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This is part of an article series on the top 50 players in Rivals of Aether drawing data primarily from NA competitions.

Articles in the Series

• #50 – 41
• #40 – 31
• #30 – 21
• #20 – 11
• #03 – 1

For more information about the methodology and how rankings were decided, check out the Rivals Top 50 Introduction Post.

To enter free Rivals of Aether events online, head to the Rivals Championship Series 2 Smash.gg page.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
10	96.00
17th	2nd	1st	1st
Summary

Though Kisuno played during season one of the RCS with solid results, he’s now approached a level of skill that truly rivals the top players. Recently taking 2nd at CEO Dreamland, Kisuno also holds a ridiculous 91.7% win rate after over 120 NCS matches. Other players recognize this dominance and even though he has few season one results, our panelists voted him unanimously into the top 10. Many top players have been dormant after Genesis 4 but Kisuno has clearly been on the grind and will definitely be coming for the throne in season 2.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
09	96.10
9th	17th	3rd	2nd
Summary

MSB is a top Kragg player with impressive results from Rivals events across the country. He most recently secured 3rd place at CEO Dreamland on the big stage, but also has great results from Super Smash Con, Garden of Gods, and Genesis 4. His presence in the online scene as both a player (and more recently a TO and mentor) has earned him many fans. MSB was recently picked up by Fable eSports and is looking forward to the opportunities to travel provided by the team. He will definitely be a player to watch out for at Bigger Balc, which is quickly turning into our most stacked tournament since Genesis 4.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
08	96.50
4th	9th	9th	4th
Summary

Zetterburn is seen frequently in tournaments these days and LBO took no small part in pioneering many aspects of top Zetter play. A fan favorite during the RCS online streams, LBO’s aggressive offstage play and sheer dominance secured him a travel voucher to Genesis 4 by placing him firmly in the top 6 of the RCS standings. He’s looking forward to returning to online play in season 2, starting out with an impressive undefeated streak in the NCS so far this year. LBO is also a frequent streamer and you can catch him on his twitch channel here.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
07	97.00
6th	7th	2nd	2nd
Summary

AZCards is a rock in Rivals, and not just because he plays Kragg. Even though he’s not known for his tech skill or flashy combos, AZCards’ consistency is mind boggling. He is constantly able to tangle with the best players in the game and is rarely upset, holding a solid 81.7% win rating in NCS events this year with over 80 games played. AZCards secured himself 7th place at Genesis 4 earlier this year and was recently picked up by VexX Gaming. He’s excited to be a part of their team and will be a force to be reckoned with at Bigger Balc next week.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
06	97.10
1st (EU)	5th	N/A	185th
Summary

Kaos was the European RCS champion and certainly had a lot to prove when he came to Genesis 4. No stranger to the big stage due to his experience as a pro Brawl player, he did not disappoint – defeating Kenneth, Turquoise, AZCards and others on his way to 5th place. Kaos is a multi-character main, changing characters as patches came out in early access updates. Now that the game has settled he tends to play Etalus and Zetterburn. Even though he was only here for a short time, players were obviously impressed with his skills and impact on the scene for global Rivals, as he was unanimously placed in the top ten on our panelist ballots.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
05	97.50
15th	3rd	24th	1st
Summary

Arcanine is an impressive wildcard player that could potentially be in the top 3 with just a few more victories. He doesn’t regularly participate in the online tournament scene, but trains within the ICE crew and is a lab monster on his own. Since many top players don’t have tons of experience against him they’re never sure exactly what they’re going to get during a tournament – only that they should be afraid. Responsible for sending CakeAssault to losers bracket early at Genesis 4, Arcanine also defeated Ralph and Kaos before eventually falling to FullStream. He’s excited to travel again to the next big tournament, since he’s quite familar with getting 1st place at mid-sized events but still wants to prove it on a national level.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
04	98.00
3rd	4th	1st	21st
Summary

CakeAssault had some of the most surprising results this past year. Whispers about how good the young player was started after he took first place at Super Smash Con and made it look easy. Then he started to win online RCS weeklies, defeating FullStream with a character the viewers had never seen him play before – Wrastor. At Genesis 4 CakeAssault solidified his legacy with one of the most epic losers bracket runs in Rivals history. After losing in game 5/last hit to Arcanine, he was able to rally and defeat Handbutt, Turquoise, LBO, DolphinBrick, and eventually eliminate Ralph from the event. This level of mental fortitude bodes well for CakeAssault’s future career as he’ll definitely be a player to look out for in season 2.

This is part of an article series on the top 50 players in Rivals of Aether drawing data primarily from NA competitions.

Articles in the Series

• #50 – 41
• #40 – 31
• #30 – 21
• #10 – 4
• #03 – 1

For more information about the methodology and how rankings were decided, check out the Rivals Top 50 Introduction Post.

To enter free Rivals of Aether events online, head to the Rivals Championship Series 2 Smash.gg page.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
20	90.00
N/A	N/A	40th	480th
Summary

Grace is an oldschool Absa main, responsible for bringing to light some of her more broken aspects back in the days of early access. He prefers patient play over flashy up-special canceling, instead opting to simply use her air speed to his advantage. His Etalus is also a force to be reckoned with due to his powerful punish game and movement options. Recognized on our ballot as one of the best, he plans to make strides in the competitive scene soon once again.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
19	91.00
N/A	17th	6th	4th
Summary

First getting into the competitive scene just a few months ago at G4, Turtlebox is a great Kragg player and rising star. He plans to continue climbing the ranks this season and hopes to one day be as consistent as players like AZCards or FullStream. Starting from the Ace crew, he was recently sponsored by FlySociety and is looking forward to attending more local events as a result. He says he’s become the player he is today thanks to everyone in Ace and FlySociety.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
18	92.00
N/A	N/A	17th	164th
Summary

Atma is unanimously considered one of the best, coming in as the highest rated player without T1 results on our panelist ballots. With the new monthly RCS schedule, he looks forward to playing in season 2. He approaches the game from a more laidback perspective, coming back because he loves the game and finds Orcane the most fun and satisfying character to combo with.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
17	92.10
27th	9th	20th	48th
Summary

Even though Kenneth is a hard player to pin down and his results can vary from event to event, he trends near the top. He’s proven that he’s not someone to sleep on when he secured 9th place at Gensesis 4. Kenneth is a technical player and is also talented in design and programming, creating the rivalsrankings website as well as the custom /r/rivalsofaether styling.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
16	92.50
23rd	5th	4th	106th
Summary

ProDoubleSushi has been a Forsburn main since day 1, and his depth of knowledge on the character is unparalleled. ProDoubleSushi has that rare talent that allows him to teach as well as he plays. A long time mentor and guide creator, his friendly attitude brings people into the scene through streams and exhibitions. This has paid off for him as he was recently picked up as FlySociety’s streamer.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
15	92.70
13th	N/A	53rd	98th
Summary

PikaThePikachu came out in force during season 1 by being one of the first players to take games from FullStream when he began his reign of dominance. His Zetterburn is one of the best, a trend that can be seen in other Zetterburns from the Rise crew. He says he plans on being around for a very long time, and that we better watch out for him in season 2.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
14	93.00
7th	17th	16th	375th
Summary

Though Handbutt is a long time player from Early Access, he first became well known for his victory in RCS #12. Defeating CakeAssault, LBO, TheFailWhale and more, he tore through the losers side in a flurry of upsets to take first place. Handbutt has also done well at several local events and has recently joined the NCS crew in helping TO the online community series. He plans to play in the Road to Shine series and other season 2 events. Though he could not be reached for comment on the upcoming tournament, he most likely would have said, “Watch out it’s going to be like RCS 12 all over again.”.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
13	93.50
12th	13th	2nd	N/A
Summary

Turquoise is an oldschool Orcane player who pioneered the character in many ways. Akin to “The Duo”, players call the ftilt to upspecial combo on Orcane “The Turq”. Turquoise prefers local events and teams with FullStream in doubles whenever he can. The “Fullquoise” pair is currently undefeated in any major doubles event, including Genesis 4 and Garden of the Gods.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
12	94.00
8th	9th	11th	12th
Summary

TheFailWhale was a fan favorite to watch on stream during season 1 due to his smooth movement and dominant playstyle. One of the best in the ICE crew, he secured 9th at Genesis 4. He (along with Nevereatcars) is the lead TO for the community run National Championship Series. Hosting hundreds of Rivals events from early access to today, his work provides players with countless hours of enjoyment.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
11	95.00
10th	7th	11th	13th
Summary

DolphinBrick is another player that was recently sponsored, getting picked up by VexX gaming. His results speak for themselves back from even before season one, as he took second place at one of the first organized Rivals events ever – narrowly losing to Ralph at GDC. He’s continued to prove himself since then, culminating with a top 8 at Genesis 4. In addition to tournament play DolphinBrick is also a favorite streamer and video creator in the community.

This is part of an article series on the top 50 players in Rivals of Aether drawing data primarily from NA competitions.

Articles in the Series

• #50 – 41
• #40 – 31
• #20 – 11
• #10 – 4
• #03 – 1

For more information about the methodology and how rankings were decided, check out the Rivals Top 50 Introduction Post.

To enter free Rivals of Aether events online, head to the Rivals Championship Series 2 Smash.gg page.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
30	80.50
26th	N/A	13th	14th
Summary

Guyron is one of the strongest Orcanes in the central region. Primarily an online warrior, he has many upsets under his belt including ProDoubleSushi, Handbutt, and even Ralph. Since he’s not able to attend local events, he plans to continue to play in RCS online monthlies and hopes to achieve his goal of a first place finish during season 2.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
29	81.00
14th	13th	7th	197th
Summary

Tandori is one of the OGs of Rivals and has traveled far and wide to play at events. Though in the past his consistency has been his demon, he’s proven that he can take sets from some of the best including MSB at Genesis 4. His most recent finish includes a solid top 8 at CEO Dreamland – a great sign for his performance coming into season 2.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
28	84.00
N/A	25th	9th	14th
Summary

Geqqo’s style is so unique that you can tell you’re playing him even without tags on. One of the most ranged focused Kraggs, Geqqo prefers to pummel people into submission from afar and capitalize on their mistakes with his parry heavy playstyle. He was able to secure 25th at Genesis 4 with this strategy and is a terrifying opponent to come across on the ranked ladder.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
27	85.00
42nd	N/A	25th	559th
Summary

Protagify is a veteran Absa player and pillar of the community. A member of TSMSB, he can go toe to toe with the best of the crew and the West Coast Rivals as evidenced by his results in the WCS. For as much lightning charged punishment as he dishes out, he gives back to the players equally by running the Rivals mentoring discord. New players who are just starting, amateurs who want to improve, or anyone that’s a student of Rivals is welcome to join!

Rank	Rating	Rivals
26	86.00
40th	9th	7th	8th
Summary

Another great Absa player, Ceztellz is currently dominating the online scene. With over 100 games played in the NCS, he holds close to a 70% win rate at rank 7. As a Florida local, he attended CEO Dreamland and finished 9th after falling in an extremely close set with Aurecia.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
25	86.40
37th	17th	34th	27th
Summary

TheDuoDesign is another OG Maypul player, playing in some of the first local Rivals events ever with the rest of the ICE crew. He is such an OG that the act of using a tetherless Up Special to KO your opponent is nicknamed “The Duo”, as he pioneered using it in the early days.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
24	88.00
N/A	N/A	5th	3rd
Summary

TheEvets is a dominant Zetterburn player in the NCS and was highly touted on the player ballot. Defeating players such as TheFailWhale, AZCards, and Handbutt in online events shows that he has potential to compete at the top. He was absent from season 1, but has plans to take his skills into the RCS for season 2 and see if he can make his mark. He says players like RiskyCB and LBO were some of his biggest influences and his goal is to become a top 6 player.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
23	89.00
59th	5th	12th	N/A
Summary

Aurecia is widely recognized to be one of the best Absas in the game. A long time player and crew leader, Aurecia has given back to the community many times over. Though he prefers online events and doesn’t travel to local tournaments much, he recently had a great showing at CEO Dreamland – competing on the big stage and securing 5th place after eliminating Tandori.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
22	89.30
22nd	4th	15th	9th
Summary

Windows is one of the best Wrastors out there right now and is improving every day. His choice of controller is unique to most top players as he uses a mechanical keyboard. Windows is a frequent teammate of MSB and the pair landed 2nd place at both Garden of the Gods and CEO Dreamland. Dreamland was a good weekend for him in general as he also made his debut on the big stage for the finals that same weekend in singles, securing 4th place. Windows has said by the time season 2 is over he’ll be coming for the top 10.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
21	89.90
15th	2nd	4th	167th
Summary

RiskyCB is a player with a flair for style both in-game and out of game. His fast paced play made him a viewer favorite in RCS season 1 as he slid through the bracket and dunked his opponents. He has big plans in store for season 2 and will definitely be a player to look out for as this year’s tournaments unfold.

This is part of an article series on the top 50 players in Rivals of Aether drawing data primarily from NA competitions.

Articles in the Series

• #40 – 31
• #30 – 21
• #20 – 11
• #10 – 4
• #03 – 1

For more information about the methodology and how rankings were decided, check out the Rivals Top 50 Introduction Post.

To enter free Rivals of Aether events online, head to the Rivals Championship Series 2 Smash.gg page.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
50	60.00
37th	33rd	7th	54th
Summary

Solar has been around for quite a long time, first picking up the game in early alpha. While he’s certainly grown as a community leader he’s also steadily risen in skill. Surprising even himself, he was able to secure his most notable finish recently at CEO Dreamland by defeating Willby. That finish along with his other solid placings at RCS events has secured his spot in the top 50.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
49	63.00
N/A	N/A	1st	1050th
Summary

C9 Mang0 is a legendary SSB Melee player who has been known to dabble in Rivals of Aether from time to time. While he has not entered as many Rivals events, his results when he does compete are strong. He defeated PG Plup at Smash Summit 3 in a runback of the Rivals finals from Smash Summit 2. Mang0’s skills are proof that Smash skills do indeed carry over to Rivals, a trend also shown by players like PewPewU, SFAT, SmashG0d and Xaltis. Based on his experience and clutch factor, we think Mang0 could take a run at some of the top players in our game by putting in the time to grind.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
48	66.00
34th	N/A	N/A	34th
Summary

SisterEden is considered the best female Rivals player in the NA community. She consistently places well in online events and has pulled off some major upsets. Since being featured in a Player Spotlight in 2016, SisterEden has also picked up Absa to compliment her deadly Kragg.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
47	67.00
43rd	17th	35th	58th
Summary

One of the few notable solo Maypul mains, Nevereatcars is also a TO for the longest running community tournament series to date – the NCS. He brought his skill to bear during the RCS and fought his way onto the leaderboard, ending with a strong finish at Genesis 4. A fan of off the cuff and crazy tournaments, he’s the yin to TheFailWhale’s yang.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
46	67.50
57th	5th	37th	111th
Summary

Renzo capped off his online play most recently by attending CEO Dreamland and landing 5th place after a nailbiting victory against Solar in Top 8. Renzo is a solid player who is looking to make a big splash in Season 2 of the RCS.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
45	67.60
N/A	N/A	33rd	15th
Summary

Mephiles is a skilled Absa main who is always improving. He has earned some impressive wins against players like TheDuoDesign, GamingClan and more. While he has fantastic online results, he can easily be found at local events due to his conspicuous choice of headware.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
44	67.80
N/A	N/A	25th	43rd
Summary

Allergic to Bullets has allergies to many things, entering tournaments under the guise of everything from “Allergic to Cannonballs” to “Allergic to Kragg”. Bullets can tangle with the bottom half of the top 50 just fine and has secured some great upsets. Now it’s time for him to put it all together and take first place at an event. He’s a fierce competitor in the WCS taking out the likes of Kenneth, Protagify, and others.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
43	68.00
34th	N/A	18th	27th
Summary

GamingClan has been a mainstay Zetter player throughout the online scene. He has a massive number of games under his belt, participating in as many NCS and CCS as he can. This practice has paid off by netting him wins against the likes of Failwhale, Heyodogo, and more. His win count is second only to Kisuno in the entire NCS.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
42	69.00
N/A	33rd	N/A	67th
Summary

TheBestAdamCarra is most known for his Rivals YouTube videos, but also plays a mean Maypul. He likes to focus on emulating top players’ techs and says that Ralph and Lz are his go tos for Maypul. Adam has placed well at several local events (G4 and Twitchcon) and will be traveling to Bigger Balc as well for the second season of the RCS.

Rank	Rating	Rivals
41	69.50
N/A	N/A	22nd	14th
Summary

Jesier is an east coast player with a propensity for high flying air based Rivals. Often making it deep into NCS brackets, I expect Jesier to start showing up big in season 2. Notable upsets include TheDuoDesign, Ceztellz, and Guyron.

Season 2 of the Rivals Championship Series kicks off this weekend with the Road to Shine, a free online tournament that can net you a trip to Shine 2017.  Before the monthlies get into full swing however, we thought it would be nice to look back at past events and players in our scene. That’s why all this week we’ll be putting out an article each day as we countdown the top 50 Rivals players – ending on Friday with #1!

Articles in the Series

• #50 – 41
• #40 – 31
• #30 – 21
• #20 – 11
• #10 – 4

Methodology

When taking an in-depth look at our players for this article series, we recognized that we have a lot of good players. Many of them have never played each other locally which makes this a tough exercise. Past the very top players, many players are also separated by razor thin margins. To that end, we tried to employ a methodology that would rank the players in as fair a way as possible:

Player Results

Tournament results (as long as the events meet the right criteria) are one of the best indicators of player skill. Overall standings and set count data is useful, though it’s still hard to find events where all of the top players are competing at once in Rivals. To this end, I separated events from the past year into tiers. Events in higher tiers were considered more heavily when determining a player’s rankings, and events were ranked this way due to amount of top players in attendance, total attendees, amount of rounds, etc.

Tier 1

• RCS Online Events
• Genesis 4

Tier 2

• NCS Online Events
• CEO Dreamland
• Super Smash Con 2016

Tier 3

• EVO 2016
• PAX West 2016
• Garden of the Gods

Tier 4

• Twitchcon 2016
• Rewired 2016
• GUTS 4
• Shine 2016
• Smash Summit 3

Panelists

In addition to looking at player results, a panel of 20 players was created and surveyed for additional insight. This panel consisted mainly of top players, as well as a few other community members who are in a position to fairly judge player skill (e.g. TOs intimate with player results). These players ranked a list of over 110 players that qualified past on event placements.

Panelists were instructed to rate players from 1 – 10 based on, “… times you’ve played against [players on the list], past tournament results you’re aware of, and how you perceive their general skill level at this current time.” The main goal was to capture rankings based on their experience playing their peers and NOT for the panelists to do in-depth research.

Community Impact

On occasion, players were weighted by a third factor of community impact. Though this was never a large portion of a player’s total score, it did help separate players due to the very thin margins I mentioned earlier.

Final Notes

In some cases we were missing data (e.g. players are not active enough, limited bracket interactions) so certain players may not be listed even though they are generally accepted as being high tier. Other times even if a player was inactive, the panelists vouched so strongly for a player’s skill that they were included with less recent results.

We recognize arguments can be made for many players to make this list. If you’re interested in competitive Rivals of Aether, make sure you play in premiere events to test your skills against the best. You can check out the new monthly schedule for our free online RCS tournaments here: Rivals Championship Series – Season 2. Stay tuned for the first installment in the top 50 coming later today!