Andrés "AndresFn" Fariñas, one of the best players in Europe and one of the most technical Ken, Ryu, and Terry players in the world, boasts skills with Smash's FGC characters to scare even Justin Wong. His 2021 began with continued strong performances at WiFi tournaments, including 17th at the massive Smash World Tour Europe Ultimate Qualifier, continuing the strong online performances that defined his improvement throughout 2020 as well.
His hadoukens and shoryukens became even more spectacular offline. AndresFN would earn 5th place at Temple: Hermés Edition and take sets off strong players such as Homika, Tilde, MoDzai and Glutonny. In other strong performances at the likes of Ultimate WANTED 3 and the DATEV circuit, AndresFN recorded further top-level wins on Meru, Sintro, Mr.R, Longo and SkWiirrell.
He finished the season placing 13th at VCA 2021, taking sets off Purple~H and Otakuni. As for his local performance in Spain, he won the Arenas Stadium and got a few Top 8 placements in more regional tournaments, demonstrating in 2021 that he is always one of the top contenders to win a tournament in his country and is a huge presence in Europe at large.
If you ask any European smasher who was around during Smash4, they would agree that Mehdi ‘Flow’ Zidany was the biggest winner of the transition into Ultimate. In the twilight years of Smash4, Flow was already making a name for himself as a premier Roy player despite the character’s flaws. If you thought Flow would make the most of Roy’s terrifying transformation into his current oppressive self…you would be absolutely correct.
Flow’s performances over the past year have been phenomenal, and when he attends he’s a regular fixture in top 8. He finished 7th at Vienna Challengers Arena only falling to fellow countrymen Leon and Glutonny, and finished 5th at Ultimate WANTED 3 with wins over MVL, Mezcaul, iStudying & Oryon. Despite the massive influx of talent from the wifi era, Flow continues to plant himself firmly in the top flight of the European scene.
By Joshua "Barnard's Loop" Craig
Dennis “iStudying” Kwarteng had ended his Pre-Quarantine period with a win at The Ultimate Performance 3, a highly stacked regional held in Rotterdam. Not even seeded top 8, this was a return to form for the legendary Dutch Greninja main.
Like with many Dutch players, we’ve seen extended hiatuses and retirements that run as a polar opposite to what the bustling French scene saw in 2020 to 2021. After returning to events proper, iStudying placed ninth at ULTIMATE WANTED 3, the first European major event since Quarantine.
At Temple: Hermes Edition, iStudying placed similarly, but racked up more wins. Sent into losers against French Ridley “Mezcaul”, iStudying immediately went on to eliminate fellow Dutch player “Azrael," followed by wins over top German players Tarik and Longo, with a crown jewel win over Tilde.
With his hiatus doing little to deter him, iStudying is poised to be a front line Dutch player going into the future, still a threat to Europeans and Americans alike.
When you think about the more recent big hitters of the European scene, Jean-Paul ‘Neeroz’ Nagbo is certainly one of the first names to come to mind. While he’s been competing since near the start of Ultimate’s lifespan, it wasn’t until last year that his results really started to ramp up, and today the Pikachu player makes himself known as one of the most prominent players in France.
Over the past half year, Neeroz has been racking up some fantastic performances at France’s numerous nationals, with multiple set wins over Leon, Oryon, Flow and many more. He stepped up to the plate at nationals too, placing 13th at Temple, 9th at Vienna Challengers Arena, and rattled off an insane 7-round losers run at Ultimate WANTED 3 to finish 7th. With the European community still in the process of getting back to offline events, we can only wait with anticipation at the heights Neeroz may reach in the future.
The man who managed to pull off the impossible, the first European to snag a victory away from Glutonny at a European major tournament: Peli has a strong grind ethic and it has all been paying off immensely, landing him into the conversation for top 20 in Europe. After a long lasting character crisis over so many years of Ultimate’s lifespan, Peli finally settled on Sonic, a character that has stuck with him since Smash 4, while still keeping his beloved and famous King Dedede on the side for when the time is right.
Peli has been a bit of a travel bug both within and outside of the UK, claiming multiple top 8 placings at UK regionals and nationals such as Invasion 2021, Canal Cl@sh and Fair Game 14 with victories at Liverpool Smash III and WaveSmash Ultimate 8. His international performance has also been impressive with 13th at Kings of Fields 95, qualifying for the Smash World Tour Finals and of course his grand victory at the major VCA 2021 beating players such as Neeroz, Space, Leon and Sintro on top of his historic elimination of Glutonny.
Despite some rare dips in performance, occasional drops in sets and a tendency to burn himself out, Peli has built up a strong mentality for the post-lockdown world. When the nerves are shaken off and his head is in the right place, he becomes one of Europe’s best.
By Joshua "Barnard's Loop" Craig
In contrast to his countryman Leon’s fifteen-year career, “Raflow” – another contender for second in France – is an emergent Palutena that sprung to relevance in 2020 to 2021. At just fifteen years old, Raflow had already gone from low placements at French regionals to regularly defeating much of the country’s top ranks by late 2020.
In 2021, this skill manifested into a competitive record with most of the country, as well as a near dead even record with Leon. At Dojo #7, Raflow became the first player in Europe to successfully double eliminate Glutonny in a tournament, further cementing his vast potential.
His last proper major of the year, Temple: Hermes Edition, was a resounding success. Despite an early drop to Kome, Raflow went on to eliminate Dutch legends “Mr. R” and “Space” – as well as a host of top French players – in his first run to a top 8 at a major event.
Wins at KRBanger #1 and WANTED PREDAT8RS further justify the idea that Raflow is one of the fiercest talents to emerge, with great room for improvement going into the future.
Woomy! Alahn "Space" Balemba, the best European Inkling and one of the best Inklings in the world, didn't have a very active 2021 season. However, he remained one of Europe's most consistent players when active, performing at a great level when he attended some of the most important tournaments during 2021.
The journey of Space started with a few Wi-Fi tournaments, but it was clear he didn't vibe with the online era, as he mostly opted out after a 25th place at EnvySnakes Crew Collab Edition and 33rd place at FCW x Global Clan: Special Edition 2.
He immediately proved he hadn't missed a beat with the return of offline, placing 17th at Temple: Hermès Edition and 5th place at VCA with notable wins over Leon, Tru4 and Ogey. He could reclaim a top spot on the European rankings with more attendance the next season, as his potential is clear despite few results.
The eagle-eyed amongst you might notice that SupahSemmie is a unique outlier amongst the A-tier players, and this is the fact he’s curiously absent from the recent OrionRank European top 50. This does not make that ranking incorrect, but rather was the result of a severe lack of events in the Netherlands lately. The Dutch scene is extremely strong despite its lack of events in 2021, and few exemplify that strength like Supahsemmie. The Young Link main has attended merely 4 tournaments since the start of the pandemic but make no mistake he has earned his place on this list.
For his sole out of country attendance, SupahSemmie attended Temple and placed 9th after a long losers run, eliminating many of Europe’s finest on the way. Within his home country he won all 3 tournaments he attended in 2021, Winning Parsec I in July, Beating Mr.R twice at AOMA Esports Unleashed, and defeating Ramses twice at Fenrir Saga #1. Some may have forgotten how strong Semmie is, but we can only hope he gets more opportunities to show his prowess in 2022.
Undeniably the United Kingdom’s greatest weapon with seemingly bottomless pockets, Bloom4eva put together an amazing record of tournament wins including locals, regionals and nationals to the point that he had a streak going in 2021. Bloom did not have too many tournaments to his name before lockdown, but his first impression on the UK scene was definitely a lasting one.
Over the lockdown period the European community was aware of how much Bloom had used online to grow as a player. It was considered his domain through all of it, and the scene was left wondering if his skill would carry on once it was all over. Bloom blew expectations out the water with a numerous amount of 1st place wins at UK regionals such as Canal Cl@sh and Fair Game 14, as well as nationals like Invasion 2021 and BIG LAB: Awakening.
Due to his young age, we are yet to see Bloom travel overseas, but even within his home nation of the UK we can see he has collected wins on strong continental names such as Peli, OwlBBs, Luugi and eMass several times over. The future and potential of this young man is yet to be seen, and it will be exciting to see what comes next for him, and where he places among Europe's best.
By Joshua "Barnard's Loop" Craig
Nassib “Leon” Laib has returned in strong form to competition in Europe. Active as far back as the mid-2000s, Leon was ranked as one of Brawl’s best Marth players. After a hiatus during the Wii U era, Leon returned as a Lucina main in Ultimate. Within a span of just a few months, he became the continent’s best Lucina player.
After slight struggles at Temple: Hermes Edition and ULTIMATE WANTED 3, Leon's recent outing at Vienna Challenger’s Arena 2021 was his best performance to date at a large scale European event. He finished 3rd, defeating Oryon and Sisqui and falling only to the event's winner and runner-up respectively Peli and Glutonny.
Within France, Leon holds substantial records on most of his opponents, sporting 60 percent win rates – or greater – against Flow, Oryon, Homika and more. His strong position within the extremely competitive country makes him a seemingly surefire candidate for future rankings.
By Jack "Jackie Peanuts" Moore
For Ramin "Mr. R" Delshad, who has been doing this for over a decade now, how can you seriously expect him to treat an online era as if it has any stakes at all? This is a man who has been among Europe's best in three Smash iterations now, was ranked by Panda Global as the 10th best Smash 4 player in the world and the best from Europe, and made his way to 44th on the PGRU v2 despite a year-long character crisis.
The online era was the worst thing that could have happened to Mr. R from a competitive standpoint, whose Chrom and Sheik both become not just worse but downright infuriating to play on WiFi. In his few chances at offline events, though, Mr.R proved he still is one of Europe's top talents. At his best run of the year, WANTED #3, it took Glutonny and Fatality to stop him after he ran through eight straight opponents in winners, including emerging Belmont player Noxumbra and top French Roy player Flow.
As with a few other top players, Mr.R briefly flirted with a return to Sheik, with the ninja coming out for a few of his 2021 sets, including the win over Noxumbra. But his future appears to be with Chrom and Snake, a pair of extremely strong characters. The online era has robbed us of seeing him at his finest, but even among the rising stars it has produced, Mr.R's experience and talent are more than enough to maintain his spot in Europe's top level.
Ever since the release of Smash Ultimate, Thomas ‘Oryon’ Scalese has been widely considered one of the strongest competitors in Europe. Hailing from France, Oryon utilises Wolf and consistently pushes the characters to its limits, with a Dr. Mario in the back pocket that has scored games on top global threats in tournament settings.
As offline event’s have slowly returned across Europe, Oryon hasn’t lost a step and has continued to cement himself in the top echelon of the scene, gaining positive set records over most of his fellow countrymen.
Oryon’s biggest win since the return came from a trip to Germany, securing the top spot at Dokomi 2021 from winners side. However ,the biggest calling card for Oryon is his incredible consistency: He attended over 30 Nationals/Majors over the past year and missed top 8 at only 4 of them. With such consistent, strong performances all over the continent, it’s no wonder that players across the continent battled for the right to call themselves ‘Oryon’s Biggest Fan’!
With one of the best evolutions this year in the entire world, much less Europe, Pau "Sisqui" Caire, has fully earned the title of the best Dark Samus after an incredible 2021. Not only that, he achieved the right to be one of the kings of Europe thanks to his great performance this season.
Sisqui started 2021 winning Wi-Fi tournaments like GOML Europe and Coca-Cola Breakpoint Online, and finishing 2nd place at both Meteor 1 and at the massive SWT Europe Online Qualifier. He got an even stronger reputation in Europe due to his offline placements, winning both DATEV tournaments, placing 4th at VCA 2021 and 17th place at both Temple: Hermès Edition and Ultimate WANTED 3. Across those strong tournament placements, Sisqui racked up victories over top players such as Mr.R, AndresFn, Space, Tarik, Jaka, Mezcaul, Meru, BeJay! and Longo.
He also notched impressive placements in his home country of Spain, finishing 1st at Glory Summer, 4th place at Arenas Stadium, and winning some weeklies and local tournaments. His last performance for 2021 was quite extraordinary and became an inspiration for players across the world, as Sisqui placed 9th at Smash World Tour 2021 Championship, taking sets over top players such as Riddles, SKITTLES!! and Cloudy. Sisqui demonstrated this season that he is a top player worldwide and that he is capable of much more if he keeps improving further. He said it clearly: he will claim the top of the world someday.
Tarik Fayazi, the best Greninja in both Germany and Europe and also a very nice Byleth and Kazuya player, had a strong and active 2021. Tarik continued the tournament grind as the scene went online, racking up Top 8 placements such as 4th at Pound Online and 5th at GOML Europe 2021.
As European tournaments opened up later in the year, this Pokémon master embarked on his own adventure, attending a nice number of international tournaments and showing he can go back and forth between online and offline just fine. Tarik placed 4th at Invasion and 17th place at Temple: Hermès Edition with wins over sisqui, Purple~H and Gogesta, adding a 5th place at BIG LAB: Awakening and another 17th place at VCA 2021. He continued to be a force closer to home as well, earning Top 8 placements in Germany and Belgium and winning RCADIA SMASH and TGM Brawl 1.
Tarik also qualified for the SWT Championship thanks to a 3rd place at the European Regional Finals, which included wins over Peli, Sintro and Tru4. He earned a spot with the best players in the world and had the opportunity to fight for the crown at SWT, finally placing 25th with a win over Br1 AV. Just 19 years old and with all this experience under his belt already, Tarik is primed to be one of Europe's best for a long time.
By Jack "Jackie Peanuts" Moore
Europe finally got to William "Glutonny" Belaid a couple of times this year. At Dojo #7, a monthly series held in Paris's suburbs in October, Raflow, a young French Palutena main, became the first European to ever beat Glutonny at an offline tournament of at least 100 players. Just a couple months later at Vienna Challengers Arena, Glutonny fell for the first time to a European at a PGRU-equivalent event, as the UK's Peli took him down in Grand Finals.
But that really says it all about Glutonny's position in Europe: when he loses, it ranges somewhere from "big news" to "a major event in Smash history." Once again, his year was defined by winning. Glutonny entered 15 European events of at least 100 players in 2021. He won 12 of them with a 147-11 set count. That's a 93% win rate, in a game where most people couldn't pull that against the computer.
Glutonny also fortified his position as one of the world's biggest threats, picking up his best American major result of his career with a second at CEO in December and notching wins over ESAM and KEN in his American travels in the second half of the year. 2021 may have shown that Europe has some strong challengers for Glutonny, but there is no debate: he remains Europe's King of Smash.
