There was once a final season for EU’s Rivals Championship Series. One where we saw players with skills never seen before. A final push for the Rivals of Aether competitive scene, before its sequel took us by storm. When the season was over, it was time to reflect and pick up the pieces. A team gathered to decide which players would receive the honour of being in the final PR of this game’s lifespan.
Work began, but eventually, things were… lost to time. The scene was, generally, on cooldown, especially while waiting for the next game. PR development slowed down so much that with the release of more and more RoA 2 betas, and eventually, the full game, it stopped completely. Players moved on. Panelists moved on. Our momentum didn’t carry us far enough.
…until now. Recent efforts finally brought life back to what was once lost. Working on top of what once was unfinished, we were able to revive this project and at last give the players what they had earned! We hope you enjoy this blast to the past, one last look at the original Rivals of Aether.
Panelists: Arigatori, Mae, Kader, Kasu, silva
Writing Team: Boss Hog, CaTS, Defileus, Fireicey, Fyreuclo, Jade Fox, Kasu, Kravt3n, lilie, Mae, Sofi, Solid
Revival Team: lilie, Readek
Honourable Mentions:
This season had a handful of players who had a PR-worthy performance, but didn’t meet the minimum participation requirements, or were barely lacking the level of results needed to make the top 15. Since these players were close to making the PR, they deserve an honourable mention:
Arigatori, Alkihamzie, Azula, Kalamahri, Nilsmag, OliveOily
Top 15
15. Yam
“Too bad Hodan sucks”
Making the rankings for the first time since Season 2 almost six years ago, Yam returns to the PR at 15th! This former Aethernity TO came back to compete with a new main, Hodan.
Although many players tried Hodan when he was released, few remained loyal to the character as he was often considered too bad or weird. However, it seems that this switch to Hodan was a perfect choice for Yam as it allowed him to fully express a unique playstyle with precise combos that enabled him to take stocks from his opponent outrageously early and gave him the ability to control the pace of the game.
Results wise, Yam placed consistently within the final stages of every bracket he entered this season, picking up multiple top 16 finishes and even a 7th place at November’s online major.
Yam also makes an impression with his love for the game and for his character, as well as his involvement in the Rivals of Aether community. Whether it’s by explaining the intricacies of his character, managing the French scene as an admin, posting super sick clips on Twitter or being on the beta team; his positive presence can be felt.
Too bad Hodan sucks.
14. Retro
“It was fun”
Retro returns to the PR, solidifying his position as one of the most consistent PR members in the last few years. Despite playing Shovel Knight and Hodan, two characters considered to be on the weaker end of the spectrum, Retro continued to squeeze every last drop out of these characters, managing to find new tech and strategies to carry his opponents to the blastzone with.
This season Retro entered both of the German locals, Rivals Rave and ~fkt Cup 3~, placing 4th, beating players like orkanone and Mae in the process. However it was online where he got his best result, finishing 5th at EU RCS November, beating Yam with his Shovel Knight before denying a reverse 3-0 with his Hodan. It is also worth mentioning his set with Fireicey this bracket was a game 5 nail-biter which Retro just narrowly lost.
Retro is more than just a player however, as he is now on the beta team to improve Hodan by finding bugs and giving game balance suggestions. He’s also a great commentator, providing the in-depth analysis you’d expect from one of the most creative players in Europe. Whether you’re bananas for Hodan or just a Retro fan, their presence will always be appreciated. We hope to see Retro continue to be a part of the scene, whether it be on the sticks or on the mic.
13. zonyx
“Ever fallen asleep while watching Solo Leveling ? Well, you’re not alone. Apparently its studio was tasked with creating a TV Anime that would help insomnia patients with sleep. Inspired by the infamously boring South Korean comic, the studio got to work creating the most sleep inducing show imaginable. When tested with patients, a staggering 90% increase was shown in sleep time and quality. So if you’re ever looking for a good nap, just remember to put on a Solo Leveling episode!”
To those outside of Europe, this may come as a surprise. zonyx was previously ranked as high as third. Make no mistake, zonyx is one of the best players in Europe with their aggressive, flashy and creative gameplay.
Whilst most known for their Clairen, a lack of faith in the character caused zonyx to switch to other options, preeminently Zetterburn and Ranno which during the season picked up very respectable wins over players like orkanone and Yam. When they did feel like playing their tried and true Clairen, it put in work as they swiftly dispatched Kader and took a game off practice partner TheDripCollector on their way to make top eight at EU RCS December.
We all know how good zonyx can be on their day, and with a plethora of platform fighter experience, whether it be on Clairen or a different character, it would not be a surprise at all if they could end up being one of Europe’s finest in Rivals of Aether II.
12. lilie
“give me a day or two to think of something clever”
lilie mashes her way yet again back into the top 15, rocking her signature – and at times infuriating – bait and punish defensive playstyle, with tricky Sein usage, “clever” jabs out of hitstun, and flashy bash combos, she unsurprisingly proves once again that she’s able to hang with the big dogs with a little help from her speedy white friend.
Despite a rough start to the season, lilie managed to end on a high note with wins over Yam, Tandoori, Orticoltore, and even taking Boss Hog to a nailbiter game 5 to end it all. Whilst being the head TO of her region and never once daring to approach her opponent, she still only placed either in top 8 or barely outside of it. It’s also worth mentioning her dominance at local events, never missing top 2 at any of the italian events she attended (all of them).
We’ll see what she’ll manage to achieve in Rivals 2, kneecapped by the lack of her trusted little stupid rat but full of motivation to try and make her new green critter work.
11. Sheush
“Play Pogo3D”
Completing the mirepoix of French players on this season’s PR we have Sheush (that’s pronounced ʃə.ʃ, for all our American readers), a player who has over the last few seasons slowly become a mainstay in our region’s top rankings.
This season, however, Sheush spent most of his time playing Maypul instead of his iconic Elliana, a switch that could explain why his results, while still incredible, weren’t quite as impressive as in previous seasons. He still made top eight twice, at October’s online Major and the EU RCS Finals, it was at the Finals when he went back to Elliana that he had his best showing this season, beating his partner in crime zonyx, and tuto while only losing to last season’s top two, Boss Hog and Fireicey for 7th.
With his fourth appearance in a European Power Ranking in a row, Sheush is now tied with only Kaos (barring an honorable mention) as the French player with the most PR appearances, displaying just how dominant he’s been for the last few seasons. Outside of Rivals of Aether, Sheush is an avid platform fighter fan, having taken his talent to various other platform fighters this season. We’re sure that wherever he goes next, whether it be Rivals of Aether II or another game, that Sheush will continue to be a force to be reckoned with. He also made the workshop character French Sonic. Sorry about that.
10. Kader
“I’m not getting owned, I’m getting ledgetrapped. There’s a difference.”
Going into the start of Season 8, you’d be forgiven if you wrote off Kader’s chances for PR. The young Zetterburn player had only just graduated from EURAS and with a restrictive school schedule, it was unlikely that Kader would be able to meet the minimum requirements to be ranked this season.
Fortunately for Kader he just barely met the criteria, only entering three brackets this season. Missing the first three online brackets, he made up for his absence with back to back top 8 finishes at RUN IT BACK and December’s RCS, doing the double over lilie (even forcing her to pull out her secondary Kragg) and having his discipline tested in a tense five-game set with Sheush.
Kader capped his season off by finishing just outside top 8 at the EU RCS Finals, a run that cemented him as one of the most exciting players to watch out for in Europe. Kader remains one of the biggest “what-ifs” of this season, perhaps with more time on his hands we could have seen him even higher. Nonetheless, it’s been a very impressive season for the young lad and we’re looking forward to seeing what he can cook up next with his Zetterburn.
9. Midmol
“I am not responsible for the sins of my doubles partner”
Midmol reclaims his spot at #9 on the EU PR, confirming to everyone and himself that he is confidently one of EU’s strongest players and can tussle with the best the region has to offer.
This season Midmol’s main goal was to return to the top 10, which is a tough ask with the rising competition this season. Midmol’s season was quite small, being made up of only four events. Despite this, he was able to take home some notable wins in the tournaments he did enter, beating previously ranked 3rd zonyx and taking a set off last season’s 2nd Boss Hog offline at Rivals of Glasgow. He didn’t just stop at the top though, maintaining consistency by never dropping a game to a player ranked below him this season and only missing top 8 once this year due to a connection issue.
Outside of this PR season, Midmol has managed to keep up his win streak at the Front Runners locals, bringing his combined set count total at the London tournament series to an astonishing 32-0. Already getting results with his Forsburn, Midmol is excited to compete in Rivals of Aether II, where he hopes to remain as one of Europe’s top players.
8. arianaa
“no will to break”
Similar to her fellow Orcane main Midmol, arianaa reprises her spot from last season’s PR and stays as the eighth best player in Europe. Moving from Italy to the Netherlands due to university, arianaa didn’t enter much this season but when she did enter she made sure her opponents remembered how good she can be.
arianaa started this season with a bang, winning Rivals Odyssey Summer 2023 and picking up a stunning three set wins over Midmol. After a short break, she travelled to Germany to compete in ~fkt~ Cup 3, defeating Retro before running into Hukon and getting revenge on him for last season, then taking a set off Slap, proving how good she is in the Orcane matchup. arianaa finished her season with a respectable 5th at EU RCS December, beating zonyx before losing to Europe’s two elite Etalus players, Orticoltore and Bleblemlic in two game 5 banger sets.
This season arianaa played the game a bit more casually, but that doesn’t mean she didn’t improve during that time, continuing to increase her fundamentals and becoming more consistent with her terrifying punish game, perfectly utilising tilts and spacing to keep combos going until one back air is enough. When she’s not gambling her hard earned winnings away in various gachas, you can find her on Twitch streaming her hilarious offline grind sessions with TheDripCollector.
7. tuto
“Originality is the fine art of remembering what you hear but forgetting where you heard it.”
Breaking through the wall out of nowhere we have tuto, debuting on the PR at 7th. tuto’s a relative unknown to those who aren’t intimately familiar with the scene, since he sparsely entered tournaments, but he was a prime example of an online warrior hidden boss. Ironically his first eligible event this season was Rivals Rave where he snagged a 5th place getting knocked out of the tournament by the eventual winner and runner-up, Fireicey and OliveOily. His best performance was however undoubtedly RCS October, where he overcame 3 previously top 10 ranked players in zonyx, Sheush and Kalamahri, for an outstanding 4th place finish.
Like several of EU’s other keyboard players tuto’s a highly aggressive player, always trying to force the opponent into unfavourable interactions and forcing them into mistakes with heavy pressure. He’s not one to shy away from using specials, but they are merely a tool for him to get close and bash your face in. He has a great recovery, boldly sneaking right past your edgeguard with quick movement or a clever rock diversion, and he might just as boldly pick up rock in your face to start a deadly advantage state that can have you flying through any blastzone.
With the end of this RCS season he has once again disappeared, hidden amongst the rocks, but perhaps, if you’re lucky, you can catch a glimpse of him by searching in exhibition or in the future playing Rivals 2.
6. Orticoltore
After dominating Italy for so long, Orticoltore’s turn to show his true potential in Europe finally came! The last years’ underwhelming seasons didn’t demoralize him, finally ending up as #6 on this year’s PR as the highest ranking Italian player ever.
His nation always knew how scary his consistent and methodical punishes could be, but he’d never been able to show off at an international level until his breakthrough this year, conquering top 8 after top 8 and even taking wins off of big names such as Bleb and arianaa on his way to a third place finish at RCS December.
None of this would’ve been possible without his trusted polar bear, an Etalus he’s optimized through and through to the point where being offstage against him almost feels like playing a bullet hell game. And don’t fret, if you somehow manage to make it back on stage, you’ve still got plenty to worry about, from his unorthodox Down Special mixups to DACUSes that will leave you frostbitten!
This year also marked his most dominant showing in his home country, confirming his status as the GOAT of Italy while tearing through every single national tournament, only being stopped once by lilie. She ended up being his only “bad” loss in Europe too, the only blemish on an otherwise impeccable season against a player he’s faced and beaten countless times.
Who knows if he’ll ever be able to snatch that coveted title of best Etalus in Europe in the future…
5. Boss Hog
“Samson couldn’t hold my pillars. I threw the rock that killed the dinosaurs. @jadefox8 just try and stop me I’m tweeking out like Gavin Dempsey”
Coming in at number 5 on our illustrious PR, we have the man, the myth, the glorious leader of our beautiful nation, Boss Hog!
The Bossman took a more laid back approach to this season of rivals, choosing to focus more of his efforts on upping his Melee abilities, and getting ready for Rivals 2, speaking of which, he placed an incredible 4th at his excursion to Canada for GOML (let’s hope they don’t nerf Kragg too much).
Despite his split focus he still performed to a high level this season, never placing below 5th by utilising his set of skills to punish bad habits, dissect playstyles, instil fear in his opponents and wait for that one stock ending mistake.
One event we’d like to take a closer look at is the only Scottish local of the year, Rivals of Glasgow, an event that was truly emblematic of him as a player this year, he rocked and rolled his way through the early stages of bracket, but came to a tough halt after a game 5 loss to Midmol. He proceeds to reverse 3-0 the Scottish mainstay Defileus, before laying down a clean 6-2 record across 2 sets against Midmol in grand finals, walking home with a gold medal, and some Scottish doubloons.
Boss Hog was the only player to take a set off of Drip this season, with the exception of Fireicey, of course. Proving that even when he is juggling other platform fighters, his can be the rock that shatters the heavens. Boss Hog is no stranger to PR’s, he’s present on this beautiful list, as well as the Scottish Melee PR and if his GOML placing is anything to go on, we can expect to see him on the first Rivals of Aether II PR too!
4. Bleblemlic
“The Drip Collector? Never heard of him.”
Bleblemlic has been slowly and steadily climbing the EU PR ever since his first placing in season 6 at 10th, moving up to a remarkable 8th in season 7, and now thanks to the continuous effort he has put into improving all aspects of his gameplay, and an extremely solid performance this season, Bleb is finally able to say he is top 5 in all of Europe.
In the past Bleb’s main struggle with reaching higher ranks on the PR was not being able to take wins off of higher-ranked players, usually being incredibly consistent at keeping out other players from advancing further into the top 8 of bracket but not advancing further himself. However this year Bleb was able to prove that he is a threat to EU’s best and belongs among the top 5 with wins over both Hukon and Fireicey, while also bringing his consistency from previous seasons with positive records on all players outside of the top 5…
…except for Orticoltore, who Bleb had a tug of war with throughout the season, with both players trading sets on each other in the battle to see who had the stronger Etalus, ending the season in an undecided h2h of 2-2 between them. Despite this extremely close set count, Bleb’s other results against both players ranked above and below him prove that he deserves the higher rank, and can indisputably hold his title as the best Etalus in Europe.
3. Hukon
“I’ve played this game for over 8 years and now I’m finally #1 at something (playing for a long time)”
Ah yes, our favorite Orcane player! Hukon has stayed with us since the very beginning, and has not let up this entire time, ranking 3rd in this final PR, and being one of the very few players that has been able to make the gods (or at least, the few players ranked above him) bleed.
Having appeared in 9 (nine!) out of ten Power Rankings is no small feat, especially considering that he has ranked into the top 10 of every season but one since 2016! But focusing on this season alone, Hukon has finally landed his best placement yet, having scored at least 5th place on every major tournament he stepped into, consistently being able to fight against the strongest of foes.
Hukon has undoubtedly been THE Orcane player to look up to in EU. Always with a consistently calm neutral, patiently waiting for the opponent to take the bait, and getting a sweet calculated punish out of it. You can feel it when watching him play – you won’t get into his head easily.
We have seen Hukon pick up the sequel, not only showing off his Orcane skills but also reaching new frontiers with Zetterburn. Perhaps this isn’t the last time we see him on a power ranking. Only time will tell.
2. TheDripCollector
“SSDI? Floorhugging? In Rivals? I have no idea what you’re talking about. Come on, we’ve got a set to play!”
Straight from the Garten, and boasting the highest first placement from a newcomer on the European PR. Drip is the newest competitor in the line of cracked kids from the Netherlands to make a mark on the scene.
Entering this season, everyone’s eyes were on TheDripCollector’s results, as within the previous year he had already taken sets over PR’d players such as Bleblemlic, Retro, and even the EU veteran OliveOily, but he was not eligible to be ranked because of his lack of attendance.
This year Drip was able to completely blow these expectations out of the water, as he had an outstanding showing at each of the 5 majors he entered this year, maintaining a winning record on every player ranked below him. He showed us that Wrastor could be pushed even further, advancing the character’s tricky disadvantage, utilising unique combo routes with slipstream and up b that could explode stocks in seconds, all the while giving our scene’s long-time #1 player the toughest challenge he’s faced in many years..
Throughout the season Drip fought hard for a 1st place finish over Fireicey, with multiple sets that went back and forth between them. Drip managed to pull out some wins over Fireicey, but the green Zetterburn was always able to keep his composure and claim 1st place in the tournament.
Towards the end of their feud and with RoA’s final PR season coming to a close, Europe saw its biggest prize pool ever with the announcement of the EU RCS Season 8 Finals. Knowing this would be his last chance to take home a 1st place this year, Drip practised and practised for this event. And with the help of a certain Smug Jug, Drip was able to take Europe’s highest stake tournament over Fireicey without even seeing the losers bracket, being the first player to win a major by double eliminating Europe’s #1 Player since Transco in 2019.
TheDripCollector outperformed the competition and was easily deserving of at least 2nd place this season, giving us potentially the most contention for 1st place in EU history, while making sure our final season went out with a bang. But despite the PR coming to a close, Drip will undoubtedly keep playing RoA out of love of the game, and with his performance over Fireicey in the finals, we could see EU’s crown passed onto him in the future.
1. Fireicey
“Guess I’ma just keep on drifting…”
No one deserves the spot at the top of the summit more than Fireicey, the dominant veteran of the EU competitive scene, who has now marked his sixth appearance on the RCS PR and claimed the title of champion for the fifth consecutive time. He is both awe-inspiring and daunting to opponents, who eagerly give it their all trying to make a dent in the near-perfect tournament record of the Norwegian Zetterburn god.
Audiences in competitive environments tend to root for underdogs, unintentionally turning the defending title holder into the antagonist. This makes it easy to forget how much work goes into becoming the one to beat and maintaining that position. The coolheaded mentality necessary to stay on top is characteristic of Fireicey’s personality. I witnessed this firsthand when I housed him over at my place for a tournament in the Netherlands. When he arrived in winter, it was a cold ~3 degrees, yet he was dressed like it was a heatwave. I asked if he wasn’t worried about getting sick, and he responded: “I’m used to worse.” He then quickly moved on to play friendlies against MSB inside, treating it like he was just some random guy.
Fireicey’s gameplan contains a deep knowledge of optimal punish options, shaped by his unrivaled spatial awareness. He combines this with imposing technical movement and mostly safe yet threatening skirmishing attacks in neutral, all performed with seeming ease. It’s possible to create cracks in this strategy, but a whiffed move is often punished by an overwhelming combo, ending in high percentage or a lost stock. The consistent threat of getting reversaled from their advantage state, and the inherent risk in trying to make a comeback against a player who seems aware of the best plan of action in almost any scenario, results in matches where, once Fireicey finds his momentum, opponents have to worry more about not ending up in a live combo video on stream than about winning.
Should a competitor not falter under the pressure of the green Zetterburn’s heat and take the lead, the reigning EU champion seamlessly adapts mid-set. Through patience and analytical baiting in neutral while maintaining composure in his movement, he ensures that either a comeback is set in motion, or that he’ll get his revenge later in bracket.
Season 8 PR Graphic
