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PGRUv3 NA: Top 10

By PGstats | 08/04/22

Today, the PGRU v3 continues with the reveal of the Top 10 players in North America.

To see the rest of the releases from the PGRUv3 rollout and to see answers to some frequently asked questions, please see the Hub + FAQ post here.
To watch the full Top 50, including the reveal of the Top 10, in video form, check out the PGstats YouTube below:
Now, without further ado, the North America Top 10:
By Dara "Daramgar" M. Gar
Returning to the PGRU with another top 10 finish, we have Mexico’s very own Mr. Game & Watch extraordinaire and harnesser of the avatar state, Enrique “Maister” Hernández Solís. Despite a meta that seemingly power creeps the little 2D menace by the day, Maister continues to represent G&W at the highest level of play, going toe-to-toe with some of the best the world has to offer. With a punish game like none other, the revolutionary Maister turns G&W into a guillotine: lethal, indiscriminate, and a spectator sport for the sadistic bystanders that surely want nowhere near the receiving end of that blade.
 
From the very beginning of the season, Maister’s placements at major events would only get better and better. From a respectable, yet somewhat lackluster 25th at Genesis 8, Maister would then go on to place a fantastic 5th at Low Tide City 2022 and even a whopping 3rd at Momocon 2022. Seasoned and prodigy players alike such as 8BitMan, Cyro, BassMage, SHADIC, DDee, yonni, and even Tweek himself have all had their heads taken by Maister. With additional wins on players like Fatality, ProtoBanham, and Goblin during Smash Ultimate Summit 4 as well as a clean double elimination on MuteAce at Houston’s Limit Break, Maister has gotten wins that most players could only dream of having.
Unfortunately, it seems as though Maister has found himself quite the bracket demon. New York’s very own “Galaxy Brain” Dabuz has successfully knocked Maister down to the depths of the losers bracket at both Low Tide City and MomoCon, not to mention completely out of the running at the latter. These sets were all clean 3-0 sweeps in favor of Dabuz. If Maister wants to keep struggling for power, it is time he conquers his demon, whether via tweaks to his Mr. Game & Watch or perhaps more reliance on his growingly-menacing pocket characters Sora and Steve. 
Maister has been the Mr. Game & Watch frontrunner between two titles and countless years. With one of the scariest juggling and ledge-trapping games in the business, you cannot sleep on Maister for even a second, lest you wish for your stocks to be overthrown. Every day that passes is a day that Maister climbs further to the top, making sure nobody sits on their throne without having something to worry about at night.   
By Dara "Daramgar" M. Gar
Salvatore “Zomba” DeSena is pretty alright at Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. In the middle of one of the most competitive, explosive, and inconsistent metas of any iteration of Smash, Zomba (also known as Zombino, Zombert, or Zimbabwe) makes his PGRU debut with a historic 9th place, taking the title of highest ranked newcomer in the Ultimate era away from zackray, who finished 12th in the PGRUv1*. In a sea of fellow gyro-tossing, laser-shootin’, and arm-spinning big robots, it is Zomba who rose to the occasion and distinguished himself as the best ROB in the world.
*While Maister made his ultimate debut on the PGRU v2 at 6th, he was previously 44th on the PGR v5 for Smash 4.
Of the six major events Zomba competed in this season, he fell short of top 8 only twice. He placed 2nd at LEVELUP Arena 4, 5th at Genesis 8, 5th at Pound 2022, and 4th at Low Tide City 2022. He amassed a collection of names like none other, including wins on ApolloKage, skittles, Scend, Myran, Goblin, Sisqui, yonni, Sean, Ling, Aaron, WaDi, MuteAce, Dark Wizzy, Puppeh, and Dabuz. Zomba farmed, man. However, one titan that Zomba has yet to vanquish is none other than the prodigal Sparg0 himself. The two have quite a history together, going as far back as the Smash 4 crew battle days. Sparg0 crushed Zomba’s winners run back at Genesis 8 and even knocked him out of the bracket altogether at Low Tide City 2022. 
   
Zomba has already achieved what so many competitors could only dream of. Everyone in Smash knows who he is, be it through his stellar bracket performances, iconic late-game Zombairs, or that very interesting Twitter presence of his. Tristate is proud of all the growth the young ROB has undergone, and while Zomba can see the peak of the mountain that he climbs, the journey somehow only gets more arduous.
By Dominique "Dom" Moore
Kolawole “Kola” Aideyan spent the last 18 months or so climbing his way to the top of Ultimate’s upper echelon, culminating in a Top 10 ranking and an undisputed title of Best Roy in the World. Kola worked his way to #8 on the PGRU even with some of his best performances wiped off the board due to being before or after the ranking period: 2nd at Let’s Make Big Moves 2022 in January was too soon, and 5th places at Double Down 2022 and Get On My Level 2022 were just a tad late.
As for what he was able to achieve within the ranking season, it’s a stacked resume. 9th at MomoCon 2022 serves as the hard floor, but even that event featured red-hot Losers bracket runs and a handful of premier wins in the form of SHADIC and Fatality. Aside from that anomaly, you’d be hard-pressed to catch Kola outside of a Top 8: 1st at Keep It REAL, 2nd at Low Tide City 2022, 7th at GENESIS 8, and 7th at Collision 2022 reinforce the norm, and sets over Lui$, Dabuz, Ned, DDee, Ling, Goblin, and Glutonny reaffirm the threat level.
Kola continues to prove that he’s a threat at any event he attends, but now the true test begins: breaking into the Top 5 of the next PGRU. Between Double Down and GOML, he’s got a strong head start already.
By Hugh-Jay "trade war" Yu
Good morning PGRU, this is your captain speaking - we’re en route to discussing Samuel “Dabuz” Buzby, Ultimate’s most consistent player throughout its three year lifespan. And this PGR season looks to be no different, with no turbulence in the lead-up to a seventh place ranking. 
If you look in your seat pocket, you’ll see the King of New York’s results: between three S-Tier events – Genesis, Pound, and MomoCon – and two A tiers – Ultimate Summit 4 and Low Tide City, he has taken no set losses to anyone outside the NA Top 10 not named ProtoBanham.
For good measure, may we direct you to his win at C-Tier event Warped? Stow your tray tables, push your seat forward, and take a look at the Rosa and Alph main’s win profile: Zomba, Maister, MuteAce, Myran, yonni, Lui$ and pretty much every North American contender looking to push past a Luma and Purple Pikmin sized wall. 
Local time at arrival is: Dabuz’s time to finally take the big career major win he’s been hunting for that he always seems on the cusp of finally attaining. Everyone knows that he can do it - all he’ll need to do is break free past the handful of players that gatekeep him from the crown. Thank you so much for flying with Air Pikmin and…hey, wait a minute - what did you say about this guy’s pilot license?
By Jack "Trash Day!" Clifton
Michael “Riddles” Kim came into this season treading water. He flashed potential in PGRU season 2, earning the 47th rank when he was just 17 years old, and he had looked good on WiFi, earning the 10th rank on the Wi-Fi Warrior Rank in June of 2021. But in early 2022, Riddles just didn’t look like himself. He’d lost confidence in Terry and switched to Roy, and in his first tournament with the character, the last tournament before this ranking season began, he finished 49th, his worst ever performance at an offline tournament. 
And then something clicked. 
Riddles only missed one Top 8 this season after never making Top 8 in his career at an offline S or A tier event before the season started. He did not lose to a single player ranked outside the top 20 at any major, and he pioneered two characters that previously had no top level representation into god-killer status, taking sets off of anyone who stands too close to him. 
We’ve talked about a “4th place curse” for Riddles because he finished 4th at Pound, Collision and BOBC 4, but one man’s curse is another man’s dream. Riddles proved that he belongs with the best of the best, and has figured out tricks and combos and setups to handle almost any player on Earth. 
Seemingly the only riddle he can’t solve is how to win a major. But he’s at the height of his powers right now at only 18 years old, so maybe he’ll be able to figure that one out sooner than you think.
By Dominique "Dom" Moore
Going into the closest thing we’ve had to a true PGR season since all offline activity was frozen over 2 years ago, New Jersey’s top player Gavin “Tweek” Dempsey was expected to fight for Ultimate’s #1 spot. Even then, labeling this season as a slump or saying he missed the mark would be incredibly silly, considering he still managed to comfortably slot into the top 5 of Early 2022’s PGR. Not a lot of players in the game can pull that off and say that they left food on the table.
The world’s best Diddy Kong and Sephiroth showed no qualms proving both points, swapping between the two during critical junctures of multiple runs last season. This combination netted him wins against most of Ultimate’s premier talent, including (but not limited to) Light, Riddles, Sparg0, Glutonny, ProtoBanham, Lima, Fatality, Ling, MuteAce, and, of course, MkLeo. Tweek has an ability to take down anybody in the world that simply must be respected.
A double upset at GENESIS 8 that put him out at 33rd place is the only real blemish on his resume, as Tweek finished 2nd at Collision 2022, 4th at MomoCon 2022, and 5th at Smash Ultimate Summit 4. Going into the back-half of the year, a return to form will be in order for Tweek, and with such a return should come his 2nd major victory — but for now, 5th is where he rests his hat.
By Robert "BobbyWasabi" WIlson
Paris “Light” Ramirez is on the hottest streak of his career, not placing worse than 5th at any offline event he’s entered since March. His pantheon of wins is a who’s who in competitive Ultimate — and chances are, if you play this game enough, you’ve lost to Light at least once. MkLeo, Riddles, Kola, and Dabuz are just the tip of an exceedingly impressive iceberg. His few, rare losses this season only ever came at the hands of fellow PGRUv3 ranked players; and only three of them were by players ranked below him. Light’s statistical worst loss this season came at the hands of Ling, ranked 28th and the #2 player in their common home state of Connecticut. It happened at a 44-entrant weekly series, Vortex Legends 4, and was Ling’s first recorded win against Light after 35 consecutive recorded losses. Light immediately returned the favor in a 3-0 to earn a first place finish, bringing their current total set count to a resounding 79-4 in Light’s favor.
Speaking of finishing first, Light secured a win at three offline events with over 100 entrants this season: CT Gamercon 5, Board the Platforms!, and of course MomoCon 2022 — the second largest North American event in this ranking period, and the tournament that cemented Light’s status as the best of the US. In the 10 sets he played at MomoCon, he only ever dropped 2 games: one to ChunkyKong in pools, and the other to Dabuz in Winners Finals.
Light accomplished all this wielding only a solo Fox, making Light the second-highest solo-main on this list… and with a character who doesn’t have any other top-level representation at that, save for the occasional secondary from Lui$. Carving out a niche in Ultimate’s competitive meta, Light moves like few other players: slamming on the gas and not letting up to create an absolutely suffocating atmosphere for his opponents.
While this is his highest rank on a PGR thus far, jumping 6 spots from his back to back 10th place rankings on the PGRUv1 and v2, we know Light has it in him to go even further. With a deep respect for his competition and a healthy level of cockiness that allows him to thrive in a competitive setting, Light is maturing into a competitor worthy of a spot amongst Smash’s all-time greats.
By Dylan "Dilly-Jo" Tate
When offline events returned in mid-2021, William “Glutonny” Belaid seemed to struggle to return to form. He rarely beat top 10 players, missed top 8 at events like Mainstage 2021 and the Smash World Tour Championships, and began to lose tournaments to his fellow Europeans for the first time. Despite the rare bump in the road for Europe’s undisputed King of Smash, Glutonny’s results have since skyrocketed to new heights as the Frenchman has claimed his highest spot to date.
Though once renowned for his dominance in Europe, Glutonny’s worst event of this season ironically came at a European event, WANTED S4 C4, where he lost to Momon and Réhann for 17th place. Despite his in-region slip-up, Glutonny consistently excelled at out-of-country tournaments. He placed no lower than 9th at any of the six majors he attended in North America, with top-eight finishes at all but Collision. Glutonny peaked with a 1st-place finish at Pound, defeating MkLeo, Light, Dabuz, and Sonix en route to not only his first major win outside of Europe, but Ultimate’s first major win for a European player outside of the continent.
Across his other tournament appearances, Glutonny racked up additional wins over Sparg0, Kola, Zomba, Maister, sisqui, Chag, Cosmos, Goblin, Kome, and many more. With multiple wins over the two players ranked above him and a dominant 3-0 record against Light, Glutonny has solidly positioned himself as one of the best players in the world, the ideal flag-bearer for European Smash as it heads into what looks to be its strongest era yet.
By Jack "Trash Day!" Clifton
In the beginning they were just rumors. Rumblings in Twitter discussions and YouTube comments that there was another young rising star coming out of Mexico to challenge MkLeo, the same way Leo had done years earlier. 
He had always been a wifi threat, being ranked number two on Ultimate’s first Wi-Fi Warrior Rank at the age of 13. And of course, he dominated during Ultimate’s forced WiFi era.
But then, when offline tournaments returned in July of 2021, the floodgates opened. The rumors were true. Edgar "Sparg0" Valdez had not just leveled up, he was breaking the game, and since then he has become the person most able to consistently challenge MkLeo for the title of world’s best player. 
During this season the only players lost to at qualified tournaments were MkLeo, Glutonny, Tweek and MuteAce. He has a winning record vs Tweek this season, is tied with Glutonny and only has losing records vs MuteAce (0-1) and Leo (2-4). His lowest placement this season is 3rd, a placement he earned at an event with 1959 players, a placing that would make the careers of many players, some of those on this list included. 
Sparg0 is taking time off from Smash for now, an understandable decision from someone who has been under immense pressure for a full year now at an age where most people’s biggest stressor is homework. 
If he comes back to competition, he’ll have nothing to prove. He has proven himself on every stage time and time again versus the world’s best competition. The only person standing between Sparg0 and his unlimited potential in the world of Smash Brothers is himself….
Well—himself and one other person.
As if there was ever any doubt. For the third time in as many chances, Leonardo “MkLeo” Lopez Perez sits atop the rankings. But for the first time, there were real challenges to the throne. For the first time in three PGRU seasons, MkLeo’s score dipped below a perfect 100, reflecting the few times this season where he seemed human: 4th at Ultimate Summit 4 losing to Sparg0 and ProtoBanham; 3rd at Collision losing to Sparg0 and Tweek, and 2nd at Pound losing to Glutonny twice.
At Genesis 8, the season’s biggest major, MkLeo proved he is still the world’s best, going on a ridiculous 12-0 run to the championship including wins over numbers 2, 3 and 4 on this list. Not only did he defeat his top contenders for the throne, but he continued to do it his way, using solo Byleth for the entire bracket. 
Aside from the Mexican invitational tournament RETA 2022, Genesis was Leo’s only major tournament win of the season. That’s a rarity for Leo, who finally lost at consecutive major tournaments for the first time in years at Ultimate Summit 4 and Collision 2022. But the fact that he has managed to maintain this level of dominance in the face of some of his strongest competitors yet, all while mostly dedicating himself to characters like Corrin and Byleth, says all you need to know about Leo’s level of dominance in Ultimate’s past and present. 
The gap between Leo and the rest of the world ever so slightly closed in PGRU Season 3. For Leo and the few who have shown they can challenge him, Season 4 just might be the most interesting one yet. Young players are rising, led by Sparg0. Europe is rising, led by Glutonny. Japan has players like KEN, acola and ProtoBanham who have proven capable of winning at home and overseas. And players like Light and Tweek promise to threaten Leo at any American major he enters. The competition has never been fiercer, but for now, Leo deservedly holds the title of Best Smash Ultimate Player in the World.
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The PGR season continues next week with the releases of the NA Summer MPGR and our list of Japan’s 50 Ultimate Players to Watch. Follow us on Twitter, subscribe to the channel, and bookmark PGstats.com to keep up with the latest on the PGR and Smash as a whole.
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