Each year we look back on the previous competitive season and the players who influenced our scene by creating a Top 50 Players list. Season 3 (May 2018 – January 2019) was our largest year yet with plenty of exciting events to review and talented players to recognize. Before we delve into the rankings this year, here’s an introduction on how the list was formed along with our honorable mentions.
Other Articles in this Series:
Player Qualifications
For the season 3 rankings, we only considered players with results from official Rivals Championship Series events. It’s worth noting that excitingly, more Rivals-only events are beginning to become large enough, competitive enough, and diverse enough to entertain this list encompassing events outside of the RCS. Our ranking council did hold a discussion on this but ultimately decided to wait until next season to begin including them.
In addition to competing in these events, players must also have accrued at least 2 RCS points over the season. This means that at a bare minimum they needed to place top 32 in 2 events. More results leads to a more informed ranking and more participation leads to a more involved community.
Lastly, players also had to be based in the North American (NA) region to be included on this list. You can find the European Season 3 Ranking here.
Methodology
This year instead of our traditional ballot/panel combination our premise began with a ranking system similar to other sports. Players were ranked based on their best 4 placings at events, with events themselves weighted by size and top player attendance.
Whether the event took place offline or online was also taken into consideration. Online events are always a contentious piece of the puzzle for our top 50 rankings, and this year we’ve continued the trend of placing importance heavily on offline results. Exceptional players that only competed online have been included, but may appear lower on the list due to lack of offline results. Keep in mind this is not intended to disrespect their skill, but rather our concession that we’re unable to place them accurately in the context of the full season’s events and offline finals.
Once this ranking system was completed, a council made additional adjustments to the order based on head-to-head results, activity, and other data. This group consisted of Etalus, Menace13, MSB, SBS, Sparx21, and Willby.
Honorable Mentions
We have two different groupings of players that we would like to recognize in our honorable mentions. The first (Just Missed the Cut) includes players who fell outside of the top 50 list by a slim margin.
The second (Hidden Bosses) includes players who played in too little to accurately judge over the season, but their skill stood out in what they did attend. Keep an eye out for all of these players at season 4 events.
Just Missed the Cut
Hidden Bosses
We’ll be releasing the top 50 throughout this week counting down from #50 – #1. Let us know if you have any additional questions about the process, and we hope you’re looking foward to the reveal!
