Season 8 Rankings: #40-31

Welcome to the North American RCS Season 8 Top 50! Each year we look back on the previous competitive season and the players who influenced our scene by creating a Top 50 Players list. The rankings are created by a community panel that considers data from across the season to construct a comprehensive list that highlights our top players and their accomplishments.

View more articles in the Season Eight NA Rankings Series:

• • Introduction & Methodology
  • #50-41
  • #40-31 (You are here.)
  • #30-21
  • #20-11
  • #10-1

40. Oneoutkast

“I like winning or losing, failing or succeeding on my own merit.”-CM Punk

Day two of Top 50 kicks off with a mainstay in the PNW Power Rankings, Oneoutkast! His events overall were relatively strong, and he was able to rack up back to back 9th place finishes at The Reef and RCS December, securing wins against a slew of current and former Top 50 heavy hitters such as Omar and MattyIce. Oneoutkast was also able secure a 4th place finish on his home turf at CREST 2, taking down Mystery Sol and TaiTheGuy along the way. Oneoutkast says he is excited for Rivals 2 but still intends to compete in Rivals 1 as long as there is competition to conquer!

39. JLindy

“Buff maypul bair that move isn’t good enough.”

As the Canadian invasion continues, JLindy is another new face to the Top 50! While his appearances were largely online this season, JLindy made an appearance at GOML, where he was excited to meet the local community and top players in person. Rivals of Aether has been JLindy’s first dip into competitive play, showing he has what it takes to grind and improve at a rapid rate. JLindy was able to secure 13th placements at both Online RCS events and throughout the season, only lost sets to players ranked above him. In a bit of a contrast, JLindy says he does not expect to continue his competitive drive with the release of Rivals 2, but is looking forward to being a part of the community.

38. Ahntye

“Maybe the real kill move was the friends we made along the way…”

Making her return to our Power Rankings is the SoCal T.O. and Grassroots League leadership member, Ahntye. She has been a member of the community since 2018 and has been running locals almost as long, including running Super Sunnyshore as a GRL event in Season 8. Ahntye is one of the most prolific commentators in the scene and can often be found holding down the mic anywhere from North American majors and Workshop Top 8s to overseas online majors – chances are, if you watch competitive Rivals, you have heard her voice.

Ahntye is one of the most knowledgeable Ori mains to ever do it, helping with balance and niche bugs on the official beta team. On the competitive side of the game, she was able to secure wins on players such as OoDa and Qunne while consistently making the top cut of every LAN event she attended.

37. Cork_xx

“I graduated High School 2014 and have been playing Rivals since 2015 so it is not wrong to say this game has been a pillar in my adult life so far. Thank you everyone!”

<.< A long time top player and enigma of a competitor lands at 37 this season! Cork is a player that can take down top 10 talent, play random on a whim, or take the wrong week off of work for a major in his own region. Cork is a joy to be around and fight against, making competition a blast for everyone around him. His RCS events this season were a bit weak compared to his incredibly strong GRL events, where he secured a win over elkiies at CREST 2 and placed 1st from winners side at COST 2023. Overall, Cork's results are a bit all over the board, landing him a bit lower than you'd expect with his stellar peaks this season.

36. JohnJake

“Pardon my egress. You’re on your own now.”

JohnJake is a Forsburn player that made a big splash in Season 8, attaining his first ever RCS Top 8 at TBH 11 and drawing large crowds in his game 5 sets against Pity and Farbanti at Riptide 2023. JohnJake was relatively consistent in his placings, never dropping below 25th place at his 7 events while securing wins against the likes of elkiies, Brunch, and more along the way. His competitive mindset has taken a shift in the off-season, with rock climbing and learning Japanese in preparation for studying abroad later this year.

35. Akashi

“Prota said it’s my turn to be the second best Absa.”

Akashi took a step back from his hardcore Top 10 player grind to focus more on his commentary skills this season. Despite putting competition on the back-burner, he was able to place no lower than 25th in his six events, including a 9th place finish at Hitfall 2 and 17th place finish at the incredibly stacked Riptide 2023. Akashi is looking forward to both Rivals titles being at events and expects to play Fleet in our sequel while he waits for Absa to make her electrifying appearance.

“If I could say anything at this point, it’s just that I’m proud of everyone who made it this season. I’m grateful for all the friends I made in the community, and I’ll keep on playing until the heat death of the universe though. This game is so much fun, and I honestly can’t wait to play Rivals 2 Absa.”

34. Adam

“Just turned down a job offer to be Mr.Electric from Shark Boy and Lava Girl cause I’m too Electric.”

Adam is a returning Top 50 player who spent Season 8 with the goal of focusing on other platform fighters while attempting to still make the rankings. Adam’s goal was soundly achieved as he secured a 9th place finish at RCS December, collecting wins over the likes of MSB and JLindy. Adam’s season consisted of four events where he only lost sets to current and former Top 20 players.

33. rillabel

“I refuse to believe you watch VODs, you play the most crackhead Etalus I’ve ever seen.” – @GigaDragonPlus

Rillabel began playing Rivals during the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic, but does not compete often. This season, rillabel attended four events with relatively consistent placements until a massive run at TBH 11 where rillabel went on a run beating Cork_xx, JohnJake, Skooli, and MSB to secure a 4th place finish. Rillabel is excited for Rivals 2 and hopes to attend some tournaments when the game comes out later this year.

32. w0wells

HAPPY BIRTHDAY BILLY – Ahntye

W0wells was a well traveled Wrastor main in Season 8, attending seven different events with the goal of making an upset on a top player. His GRL events were particularly strong, with Top 8 placements at CREST 2 and Two Day War, where he achieved his upset against MSB. W0wells mentions that traveling to so many events in the future may be difficult with school taking priority, but he still plans on practicing Rivals 2 in his free time, so don’t be surprised to see him come out of nowhere and take names in the future.

31. Spyker

“When you feel like you’ve hit rock bottom, then there’s only one way to go from there. That way is up!” -unknown (i forgot)

Closing out our second day of reveals is an extremely volatile player who made big WAVES at Heat Wave 6 and Super Sunnyshore. Spyker has been on the rise for several seasons, seemingly making a breakthrough of sorts by earning his best RCS placement ever and proving that his Forsburn is a technical force to be reckoned with. We unfortunately may see less of Spyker as he prepares to begin work on his Master’s degree in the Fall, for which we wish him the best of luck!