kusi. Halite’s two events may have been unconventional, but it is clear that his time in the spotlight is well earned. The prospect of seeing Halite’s relentless Elliana in future online events is absolutely thrilling, and we expect big things next season!

9. CheesyPotato

CheesyPotato has been playing Rivals since 2016 and picked up the competitive bug a few years later thanks to fellow New Yorkers, Nexplosion and Dudbass. Over the course of the season, CheesyPotato had been on the cusp of Top 8 placements in multiple majors, falling just shy until her spectacular run in the RCS Finals. In one of the most difficult bracket paths to date, CheesyPotato scored back to back upsets over two separate Elemental Major winners, Xaro and Seggo. CheesyPotato’s 5th place finish at the RCS Finals was the result of hard work and perseverance after gradually improving her placements all season long.

8. Squanto

Sqaunto leaps onto the RCS Top 50 with three consecutive Top 8 placements to start off the season. As the highest ranked solo Ranno on the Top 50, Squanto placed in the Top 8 of every single ROCS event and Elemental Major that he entered, only breaking that streak in the RCS Finals. Squanto tallied wins against the likes of ZeeBee and CakeAssault while only losing a single set to players ranked below him.

“I only play a certain group of people and I use my amazing brain to teach them the secrets of RoA.”

7. Blue

As one of the breakout stars of Season 4, Mike (A.K.A. Blue) continued his trend of whirlwind appearances in Season 5 by winning his first official event since the beginning of lockdown from winners side. Prior to RCS Air in October 2020, the last time we saw Mike on the big stage was at Genesis 7 in January of that same year. Following his blistering performance at RCS Air, Mike brought out his Zetterburn for another shutout victory at a non-RCS event, Kingpin 4, followed by a solo Ranno run with victories over MSB and Xaro to place 4th at RCS Water. Mike is clearly a man of many talents with a focus on enjoying himself. Mike prides himself in helping train his friends in Rivals, and was exuberant to witness the accomplishments of players that have not previously been able to attend locals like Flarey, CheesyPotato, Squanto, and Kusi.

“Free Will is an illusion.”

6. ZeeBee

ZeeBee is a former New York Kragg that has recently found his way to Colorado, which has expanded his horizons in the online Rivals scene. ZeeBee has shown time and time again that he is a constant threat in brackets, placing Top 8 in three separate Majors while earning 1-1 records against Squanto, Blue, CakeAssault, and Xaro. As the first returning member of our Top 10, Season 5 marks the third year in a row that ZeeBee has moved up in ranking.

5. CakeAssault

CakeAssault returns as one of the most famous names to ever touch the game, stressing the importance of enjoying himself during our online season before he can reconnect with his friends from Pittsburgh and New Jersey once locals return. Over the course of 2020, CakeAssault began forming a rivalry of sorts with Xaro, trading sets left and right as Xaro became more and more consistent. Their conflict has concluded for now, with CakeAssault triumphantly eliminating his foe and placing 4th in the RCS Finals. Among his accomplishments in Season 5, CakeAssault recorded perfect attendance and earned Top 8 in five of six Majors. Outside of the game, CakeAssault is an actuarial math major at University of Pittsburgh with a love for Super Smash Bros. Melee.

4. Seggo

Seggo comes in at a much deserved #4 with three Top 8 finishes. The highlight of the season is undoubtedly his undefeated 1st place run at RCS Water, where his famous Elliana aided in completing a nearly solo Ranno bracket. While the character swap may have been surprising to some, Seggo’s season was full of character diversity as he possesses one of the most comprehensive full-cast proficiencies in the community. During Season 5, he only fell to five different players over the course of four events while never placing below 9th at a Major. Seggo finds solace in the Rivals community thanks to his friends that lift up and inspire him at every turn. His favorite moments of the season were winning his first RCS event and competing in the RCS Finals with his teammate, Ahntye.

“Shout-outs to ELPE for convincing me to pick up Ori.”

3. Kusi

Kusi makes his first ever appearance on the Rivals Top 50 with an astonishing Top 3 ranking. Kusi first picked up Rivals as a Kragg main around the release of Ori & Sein in 2017. It was not until April of 2020 that Kusi first used his Ori secondary in bracket which, as fate would have it, would become the first bracket Kusi had ever won. Taking this as a sign, Kusi began grinding the game and improving exponentially while more than tripling his previous 1,000 hours spent in Rivals during 2020. Kusi entered all six Season 5 events, never missing Top 8 a single time and placing 2nd in each of the final two events. His overall consistency during Season 5 and skyrocketing improvement has earned him nearly everything a player can only dream of. We suspect that Kusi will be taking home the first place trophy in Majors on the not too distant horizon.

“Finally brought home the win at finals, see everyone next Genesis. :)”

2. Penguin

Penguin takes the 2nd place ranking for the second year in a row after a truly electrifying Season 5. Collecting two 1st place finishes this season, Penguin finally overcame his curse and took home the gold at our Finals event. He has beaten each of the nine Top 10 players that he has faced, with perfect records on seven of them. On top of his head-to-head wins, Penguin has placed in the Top 4 at five of the six Majors this season. He first started playing the game at Super Smash Con 2016 with FullStream as his mentor, CakeAssault as his practice partner, and Zeke as his coach to help cement him where he is today. As with seasons past, Penguin remains an immovable object to nearly every competitor and is a stone cold killer that requires near perfection to best in bracket.

1. Xaro

Jumping from 5th in Season 4 to 1st in Season 5 is no easy feat. Xaro made Top 8 in every single Major in Season 5 while hoisting virtual trophies in RCS Fire and RCS Earth. As far as player match-ups go, Xaro holds a 5-2 record over Penguin while only dropping sets to Top 10 players and having a single negative head-to-head record against Blue. Xaro’s favorite moment of Season 5 was his immaculate losers run in RCS Earth, where he won seven straight sets by toppling Seggo, hoppyKnitz, MSB, CakeAssault, Kusi, then finally resetting and finishing off Penguin to win the event.

Xaro has become just the third player to ever earn a first place ranking in five seasons of the Top 50. It is nearly impossible to believe that another year has come and gone in what seems like a time vacuum with us crowning the Frostbite 2020 champions seemingly yesterday. We would like to once again thank the community from the bottom of our hearts for coming together and making Season 5 such a success despite the extreme circumstances in the real world. We hope for a safe return of local events in the future; but until then, please stay safe and keep a lookout for future official events coming soon!

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Season 5 Online Rankings: #20 – 11

By SBS — March 4, 2021

20. HKP

HKP slings his way onto the Top 50 with five Top 32 placements in his perfect attendance of eligible events! HKP is a computer science major that first picked up Rivals in 2016, but only recently found his competitive edge. HKP’s exponential improvement since 2019 has seen him earn a 9th place finish at RCS Air, and a 13th place finish at the RCS Finals, where he finally took out a long time bracket demon in the form of Mentos. Despite his vast improvement and superb upsets, HKP’s favorite moment from the season was witnessing Seggo and Blue use Ranno at RCS Water.

19. Dunk

Dunk has made every Top 50 to date, so it should be no surprise that we see him at number 19 in Season 5! Dunk has been a long time competitor and Beta Tester, helping advance Kragg in the meta with talent and balancing ideas alike. While he is no stranger to moving up and down the Top 50, Dunk’s hope is to one day have the community surpass him in skill and end his streak.

“Don’t sweat it, the world will still be there tomorrow”

18. 1stDan

1stDan is a SoCal Kragg that has been playing Rivals since 2015 and competing since 2016. After years of tournaments, 1stDan set out with a single goal for Season 5 – have fun. This goal may have been simple, but 1stDan went on to earn a 9th place finish at RCS Fire and tallied wins over players including hoppyKnitz and Giga Bowser. 1stDan even gave Penguin a scare at RCS Air, narrowly dropping the set 1-2. This is 1stDan’s debut of the Rivals Top 50 list, and we hope to see more of him in the future!

17. Jesier

Much like our #18 rank, Jesier set out to enjoy himself in Season 5, with less of a focus on grinding the game. Jesier entered the minimum number of events but collected 9th place at each of them, including the RCS Finals. At the Finals, Jesier found his bracket path to be full of hidden bosses that had entered their only event of the season, besting the likes of gracefulknight, Adi, and LBO on an epic losers run.

16. Protagify

Protagify put a focus on practicing secondaries this season, using Clairen in winners side of each Elemental Major while saving Absa for losers. When the RCS Finals came around, Protagify unleashed the Absa in full force, taking down Squanto and Mentos on the way to his best placement of the year at 9th. During 2020, Protagify has put in a considerable effort into revamping his creation, the Rivals Academy Discord, via streams, VoD uploads, and more! His desire to work with and grow the community is truly inspiring, and we cannot wait to see what he does next.

15. MattyIce

MattyIce had one of the more interesting seasons on our Top 50 list, having fantastic results topped off with a stunning 5th place run in RCS Water. On that run, MattyIce became one of only four players to beat Penguin this season, a feat that sent ripples through the bracket. Outside of the game, MattyIce works for both the Tampa Bay Rays and the Toronto Blue Jays. It seems fitting that his two worlds of competitive gaming and baseball collide as MattyIce also holds several world records in the Mario Superstar Baseball Speedrunning community.

14. Levin

Over his three events, Levin managed to score some impressive upsets, all culminating into his breakout Top 8 placement at RCS Earth. Levin propelled himself into the spotlight with victories over CheesyPotato, and the previous Major’s winner, Blue. He ended his season on a high note and Levin’s upward trending performances and leap in 23 ranks from Season 4 are indicative of greatness for years to come.

“No, I can’t knit”

13. hoppyKnitz

HoppyKnitz returned to Season 5 ready to compete, having perfect attendance in both RCS Season 5 and our Summer ROCS circuit. Over the six Season 5 events, hoppyKnitz broke into Top 8 at RCS Earth, becoming the only player outside of the Top 10 to beat Seggo. Outside of competition, hoppyKnitz is a part of the Beta Team, makes music, and plays League of Legends for fun while balancing studies as a computer science student. HoppyKnitz has been a dedicated Rivals player since 2016 and aims to reach new heights next season.

12. Flarey

Flarey started off 2020 with a bang, placing 2nd at CEO Dreamland, with local wins over Guard and Backpack just before lockdown began. Fast-forward through the ROCS, Flarey became a consistent threat with sporadic upsets leading into the RCS. She earned Top 8 at RCS Air and 9th place at RCS Water by becoming the only player to have an undefeated record against Penguin and eliminating him at RCS Water. As 2020 progressed, so did her consistency, and we fully expect her to become the first Sylvanos to crack the Top 10 in future seasons.

11. MSB

MSB comes in at #11 with his trademark showmanship. He placed Top 8 in three separate events this season, racking up wins over the likes of Levin, hoppyKnitz, HKP, and more. MSB is an active Beta Tester and Rivals Academy moderator, taking his role as a community leader online while locals are off the table. As a career Kragg main, it seems fitting that he plays Malphite in League of Legends and grew up watching his favorite wrestler – The Rock. MSB is our first Top 50 member to have won an Elemental Champion prize by placing the highest in RCS Earth with only characters of that element, netting him a free shirt with his trademark grey Kragg from the RCS Shop earlier this year.

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Season 5 Online Rankings: #30 – 21

By SBS — March 3, 2021

30. Lattim

Lattim returns to the Season 5 Top 50, entering both circuit Finals events with two Top 32 finishes and wins over CheesyPotato, Death By Hugs, Bookworm, and more.

29. Buster

Buster makes their first appearance on the Rivals Top 50 with five different Top 32 placements throughout the season. Buster’s consistent placements made him a force to be reckoned with, notching victories over the likes of Flarey, Windows, Danzello, and more.

28. Ceroas

Ceroas is a well established Absa mentor and the head Tournament Organizer for the Rivals Amateur Series, A.K.A. RAS, in the Rivals Academy Discord. After years of competing, this is Ceroas’ first season with enough events to qualify for Top 50, doing so in impressive fashion with results ranging from 33rd to 9th place. While falling just shy of their stretch goal of top 8 in an RCS event, Ceroas has certainly scratched the surface and we expect those results to start rolling in soon.

“Etalus Is The Best”

27. FullStream

A champion of the ages, FullStream has been enlightened the past few seasons by approaching the game with a more lighthearted outlook. Going into Season 5, FullStream aimed to play more of the cast while taking a heavy focus on content creation such as his tutorials on YouTube and his highly informative Twitch streams. Not withstanding, FullStream still managed to come out swinging with a 5th place showing at the ROCS Finals, touting a victory over his old adversary, CakeAssault. FullStream marks the first Top 50 member to earn Top 8 finish.

26. Kobra

Kobra is a former Xbox player that found solace in cheering on and performing against his friends during Season 5. Kobra’s Wrastor continues to impress, placing Top 32 in five of six events and earning 9th place at RCS Fire. His flashy punish game and consistently impressive results after his breakout performance at the latest Super Smash Con signal a lasting presence in the top of the Rivals meta-game.

25. Mentos

After dominant performances throughout the entirety of the ROCS, including a 4th place finish in the Finals, Mentos took an unconventional path during Season 5 by playing to the elemental theme of each major. While this made his performances less consistent and more open to upsets, Mentos still earned 7th place in RCS Fire with solo Forsburn and placed in the Top 32 for three of the four remaining RCS events. Playing to the elemental themes with Forsburn, Wrastor, Maypul, and Ranno allowed Mentos to have a bit more fun following the grueling ROCS grind. Outside of Rivals, Mentos enjoys himself with games such as Them’s Fightin’ Herds, Destiny 2, Geometry Dash, and Garry’s Mod.

24. Windows

Windows is a former Florida tyrant who recently moved to Wisconsin between RCS seasons. Windows aimed to ramp up his stream during lockdown by keeping a consistent schedule and making sure each of his tournament runs were played live for his viewers. Keeping his focus on content creation, Windows rarely brought out his famous Wrastor to accompany his main for the season, Kragg. Despite the shift in focus, Windows placed Top 32 in all three of his events, making a surprisingly strong losers run in the RCS Finals to earn his best placement of 9th.

“You don’t need to be unique in order to feel special”

23. Soulrifle211

Soulrifle211 is a Maypul player from Georgia with aspirations of becoming the best in the game. Since his first offline event at Dreamhack Atlanta 2019, Soulrifle211 has hit the grind, making new friendships, focusing on pushing his character to new heights, and improving his mentality along the way. Soulrifle211 wants to be the best, and have fun doing it.

“A beautiful shot won’t always hit. But, a proper shot is extremely beautiful.”

22. Starbos

Starbos set out with a simple goal this season, to work on consistency and to place at or above his seed at each event. While accomplishing this goal was no easy feat, Starbos earned victories against CheesyPotato, Flarey, and hoppyKnitz among others. Starbos’ game 5 stunner over Giga Bowser was his favorite moment from the season, one that might be shared with many of our viewers. Starbos originally staarted playing Rivals in 2016, and despite feeling accomplished in Season 4, jumped up an impressive 9 spots on the list in Season 5.

21. Giga Bowser

Giga Bowser is one of the game’s top Sylvanos players, and a huge reason for the character’s surge in the meta. Giga Bowser placed in the Top 32 of all six events this season, with three separate 13th placements. Giga Bowser had a breakout event at RCS Water with a wins over his bracket demon, CheesyPotato. After jumping up 9 placements from Season 4, we hope to see Giga Bowser continue the climb and break into the Top 20 next season!

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